WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

Watershed is defined as any surface area from which rainfall is collected and drains through a common point. It is synonymous with a drainage basin or catchment area. In other words, watershed is a geo-hydrological unit, comprising of all land and water within the confines of drainage divide.

Watershed management is the integration of technologies within the natural boundaries of a drainage area for optimum development of land, water, and plant resources to meet the basic needs of the people and animals in a sustained manner.

Objectives of Watershed Management

• Control damaging runoff for conserving soil & water.
• Utilize runoff water for useful purpose.
• Conserve watershed land for sustained production.
• Enhance water resource originating in watershed.
• Check soil erosion
• Reduce sediment yield
• Rehabilitate deteriorating lands.
• Moderate floods peaks at downstream areas.
• Increase infiltration of rainwater.
• Improve production of timbers, fodder & livestock
• Enhance ground water recharge

Components of watershed management

1. Land Management

• Structural Measures: It includes interventions like contour bunds, stone bunds, earthen bunds, graded bunds, compartmental bunds, contour terrace walls, contour trenches, bench terracing, broad-based terraces, centripetal terraces, field bunds, channel walls
• Vegetative Measures: It includes vegetative cover, plant cover, mulching, vegetative hedges, grass land management, vetiver fencing, agro-forestry, etc.
• Production Measures: It includes interventions aimed at increasing the productivity of land like mixed cropping, strip cropping, cover cropping, crop rotations, cultivation of shrubs and herbs, contour cultivation conservation tillage, land leveling, use of improved verity of seeds, horticulture, etc.
• Protection Measures: It includes landslide control, gully plugging, runoff collection, etc. Adoption of all the interventions mentioned above should be done strictly in accordance with the characteristics of the land taken for management.

2. Water Management

• Rain water harvesting: It is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir with percolation, so that it seeps down and restores the ground water.
• Ground water recharge: Groundwater replenishment happens through direct recharge and in-lieu recharge. Water used for direct recharge most often comes from flood flows, water conservation, recycled water, desalination and water transfers.
• Economic use of water: Avoidance of affluence in use of water at individual and community levels may be the major concern for water management in the years to come.

3. Biomass Management

• Biomass Management: Major intervention areas for biomass management are eco-preservation, biomass regeneration, forest management & conservation, plant protection & social forestry, and increased productivity of animals.

Importance of watershed management

1. Environmental

• Store surplus water: Effectively conserve soil, rainwater, and harness the surplus water to create water sources in addition to groundwater recharge.
• Arrest desertification: Cover non-arable areas effectively through afforestation, horticulture, and pasture land development based on the capability of the land.
• Restore ecological balance: Ensuring sustainability of the ecosystem benefiting the man-animal-plant-land-water complex in the watershed. In majority of micro watersheds, there is reduction of soil erosion.
• Promotes sustainable farming: Stabilize crop yield by adopting suitable cropping and crop management systems.
• Increase in ground water level: Land development activities such as contour bunding, land levelling, and cultivation practices contribute towards accumulation of groundwater.

2. Social

• Reduction in workload: Increase in groundwater and surface water also helps for providing drinking as well as irrigation water and reduces the time to fetch drinking water.
• Source of income: The positive changes in agriculture, horticulture, and livestock production have helped better income generation and debt reduction.
• Employment opportunities: It increased with better wage earnings in construction work during pre-watershed and engagement in the agricultural field during post watershed programmes.

• Reduced migration: When good quality water and land is available in the rural areas to cultivate, rural to urban migration was reduced.
• Women empowerment: Women have the knowledge and can effectively participate and manage natural resources within watersheds using traditional techniques when they get proper support from management agencies.

3. Systemic

• Agricultural productivity: With available water harvesting structure farmers are inclined to new cropping pattern and agricultural diversification and intensification which can lead to increase in agricultural productivity.
• Optimum usage of land: Safe utilization of marginal and wastelands through alternate land-use systems such as agro-forestry.
• Change in land use pattern: With increase in surface water conservation and increase in availability of water in the watershed regions, it is expected that there will be more positive change in land use pattern.
• Involvement of Community Based Organisations: Activities are planned and implemented with the help of these groups which takes care of the maintenance and sustainability of the activities.

Challenges in watershed management

1. Structural

• Substantial area is rain-fed: About 72 Mha of net sown area (52%) is completely dependent on rainfall while rain-fed agriculture is 3 times less productive.
• Improper cropping system: High proportion of cultivated area under water guzzling crops like rice, sugarcane, etc. which makes India a net water exporting country while exporting such water intensive crops.
• Over-use of surface water: Led to the issues of water logging and soil salinity.
• Over-use of ground water: Free power available to the farmers led to over exploitation of ground water.

2. Administrative

• Post implementation poor maintenance: As a result, the siltation, damage, leakage, etc. were noticed in some watersheds.
• Lack of adequate institutional mechanism: Watershed management will run well if there is coordination and policy integration between the central and local government and between related institutions within a region.
• Lack of supporting activities: Activities like afforestation, pasture development, horticulture, etc. can directly check soil erosion but these activities are scanty in many areas.

3. Social

• Lack of people participation: In some states like Jammu & Kashmir there is no people participation during construction.
• Lack of participation from vulnerable sections: Women participation in community institutions is still limited. Landless communities and weaker sections are still left out of the land focused programmes.

4. Infrastructural

• Water harvesting structures: Poor quality water harvesting structures and lack of maintenance, location of watershed, improper design, and problem of delaying in desilting.

Government initiatives

• Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (Watershed Development Component):
  • Har Khet Ko Paani: Providing end-to-end solutions in Irrigation supply chain.
  • Per Drop More Crop: Promotion of Drip Irrigation and Sprinkler Irrigation.
• Micro-Irrigation Fund (MIF): Managed by NABARD with corpus of Rs 5000 crore which the states can avail to subsidize the farmers for adoption of micro-irrigation techniques.
• Neeranchal Watershed Program: It is a World Bank assisted project designed to strengthen and provide technical assistance to the Watershed Component of PMKSY. It is being implemented in nine participating states.

Case studies

• Haryali Watershed Development project: It is a watershed management project of the Central government for enabling the rural population to conserve water for drinking, irrigation, fisheries, afforestation.
• Neeru-Meeru (Andhra Pradesh) and AravaryPaniSansad (Rajasthan): It leads to success.

Way Forward

1. Scientific

• Enhancing water efficiency in Irrigated areas: Reduce the difference between Irrigation Potential Created (IPC) and Irrigation Potential Utilised (IPU), proper maintenance of canals and rationalization of water tariffs.
• Promotion of Micro-Irrigation: Systems such as sprinkler and drip irrigation promote precision farming by making water available to root zone of crops.
  • Example: Micro-Irrigation can lead to 40% water savings, 45% increase in productivity and 50% increase in income (Dalwai Panel).
• Enhancing water efficiency in rain-fed areas: Rain water harvesting through check dams and desilting of ponds and water bodies; Conservation agriculture through artificial and natural mulching and zero tillage.

2. Legislative

• Optimum Utilization of Ground water: Adoption of model bill to control and regulate the extraction of groundwater by setting up a Groundwater Regulating Authority.
  • Compulsory registration of bore well-owners, Compulsory permission for sinking a new bore well, Restrictions on the depth of bore wells etc.

3. Administrative

• Social audit: It provides an assessment of the impact of organizations’ nonfinancial objectives through systematic and regular monitoring, based on the views of its stakeholders.
• Improving scheme implementation: Convergence between MGNREGA and water conservation; rationalization of power subsidies and separation of feeder lines for agricultural and non-agricultural usages.

DIFFERENT IRRIGATION SYSTEMS FOLLOWED IN INDIA

Well and Tube Well Irrigation

At places where ground water is available, a tube-well can be installed near the agricultural area. A deep tube well worked by electricity, can irrigate a much larger area (about 400 hectares) than a surface well (half hectares).

• Merits:
  • Simplest, cheapest and independent source of irrigation.
  • Can be used as and when the necessity arises.
  • Several chemicals such as nitrate, chloride, sulphate, etc. found in well water add to the fertility of soil.
  • More reliable during periods of drought when surface water dries up.
• Demerits:
  • Only limited area can be irrigated.
  • In the event of a drought, the ground water level falls and enough water is not available.
  • Tube wells can draw a lot of groundwater from its neighbouring areas and make the ground dry and unfit for agriculture.

Canal Irrigation

Suitable for areas of low level relief, deep fertile soils, perennial source of water and extensive command area.

• Types:
  • Inundation canals are taken out from the rivers without any regulating system like weirs etc. at their head. Such canals provide irrigation mainly in the rainy season when the river is in flood and there is excess water.
  • Perennial Canals are those which are taken off from perennial rivers by constructing a barrage across the river. Most of the canals in India are perennial.
• Merits:
  • Most of the canals provide perennial irrigation and supply water as and when needed.
  • Saves the crops from drought conditions.
  • Helps in increasing the farm production.
• Demerits:
  • Many canals overflow during the rainy season and flood the surrounding areas.
  • The digging of canals in rocky and uneven areas is difficult and uneconomic. Thus, canals are practically absent from the Peninsular plateau area.
  • Canal irrigation is suitable in plain areas only.

Tank Irrigation

A tank is developed by constructing a small bund of earth or stones built across a stream. The water impounded by the bund is used for irrigation and other purposes.

• Merits:
  • Most of the tanks are natural and do not involve heavy cost for their construction.
  • They have a longer life span.
  • In many tanks, fishing is also carried on, which supplements both the food resources and income of the farmer.
• Demerits:
  • Many tanks dry up during the dry season and fail to provide irrigation when it is required.
  • Lifting of water from tanks and carrying it to the fields is a strenuous and costly exercise.

Drip Irrigation

Water is applied near the plant root through emitters or drippers, on or below the soil surface, at a low rate varying from 2-20 liters per hour. The soil moisture is kept at an optimum level with frequent irrigations.

• Merits:
  • Fertilizer and nutrient loss is minimized due to localized application and reduced leaching.
  • It can be practiced for a large variety of crops, especially in vegetables, orchard crops, flowers and plantation crops.
  • Field leveling is not necessary and recycled non-potable water can be used.
  • Water application efficiency increases and soil erosion and weed growth is lessened.
• Demerits:
  • It can result in clogging, wastage of water, time and harvest, if not installed properly.
  • Initial cost can be high.

Sprinkler Irrigation

Water is sprayed into the air and allowed to fall on the ground surface somewhat resembling rainfall. It is a very suitable method for irrigation on uneven lands and on shallow soils. Nearly all crops are suitable for sprinkler irrigation systems except crops like paddy, jute, etc.

• Merits:
  • Suitable to all types of soil except heavy clay.
  • Saves lots of water while increasing the yield.
  • Saves land as no bunds are required.
• Demerits:
  • Under high wind conditions and high temperature distribution and application efficiency is poor.
  • Higher initial cost.

Other Types of Irrigation

• Furrow Irrigation: It is a type of surface irrigation in which trenches or “furrows” are dug between crop rows in the field. Farmers flow water in furrows and it seeps vertically and horizontally to refill soil reservoirs. Flow to each furrow is individually controlled.
  • Challenges: Ensuring uniform dispersion of water over a given field and increased potential for water loss due to runoff.
• Surge Irrigation: It is a variant of furrow irrigation where the water supply is pulsed on and off in planned time periods. The wetting and drying cycles reduce infiltration rates resulting in faster advance rates and higher uniformities than continuous flow.
• Ditch Irrigation: It is a rather traditional method, where ditches are dug out and seedlings are planted in rows. The plantings are watered by placing canals or furrows in between the rows of plants. Siphon tubes are used to move the water from the main ditch to the canals.
• Sub Irrigation or Seepage Irrigation: It is a method of irrigation where water is delivered to the plant root zone from below the soil surface and absorbed upwards. The excess may be collected for reuse.

Issues with Irrigation in India

• Wastage: Huge amounts of water is wasted while irrigating lands either due to poor agricultural cropping patterns or due to excessive surface runoff.
• Groundwater Depletion: Ground water sources are being depleted in cultivating water intensive crops in dry regions, without proper recharge.
  • Data: Groundwater irrigation has been expanding at a very rapid pace in India since the 1970s and now accounts for over 60 percent of the total area irrigated in the country.
• Water Logging and Salinity: Introduction of irrigation has led to the problem of water logging and salinity in some of the states.
• Expensive micro irrigation: Most of the adopters are wealthier farmers and poor farmers cannot afford it. This problem is resolved by inventing low-cost systems by different agencies.
• Regional disparities: The Ninth Five Year Plan Document estimated that the water resource development in the North Eastern region through major, medium and minor schemes is only at the level of 28.6 percent whereas in the Northern region it has reached about 95.3 percent.
• Inter-state Water disputes: Irrigation is a state subject in India. Development of water resource is, therefore, being planned by states individually taking into account their own needs and requirement.
• Unsustainable Practices: Cultivation of water intensive crops like sugarcane and rice in dryland regions create more irrigational demand and divert from other crops.

NATIONAL WATER POLICY

National Water Policy is formulated by the Ministry of Water Resources of the Government of India to govern the planning and development of water resources and their optimum utilization. The first National Water Policy was adopted in September, 1987. It was reviewed and updated in 2002 and later in 2012.

Objective of NWP: The objective of the National Water Policy is to take cognizance of the existing situation, to propose a framework for the creation of a system of laws and institutions and for a plan of action with a unified national perspective.

National Water Policy (2012)

• Information system: All water related data, should be integrated with well-defined procedures and formats to ensure online updation and transfer of data to facilitate development of database for informed decision making in the management of water.
• Water resources planning: Integrated Water Resources Management taking river basin / sub-basin as a unit, should be the main principle for planning, development and management of water resources.
• Perspective for water resources planning: Integrated perspective considering local, regional, State and national context.
• Project planning: All water resources projects, including hydro power projects, should be planned to the extent feasible as multi-purpose projects with provision of storage to derive maximum benefit from available topology and water resources.
• Environmental flow in rivers: A portion of river flows should be kept aside to meet ecological needs ensuring that the proportional low and high flow releases correspond in time closely to the natural flow regime.

• Ground-water development: Declining ground water levels in over-exploited areas need to be arrested by introducing improved technologies of water use, incentivizing efficient water use and encouraging community-based management of aquifers.
• Access to safe drinking water: Minimum quantity of potable water for essential health and hygiene to all its citizens, available within easy reach of the household, must be ensured.
• Inter-basin transfer: Inter-basin transfers are not merely for increasing production but also for meeting basic human need and achieving equity and social justice.
• Water use efficiency: The “project” and the “basin” water use efficiencies need to be improved through continuous water balance and water accounting studies.
• Flood management: While every effort should be made to avert water-related disasters like floods and droughts, through structural and non-structural measures, emphasis should be on preparedness for flood/drought with coping mechanisms as an option. Greater emphasis should be placed on rehabilitation of the natural drainage system.
• Gap between irrigation potential created and utilized: All components of water resources projects should be planned and executed in an inclusive manner so that intended benefits start accruing immediately, and there is no gap between potential created and potential utilized.

Need of a New Water Policy

• Scarce resource: Water is part of a larger ecological system. Realizing the importance and scarcity attached to fresh water, it has to be treated as an essential environment for sustaining all life forms.
• National resource: Water is a scarce and precious national resource to be planned, developed, conserved, and managed as such, and on an integrated and environmentally sound basis, keeping in view the socio-economic aspects and needs of the states.
• Crucial element of development and planning: It is one of the most crucial elements in developmental planning. As the country has entered the 21st century, efforts to develop, conserve, utilize, and manage this important resource in a sustainable manner, have to be guided by the national perspective.
• Issue of flood and drought: They affect vast areas of the country, transcending state boundaries. One-sixth of the area of the country is drought-prone. The approach to management of droughts and floods has to be coordinated and guided at the national level.
• Water resource project: Planning and implementation of water resources projects involve a number of socio-economic aspects and issues such as environmental sustainability, appropriate resettlement and rehabilitation of project affected people and livestock, public health concerns of water impoundment, dam safety, etc. Common approaches and guidelines are necessary on these matters.
• Exploitation of GW: The development and over-exploitation of groundwater resources in certain parts of the country have raised the concern and need for judicious and scientific resource management and conservation. All these concerns need to be addressed on the basis of common policies and strategies.
• Increase in demand: Recent estimates suggest that if the current pattern of demand continues, about half of the national demand for water will remain unmet by 2030.
• Water management: With water tables falling and water quality deteriorating, a radical change is needed in the approach to water management.
• Change in water cycle: Changing patterns and intensity of precipitation, as also rates of discharge of rivers, show that it can no longer be assumed that the water cycle operates within an invariant range of predictability.

Draft New National Water Policy

• Locus Specific Response: To galvanize the complexity and scale of the water crisis in India, the policy calls for a locus-specific response. To understand and map the sources from which the country draws water to meet its varying needs.
• Co-ordination: The Ministry of Water Resources must reconfigure its relationship with other Ministries and Departments (Urban Development, Local Self-Government, and Environment).
• Effective land and water zoning regulations: Much-needed reform to protect urban water bodies, groundwater sources, wetlands, and green cover while simultaneously working to enhance wastewater recycling and water recharge activities targeting aquifers and wells through rainwater harvesting.
• Crop Diversification: The policy suggests diversifying public procurement operations to include nutri-cereals, pulses, and oilseeds. This would incentivize farmers to diversify their cropping patterns, resulting in huge savings of water.
• Reduce-Recycle-Reuse: Should be the basic mantra of integrated urban water supply and wastewater management.
• Nature-Based Solutions: Such as rejuvenation of catchment areas should be adopted.
• Blue-Green Infrastructure: Such as rain gardens and bio-swales, restored rivers with wet meadows, wetlands constructed for bio-remediation, urban parks, permeable pavements, green roofs, etc., are proposed for urban areas.
• Restoring Ground Water: Immediate measures need to be taken to manage and replenish groundwater, especially through participatory groundwater management with its combination of water budgeting, aquifer recharging, and community involvement.
• Syncing Technological Advancements: At the disciplinary level, governance and management should increasingly interact and draw from the expertise of fields such as hydrology (watershed sustainability), hydrogeology (aquifer mapping and recharge), and agricultural sciences (water-sensitive crop choices and soil health).
• Surface Water Conservation: Importance given to groundwater conservation should not ignore surface water conservation, including the many rivers and lakes which are in a critical and dying state due to encroachment, pollution, over-abstraction, and obstruction of water flow by dams.
• Emphasis on Local governing bodies: Panchayats, Municipalities, Corporations, etc., and Water Users Associations, wherever applicable, should be involved in the planning of new projects.
• Water quality: The new NWP considers water quality as the most serious unaddressed issue in India today. It proposes that every water ministry, at the Centre and states, include a water quality department.

Way Forward

• Cognisance of climate change: We need to take very serious cognisance of the current context of climate change and the grave crisis of water facing the country.
• Water service fee: We propose that economic services (like industrial and commercial use) should be charged at a rate where the O&M (Operation and Management) costs and part of the capital cost would be the basis for the water service fees.
• Taking care of social section: At the same time, concessional rates should be provided for vulnerable social sections, and care should be taken not to price out the poor from basic water service.