Importance of Watershed Practices

Module 3 : Lecture 4

Water Availability
Quantity The water resources of India considering both ground and surface water as one system is about 1869 km However- due to topography and uneven distribution of water resource over space and time only about 1122 km is available for use Demand for water exceeds supply in India by as much as 30% (2003)

Water Availability

Agriculture, industry, and domestic uses are competing for the limited supply Agriculture sectors contribute 26% to the national GDP and 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

Water Availability

Water resources are being overexploited by the rapid growth of the population reducing the per capita availability of water

Water Availability
The water availability issue is amplified by the monsoon season Levels of precipitation vary from 100mm/year in the western parts of Rajasthan to over 9,000mm/year in the northeastern state of Meghalaya

Some regions are subject to severe droughts and others are frequently flooded

Water and Agriculture

Irrigation was emphasized during the Green Revolution, and now accounts for over 80% of Indias water consumption Ground water is diminishing, and the productivity gains in cereal production achieved in certain areas during the Green Revolution are now showing signs of decline or stagnation

Water and Agriculture

Projections indicate declining trends in irrigation investments and growth rates for areas under irrigated agriculture Reasons: high costs of new water development, intersectoral competition for water, environmental degradation

Growth opportunities in more favorable zones are exhausted, and the need to improve the productivity of less-favored regions is increasingly important

Importance of Watershed Projects

Watershed development as a means to increase groundwater availability Proposed as a viable strategy for improving productivity in drought-prone and water-scarce rainfed areas Studies have been conducted by government organizations, as well as NGOs (for example, ICRISAT)

Importance of Watershed Projects

Lets look at a case study of watershed programs in the villages of Andhara Pradesh

Importance of Watershed Projects

Methods of retaining groundwater/reducing runoff water by increasing the percolation of rainwater to recharge groundwater: Check dams Percolation tanks Ponds Water-harvesting structures Soil-conservation (harvesting) techniques

Importance of Watershed Projects

The depth of groundwater in wells is the most widely used parameter for estimating the level and ability of groundwater

Although groundwater levels continue to diminish, treated watersheds show higher groundwater levels than untreated

Importance of Watershed Projects

Watershed development by ICRISAT and other organizations help to conserve and manage resources, while economically boosting communities These programs are especially important in semi-arid regions, where crops are rainfed

Common Property Resources

Many people in rural India depend directly on Common Property Resources (CPRs) for their livelihood and welfare These resources can be managed under state, common, private property regimes Resources are often managed at the interface of different property regimes

Common Property Resources

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 a crop until the next crop is sown-- Local people have rights to collect specified forest product from them

Common Property Resources

CPRs of land, water, forest, fisheries, wildlife and agriculture constitute an important component of community assets in India and significantly contribute towards the peoples livelihood however, CPRs are declining in area and physical productivity

Why are common property resources important in rural India?

Answer

40% of rural India rely on them for part of their livelihood Contribute 12% of income in rural poor families

Common Property Resources

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 by developmental agencies increased pressure of outsiders on common lands disintegration of social and institutional arrangements evolved and enforced by rural communities to manage CPRs

Common Property Resources

Jodha (2002): Erosion/collapse of social capital leads to decline of CPRs Local social groups design informal institutional arrangement for managing CPRs collectively Over time, these lose effectiveness and voluntary participation in resource management declines

Common Property Resources

Due to introduction of elected village councils and derecognition of traditional social arrangements and customs, the community loses collective stake and control over CPRs Development programs undertaken by the government to restore/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

Common Property Resources

Resources managed under common property rights are often degraded due to weak property rights/inadequate institutional arrangements/breakdown of the authority system In recent years, local communities/resource user groups and the state or local government shared the responsibility of managing CPRs Combined skills of local resource users/committees and resources available with the states, research organizations, and NGOs

Common Property Resources

Encroachment is often an issue Key element of common property rights: enforcement Grazing areas may become degraded due to high cost of establishing/ enforcing individual or group rights Some theft of resources and encroachment may be tolerated 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

Common Property Resources

Also common: Land regularizationthe ex post granting of permanent and transferable property rights to the encroacher (similar to squatters rights)

In some states, there was a cut-off date to allow for the regularization of certain types of encroachment only if it occurred before the date If authorities cant prove whether the encroachment occurred before or after the cut-off date

Common Property Resources

Most encroachment is done by farmers who have land adjacent to commons They slowly move farm boundaries onto common properties To evict a farmer through formal channels, the authorities must first prove that the boundary has been moved, which requires the land to be surveyed and compared with the records of the village accountant, which in turn may not exist or may not be sufficiently detailed. Pressing for a conviction is a time-consuming processa court case will often take over ten years, allowing ample time for the farmer to assimilate the encroached land, and even for the land laws to change in his favor. (Robinson, 2008)

Because of this, village-imposed punishments are sometimes used

Common Property Resources

Institutional Mechanism to Manage CPRs Various structures have been used over the past three decades

Coordination of CPR management plan incorporating concepts of equity and sustainability with plans of departments engaged in agriculture/rural development at national, state and field planning levels (Gupta, 1995; Agarwal and Narin, 2002)

Common Property Resources

Community Participation in CPR Management Traditional rural Indian communities had integrated nature into culture Natural resources were/are associated with community customs

Resources were shared among villagers Village communities maintained sacred groves where harvest of timber/forest products was banned or restricted

Helped preserve biological diversity

Common Property Resources

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 resource regulation prompted the Indian Government to promote communitybased 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-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) conducts research on watershed management systems

Common Property Resources

In several states, the watershed management approach was adopted in villaged on degraded common lands For example, ICRISAT constructs experimental watershed structures and observes changes in the livelihoods of Indias rural poor Objectives: optimize land use to conserve soil/water resources throught controlling erosion, manage land and other biological resources to control land degradation, recycle runoff water, improve, economic conditions of village communities, increase agricultural productivity Targeted to especiall help small and marginal farmers in drylands Productivity is low Agricultural incomeis often supplemented by employment outside of farming

Common Property Resources

Watershed management programs were first launched in the mid 1980s under the National Watershed Development Program for Rainfed Agriculture 1994 Watershed Guidelines emphasized the participation of women and marginal groups A 2002 review of 36 watershed projects across five Indian states identified characteristics essential for mainstreaming watershed management across the country

Choosing a village rather than a watershed that spans several villages as 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)