To prevent & mitigate salinity ingress, by enhancing the community’scapacities for adopting rainwater harvesting and water saving practices on a sustainable basisthrough community institutions.
Due to the erratic nature of rainfall in recent years and with absence of perennial rivers, the groundwater remains the only reliable source for irrigation in the region. Consequently, agriculture in coastal Saurashtra is largely dependent on groundwater aquifers. The region is dotted with more than 1.30 lakh irrigation wells, which have caused the withdrawal of a large quantity of groundwater draft has resulted in ingress of seawater. Excessive withdrawal has had a multiplier effect on the impacts of salinity ingress and groundwater quality deterioration. The prevailing flood irrigation practices of the farmers also result in huge water wastage.
CSPC has been working with an objective to prevent & mitigate salinity ingress, by enhancing the community’s capacities for adopting rainwater harvesting and water saving practices on a sustainable basis through community institutions. The activitiesenable farmers’ risk-taking abilities vis-à-vis mitigating crop failure and provides additional water for irrigation.
The major activities under the water resource management consist of:
· Construction/ repair of water harvesting/ recharge structures
· Community capacity building and engagement for water management and Promotion of water use efficiency through adoption of Drip & Laser irrigation
· Water budgeting and training, and undertaking geo-hydrological surveys for preparation of water security plans through community participation
· Facilitating user groups and water security groups through sensitization on key issues of water wastage and shortage in irrigation, and to adopt new technologies for effective water management
Details for Water Resource Management:
CSPC works both on the supply and demand sides to reduce the demand of the scarce resource on one hand, while at the same time improving the recharge capacity of the aquifers for efficient water management. Under the community-managed water security initiative, the key intervention areas are:
Thus, the prime objective of these interventions is to prevent and mitigate salinity ingress through the adoption of rainwater harvesting and water-saving practices. These practices in turn enable farmers to adopt different varieties of crops, innovative pest management techniques, and new technologies for effective water management.
