The micro-watershed approach enables amicable integration of land, water, and infrastructure development, particularly because of the homogenous nature of soil, water, and overall physical conditions within the micro watershed. The practitioners working in this realm are involved in an interdisciplinary endeavor, working collaboratively to study not only the storage and movement of water, but all of the interrelated systems that are dependent on water. Watershed planning and management comprise an approach to protecting water quality and quantity that focuses on the whole watershed. When rain water, also referred to as stormwater, hits the earth, it either soaks into the ground, or it runs over the surface until it reaches a surface water. (C) Development of alternative solutions of problem. Though a watershed can be defined at different levels, Indian practice reveals that the micro watershed has usually been the chosen scale of implementation for watershed management. The success of the project is often assessed on-site, and the individual-level outcomes (income increase, land area treated, and yield increase) are in general aggregated across the watershed area. IWRM should also deal with the variability of water in time and space, and manage risks associated with extreme variations of the resource. Water resource management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. Second, operating on the basis of a feasible social unit (a village micro watershed instead of a macro watershed that crosses administrative boundaries) in fact trades one set of problems for another. The origin of watershed management is closely linked to forestry; for example, the uncontrolled Put simply, a Watershed Management Plan (WMP) identifies water quality problems in your watershed, proposes solutions, and creates a strategy for putting those solutions in action. However, the reverse is also true, to some degree. This phase takes care of the general health of the watershed and ensures normal functioning. Interestingly, Borchardt and Ibisch [16] argue that the strong links and important trade-offs between water security, food security, and energy security mean that IWRM should be considered as a pathfinder process for the implementation of integrated resource management. Types of Watershed Management 3. Low rainfall years and droughts worsen the situation considerably. Through an understanding of the interrelated processes that combine to govern water and sediment supply in a watershed, it is possible to implement engineering modifications or land-management practices to intentionally alter the hydrological function of a watershed. By doing so, all the characteristics of each watershed can be evaluated to reflect the real, interconnected nature of Florida’s water resources. IWRM has management instruments which are “tools and methods that enable and help decision-makers to make rational and informed choices between alternative actions” [1]. Michel Le Page, ... Jalel Aouissi, in Water Resources in the Mediterranean Region, 2020. Watershed management in this must take account of the following: The relative lack of treatment of the uppermost parts of the watershed which are forested, uninhabited, and directly under the control of the state Forest Department, A large number of structures already built on the (smaller) drainage lines, implying that there are few suitable sites left to build more numbers of large RWH structures, such as check dams. Watershed management approach with appropriate scale has emerged to deal with the complex challenges of natural resource management. These include the Wang WSM project (WWMP) supported by European commission and Lingmutey Chhu watershed project (LCWP) supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) (Singh and Karki, 2004). Operating at the micro-watershed scale does not necessarily aggregate up or capture upstream-downstream interactions. Plagiarism Prevention 4. Meaning of Watershed Management: The word “watershed” introduced in 1920 was used for the “water parting boundaries”. Some traditional objectives of watershed management are to mitigate flooding risk to structures or entire communities, restore wetland function, inhibit runoff of nutrients from agricultural land, or protect drinking source-water areas from environmental contaminants. Watershed is defined as a geo-hydrological unit draining to a common point by a system of drains. All lands on earth are part of one watershed or other. [9] note that the most successful applied research and knowledge sharing in watershed management programs worldwide occur when stakeholders are full partners in the research process at all the stages of identification, design, implementation, and evaluation, and technologies are offered as a range of choices to be adapted. Of late, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction, and now, most projects operate at the village level, disregarding hydrologic linkages between micro watersheds. It should be noted that for other authors [18], SVP has a broader meaning but we retain the original meaning here. To reduce the risk designed with the following objectives. The various measures adopted under soil and water harvesting is: (b) Building of contour bunds along contours for erosion. Practices. (d) Irrigation water management through drip and sprinkler methods. n. 1. g. Employment generation through industrial development dairy fishery production. A watershed is simply the geographic area through which water flows across the land and drains into a common body of water, whether a … All the area under winter crops (mostly maize) and the small area under the summer groundnut crop are irrigated. Calder et al. Fig. This would involve working simultaneously to promote watershed governance capacity both within and between micro watersheds. However, research implies potentially severe trade-offs between these two approaches. The first aspect of IWRM is a hydrological assessment, which characterizes the properties and interactions of water resources within the watershed. Watershed management involves determination of alternative land treatment measures for, which information about problems of land, soil, water and vegetation in the watershed is essential. [2] and shown here in Fig. Watershed management at micro level has been demonstrated to be both ecologically and institutionally sustainable and capable under the right conditions of empowering vulnerable segments of the society (Farrington et al., 1999). V. Ratna Reddy, ... Chiranjeevi Tallapragada, in Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Watershed Management in Xeric Environments, 2019. A good water potential in watershed provides a conducive path for its overall development. Examples from selected case studies on the efficiency of ecological engineering measures in watershed management are presented. Meaning of Watershed Management: Watershed management in the broader sense is informed by an undertaking to maintain the equilibrium between elements of the natural eco system or vegetation, land or water on the one hand and human activities on the other hand. Drought and flood events can have dramatic effects on the population and economic activities. The water available to the system is mobilized by supply regulation in order to satisfy the different water demands. (i) Vegetative measures/Agronomical measures: (ii) Engineering measures/Structural practices: (i) Establishment of permanent grass and vegetation, (j) Providing vegetative and stone barriers. Privacy Policy 8. This scale facilitates a program to act in response to human needs and natural resource problems at the local level. A watershed or a catchment is a piece of land or an area that drains rainwater into a lake, river or stream. Biswas [13] criticized a blurry concept, wondering what aspect should be integrated and underpinning the difficulties of implementation. More wells and RWH structures built in the last decade has supported a growth in irrigated agriculture in (micro) watershed villages. The difficulty of managing watershed interventions at diverse scales so as to achieve the larger-scale objectives of downstream impacts is further complicated because of participatory approaches, which basically give the option of interventions to the communities rather than to the planners. This approach is necessary due to the nature of polluted runoff, which in most watersheds is the biggest contributor to water pollution. Even the Constitution of Bhutan mentions about watershed management (article 5) followed by most of the recent policies and acts (Bhutan 2020; Land Act, 2007; Bhutan Water Vision 2025; Bhutan Water Policy, 2008 and Bhutan Water Act 2010). The main aim of watershed management is to conserve the soil, plant, and water resources of a catchment while benefiting humanity. Cropped and irrigated areas have increased in the last decade, with a preference for longer-duration cotton, a cash crop. Although the local community is tribal and poor, mostly farming small and marginal land holdings during the single crop monsoon season, some farmers have wells with year-round water to support irrigated agriculture. Theory and experience have shown that facilitating collective action in small, village-level watersheds has fewer constraints. Those that work in the field of watershed planning and management know that communicating their knowledge and involving stakeholders at every level is as important as the analysis of the scientific issues and solutions. Watershed management is a term used to describe the process of implementing land use practices and water management practices to protect and improve the quality of the water and other natural resources within a watershed by managing the use of those land and water resources in a comprehensive manner. Prior to 2009, WSM projects were implemented with donor support. He Science is a founding member and chairman of the Watershed Academic Consortium, an action-oriented The Importance of Multilevel Edi t or s' Pi c k s partnership of five universities/colleges for integrated watershed management and sustainable and Multidimensional Approaches to Integrated development in the Visayas Region, Philippines. The Quick Guide is also intended for managers h. Recharging of ground water to provide regular water supply for consumption and industry as well as irrigation. watershed management program are: 1) conservation, up-gradation and utilization of natural endowments such as land, water, plant, animal and human resources in a harmonious and integrated manner with low-cost, simple, e/ective and replicable Several countries have already entered an era of water shortage [3] or can be classified as water scarce or water stressed [2, 4–6]. M.D. [15] is an excellent example of this evolution in the last 30 years. 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