A

MICRO PROJECT REPORT

ON

“Study on Watershed Management”

Submitted By
Suravase Pratik Arjun [Roll No .32]
Shinde Abhijit Mahadev [Roll No .26]
In the partial fulfillment of the requirement of
Diploma in Civil Engineering
Approved By,
Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education, Mumbai.

Under The Guidance Of

Ms. Bansode.S.

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING,

FABTECH TECHNICAL CAMPUS,
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND RESEARCH , SANGOLA.
Year 2021-22
An Education Empowered by industry..
FABTECH TECHNICAL CAMPUSCOLLEGE OF ENGINEERING &
RESEARCHPOLYTECHNIC (SHIFT), SANGOLA
 Certificate
Suravase Pratik Arjun [Roll No .32]
Shinde Abhijit Mahadev [Roll No .26]

This is to certify that Of TY civil have satisfactorily and successfully

completed their micro projectentitled as,
“WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING”
And have submitted this micro project report in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the Subject / Courseon WATER RESOURCES
ENGINEERING of the MSBTE during academic year 2021-22.

Date:

Place :Sangola.

ProjectGuide H.O.D Principal

(Miss. Bansode.S.) (Mr.Mule V.V ) (Mr.Pawar S.L)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my project

guide Miss. Bansode.S. ,Head of the Departmentas well as our principal

Mr. Pawar S. L. who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful

project on the topic “Study on Watershed Management” which also helped

me in doing a lot of Research and i came to know about so many new things

I am really thankful to them. Secondly I would also like to thank my

parents and friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this project within the

limited time frame.

Suravase Pratik Arjun [Roll No .28]

Shinde Abhijit Mahadev [Roll No .22]
 Micro-Project Report
WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

1.0 Rational
A watershed is a logical, natural planning unit for agricultural, environmental and
socioeconomic research and development. The drainage patterns of a watershed
form the framework of important energy flow and nutrient cycles that occur on the
landscape. If planning does not occur at this level, activities on a smaller planning
unit will be susceptible to being undercut by events outside the project control
which disrupt these energy and nutrient flow patterns. These flow patterns also are
central to the benefits and costs of many types of socioeconomic decisions. 
A watershed management approach to land stewardship accommodates the
interests of the widest possible number of people. The approach examines the
benefits obtained from land stewardship by optimizing production and maintaining
environmental integrity. It also facilitates more effective conflict resolution from a
sustainability perspective. The approach further recognizes that future generations
of people deserve to inherit landscapes that are capable of producing the needed
goods and services while maintaining ecosystem health and economic stability.
How watershed management is implemented to conserve and sustain the flow of
high-quality water, wood production and other forestry activities, livestock
production, and agricultural cropping and to mitigate effects of land use on soil
erosion, sedimentation, and flooding is the focus of this paper.

2.0 Aim of the Micro-Project

● To study the provision and securing of access to sanitation.
● To manage watershed for beneficial developmental activities.

3.0 Intended Course Outcomes

● a) Recognize the terminology about watershed management.
● b) Identify the physical characteristics and land forms to watershed inventory.

4.0 Literature Review:

1) Watershed Management: An Exploration of the Intersection of Two Fields

as Reported in the Literature from 2000 to 2010
DOI: 10.1007/s00267-014-0301-3
 Watersheds are settings for health and well-being that have a great deal to offer the
public health community due to the correspondence between the spatial form of the
watershed unit and the importance to health and well-being of water. However,
managing watersheds for human health and well-being requires the ability to move
beyond typical reductionist approaches toward more holistic
methods. Health and well-being are emergent properties of inter-related social and
biophysical processes. This paper characterizes points of connection and
integration between watershed management and public health and tests a new
conceptual model. We conducted an initial search of academic databases for papers
that addressed the interface between watershed management (or governance) and
public health themes. We then generated a sample of these papers and undertook a
collaborative analysis informed by the Watershed Governance Prism.

2) A literature review of watershed education‐related research to inform   

NOAA B‐WET’s evaluation system. Completed September 2011 for
NOAA B‐WET by: Dr. Michaela Zint, University of Michigan
The purposes of this literature review were to identify research to help assess the
potential effectiveness of the features of Meaningful Watershed Education
Experiences (MWEEs) and, importantly, as a result of this process find measures or
scales to inform the development of data collection instruments for B‐WET’s
evaluation system.

3) Carlos Perez and Henry Tschinkel (2003) their paper on Improving

Watershed Management In Developing Countries: A Framework For
Prioritizing Sites And Practices in Watershed management
These observations are based on a review of the activities of seven private and
governmental organizations in Guatemala which were promoting watershed
management before and after Hurricane Mitch struck Central America in 1998,
and included are short-term reviews of watershed management projects in
Bangladesh, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Niger, Peru,
Thailand and Uganda. In all of these cases, the authors visited field sites,
interviewed project personnel and participant farmers and reviewed project
documents and other technical literature. To complement and contrast with
their first-hand experience, the authors perused the international literature on
watershed management.

5.0 Proposed Methodology

1. Selection of topic for micro project
2. Collect the information about Watershed Management.
3. Study about the balancing the demands for water resources.
4. Preparation of broad report on it.

6.0 Actually Resources Required (major resources like raw material, tools, software
etc.)
S. No. Name of Specifications Quantity Remarks
Resource/material
1 Integrated Watershed Isobel. W. Heathcote - -
Management: Principles
and Practice
2 Integrated Approaches to Geoff Syme,
Sustainable Watershed V. Ratna Reddy
Management - -

4 Microsoft PowerPoint Software - -

5 Microsoft Word Software - -

7.0 Outputs of the Micro-Project:

Introduction

A watershed, also called a drainage basin or catchment area, is defined as an area in which
all water fowing into it goes to a common outlet. 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 is not simply the hydrological unit but also socio-political-ecological entity
which plays crucial role in determining food, social, and economical security and provides
life support services to rural people.
Watershed management is the process of  guiding and organizing the use of land and other
resources in a watershed to provide desired goods and services without adversely affecting
soil and water resources.
Each project under the programme is a micro-level effort to achieve this objective by
treating the under productive or unproductive land and taking up allied activities for the
benefit of the landless. The programmes adopt a common strategy of multi resource
management involving all stakeholders within the watershed who, together as a group, co-
operatively identify the resource issues and concerns of the watershed as well as develop
and implement a watershed plan with solutions that are environmentally, socially and
economically sustainable.
Concept of Watershed Management:
A watershed is a drainage area on earth’s surface from which runoff, resulting from
precipitation flows past a single point into a larger stream, a river, a lake or the ocean.
Many definitions have been developed over the recent years for the term watershed. While
the definitions employ a wide variety of words, they all mean practically the same thing.
Most generally, a watershed can be defined as a body of soil with definite boundaries
around it, above it, and below it. In other words, it is a land surface (body of soil) bounded
by a divide which contributes runoff to a common point. A positive water accretion to its
upper boundary is in the form of precipitation and a negative accretion is in the form of
evaporation.
There can be drainage laterally or vertically, when water runs out of it, and leakage, when
there is a perched water horizon. Generally watershed and drainage basin are used
synonymously. In British literature, catchment is used for a drainage area. From the
hydraulic point of view, a drainage basin can be defined as the soil surface from which
water flows into a certain outlet or collector.
Watershed management involves management of the land surface and vegetation so as to
conserve and utilise the water that falls on the watershed, and to conserve the soil for
immediate and long-term benefits to the farmer, his community and society. As such,
watershed management is not new to India.
Since centuries, India has developed and used tanks and ponds on an extensive scale to
harvest water from watersheds, store and recycle it for crop use. People were also aware of
the problem of sedimentation of these tanks as evidenced by desilting operations carried
out from time to time.

Watershed Management Practices:

A. In Terms of Purpose
(i) To increase infiltration
(ii) To increase water holding capacity
(iii) To prevent soil erosion
B. Method and Accomplishment:
(i) Vegetative measures/Agronomical measures:
(a) Strip cropping
(b) Pasture cropping
(c) Grass land farming
(d) Woodlands
(ii) Engineering measures/Structural practices:
(a) Contour bunding
(b) Terracing
(c) Construction of earthen embankment
(d) Construction of check dams
(e) Construction of farm ponds
(f) Construction of diversion
(g) Gully controlling structure
(h) Rock dam
(i) Establishment of permanent grass and vegetation
(j) Providing vegetative and stone barriers

Main Components of Watershed:

a. Soil and water conservation,
b. Water harvesting and water management,

c. Alternate land use system.

Irrigation Projects:
Major – Covered > 10,000 ha of catchments command area (CCA)
Medium-2,000 to 10,000 ha of CCA
Minor-<2,000 ha of CCA

Steps in Watershed Management:

Watershed management involves determination of alternative land treatment

measures for, which information about problems of land, soil, water and vegetation
in the watershed is essential. In order to have a practical solution to above problem it
is necessary to go through four phases for a full-scale watershed management.
Programme:
a. Recognition phase.
b. Restoration phase.
c. Protection phase.
d. Improvement phase.
(i) Recognition Phase:
It involves following steps
(a) Recognition of the probl
(b) Analysis of the cause of the problem and its effect.
(C) Development of alternative solutions of problem.
(ii) Restoration Phase:
It includes two main steps.
(a) Selection of best solution to problems identified
(b) Application of the solution to the problems of the land
(iii) Protection Phase:
This phase takes care of the general health of the watershed and ensures normal
functioning. The protection is against all factors which may cause determined in watershed
condition.
(iv) Improvement Phase:

This phase deals with overall improvement in the watershed and all land is covered.
Attention is paid to agriculture and forest management and production, forage production
and pasture management, socio economic conditions to achieve the objectives of
watershed management.
Water Resources Development Plan:
Water resource management plays a vital role in sustainable development of watershed
which is possible only through the implementation of various water harvesting technique.
The efficient way for sub-surface water storage, soil moisture conservation or ground
water recharge technologies should be adopted properly under water resource development
plan.

Types of Watershed Management:

Watershed is classified depending upon the size, drainage, shape and land use
pattern.
a. Macro watershed: 1000 -10,000 ha
b. Micro watershed: 100 -1000 ha
c. Mini watershed: 10 -100 ha
d. Mille watershed: 1 -10 ha

Objectives of Watershed Management:

a. Production of food, fodder, fuel.
b. Pollution control
c. Over exploitation of resources should be minimized
d. Water storage, flood control, checking sedimentation.
e. Wild life preservation
f. Erosion control and prevention of soil, degradation and conservation of soil and water.
g. Employment generation through industrial development dairy fishery production.
h. Recharging of ground water to provide regular water supply for consumption and
industry as well as irrigation.
Watershed management implies the wise use of all soil and water resources, so as to
provide a clean, uniform water supply for beneficial use and to control damaging overflow.
The term is very nearly synonymous with soil and water conservation with the difference
that the emphasis is given on flood protection and sediment control also besides
maximising crop production.
The basic objective of watershed management is thus to meet the problems of land and
water use not in terms of any one resource but on the basis that all the resources are
interdependent and must, therefore, be considered together. The watershed aims,
ultimately, at improving standard of living of common man in the basin by increasing his
earning capacity, by offering facilities such as electricity, water for irrigation, and drinking
water supply, freedom from fears of floods and droughts, etc.

The overall objectives of watershed development programmes may be outlined as

below:
(1) Recognition of watersheds as a proper unit for wise utilisation and development of all
lands. The land should be treated in accordance with its peculiar need and by methods that
will control soil erosion, conserve water, encourage wildlife, improve farm income and
prevent flood damage to agricultural lands.
(2) Retardation and prevention of floods through small multipurpose reservoirs and other
water impounding structures at the head water of streams and in problem areas.
(3) Provision for an abundant water supply for domestic, industrial and agricultural needs.
(4) Abatement of organic, inorganic and soil pollution.
(5) Broad expansion of recreational facilities, i.e. picnic and camping sites with more lakes
and streams suitable for boating, fishing or swimming.
(6) Utilisation of natural local resources for improving agriculture and allied occupation or
industries (small and cottage industries) so as to improve socio-economic conditions of the
local residents.

Planning Watershed Management:

Social and hydrologic factors are perhaps the most important since the elements involved
in it, largely determine as to whether the desired programme can be carried out or not.
The portion of the hydrologic cycle from the time the water is received on the land surface
until it leaves the area as stream flow, or is returned to the atmosphere by
evapotranspiration process, is the central core of control in watershed management.
When precipitation strikes the surface, a number of climatic factors have varying degrees
of effect upon the direction of movement of water. These are intensity, duration and type
of precipitation, air temperature, wind velocity and humidity.
Hydrological characters of soil, such as infiltration capacity, moisture content, and other
soil characters, e.g. presence of permeable layer, substratum, texture, etc. affect the
movement of water in the soil. Similarly, runoff is affected by the length and steepness of
slope, amount and type of vegetation, stoniness, etc.
Although all these factors affecting water movement cannot be changed through
management, yet some of the factors can be modified to achieve the aims of management.
Soil characters can be changed by mechanical means.
The effectiveness length and steepness of slope can be considerably changed by agronomic
and mechanical practices. Following discussion should be useful in preparing a sound
watershed management plan.
A. Inter-Disciplinary Team Work in Watershed Management Planning:
Watershed planning is a coordinated analysis by a team of technicians representing various
disciplines. The principal disciplines are hydrology, geology, engineering, soil science,
agronomy and economics.
However, there is no dividing line between their areas of responsibility. Each discipline is
dependent on, and inter-related with, each other. Preparation of a work plan requires the
input of considerable effort by various technicians, scientists and economists.

B. Size of the Manageable Watershed:

The evident question of how big the watershed could be for planning can be solved by past
experience and national guidelines. The size can be adjusted depending upon the problem
involved.
In gully control and drainage problem areas the watershed units may be smaller than in
flood problem areas. Where floods are foremost problems, several smaller units may be
combined until upstream problem areas are included within the watershed areas.

C. Demarcation of Priority Watersheds on the Basis of Vulnerability of Erosion:

A big watershed may be divided into several smaller viable sized sub-watersheds. The
watersheds may be given priority ratings on the basis of erosion indices and delivery ratios
for locating highly vulnerable mini-watersheds or sub-watersheds. The high priority rated
sub-watersheds require prime attention.

D. Preliminary Data for Management Planning:

Principal factors, that affect the operation of individual watersheds, and which must be
studied before management plan could be developed are: shape of the watershed,
topography and slope of the land, soils and their characteristics, amount of precipitation
and storm patterns, land use and cropping pattern on watershed, and size of the watershed.
Necessary data for interpretation include:
(1) Meteorological;
(2) Hydrological;
(3) Soil and land use and soil water conditions; and
(4) Economic and social.
(5) Summary of Management Plan
A preliminary investigation and collection of data requires a detailed reconnaissance of the
watersheds, utilizing available maps and aerial photographs. Damaged and more
vulnerable areas may be located and damageable values estimated.
Soil and land capability maps should be prepared to assist in land use and crop
management planning. It is necessary to identify the potential structural sites and key sites.
For a sound work plan, the basic data collected should be analysed with objective
interpretations. A brief account of the purpose for which meteorological, hydrological, soil
and land use data are needed is given below.
(1) Meteorological Information:
Precipitation data are used in watershed planning to estimate the frequency and magnitude
of floods and dependability of water supplies in watersheds. It is especially valuable for
hydrologists as a basis for extrapolating stream flow. The data should give the
measurement of annual precipitation, its seasonal distribution and characters of typical
storms like intensity of rainfall and frequency of storm, delivering various amounts of
water. Knowledge of climate is also important in growing crops.

(2) Hydrological Information:

The amount and rate of stream flow are expressed in stream flow hydrographs which
represent the rate of (low past a stream gauging station over a period of time.
Four factors affect the volume and rate of runoff and consequently the shape of
hydrograph:
(i) Precipitation (kind, amount, intensity and distribution);
(ii) Drainage basin characteristics (size, shape, length steepness of watershed and stream);
(iii) Soil and its plant cover; and
(iv) Changes in soil through land use.
The shape of hydrograph for each component of stream flow reflects time for water to
reach the channel.
Sedimentation data is needed in watershed planning for estimation of downstream damage
to deposition of sediments in reservoirs and on flood plains; for design of reservoirs and
other structural works for study of channel aggradation and degradation for determining
suitability of water, etc.
(3) Soil and Land Use Data:
Soil survey is essential for adequate planning. The information required from survey
reports is basic for planning and improvement activities such as crop management, pasture
regeneration, agronomic and mechanical measures of soil erosion control. It provides most
of the information for determination of the erosion situation and delineation of major silt
producing areas.
(4) Economic and Social Data:
Economic conditions of the people and its source and social customs must be known for
successful watershed planning. A successful watershed protection programme requires the
people, residing in the watershed, to take over the principal responsibility.
This necessitates the sponsorship of a soil conservation district together with other
responsible local organisations that are representatives of the interests involved and that
can help in formulating and achieving the best possible programme for watershed
management. It is also necessary to identify whether local interests can share a part of the
cost involved in management work.
(5) Summary of Management Plan:
Watershed work plan should be tailored to tell the needs of the watershed and objectives of
the management. The individual responsibilities of each department should be completely
itemized in plan.
The plan should contain the following minimum details:
(a) Description of the Watershed:
(i) Physical data. (ii) Economic data.

(b) Watershed Problems:

(i) Flood water damage.
(ii) Sediment damage.
(iii) Erosion damage.
(iv) Problems related to soil and water management.
(v) Problems related to crop management.
(c) Works of Improvement to be Installed:
(i) Land treatment measure.
(ii) Structural measures.
(iii) Crop management measures.
(d) Comparison of Benefits and Costs  

Measures for Watershed Management:

Measures contributing to watershed management can be classified into two broad
categories: in terms of purpose, method and accomplishments. In terms of purpose,
includes land use and treatment measures which are effective in increasing the infiltration
rate and water holding capacity of the soil and preventing soil erosion on watershed lands.
They include all biological and mechanical methods of erosion control, including water
stabilisation measures, such as gully control by structures or vegetation. The second
category of measures includes those planted primarily for the management of water-flow
after it has left the fields and farm waterways and reached the small branches and cracks.
These measures include flood-water retarding structures, stream-channel improvements to
increase carrying capacity and stabilise beds and banks, minor flood ways, sediment
detention on basins and similar measures.
The various measures adopted under soil and water harvesting is:
(a) Vegetative barriers
(b) Building of contour bunds along contours for erosion
(c) Furrow/Ridges and Furrow ridge method of cultivation across the slope.
(d) Irrigation water management through drip and sprinkler methods.
(e) Planting of horticultural contour species on bunds.
Land use Planning for Watershed Management:
The integrated land use planning for watershed management, in the limited sense, aims at
comprehensive development of whole of the watershed in accordance with its potentialities
and capabilities for different land uses.
In the broader perspective such a planning deals with total development of all kinds of
resources of the watershed, namely: land; water; climate; plant; animals; and man. The
ultimate aim is to improve the economic status of the inhabitants of the watershed.
Watersheds are quite complex in their characteristics and are rarely identical. Their
response to development depends upon the nature of resource available within their
boundaries.
Therefore, a selectivity approach is more rational in choosing more responsive watersheds
for a particular programme. Specific criteria and survey techniques need to be developed
for selection of priority and responsive watersheds for each individual programme.
The basic criterion for selection of watersheds may be:
(i) Intensity of the problem;
(ii) Prospects of correcting the problem;
(iii) Potential for overall development;
(iv) Availability of technology;
(v) Likely acceptability and participation by the inhabitants; and
(vi) The infrastructural availability.
In order to plan developmental activities on watershed basis, a suitable framework of
watersheds based upon some standard and uniform system of delineation and codification
is necessary. Such a system has been developed by the All India Soil and Land Use Survey
Organisation. At macro-level, it follows a 5-stage sub-division using drainage map of 1 : 1
million scale.
At micro-level, useful for operational level, watersheds of 1000-5000 ha, a 3 to 4 stage
sub-division is followed using 1 : 50,000 scale drainage maps. For farm level planning and
designing of different components of the programme and their implementation, base maps
of 1 : 15,000 and larger scale like cadastral maps can be used.
In the drought prone areas, it is important to determine the potentiality of different
locations for possibility of maximum water harvesting and demarcating the land based on
its capability for forest, pasture and agriculture.
The command areas need to be specified with cropping systems and response to
irrigations. In salt affected soils, the reclamation programmes should be taken with
priority. Similarly, areas affected with shifting cultivation and ravines need priority in
order to prevent their further development.
Flood Control and Watershed Management:

A creek or river is in flood stage when its water flows over the banks and
covers the bottom land. This bottom land is called ‘flood plain’ and its
soil material, ‘alluvium’. In watershed management, we are more
concerned with headwater flood control which includes all measures that
will reduce flood flow in watersheds of small rivers and their tributaries.

The maximum size of watershed for a headwater area is arbitrarily

selected as 1500 km2. Headwater flood control measures are considerably
different than downstream measures. Headwater floods are typically
flash floods of short duration which occur rather frequently that is, two
or more times a year.
Floods cause several types of losses which can be categorized into following 3 groups:
(1) Direct Losses:
These include loss of property, crops, and land which can be determined in monetary
values.
(2) Indirect Losses:
Indirect losses are depreciated property, traffic delays, and loss of income.
(3) Intangible Losses:
These include losses which are not subject to monetary evaluation, such as the community
insecurity, health hazards and loss of life.
The damage to land is often unnoticed and, therefore, not recorded in terms of its monetary
value. However, soil erosion from uplands, sedimentation in reservoirs, stream channels
and flood plains, and pollution of water supplies greatly affects the economy of the entire
watershed.
The distinction between normal discharge from a watershed and flood flow is generally
determined by the stage of the stream when bankful. Most floods occur on the flood plains
adjacent to rivers and streams and result from such natural causes as excessive rainfall and
melting snow.
Depending upon their nature, floods are divided into two categories:
(1) Large area floods, which occur from storms of low intensity having a duration of few
days to several weeks; and
(2) Small area floods, which occur from storms of high intensity having a duration of one-
day or less.
It has been observed that 85% floods fall under second category. Such floods cause great
damage to agricultural land through soil erosion, which in turn results in sediment
accumulation in river, and reservoirs. These floods usually do not produce high runoff on
large streams but often cause serious local damage.
The large area floods, on the other hand, cause greatest damage to metropolitan areas in
addition to considerable agricultural losses. Flood flows are predicted from stream flow
records, developed hydrographs, empirical equations, meteorological data and previous
high water marks.

A. Watershed Flood Control Measures:

Broadly, watershed flood control measures can be grouped into two general classes:
(1) Those that retard flow or reduce runoff by watershed treatments, flood control
reservoirs or underground storage;
(2) Those that increase the channel capacity to accelerate the flow. These include channel
improvement, channel straightening and levees.
Measures that retard the flow or reduce runoff are economically and physically more
desirable due to the following reasons:
(1) They remove all visible evidences or danger of flood.
(2) They result in uniform flow in the streams thereby greater recharge of the groundwater
and more adequate water supply.
(3) They are the important step in the conservation of natural resources.
(4) They result higher crop yields, especially in areas with deficient irrigation water
supply.
(5) These measures also result in reduction of sedimentation in lower tributaries.
Watershed Treatment:
Here, the objective is to increase the storage of water on the surface and in the soil profile.
Watershed treatments, therefore, include all practices applied to the land that are effective
in reducing flood runoff, controlling erosion, and increasing the amount of surface storage,
rate of infiltration and water holding capacity of the soil.
The latter three effects are related to the soil type. Runoff retardation by land management
and soil type are largely dependent on vegetative cover and favourable soil surface
conditions. The soil type affects runoff as much as 3 times when compared between
permeable and heavy soils. Similar is the case with type and density of vegetation.
Conservation practices, such as contouring, strip cropping and terracing will reduce flood
peaks as well as total runoff from small to medium storms during the growing season. For
longer storms, the effect of contouring and strip cropping on runoff is usually much less
than the reduction in soil loss. Level or absorptive-type terraces can have a considerable
effect on flood peaks of rather large watersheds.
However, package of conservation practices including construction of staggered contour
trenches, check dams and planting supplemented by a debris basin have reduced sediment
from 80.5 tonnes/ha/year to 3.0 tonnes/ha/year from a hilly watershed of 20 ha within a
period of 11 years.
Flood Control Reservoirs:
Small flood control reservoirs constructed in the head reaches have a solubrious effect on
minimising damage down below. Water stored in such reservoirs can be recycled for
irrigation. It can also be used for town water supply, power production, fish culture, etc.
The reservoir sides can be well developed for recreational purposes. Generally, two types
of reservoirs are common in watersheds. One, flood storage reservoir and second detention
reservoir.
The detention reservoirs operate automatically by discharging through one or more
openings of constant dimensions in the dam (Fig. 11.5), whereas the storage reservoir
discharges through adjustable gates. The chief advantage of the flood storage reservoir is
its flexibility of operation.
The detention reservoirs have emergency spillways to handle runoff in excess of the design
flood. The principal advantages are its simplicity and automatic operation without
personnel. Practically all headwater flood control reservoirs are of detention type.
Reservoirs for flood control reduce flood peaks, but not flood volumes. The reduction in
peak flow diminishes rapidly with distance downstream since the main stream receives an
increasing percentage of its runoff from other tributaries. The principal disadvantages of
reservoir are that they occupy some land which remains flooded and that the annual and
initial costs are high.
Underground Storage:
Underground storage is accomplished by spreading the flow over a considerable area. In
general, this is applicable only in arid regions. This is very effective in raising the
groundwater tables in the watershed. In areas where groundwater is considered as a
potential source of irrigation water, this practice is very useful.
Channel Improvement:
Channel improvement includes those measures that increase the channel capacity, such as
enlarging the cross-sectional area of the channel and increasing the flow velocity. Cross-
section of the channel can be increased either by deepening or widening the channel or by
removing trees and sandbars from the water course to increase the channel effectiveness.
As evident from Manning’s equation, the velocity of flow can be increased by:
(1) Removing debris and vegetation to reduce surface roughness;
(2) Widening or deepening the channel to increase hydraulic radius; and
(3) By increasing the channel slope through deepening, straightening or lowering the water
level at the outlet.
Deepening the channel or lowering the water level at the outlet can be accomplished by
increasing the cross-sectional area at the outlet and removing debris or sandbars. For the
same cross-sectional area, deepening is more effective than widening.
Channel Straightening:
The principal method of straightening streams is to provide cutoffs. A cutoff is a natural or
artificial channel which shortens a meandering stream. The purpose of cutoff is to increase
flow velocity, shorten the channel length and decrease the length of levees.
Sometimes the length of the stream is shortened as much as one-half the original length by
channel straightening. It is desirable to provide cutoff where the stream capacity in the
bend is less than the capacity in the other parts of the channel; the capacity of the entire
channel is to be increased with levees; construction of the cutoff is more economical than
increasing the capacity around the bend; and the cutoff does not detrimentally affect the
flow characteristics of the stream.
Cutoffs increase the velocity in the affected portion of the stream by increasing the
hydraulic gradient. In a meandering stream cutoffs may also occur naturally due to erosive
forces of water. An example of the cutoff in a meandering stream is illustrated in Fig. 11.6.
Before the cutoff, the stream flowed on a uniform slope around the bend BEG.

Levees:
Levees are embankments along streams or on flood plains designed to confine the river
flow to a definite width for the protection of surrounding land from overflow. Levees may
be designed either to confine the river flow for a considerable distance or to provide local
protection.
The effect of confining water between levees is to increase the water surface elevation
during floods, to increase the maximum discharge downstream, to increase the rate of
travel of the flood-wave, and to decrease the surface slope of the stream above. In narrow
flood plains, channel improvement as well as channel straightening is usually more
economical than levees.

B. Preventive Maintenance:
Preventive measures for maintaining the capacity of the stream channel include, those
which affect erosion in the channel itself, and those which reduce sediment from upper
tributaries. Maintenance in the channel is required to prevent the collection of debris and to
reduce sediment from caving banks.
The two classes of bank protection are:
(i) Those which retard the flow along banks and cause deposition, and
(ii) Those which cover the banks and prevent erosion.
A common method of control to retard the flow along banks and encourage soil deposition
is to build retards extending into the stream from the banks. Materials to construct these
retards include piles, trees, rocks, and steel framing. Such retards serve to decrease the
velocity along the can-cave bank and, hence, increase deposition of sediment.
Similarly, common methods for preventing stream bank erosion include both vegetative
and mechanical. Grasses, shrubs and trees have been found effective vegetative control
measures. Mechanical measures to cover the stream bank include such devices as wood
and concrete mattresses, rock or stone, asphalt and sacked or monolithic concrete.
Reduction of Sediment and debris:
Sediment from high velocity streams in cultivated watersheds is deposited on flood plain
areas and in the stream channels. Such sediments reduce the effectiveness of drainage
ditches and the productivity of agricultural land. Sediment and debris in stream channels
can be reduced by deposition in suitable settling basins or by land treatments.
Sedimentation and debris basins have three essential features, an inlet, settling

basin, and an outlet. Sediment-laden water from a stream may be diverted into a large
settling basin where a portion of sediment is deposited as a result of reduced velocities.
At the lower end of the basin, the flow is then returned to the stream channel. Such settling
basins are eventually filled with sediments, thus necessitating cleanout or the use of a new
area.
It has also been found suitable to adopt barrier system of removing debris and sediment
from mountain streams. Large debris is deposited as the flood spreads out at the mouth of
the canyon and the finer material settles out in a settling basin.

Socio-Economic Aspects of Watershed Management:

A watershed is the natural unit for economic management and, therefore, in its
management besides the Government view point, the view point of individuals and
communities, who live in the watershed should also be considered. The people have their
needs, custom values, and, therefore, the measures taken for the treatment of the watershed
should have compatibility with the needs of the people.
Proper management of watershed, therefore, requires not only the knowledge and
application of scientific techniques, but also substantial investments of labour and capital
whose returns may be high only in the long run and thus incompatible with the perspective
of the farmer. How to motivate the farmers to make the necessary investment and sacrifice
is a socio-economic problem.
The most important economic aspect of watershed management is to determine whether
the investment decisions on such programmes are rational. There are alternative techniques
of soil conservation, water harvesting, storage and conveyance of water, alternative
cropping patterns and technology package for making optimum use of available water, etc.
It is the job of the economist to evaluate these alternatives and suggest the efficient one.
Several techniques like benefit cost analysis, interval rate of return, etc. are available for
evaluating such projects.
A complete list of all the farmers, in the six selected Gram Sabhas, was prepared and the
farmers in each Gram Sabha were divided into two groups, viz. adopters and non-adopters.
An adopter was defined as a farmer, who had adopted all the recommended methods of
terracing, and a non-adopter was the one, who had not. A sample of 10% farmers from
each group was drawn randomly from the six selected Gram Sabhas which constitute a
sample of 90 farmers, 60 belonging to the adopter group and 30 to the non-adopter group.
The primary data was collected on a predesigned questionnaire and the secondary data
were collected from the Forest Soil Conservation Division, Ranikhet and Ramnagar, in the
agricultural year 1976-77. Analysis indicated that age of the head of the family and
education level did not have any significant bearing on the per cent of total area under
improved terracing.
In the hills, people keep large number of animals and migrate to the plains to supplement
their farm income. Most of the agricultural operations are carried on by women.
Alternative job opportunities in small and cottage industries in the region itself and near
their farms may help the situation.
In the Himalayan region, the land has been overgrazed, forests have been lopped and the
hill sides have been denuded due to increase in both human and bovine population. The
increase in demand has been much more than the regenerative capacity of the forests at the
present level of technology and management.
One of the strategies of watershed management in the hills, therefore, is the
encouragement of social forestry, forage husbandry and reduction in the number of
animals. A large number of milch animals are kept because their productivity is low. A
high yielding jersey breed could replace the local cows. Similarly, goats are also kept
because it provides meat in the hills; and are thus very remunerative.
It is necessary to provide feed for them and find ways and means so that it does not cause
any damage to the forests. Catties do provide manure to the farm land. Unless and until
people need for fuel, fodder, and timber is not met from alternative sources, damage to
forests is bound to occur.
Therefore, to study the economic feasibility of watershed management and safeguard
the individual benefits of the beneficiaries as well as the social benefits, the following
have to be taken into consideration:
(a) Social objectives and interests of general public as custodian of natural resources,
(b) Development of backward areas,
(c) Growth of ancillary industries,
(d) Channelization of income of agricultural sector to productive use,
(e) Production of wages consumer goods,
(f) Encouragement of co-operative objectives, and
(g) Generalisation of employment.
Recent Trends in Watershed Management Research:

Watershed Models:
Because of complex interdisciplinary nature of predicting watershed performance,
complex mathematical models have been postulated by several workers, in agricultural
hydrology. These models are abstract, computerised devices for simulating the hydrologic
processes that occur during the conversion of precipitation to stream flow.
Their use in conjunction with available information on soils, land use, geology and stream
channel characters enables one to predict the spatial and temporal sequences in hydrology
of watersheds. The more comprehensive models incorporate the ability to assess the
influence of land use changes and structural works on stream flow from a watershed when
it is subjected to a rainstorm or series of precipitation events.

Quick Evaluation of Watershed Potentials:

Preparation of watershed inventory provides a good opportunity for a big step forward
within a short time. Probability sampling techniques adopting random sampling design
may be used for preparation of soil and land resource inventory data for watershed
development planning.

There is ample evidence to show that proper use of watershed lands has a lot to do with the
quantum and quality of runoff from the watershed, ground water supply, flood effects and
other hydrologic factors.
Soil conservation work on individual farms largely benefits these properties, but it is
considered that greater benefits would accrue if the programme is carried out taking
watersheds as units of management so as to achieve the greatest possible improvement in
the control of water and sediment.
Watershed conservation or management is not something to take the place of soil
conservation district programmes or farm improvement programmes. It is, in fact, the
regular programme of farm, district or state, supplemented by addition of flood prevention
and other measures on small tributaries and by wider participation of whole community.
It is a soil conservation programme, extended to meet some of the community type land
and water problems, for which the districts or other local interests do not have the facilities
to handle.
As a natural unit, watershed reflects the interaction of soil, geology, water and vegetation
by providing a common end product runoff or stream flow whereby the net effects of these
interactions on that product can be measured and appraised.

Watershed management programmes in India:

To accelerate the pace of development of wastelands/degraded lands the Government had
set up the National Wastelands Development Board in 1985 under the Ministry of
Environment and Forests. Later a separate Department of Wastelands Development in the
Ministry of Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation was created in 1992 and the
National Wastelands Development Board was transferred to it. In April 1999, Department
of Wastelands Development was renamed as the Department of Land Resources to  act as
the nodal agency for land resource management. Consequently, all land-based
development programmes and the Land Reforms Division were brought under this
department. Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), Desert Development Programme
(DDP) and Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP) were the watershed
management programmes implemented by the department.
Later for optimum use of resources, sustainable outcomes and integrated planning, DPAP,
DDP and IWDP were consolidates as the Watershed Development Component of Prime
Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (WDC-PMKSY).

Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (Watershed Development

Component) (WDC-PMKSY)
The main objectives of the WDC-PMKSY are to restore the ecological balance by
harnessing, conserving and developing degraded natural resources such as soil, vegetative
cover and water. The outcomes are prevention of soil erosion, regeneration of natural
vegetation, rain water harvesting and recharging of the ground water table. This enables
multi-cropping and the introduction of diverse agro-based activities, which help to provide
sustainable livelihoods to the people residing in the watershed area.
History of Watershed Development Program in India
About 60 per cent of total arable land (142 million ha) in India is rain-
fed, characterized by low productivity, low income, low employment with high incidence
of poverty and a bulk of fragile and marginal land (Joshi et al. 2008). Rainfall pattern in
these areas are highly variable both in terms of total amount and its distribution, which
lead to moisture stress during critical stages of crop production and makes agriculture
production vulnerable to pre and post production risk. Watershed development projects in
the country has been sponsored and implemented by Government of India from early
1970s onwards. The journey through the evolution of watershed approach evolved in
India. (Wani et al. 2005 and 2006). Various watershed development programs like Drought
Prone Area Program (DPAP), Desert Development Program (DDP), River Valley Project
(RVP), National Watershed Development Project for Rain-fed Areas (NWDPRA) and
Integrated Wasteland Development Program (IWDP) were launched subsequently in
various hydro-ecological regions, those were consistently being affected by water stress
and draught like situations.
Entire watershed development program was primarily focused on
structural-driven compartmental approach of soil conservation and rainwater harvesting
during 1980s and before. In spite of putting efforts for maintaining soil conservation
practices (example, contour bunding, pits excavations etc.), farmers used to plow out these
practices from their fields. It was felt that a straightjacket top-down approach can not make
desired impact in watersheds and mix up of individual and community based interventions
are essential.Journey through watershed approach in India (Wani et al. 2005 and 2006).

Watershed Management Programmes:

(i) Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP):
Year of start: 1970-71
Objectives: Area development programme through restoration of ecological balance and
optimum utilization of land, water, livestock and human resources to mitigate the effect of
drought.

(ii) Desert Development Programme (DDP):

Year of start: 1977-78
Objectives: Mitigate the effect of drought in the desert area and restore ecological balance.
(iii) National Watershed Development Programme for Rainfed Agriculture
(NWDPRA):
Year of start: 1986-87
Objectives: To conserve and utilize rain water from both arable and non arable lands on
watershed basis. To increase the productivity of crops and to increase the fuel, fodder and
fruit resources through appropriate alternate land use system.
(iv) Control of Shifting Cultivation:
Year of start: 1986-87
Objectives: Restoring ecological balance in hilly areas and improving socioeconomic
conditions.
(v) World Bank Assisted Integrated Watershed Development Project:
Year of start: 1990
Objectives: To arrest the problems of environmental degradation and promote sustainable
increase in agriculture production and to enhance vegetative technology of soil and water
conservation for rain water conservation and for increasing crop, forage, fuel wood and
timber yield of the area.
Conclusion:
A balance between economic and environmental objectives and consideration of all
interactions of the watershed system are important criteria in watershed management. This
balance is necessary for countries at various stages of development. Conflicts are
increasing over shared water resources between agriculture, industry, and urban domestic
use as well as between State governments. Sustainable water management is thus crucial
for economic development and livelihood of the people. In a country like India, where a lot
of running water goes waste, it becomes very important to apply the technology of
watershed management to solve its annual problems of droughts and floods.

8.0 Skill Developed/ learning out of this Micro- project

● Term work and communication skills.
● We learned how time management is use full in our project.
● We learned the skill of marketing.
● Developed leadership qualities.

9.0 Application of this Micro-Project