Watershed Management- A management tool & technique
Watershed Management – A Management Tool and technique:
Conserving the environment and its resources is based on a thorough understanding of all the aspects of watershed. However, Basically, it integrates the planning for land and water. It makes a planning for the interaction of water, plants, animals and human land use considering both ground and surface water flow, within the physical boundaries of a watershed. Especially for Micro and Macro level management; urban flood mitigation to water audit and analysis; ecosystem restoration to hydrogeological investigations all are required to properly managed.
Watershed management is a tool & technique that manages a healthy ecological, economic, and cultural/social conditions within a watershed through an adaptive, comprehensive, integrated multi-resource management planning process
Adopting a watershed approach must be managed within the capacity of individual watersheds. The land and water in a watershed can affect the water supply that rivers provide. The land and water though are closely linked resources but have not historically been managed in a fully integrated manner. The community needs, are comprehensively provided by the watershed management .Watershed management provides a integrated decision-making framework for assessing the nature and status of the watershed. Thereby, identifies watershed issues; define and re-evaluate short and long-term objectives, actions and goals; assess benefits and costs; and implement and evaluate actions.
Watershed management -Manages and maintains healthy socio ecological health
Water is essential for our future. Management of water as natural resources provides a human, ecological and economic health.
A. Ecological
A healthy watershed filters the sediments and contaminants and prevents them from reaching streams, lakes, and groundwater. It further minimizes the impacts of flooding and erosion and serves to and hence promotes the health of all living organisms and landscapes within the watershed.
B.Economic
A vibrant economy depends on adequate supply of clean water. Especially the agricultural production and Agro based processing industries depends on better water supply. This in turn helps in healthy economic
C.Human
A safe daily supply of water with assurance of clean surface and ground water is essential for quality of life
Watershed is not just the hydrological unit but plays crucial role in determining food, social, and economical security that in turn provides life support services to rural people and hence is also an important socio-political-ecological entity .
People and livestock are the integral part of watershed and their activities affect the productive status of watersheds and vice versa. From the hydrological point of view, the different phases of hydrological cycle in a watershed are dependent on the various natural features and human activities.
Watershed development program is, therefore, considered as an effective tool for addressing many of these problems and recognized as potential engine for agriculture growth and development. Management of natural resources at watershed scale produces multiple bene1ts in terms of increasing protecting environment, food production, improving livelihoods, , addressing gender and equity issues along with biodiversity concerns.
