SR-12 : Water conservation through land treatment measures

Abstract

The basic source of water on the earth is precipitation which may be in the form of rainfall or snowfall. Estimates have been made that the entire country received about 400 m ha. m of precipitation during a year. Out of this about 1 15 m ha. m flow as surface runoff, 215 m ha m seeps into the ground and rest 70 m ha m gets lost to atmosphere in the form of evaporation from streams and land surface. The country has been facing severe drought conditions for last 2-3 years in succession due to deficiency of rainfall. Keeping in view the continuing nature of drought conditions it may be worthwhile to review all land treatment measures help in conserving water. These treatment measures may be basically employed for increasing runoff from land surfaces in areas where less rainfall is received. These measures may include physical clearing of land surface, management of vegetation on upland watershed, use of mechanical measures etc.

In the present report a detailed review of all land treatment measures have been presented and effectiveness of all measures have been discussed based on available results. The viability of these techniques for conditions in the country would also be discussed. This will be helpful in planning overall strategy for water management.