Tag Archives: Water Stewardship

What is Ecosystem-based Adaptation and how can it help India fight Climate Change?

Climate change is already happening. Rising temperatures leading to rise in natural disasters are already making headlines. This shifting phenomenon presents a considerable risk on the health of people, natural capital (like clean water and food) and world economies. If not addressed immediately it could lead to a further decline of biodiversity in several areas […]

Incentivizing Water Governance by applying the Water Governance Standard and Certification System toolkit

Ankita Yadav and Eshwer Kale Why this tool? Supply of adequate quantity and good quality of water has become a significant crisis across the globe. Water is a connecting resource for life, livelihoods, human well-being, and ecosystem health. This precious resource is essential for agriculture, production, businesses, and development resulting in competing uses for this […]

Collaborative action necessary to achieve ‘Water for Sustainable Development’

By Rahul Dev The United Nations marks the decade starting with World Water Day i.e. March 22, 2018, as the International Decade for Action – “Water for Sustainable Development”. [1]  This decision has been taken in the wake of increasing pressure on water resources and ecosystems worldwide. It clearly brings out the importance of recognizing the […]

WOTR’s work draws interest and appreciation at exhibition

By Aditya Shinde Expos and exhibitions are events organized with the aim of creating awareness among the public, providing a platform to companies to showcase their wares and sharing new ideas. The recent KISAN Agri Exhibition held in Pune was no exception.  KISAN is a national-level exhibition held annually in different parts of the country. […]

Research into use: the role of science in practice and policy

By Team W-CReS, Vikas Prakash Joshi and Geetanjali Prasad The word ‘Research’ can be broadly defined as the “creation of new knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate new concepts, methodologies and understandings”. [1] Another definition of research is the ‘systematic investigation into and study […]

Water Budgeting in Telangana,Experiences & Insights from the campaign

This the second blogpost  of the series on Water Budgeting in Telangana carried out in  7 Gram Panchayats (GP) of Rangareddy and Nagaurkurnool districts and their neighbouring hamlets. The  water budgets of these villages revealed some startling facts. This region has received low rainfall since the past three years, inspite of that, farmers took water intensive crops and livestock production during irrigation. However, the very high water deficit figures that emerged from the calculation shocked all participants.

Water Budgeting in Telangana, the need and the objective of the campaign

With the aim of “co-production of knowledge and learning to stimulate behavioral and institutional change, towards the management of water at village level” workshops were conducted in each GP and their hamlets.he key objectives of the workshop were to understand the following points: a) What is a Water Budget and how a village water budget is calculated?
(b) How to arrive at values for “Water Deficit” and “Water Surplus” at village level?
(c) The need for planning crop production around the water availability and
(d) To understand water wastage due to mismanagement and / or lack of knowledge.

A conversation with Dr. Suresh Kulkarni, Secretary, Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority on Water Governance issues in Maharashtra

As WOTR embarks on its 25th year, we are celebrating and disseminatinginformation on all the thematics we are working on . In the month of February 2018, we were disseminating information on Water Stewardship. Our team members, Eshwer Kale and Mandar Sathe, recently ­ interviewed Dr. Suresh Kulkarni, Secretary, Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA).  Dr. Kulkarni shared his thoughts on diverse issues in the water sector and his insights to improve the level of water governance in the state, specifically focusing on challenges and opportunities in the Maharashtra Groundwater (Development and Management) Act 2009. MWRRA has given an important mandate of ‘State groundwater Authority’ in the 2009 Groundwater Act

Water Scenario for Rural Jalna in 2030: For Domestic and Livelihood Needs- 2

In this report, we provide an overview of the proceedings of the first Transformative Scenario Planning (TSP) workshop titled ‘Water Situation in Rural Jalna in 2030: For Domestic and Livelihood Needs’ convened by Watershed Organisation Trust, on 18th and 19th September 2017 at Krushi Vidnyan Kendra, Jalna. The workshop was conducted in the local language (Marathi).

A watery slope

Natural forces such as drought do not discriminate between marginal communities and the urban population. As a result you see the unprecedented scenes of Cape Town facing a severe water crisis and on the brink of a catastrophic Day Zero scenario. The problem with the changing climate is that humanity, as a whole, is going to face situations which we have no prior experience in confronting. With such an unpredictable future in front of us, the most vulnerable communities need to be equipped first and foremost to prevent a domino effect leading to systemic failure. In the drought-stricken Marathawada region of Maharashtra, where the water dynamics are extremely complicated, WOTR has taken up the mantle to create resilient communities who are able to deal with the widespread problems of water scarcity. Through its flagship Water Stewardship program, it aims to bring a strong sense of ownership among the stakeholders about the extent of the problem and promote collective action over individualistic approaches. It puts the onus of solving the problem on the community itself thereby reducing the dependence on unsustainable practices.