Surface Water

Article Courtesy: Funds for NGOs.org

“The Ramsar Small Grants Fund (SGF) was established in 1990 as a mechanism to assist developing countries and those with economies in transition in implementing the Convention and to support the conservation and wise use of wetland resources, with a strong human and social dimension. From 1991 to 2008 the Fund has provided a total of 7.5 million Swiss Francs to 227 projects from 108 countries, providing up to 40,000 Swiss francs (about US$32,000) per project.”

The paper critically evaluates the Greater Bangalore Water and Sanitation Project (GWSAP), implemented by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). This project aims to extend piped water supply from the Cauvery to over two million residents in peri-urban Bangalore. This ambitious project has been viewed against the backdrop of the broader trends and debates around market-based reforms in the water sector in Karnataka.

The report presents field experiences and lessons in developing Incentive-based Mechanisms (IBMs) for watershed protection services and improved livelihoods at micro and macro-scales, derived from an action-learning project in India at three locations in the states of Himachal Pradesh (HP) and Madhya Pradesh (MP).

An inter-village transaction was facilitated at one site (the Kuhan micro-catchment in HP), while at the second site (Suan micro-catchment in HP) a transaction failed to materialize despite initial interest. At the third site in MP, there was interest in undertaking a transaction between the city of Bhopal and the catchment of its lake, the Bhoj Wetlands. 

The action research has yielded insights into the role of hydrological information, types of incentive mechanisms, the importance of institutions and the implementation of IBMs.

Credits to: Ground Report India April-2010-Edition

Hindus have always believed that water from India's Ganges River has extraordinary powers. The Indian emperor Akbar called it the "water of immortality" and always traveled with a supply. The British East India Co. used only Ganges water on its ships during the three-month journey back to England, because it stayed "sweet and fresh."
Indians have always claimed it prevents diseases, but are the claims wives' tales or do they have scientific substance?

The paper reviews contentious issues related to water governance in the Narmada river basin like the riparian rights of States over apportionment of the use of the waters for large dam-centered canal irrigation and hydro-electric power development and the later disputes around the appropriateness of this model of development given the tremendous environmental and social costs associated with it.

This technical review paper puts forward robust watershed modeling options as an instrument of participative governance in the water sector, where there is common agreement among stakeholders on assessment of resource and on the manner in which it is to be utilized. Reasonably validated estimates are developed based on existing data and different scenarios are explored. The models offer a scope of assessing the potential changes in watershed hydrology and water availability due to watershed development projects, and can be used as a basis for planning and monitoring.

Highlights of the February 2010 issue of "Water MOVES", a quarterly newsletter on Water Governance from the Water Governance Project at Society For Promotion of Wastelands Development (SPWD):

SIMPLE & EFFECTIVE Method to increase WATER to east flowing RIVERS of SOUTH INDIA.

WESTERN GHATS are the mighty walls created by the nature.

Guest Post by Himanshu Thakkar

New Delhi: A workshop organised yesterday on the sidelines of a South Asia civil society gathering under the banner of Assembly of a Union of South Asian Peoples at Jawaharlal Nehru University came up with a set of recommendations to address the question of conflict over shared rivers in the region. The key message from the meeting, which addressed issues pertaining to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and India, was that South Asia’s rivers should be a source of uniting peoples, not dividing them. The Assembly is being organised as a civil society counter to the official SAARC meeting to be held in Thimpu from 28-29 April 2010.

This article by Collaborative for the Advancement of the Study of Urbanism through Mixed Media (CASUMM) presents the case of Bellandur Tank in Bangalore city and highlights how rapid unplanned urbanisation has led to the destruction of one of the biggest water bodies in Bangalore Urban district.

The tank provided sustenance for people who lived in the areas surrounding it and provided water for irrigation, household purposes such as drinking, washing and cleaning, besides providing ample supply of fish. The tank was thus an integral part of the society and had a relationship with the communities residing around the tank.