Some Important principles of watershed management
• 1. Utilising the land according to its capability.
• 2. Putting adequate vegetal cover on the soil during the
rainy season.
• 3. Conserving as much rain water as possible at the
place where it falls.eg: ?????????
• 4. Drawing out excess water with a safe velocity and
diverting it to storage ponds and store it for future use.
• 5. Avoiding gully formation and putting checks at suitable
intervals to control soil erosion and recharge ground
water.
• 6.Increasing cropping intensity through intercropping and
sequence cropping.
• 7. Safe utilization of marginal lands through alternate land
use system.
• 8. Ensuring sustainability of the eco-systems befitting the
man-animal plant –land-water-complex over the years.
• 9. Maximising the combined income from the inter related
and dynamic interactions between resources (eg crop-livestocktree-labour –complex.)
• 10. Maximising productivity per unit area, per unit time and
per unit of water.
• From http://agri.ap.nic.in/principles.html
Integrate resource management by:
-linking water quality and quantity
-management of other resources,
-recognizing hydrological, ecological, social and institutional
systems,
-recognizing the importance of watershed and aquifer boundaries.
• Water conservation and the protection of water quality:
-recognizing the value and limits of water resources,
-the cost of providing water,
-acknowledging consumptive and non-consumptive values eg?
-balancing education, market forces and regulatory systems.
• Resolve water management issues by multi stakeholder
consultation, monitoring, researching, negotiating for consensus,
and ensuring accountability through open communication,
education and public access to information.
Watershed Planning
• A planning process allows people to decide as a group
how, to move from an unacceptable present to a
desirable future.
• Planning, however, is not an end product. It is
an on-going, dynamic process that must be responsive
and adaptive to changing conditions, and the current
social attitude or community vision.
• Watershed Planning is planning for the good
management of watersheds.
• It provides a means by which decisions are coordinated among
responsible government and private agencies and by which LU and
resource management conflicts and issues are resolved.
• As such, watershed planning combines scientific and technical
information with cultural and societal values. It therefore requires
detailed information about the particular watershed components,
processes and other related information. .
Watershed planning: Procedures
• planning attempts to apply reason to solve a
specific problem and identify steps to be
taken to reach a specific goal.
• when dealing with complicated social,
environmental or economic problems, the
steps that will be followed in developing a
plan are often formal, and will usually include
some or all of the following activities:
• ·
• there is no exact definition of a “watershed
approach” to planning, rather it is a social
construct agreed upon by people living in that
watershed i.e, process is not ridgid or cast in stone
• Each example of watershed planning will look
quite different, and it is crucial that watershed
advocates be involved to push for sustainable
watershed management
• Involve key decision makers and partners –
Who should be included to make the plan work?
• Identify or define the problem to be solved– If a
problem is defined too narrowly, you may overlook innovative
solutions.
• Model or analyze the situation/problem – It is
important to understand the causes of the problem, as well as
dynamics which might help solve it.
• Determine potential solutions, examining resource
requirements, implementation, feedback procedures, etc.
• Evaluate potential solutions, in terms of technical
feasibility, cost effectiveness, probable effects, political
acceptability, etc.
• Make a decision and agree.
• Implement the decision.
• Monitoring and evaluation: Evaluate the success of the
plan and its implementation. Modify as required
Watershed Planning Information
• Good planning depends on good information.
• Successful planning processes include steps to gathering and
assesssing information,
•
ensuring access to experts and other advisers (stakeholders)
Watershed Inventories
• it is impossible to identify all the information a given
planning process requires, therefore take a “watershed
inventory” as an essential first step in developing a
watershed plan.
• provide information on the physical, chemical and
biological features and processes that affect water and its
movement is
• This type of information is necessary for an
understanding of the watershed the planning process is
intended to manage and brings information of the various
aspects of the watershed to one place:
Physical features and landforms
• - Watershed planners need to understand
bedrock and surface geology. The nature of
the underlying rock determines the character
of the overlying soils and influences water
movement through soils.
• The chemical properties of the rock are
important through processes of weathering, e
Geologic Survey of Canada for more information.
Climate
• - incl temperature, wind speed and direction,
precipitation, influences water resources and
biological processes in a watershed.
• Rainfall intensity and duration. Wind
conditions may affect land and water
processes, particularly ET and wind erosion.
MET office
• Soils, Infiltration, and Runoff –
The ability of soil to transport water depends on
thesize and condition of channels through the
porous media. Function of the soil texture,
structure and particle aggregation
• Streamflow - rate of flow of water per unit time (e.g.,
m3/second).
• GW - Groundwater may be a source of surface water or may
be fed by surface water., may be an important source for
human water use, through wells (most rural areas). An
“aquifer” is an underground geological area which collects
groundwater. Aquifers and groundwater flows can be
measured in a variety of ways, Darcy’s
• Water Quality - Almost all water users are affected by WQ.
Mineral deposits in the watershed, drainage characteristics
of the soil, physical processes (e.g., erosion), and biological
processes, human use of water influence WQ.
• Acceptable WQ levels are dictated by the use for thatwater.
• measured in a variety of ways, incl measuring physical
biological or chemical parameters of the water
• Plant and Animal Species – An inventory should
determine the diversity of plant and animal species
present in a watershed, est numbers of each species,
and investigate the interrelationship between the
species and their environment. Also identify
endangered or threatened.species
• Land Use –existing and potential use by humans may
change the landscape through resource extraction,
housing, transportation and other means, resulting in
changes to the features of the watershed.
desired uses of the watershed may help a community to determine what
values it wants to protect through watershed planning. When compiling
a current land use inventory, check with your local government planning
and zoning departments, topographic or road maps, agricultural
extension professionals, and satellite or high altitude aerial photography
• Social and Economic Systems - are the human
systems or infrastructure that overlay the natural and
built environment. These systems affect people’s
attitudes and goals and the community support that is
central to the implementation of watershed
management.
• All of these types of information can, and should, help
inform watershed planning.
• Experts
While it is sometimes possible to get a subjective sense of some of the
above features, measuring and documenting the features of watershed in
a way that is credible and will sway planners can be difficult.
• In some cases you may be able to enlist volunteers with the expertise.
In other cases, experts may be willing to work at a discounted rate or
stake-holders with deep pockets will agree to pay for the development of
a watershed inventory or other information gathering.
• Take note of IKS in gathering information on the features of the
watershed. This knowledge can be documented and used in developing
a watershed inventory.