Abstract:
Frequent occurrence of floods and droughts in the country is a cause of serious concern for the planners, policy makers, hydrologists, conservationists and environmentalists. Spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall coupled with erratic and extreme events results in recurring floods and droughts affecting large areas and populations and inflicting huge monetary losses. To overcome this gigantic problem, management of water at micro-level is essential which can only be accomplished by following the concept of integrated watershed management. Government of India has launched massive watershed development programmes in the country through its key ministries and funding support from international agencies. Experiences presented in this paper clearly demonstrate that efficient management of natural resources following watershed approach not only maximize productivity on sustainable basis but also help in moderating floods in downstream reaches and mitigate the impact of droughts during rain deficit years. The flow regimes are altered and redistributed over the year with reduction of peak flows and monsoonal runoff while improving perenniality of streams during the lean periods. However, community participation during the planning and implementation of these programmes should be ensured to sustain the tangible and intangible benefits during the withdrawal phase. A systematic approach is needed to critically evaluate the long-term impact of watershed development programmes on changing hydrological behaviour of watersheds at micro-level and macro-level in different agro-climatic regions of the country.
