UPSC Mains 2016 GS Paper 1 Q20: model answer

A micro-watershed is a small drainage unit, usually 500–1,000 hectares, where all water drains to a common point.

How projects conserve water

• Ridge-to-valley treatment: trees and grass on upper slopes, contour bunds and trenches on middle slopes, check dams and farm ponds in the valley.
• Slowing runoff increases infiltration and recharges aquifers.
• Check dams and percolation tanks store water for the dry season.
• Reduced soil erosion keeps reservoirs and tanks from silting.
• Community rules on borewells and crop choice, such as banning sugarcane in water-short villages.
• Recharge of open wells allows drinking water supply through summer.

Wider benefits

• Higher water tables and crop yields; second crop possible.
• More fodder and fuel, more milk, less distress migration.
• Better soil moisture, which helps crops survive dry spells in the monsoon.

Examples

• Ralegan Siddhi and Hiware Bazar (Maharashtra), Adgaon; Jal Shakti Abhiyan.
• Watershed component of PMKSY, and earlier the Integrated Watershed Management Programme.
• Studies of treated watersheds commonly report rises in groundwater levels and cropped area.

Limits

• Poor maintenance after the project ends.
• Benefits flow mainly to landowners, not landless families.
• Upstream–downstream disputes over sharing water.
• Over-drilling of borewells can wipe out the gains.

Community participation, women's user groups and convergence with MGNREGA make them sustainable. In semi-arid India, the micro-watershed is the most cost-effective drought insurance available.