What is a watershed?

A Watershed is the reservoir in which the rainwater falling on a vast hilly area is made to accumulate for recharging the water-table and for keeping it reserved for domestic and agricultural purposes of local communities.

What is watershed development?

In watershed development, the water is conserved at source i.e. the rain water falling on hills is stored and conserved in valleys. Civil structures like contour bunds, trenches, gully plugs, check dams and percolation tanks are constructed to conserve water and to recharge the ground water. The Watershed Management also aims at protecting precious top soil from getting eroded due to rain water run offs. The Integrated Watershed Management incorporates full participation of villagers at local level.

What is integrated watershed?

Watershed is the basic unit of development which involves a manageable subunit of water cycle. The Integrated Watershed involves various other elements that are linked with the watershed. These elements are: conservation, regeneration and judicious use of natural resources. Besides this, the integrated watershed keeps a balance between human demands and availability of the resource.

What are the major objectives of Watershed Management?

Some of the major objectives of Watershed Management are –

1. Conservation of soil & water

2. Recharging the ground water–table

What are the major areas covered under Integrated Watershed Management?

The Integrated Watershed Management covers different areas of environment which are listed below-

(i) Management of soil and water,

(ii) Development of sustainable agriculture,

(iii) Improvement in cattle rearing or the animal husbandry,

(iv) Development of fodder for cattle,

(v) Development of Agro-forestry i.e. growing commercially useful trees on demarcation lines of crop fields,

(vi) Management of rural energy, and

(vii) Development of community.

What is the need of integrated watershed management?

The implementation of Integrated Watershed Management is needed for the sustainable development of communities in a particular area. It is most needed in water scarce areas for following activities –

(i) For increasing production oriented works like increasing the agricultural production and doing other income generating activities,

(ii) For implementing Agro-forestry and Soil Conservation Programmes ,

(iii) For the empowerment of local communities so that they can generate resources and can maintain watersheds themselves,

(iv) For solving water and environment related problems,

(v) For planting trees to meet the demands of fibre and fodder,

(vi) For managing and stabilising hill slopes and terraces,

(vii) For controlling soil degradation through salinity and water logging,

(viii) For assuring adequate quantity and quality of usable water through —

(a) The cultivation of less water –consuming crop varieties,

(b) The protection of water bodies,

(c) The construction of check dams,

(d) The development of irrigation facilities,

(e) The development of water treatment facilities,

(f) Proper disposal of waste water and recharging the ground water.

(ix) For controlling floods and damages caused due to floods by-

(a) The construction of flood control dams along river banks,

(b) The plantation of trees in river basins to check soil erosion,

(c) The protection of wetlands,

(d) The construction of water diversion channels, and

(e) The control on overgrazing.

WATERSHED MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

The term ‘watershed management’ gained popularity in India in the 1990s when the Government launched two projects (1) Integrated Watershed Development Program (IWDP) and (2) National Watershed Development Program for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA)
In 2015, the Ministry of Rural Development and World Bank signed a loan agreement to consolidate these initiatives under “Neeranchal National Watershed Project (NWP)”

Presently, the Integrated Watershed Management is mainly carried out as a major project in Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh. However the development of watersheds is going on in many other states also on community basis. The Watershed Management is ideal at a place which experiences short rainfall and which has megre arrangements for irrigation.

What is National Watershed Project?

The Neeranchal national watershed project https://dolr.gov.in/en/programme-schemes/neeranchal-national-watershed-management-programme is a World Bank assisted project aims to fulfil the watershed component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMSKY).

Neeranchal is primarily designed to address the following concerns:

(a) Bring about institutional changes in watershed and rainfed agricultural management practices in India,

(b) Build systems that ensure watershed programmes and rainfed irrigation management practices are better focused, and more coordinated, and have quantifiable results,

(c) Devise strategies for the sustainability of improved watershed management practices in programme areas, even after the withdrawal of project support, through the watershed plus approach, support improved equity, livelihoods, and incomes through forwarding linkages, on a platform of inclusiveness and local participation.

What has been the impact of the National Watershed Project on the farmers?

The project has helped farmers adopt new soil, water and crop management techniques to increase vegetative cover, reduce soil erosion, and improve agricultural yields.

How National Watershed Project has helped in addressing the problem of water crisis?

A cheap and sustainable way to utilize the water of rivers and rivulets through the construction of check dams are a novel way to bridge the water requirement in stressed areas.

How National Watershed Project has helped in increasing agricultural production from water-stressed areas?

Efficient watershed management under the NWP has helped increase agricultural production in rain-fed areas, leading to better use of scarce water resources and raise household incomes of farmers.

It has facilitated access to real time weather forecasts and help farmers adopt climate-smart agricultural practices to mitigate climate change impacts.

How National Watershed Project has helped in improving rural livelihoods?

It has improved rural livelihoods through training, better extension services, and strengthened forward linkages to markets.

How National Watershed Project has led to the overall improvement of the area?

This is an inclusive concept wherein decentralization, community participation and holistic approach are being applied in the areas of watershed management region to eliminate the inter-regional differences, to enhance food and nutrition security and to enhance land and water resource management.Overall improvement of the area with waste management, pollution prevention and recycling efforts has led to the holistic development of the region associated.

Must read: Relevance of ‘watershed’, as an ecosystem

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

MCQ

QUES . What are the benefits of implementing the Integrated Watershed Development Programme? UPSC 2014

1 . Prevention of soil runoff

2 . Linking the country’s perennial rivers with seasonal rivers

3 . Rainwater harvesting and recharge of groundwater table.

4 . Regeneration of natural vegetation.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2, 3 and 4 only

(c) 1, 3 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Show Answer

SUBJECTIVE QUES.

QUES . Elaborate on the impact of the National Watershed Project in increasing agricultural production from water-stressed areas. UPSC 2019 GS MAINS PAPER III, 150 words, 10 Marks