“Making Running Water Walk” –Key concept of SEVAI Watershed project

Watershed beneficiaries of Thottiyapatty

SEVAI implements watershed projects in Thogamalai Block in Tamilnadu with the approach of “Making Running Water Walk” –as the key concept of Watershed project implemented by SEVAI with the support of Society General and technical support of Casa Foundation. Director of SEVAI K.Govindaraju oriented the watershed farmers in Allur and said, “Water runs downhill.” A Watershed is a land area whose runoff drains into any stream, river, lake, and ocean. Watershed boundary is the divide separating one drainage area from another. Comprehensive Watershed Project   is the process of managing human activities and natural resources on a watershed basis. This approach allows us to protect important water resources, while at the same time addressing critical issues such as the current and future impacts of rapid growth and climate change.

A watershed aims at the sustainable distribution of its resources and the

Check dam constructed in Watershed area

process of creating and implementing plans, programs, and projects to sustain and enhance watershed functions that affect the plant, animal, and human communities. The main aims of Comprehensive Watershed Project   are harnessing, conserving and developing degraded natural resources such as soil, vegetative cover and water; prevention of soil run-off; rain water harvesting and recharging of the ground water table; increasing the productivity of crops; introduction of multi-cropping and diverse agro-based Ecological Health: A healthy watershed conserves water, promotes stream flow, supports sustainable streams, rivers, lakes, and groundwater sources, enables healthy soil for crops and livestock, and also provides habitat for animals and plants. The watershed plays vital roles in the area's ecology, economy, transportation, industry, and general health. Surface water is just that—water that collects on the surface of the earth. This category is composed of rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands, etc.

Groundwater is the other half of the moisture equation contained in a watershed. Groundwater is water that occupies pore space in the rock and soil layer beneath our feet, filling natural underground storage areas called aquifers. Groundwater slowly moves through these aquifers, going on to feed into surface water sources like lakes, ponds, rivers, and even the ocean. This natural discharge to the surface doesn’t deplete aquifers, as the groundwater is replenished with precipitation that soaks through the surface soil and into the saturated groundwater layer.SEVAI creates awareness of the need among farmers for treatment measures to manage water and soil, The types of measures to control soil erosion and water run-off, The actual design of the structures, The skills required to construct the structures, The materials required to construct the structures..All of the above have to be understood by the farmers, acceptable to them, and affordable in terms of maintenance costs. Farmers are also inventors, experimenters, builders, and managers. They hold opinions and also have a wealth of practical experience. The main goal of Watershed Management is to implant the sustainable management of natural resources to improve the quality of living for the population is to be accomplished by the Improvement and restoration of soil quality and thus, raising productivity rates.”Director of SEVAI further enlightened the farmers on the watershed components being implemented in watershed project by SEVAI with the support of Society General as well as with the technical support of Casa Foundation. K.Govindaraju added, “Watershed components are 1. Rainwater harvesting, 2. Ground water recharge, 3. Maintenance of water balance, 4. Preventing water pollution,5. Economic use of water,6. Percolation pits/tanks,7. Farm ponds,8. Bunds and terraces, 9. Community tanks, 10. Water spreading,11. Contour bunding,12. Checkdams, 11. Gully plugging,12. Agro forestry,13. Social Forestry,14. Eco-preservation,12. Biomass regeneration,13. Increasing productivity of animals,16. Income and employment generation activities,17. Coordination of health and Nutrition programmes, 18. Marketing of Agro products,19. Value Added food grains marketing, 20. Organic farm practices,21. Women involvement in water and soil conservation, 18. Better standard of living of people,19. Eco-friendly life style of people,20. Increasing water holding capacity of soil,21. Preventing soil erosion,22. In-situ soil-moisture conservation,23. Biomass management and energy, 24. Ground water recharging structures, 25. Pasture development, 26. Open Wells and agriculture promotion and 27. Horticulture and alternate land use.”-Kris