03d the Importance of Watershed Projects in India

7/28/2019 03d the Importance of Watershed Projects in India

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Importance of Watershed

Practices

Module 3 : Lecture 4


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Water Availability

Quantity

The water resources of Indiaconsidering both ground andsurface water as one systemis about 1869 km

However- due to topographyand uneven distribution ofwater resource over spaceand time only about 1122 kmis available for use

Demand for water exceeds

supply in India by as much as30% (2003)


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Water Availability

Agriculture, industry, and domestic uses are competingfor the limited supply

Agriculture sectors contribute 26% to the national GDPand dominate water use with 84% of total water

consumption Industrial production

contributes 24% to GDP

and demands 12% of

total water consumption The remaining 4% is left

for the domestic sector


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Water Availability

Water resources are being overexploited by the rapidgrowth of the population reducing the per capitaavailability of water


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Water Availability

The water availability issue is amplified by the monsoonseason

Levels of precipitation vary from 100mm/year in thewestern parts of Rajasthan to over 9,000mm/year in thenortheastern state of Meghalaya Some regions are subject to severe droughts and others are

frequently flooded


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Water and Agriculture

Irrigation was emphasized during the Green Revolution,and now accounts for over 80% of Indias waterconsumption

Ground water is diminishing,

and the productivity gains

in cereal production

achieved in certain areas

during the Green

Revolution are nowshowing signs of decline

or stagnation


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Water and Agriculture

Projections indicate declining trends in irrigationinvestments and growth rates for areas under irrigatedagriculture

Reasons: high costs of new water development, inter-sectoral competition for water, environmental degradation

Growth opportunities in more

favorable zones are exhausted,

and the need to improve the

productivity of less-favoredregions is increasingly important


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Importance of Watershed Projects

Watershed development as a means to increase groundwateravailability

Proposed as a viable strategy for improving productivity indrought-prone and water-scarce rainfed areas

Studies have been conducted by governmentorganizations, as well as NGOs (for example, ICRISAT)


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Lets look at a case study of

watershed programs in the villages

of Andhara Pradesh


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Methods of retaining groundwater/reducing runoffwater by increasing the percolation of rainwater torecharge groundwater:

Check dams

Percolation tanks Ponds

Water-harvesting

structures

Soil-conservation(harvesting)

techniques


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Watershed development by ICRISAT and

other organizations help to conserve and

manage resources, while economically

boosting communities

These programs are especially importantin semi-arid regions, where crops are

rainfed


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Common Property Resources

Many people in rural India depend directly on CommonProperty Resources (CPRs) for their livelihood andwelfare

These resources can be

managed under state,common, private property

regimes

Resources are often

managed at the interfaceof different property

regimes


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In India, nearly 40% of

rural poor largely depend

on CPRs

CPRs contribute about 12%of income to poor rural

households

Much of the 143 million ha of net sown area in

India becomes a CPR after the harvest of acrop until the next crop is sown-- Local peoplehave rights to collect specified forest productfrom them


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CPRs of land, water,

forest, fisheries, wildlife

and agriculture constitute

an important component

of community assets inIndia and significantly

contribute towards the

peoples livelihood

however, CPRs aredeclining in area and

physical productivity


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Why are common property resources

important in rural India?


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Answer

40% of rural India rely on them for part of

their livelihood

Contribute 12% of income in rural poor

families


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Factors responsible for decline of CPRs:

demographic changes

fragmented land holdings

land holdings in the vicinity of forests

small farm size

acquisition of common lands bydevelopmental agencies

increased pressure of outsiders oncommon lands

disintegration of social and institutional

arrangements evolved and enforced byrural communities to manage CPRs


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Jodha (2002): Erosion/collapse of social capitalleads to decline of CPRs

Local social groups design informal institutionalarrangement for managing CPRs collectively

Over time, these lose effectiveness andvoluntary participation in resource managementdeclines


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Due to introduction of elected village councils and de-recognition of traditional social arrangements and customs,the community loses collective stake and control overCPRs

Development programs undertaken by the government torestore/conserve CPRs largely

focused on financial and technical

support without recognition of

local perceptions and traditional

knowledge

Culture of group action was replace

by individualistic tendencies


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Resources managed under common propertyrights are often degraded due to weak propertyrights/inadequate institutionalarrangements/breakdown of the authority system

In recent years, local communities/resource usergroups and the state or local government sharedthe responsibility of managing CPRs

Combined skills of local resource

users/committees and resources available with thestates, research organizations, and NGOs


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Encroachment is often an issue

Key element of common property rights:enforcement

Grazing areas may become degraded due to highcost of establishing/ enforcing individual or grouprights

Some theft of resources and encroachment may betolerated due to hight costs of enforcement relative

to the benefits Gradual encroachment results in the gradual transfer of

property rights form the community to private individuals


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Also common: Land regularizationthe ex post granting ofpermanent and transferable property rights to theencroacher (similar to squatters rights)

In some states, there was a cut-off date to allow for the

regularization of certaintypes of encroachment only

if it occurred before the date

If authorities cant prove

whether the encroachmentoccurred before or after the

cut-off date


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Most encroachment is done by farmers who have land adjacent tocommons

They slowly move farm boundaries onto common properties

To evict a farmer through formal channels, the authorities must firstprove that the boundary has been moved, which requires the land to

be surveyed and compared with the records of the villageaccountant, which in turn may not exist or may not be sufficientlydetailed. Pressing for a conviction is a time-consuming processacourt case will often take over ten years, allowing ample time for thefarmer to assimilate the encroached land, and even for the land lawsto change in his favor. (Robinson, 2008)

Because of this, village-imposed punishments are sometimes used


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Institutional Mechanism to Manage CPRs

Various structures have been used overthe past three decades

Coordination of CPR management planincorporating concepts of equity andsustainability with plans of departments

engaged in agriculture/rural developmentat national, state and field planning levels(Gupta, 1995; Agarwal and Narin, 2002)


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Community Participation in CPR Management

Traditional rural Indian communities had integratednature into culture

Natural resources were/are associated with communitycustoms

Resources were shared among villagers

Village communities maintained sacred groveswhere harvest of timber/forest products wasbanned or restricted

Helped preserve biological diversity


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Social/institutional changes have affected the management of CPRs

Increase in population pressure, proverty, itegration with the market,change in farming practices (Green Revolution)

Failure of traditional and centralized systems of natural resourceregulation prompted the Indian Government to promote community-

based government management of ecological resources Local population partners with the government, NGOs, or

international agencies (or a combination of all three)

Example: International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-AridTropics (ICRISAT) conducts research on watershed management

systems


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In several states, the watershed management approach wasadopted in villaged on degraded common lands

For example, ICRISAT constructs experimental watershedstructures and observes changes in the livelihoods of Indiasrural poor

Objectives: optimize land use to conserve soil/water resourcesthrought controlling erosion, manage land and other biologicalresources to control land degradation, recycle runoff water,improve, economic conditions of village communities, increaseagricultural productivity

Targeted to especiall help small and marginal farmers in drylands Productivity is low

Agricultural incomeis often supplemented by employment outsideof farming


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Watershed management programs were first launched in the mid1980s under the National Watershed Development Program forRainfed Agriculture

1994 Watershed Guidelines emphasized the participation of womenand marginal groups

A 2002 review of 36 watershed projects across five Indian statesidentified characteristics essential for mainstreaming watershedmanagement across the country

Choosing a village rather than a watershed that spans several villagesas the basis for operation

Consensus-based decision-making that involves locals rather than

centralized decision-making Sharing costs with farmers to increase their stake in the project (as well

as reducing overall project costs)

03d the Importance of Watershed Projects in India

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