Lakes, Ponds and Wetlands

The study discusses the hydrological aspects of rainwater harvesting in the Kandi belt in the foothill zone of Siwalik in Jammu region with the help of a case study on water availability in a pond in village Badhori (Samba district, Jammu). It describes the climate, soils, geology, geomorphology and drainage of the Kandi belt. It is marked with small watersheds having low denuded hills and undulating cultivated lands that need to be developed on a watershed basis through engineering and non-engineering measures of rainwater harvesting and soil conservation.

The naturally undulating terrain of Bangalore city, with its hills and valleys, lends itself perfectly to the development of lakes that impound rainwater, store it for future use and ensure ground water recharge. Lakes are thus live ecological systems, and play a crucial role in the supporting life, including human.

Lakes in Bangalore were designed in cascades from higher to lower elevations; as a lake overflowed the excess water would flow into the next lake in the cascade. The flow of water is from North to South-east as well North to South-west along the natural gradient of the land.

The Vembanad estuarine system, the largest of its kind on the west coast of India is known to be abundantly enriched with diverse fishery resources, providing feeding, spawning and rearing areas for a very large proportion of commercial (fin) fish and shellfish. However, ecosystem health of the Vembanad wetlands is alarmingly declining due to a variety of reasons - obstruction of river courses, sand mining & habitat destruction, loss of riparian canopy cover, encroachment, pollution and unethical fishing practices. Reduced summer flow due to drying up of rivers and pollution hazards from agro-chemicals and sewage also lead to mass mortality of fishes. Depletion of fishery resources has changed this ‘inland fish basket’ to an ‘inland wastebasket’, driving the fisherfolk, the primary stakeholders of the lake into a livelihood crisis.

Content Courtesy: GIS Development

Forwarded to the portal by: Sangeeta Deogawanka

Ponds are important sources of fresh water in the world as they store surface runoff produced by the storms. In this research paper, demarcation of the portion of land contributing runoff to ponds in village Nandgaon (Uttar Pradesh) has been done using topographical information of the surrounding area of the ponds, in a GIS interface.

Awards distributed to the winners of Lost lakes of Bangalore – A video contest

The awards ceremony of the Lost lakes of Bangalore video contest was held on July 3, 2010 at the TERI auditorium, Domlur.

The contest had two categories of entries – general (aimed at citizens) and the student category.

The Lost lakes of Bangalore contest elicited 23 student category and 15 general category videos, covering 32 lakes of the city.

The awards ceremony was well attended by students, participants and several citizens of Bangalore. Ms. Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Arghyamreinvigorated the youth to participate in redefining our lifestyles in order to reach sustainable consumption patterns.

Article Courtesy: Funds for NGOs.org

“The Ramsar Small Grants Fund (SGF) was established in 1990 as a mechanism to assist developing countries and those with economies in transition in implementing the Convention and to support the conservation and wise use of wetland resources, with a strong human and social dimension. From 1991 to 2008 the Fund has provided a total of 7.5 million Swiss Francs to 227 projects from 108 countries, providing up to 40,000 Swiss francs (about US$32,000) per project.”

This article by Collaborative for the Advancement of the Study of Urbanism through Mixed Media (CASUMM) presents the case of Bellandur Tank in Bangalore city and highlights how rapid unplanned urbanisation has led to the destruction of one of the biggest water bodies in Bangalore Urban district.

The tank provided sustenance for people who lived in the areas surrounding it and provided water for irrigation, household purposes such as drinking, washing and cleaning, besides providing ample supply of fish. The tank was thus an integral part of the society and had a relationship with the communities residing around the tank.

This is cross posted from my blog (link). I wanted to introduce the idea of common pool resources, on which there is a whole new body of work coming up lately. This had won Elinor Ostrom the 2009 Nobel Prize. For water sector, I believe this theory can definitely yield some new insights. And it all starts with a question "Who owns the water?'