Conservation - Reducing Water Usage

Featured Articles
November 25, 2022 These maps at the watershed scales have been made to not only ensure inclusion of different freshwater ecosystems, their connectivity and hydrological processes, but can also provide a spatial context for conservation decisions.
A stream at Anini, Arunachal Pradesh (Image Source: Roshni Arora)
September 21, 2022 The unique design and functioning of the Chakla bavdi in Chanderi Madhya Pradesh is another example of the water wisdom of our ancestors, which needs to be conserved and passed on to the future generations.
Chakla Bavdi at Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh (Image Source: Shirole, S. 2022. Architectural eloquence: Water harvesting structure in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh (India). Ancient Asia, 13: 9, pp. 1–13)
June 21, 2022 While springs in Kashmir have still retained their good quality and have a great potential to be used for drinking water, threats to them are growing. Their protection and sustainable management is crucial.
Verinag spring in Anantanag district of Kashmir (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
January 13, 2022 State of the world’s land and water resources for food and agriculture: The synthesis report 2021
Sustainable agricultural practices lead to water saving, soil conservation, sustainable land management, conservation of natural resources, ecosystem and climate change benefits. (Image: Maheshwara, Pixahive)
November 9, 2021 Building resilient agricultural system through groundwater management interventions in degraded landscapes of Bundelkhand region
Charkhari talab in Bundelkhand (Image: IWP Flickr)
September 1, 2021 Best practices for holistic urban water management in Chennai Metropolitan Area
These bright plastic jugs are ubiquitous in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. (Image: McKay Savage, Flickr Commons; CC BY 2.0)
Case studies on drinking water from Whitman Direct Action's "Water Book"
Description of Byrraju Foundation's work Posted on 09 Sep, 2009 11:22 AM

Sujala Scheme: The Byyraju Foundation's manual for setting up a locally managed, rural drinking water plant. The Foundation's drinking water initiative covers 154 villages across five districts of Andhra Pradesh via 31 village-level treatment plants.
Read More (Size: 2.1 MB)
Byrraju Foundation website

Integrated approaches for sustainable development in water resources sector
A report highlighting desalination, tank irrigation and agricultural practices as effective solutions to resolve the growing water scarcity in personal use and agriculture Posted on 04 Sep, 2009 12:11 PM

The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Technology for Sustainable Development and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne EPFL have produced a report titled Integrated Approaches for Sustainable Development in Water Resources Sector.

More crop and income per drop of water - Report by the advisory council on artificial recharge of groundwater (MoWR) (2006)
A report on artificial recharge groundwater Posted on 02 Sep, 2009 11:03 AM

This report by the Advisory Council on Artificial Recharge of Ground Water, the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India is divided into the following sections:

System of Rice Intensification
How method of system of rice intensification can be applied to save water Posted on 01 Sep, 2009 04:32 PM

Part A: Improving Rice Productivity and saving Water through System for Rice Intensification (12 minutes)

A collection of documents, information and links on the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) - WASSAN (Hyderabad)
System of Rice Intensification collection of documents, research reports and useful links Posted on 29 Aug, 2009 03:23 PM

This site includes a collection of documents, research reports and useful links on SRI . These include:

Experience sharing workshops on System of Rice Intensification (SRI) - A report
This report from WASSAN provides details of workshops organised by People's Science Institute (PSI) in October 2006 as a first step towards sharing the experiences of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) to develop professional capabilities in the field of SRI method of paddy cultivation. Posted on 29 Aug, 2009 02:55 PM

SRIThis report available on the  Watershed Support Services And Activities Network (WASSAN) site provides the details of three workshops organised by People's Science Institute (PSI) in October 2006 in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh as a first step towards sharing the experiences of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method with the stakeholders group as well as assist the voluntary organisations in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to develop professional capabilities in the field of SRI method of paddy cultivation.

India's experience with drought management: Changed perspectives and challenges
Drought is a natural disaster. Nearly 200 million ha land in India in 135 districts of 13 states are severely affected by drought four times in every 10 years. Posted on 29 Aug, 2009 02:43 PM

This document describes the drought situation in India over the years, the earlier perspective at drought management and the gradual change in perspective at managing droughts that evolved over the years.

Using water sustainably in agriculture: Increasing productivity and farm income
Better water management in agriculture will go a long way in improving our crop productivity and thereby total output to feed the masses, not only of India but also of other parts of the world. Posted on 29 Aug, 2009 01:29 PM

Agriculture is a vital sector in India with about 60% of the population engaged in agricultural vocations and contributing to about 30% of the GDP. It consumes about 80% of water used in the country and 76% of the net irrigated area in the country is from ground water sources.

Efficiency of water use in Indian agriculture - Madras Institute of Development Studies
This working paper by the Madras Institute for Development Studies informs that the increase in the demand for water in all sectors especially in agriculture, and dwindling nature of the per capita availability of its supply in recent decades has induced scientists and researchers to focus their attention more on efficient use of available water. However, informed discussion of the problem and its solutions is impeded by the lack of adequate and reliable knowledge of how much water is used, where, for what purpose and how efficiently. This paper is a modest attempt to fill this gap. Posted on 29 Aug, 2009 01:10 PM

This paper by the Madras Institute for Development Studies presents estimates of the ‘consumptive use’ of water in crop production; the ratio of consumptive use to gross water utilization; and productivity per unit of consumptive use.

Water as the hidden export: Exploring the concept of virtual water for growing intensive commercial crops in water scarce areas
"Water: the hidden export", is a report by Shama Perveen, written in August 2004, on the concept of virtual water. The author argues that this concept must be seriously considered in India, because when water intensive commercial crops are grown in water scarce areas and the produce exported, it amounts to a virtual export of water, even as water availability in the home country becomes scarcer. Posted on 29 Aug, 2009 10:51 AM

Click here to read more: Read the report

×