🌊Watershed Management: Principles, Programmes, and Practices for Rainfed Agriculture

A Village That Stopped Water From Leaving

In the previous lesson, we covered dryland agriculture — the crops, institutions (CRIDA, ICRISAT), contingency plans, and drought management strategies for farming without irrigation. Now we zoom out to the landscape level: how do we manage an entire drainage area to conserve rainfall for an entire community?

In Ralegan Siddhi, a small village in drought-prone Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, farmers once struggled with failed monsoons, depleted wells, and mass migration. Then the village collectively built check dams, contour bunds, and percolation tanks across its watershed. Within a decade, groundwater levels rose by 5 metres, cropping intensity doubled, and migration stopped. This transformation was not magic — it was watershed management, the science of treating an entire drainage area as one unit to conserve every drop of rain where it falls. For rainfed agriculture, which covers over half of India’s cultivated area, watershed management is the most powerful tool available.

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What is a Watershed?

A watershed is an area of land where all the rainwater that falls within its boundaries flows downhill to converge at a single outlet point — a stream, river, lake, or ocean. The boundary separating one watershed from its neighbour is called the drainage divide (or ridge line).

• The term “watershed” was introduced in 1920 for “water parting boundaries”.
• Formally defined as a geohydrological unit draining to a common point by a system of drains.
• Watershed technology is used primarily in rainfed areas. Since rainfed areas cannot rely on external water sources, managing the rainfall that falls within the watershed boundary is the only way to ensure water availability for crops, livestock, and domestic use.
• Catchment area is the water collecting area — “all the areas from which water flows out into a river or water pool”.

Agricultural example: A micro-watershed of 500 hectares in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district receives an average of 900 mm rainfall annually. Without management, 40% runs off as surface flow, eroding topsoil and leaving wells dry by February. With watershed treatment (contour bunds, farm ponds, vegetative barriers), runoff is reduced to 15%, wells sustain water until May, and farmers grow a second rabi crop.

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What is Watershed Management?

Watershed management is the effective conservation of soil and water resources for sustainable production with minimum non-point source (NPS) pollutant losses. It involves managing land surface and vegetation to conserve soil and water for immediate and long-term benefits to farmers, community, and society.

The approach is holistic — it considers the entire watershed as an integrated system where activities in the upper reaches affect conditions downstream, and management decisions must account for these interconnections.

Agricultural example: If farmers in the upper part of a watershed clear forests for cultivation, the increased runoff causes flooding and silt deposition in the lower fields. Watershed management prevents this by treating the entire area — planting trees at the top, building check dams in the middle, and improving drainage at the bottom.

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Aims of Watershed Construction

Watershed structures serve two complementary purposes:

By slowing down runoff and allowing more water to infiltrate into the soil, watershed structures simultaneously reduce erosion, recharge aquifers, and improve base flow in streams.

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Objectives of Watershed Management

1. Control damaging runoff and conserve soil and water (in-situ conservation of soil moisture)
2. Increase gross cropped area, production, and productivity
3. Protect, conserve, and improve watershed land for sustained production
4. Protect and enhance water resources originating in the watershed
5. Check soil erosion and reduce sediment yield
6. Rehabilitate deteriorating and degraded lands
7. Moderate flood peaks at downstream areas
8. Increase infiltration of rainwater
9. Improve production of timber, fodder, and wildlife resources
10. Enhance groundwater recharge wherever applicable
11. Generate employment through industrial development, dairy, and fishery production
12. Provide recreational facilities

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Impact of Watershed Development

Successful watershed development programmes have demonstrated significant positive impacts:

Agricultural example: The Sukhomajri watershed project in Haryana’s Shivalik hills is a landmark success. Before treatment, the village lost 150 tonnes of soil per hectare per year. After building check dams and establishing community-managed grazing rules, soil loss dropped to less than 5 tonnes, and crop yields tripled.

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Types of Watershed

Watersheds are classified depending upon size, drainage, shape, and land use pattern.

The micro watershed (100—1000 ha) is the most commonly used unit for planning and implementing watershed development projects in India, as it is large enough to show measurable impact yet small enough for effective community-based management.

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Main Components of Watershed Management

These three components work together in a complementary manner — soil conservation reduces erosion and improves in-situ moisture, water harvesting captures and stores excess runoff, and alternate land use directs non-arable land towards productive uses.

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Four Phases of Watershed Management

Watershed management follows a logical sequence from problem identification to long-term enhancement. Understanding these phases is essential for both implementation and exams.

Phase Details

Recognition Phase: This is essentially a diagnostic exercise that establishes the baseline condition of the watershed. Information is obtained from different surveys (soil, land capability, agronomic, forest, engineering, socio-economic) to identify watershed problems, set priorities for land treatment, and understand causes and effects on land and people.

Restoration Phase: Involves actual on-the-ground implementation starting with the most degraded areas. Biological measures include vegetative barriers, contour planting, and afforestation. Engineering measures include bunds, terraces, check dams, and farm ponds.

Protection Phase: Focuses on maintaining structures and measures already in place. Without regular maintenance, check dams silt up, bunds break, and the benefits of restoration are quickly lost.

Improvement Phase: Goes beyond physical land treatment to address broader socio-economic development — recognizing that sustainable natural resource management requires improvements in human welfare (health, employment, livestock improvement).

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Watershed Management Programmes in India

India has implemented several major watershed development programmes over the decades. Each targets specific agro-ecological challenges.

Programme Comparison Table

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1. Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP)

• Year of start: 1970—71
• Objectives: Area development through restoration of ecological balance and optimum utilization of land, water, livestock, and human resources to mitigate the effect of drought.
• DPAP was one of the earliest area development programmes specifically designed for drought-prone regions.

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2. Desert Development Programme (DDP)

• Year of start: 1977—78
• Objectives: Mitigate the effect of drought in desert areas and restore ecological balance.
• DDP targets the hot and cold desert areas of the country, focusing on combating desertification through afforestation, sand dune stabilisation, and water harvesting.

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3. National Watershed Development Programme for Rainfed Agriculture (NWDPRA)

• Year of start: 1986—87
• Objectives: To conserve and utilise rainwater from both arable and non-arable lands on watershed basis. To increase the productivity of crops and to increase fuel, fodder, and fruit resources through appropriate alternate land use systems.

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4. World Bank Assisted Integrated Watershed Development Programme

• Year of start: 1990
• Objectives: To arrest problems of environmental degradation and promote sustainable increase in agriculture production. To enhance vegetative technology of soil and water conservation for rainwater conservation and for increasing crop, forage, fuel wood, and timber yield.

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5. Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (WDC-PMKSY)

The Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development, implemented the Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) from 2009 for development of rainfed portions of net cultivated area and culturable wastelands.

Activities include: ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting, nursery raising, afforestation, horticulture, pasture development, and livelihoods for asset-less persons.

IWMP was subsumed under PMKSY as one of its components, integrating watershed development with the national vision of “Har Khet Ko Pani” (water to every field) and “More Crop Per Drop” (water use efficiency). Operational guidelines approved on 26.10.2015.

Salient Features of WDC-PMKSY

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6. Neeranchal National Watershed Project

• Implementation period: 2016—21 (six years)
• Implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development
• Budget sharing: 50% Government + 50% World Bank
• Objectives: Reduce surface runoff, increase groundwater recharge, enhance rainfed agriculture productivity, increase milk yield, and improve cropping intensity
• Supports PMKSY in hydrology and water management, agricultural production systems, capacity building, monitoring, and evaluation

Agricultural example: Under Neeranchal, treated watersheds in Madhya Pradesh showed a 35% increase in groundwater levels and a shift from single-crop to double-crop farming, with milk production increasing as improved fodder availability sustained more livestock through the dry season.

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Watershed Management Practices

A. By Purpose

B. By Method

Vegetative Measures (Agronomical)

Vegetative measures use living plants as the primary tool for soil and water conservation. They are generally less expensive than engineering structures and provide additional economic benefits through crop, fodder, or timber production.

Engineering Measures (Structural Practices)

Engineering measures physically intercept, divert, or store runoff water. While more expensive to build, they provide immediate and reliable results in controlling erosion and harvesting water.

Vegetative vs Engineering Measures — Comparison

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Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater harvesting means collection and storage of rainwater by some mechanism to make water available for future use. It encompasses any technique — from simple farm ponds to rooftop collection systems — that captures rain for later use.

An appreciable amount of precipitation that is generally lost as surface flow can be harvested and stored for useful purposes like drinking and providing supplemental irrigation to crops.

Agricultural example: In Rajasthan’s Thar Desert, traditional tanka (underground cistern) systems harvest rooftop and surface runoff to provide drinking water for 8—10 months. For agriculture, khadins (earthen embankments across gentle slopes) harvest runoff to create moisture-rich fields for growing wheat and chickpea without any external irrigation.

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Important Points for Exams

In-situ Water Harvesting

In-situ water harvesting means conserving rainwater right where it falls on the field, rather than allowing it to run off. This is the most cost-effective moisture conservation strategy for dryland farmers.

Micro-catchments are particularly beneficial because they:

1. Increase moisture storage in deeper soil layers
2. Are suitable for all soil types
3. Are specifically effective for horticultural tree crops (mango, pomegranate, ber)

Agricultural example: In Karnataka’s dryland belt, farmers create micro-catchments (small semi-circular bunds) around young mango trees. Each bund captures about 200 litres of rainwater per rain event, which percolates into the root zone. This simple technique improves survival rate of young trees from 50% to over 90%.

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Water Budgeting

A water budget is a water management tool used to estimate the amount of water a landscape will require. It can be calculated for a single irrigation event, on a weekly or monthly basis, or even annually.

The water budget considers: reference evapotranspiration data, plant types, purpose and functionality of the landscape, irrigated landscape area, irrigation efficiency, water quality, and rainfall.

Community-Based Water Budgeting in Watersheds

Crop water budgeting is a community-led process where local communities come together to assess water resources in their village. The participatory nature is crucial because it builds community ownership and ensures all stakeholders — large farmers, small farmers, landless labourers, women — have a voice.

Communities explore three fundamental questions:

• Positive balance (surplus): The village has more water than it uses — can consider expanding irrigated area.
• Negative balance (deficit): Over-exploitation of water — must reduce demand (less water-intensive crops) or increase supply (more harvesting structures).

Agricultural example: In semi-arid villages of Andhra Pradesh, communities monitor groundwater levels bi-monthly using water level indicators. The data is publicly displayed. Before rabi sowing, crop plans are made based on available water — securing enough for livestock and domestic use in summer before allocating the rest to irrigation. If water is scarce, farmers switch from water-intensive paddy to drought-tolerant millets or pulses.

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Summary Table

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Summary Cheat Sheet