QUES . In what way micro-watershed development projects help in water conservation in drought-prone and semi-arid regions of India? UPSC 2016 GS MAINS PAPER I, 250 Words, 15 Marks
HINTS:
The watershed is a natural hydrological entity that covers a specific aerial expanse of land surface from which the rainfall runoff flows to a defined drain, channel, stream or river at any particular point. It is a general phenomenon governed by topography of the terrain.
Based on the size, the hydrological unit is termed as water resource region, basin, catchment, sub-catchment, watershed, sub-watershed and micro-watershed respectively. The smallest hydrologic unit in the hierarchal system is termed as Micro watershed.
What is a micro watershed?
Micro watershed covers 500-1000 ha area. It covers regional planning at the village level with the objective to improve the efficiency of water use for the betterment of agricultural productivity
Micro-watershed is a strategy towards achieving inclusive growth with the objective of giving impetus to treatment of degraded watersheds, augmentation of drinking water, agricultural growth and spreading the benefits of growth to all sections of population.
What does the micro-watershed strategy includes?
Micro-watershed strategy includes:
Reclamation of waste lands in non-forest areas.
Checking of land degradation.
Promoting agro-forestry and social forestry.
Improving water use efficiency for agriculture and also provide water at regular intervals that will help improve productivity. For example bamboo drip irrigation of Meghalaya.
Restoring the natural resources of water collection like ponds, lakes, etc.
Moisture conservation measures such as contour bunds.
Smart management of less water-intensive cropping practices.
What are the outcomes and benefits of micro-watershed development projects?
The outcomes are prevention of soil erosion, conservation of soil moisture, regeneration of natural vegetation, rain water harvesting and recharging of the ground water table.
Water collected from all the sources is stored in lakes, ponds, subsurface soil, soil moisture and geological formation and building of check-dams, tanks,etc help in storage of water for lean seasons.
This enables multi-cropping and the introduction of diverse agro-based activities, which help to provide sustainable livelihoods to the people residing in the watershed area.
Mitigation of drought, employment generation and poverty alleviation.
Thus concept of watershed development improve community resilience for semi-arid and drought prone area which may lead to development of alternate livelihood activities, allied agricultural activities, cottage industries, etc.
It improves the quality of life of villagers through increased productivity of the land, availability of water—surface and ground, an increase in the vegetation cover, improving cattle health resulting in higher milk production, and improving the overall environment by tree plantation.
