Water Harvesting In Bundelkhand Region

Abstract

Rainwater is the major source of water for crops in arid and semi arid regions. Collection of rainwater winch is termed as water harvesting is a critical determinant to accomplish the challenging task for enhancing the productivity in Bundelkhand region. The Bundelkhand region has about 17-18 per cent of the net sown area under irrigation as such water harvesting assumes a greater importance to supplement meagre irrigation resources. Water harvesting is not a new concept rather there are many structures like ponds, stop dams and haweli bundhies etc. in the region. Runoff in Bundelkhand region varies from 10-70% (stormwise) depending upon soils, topography and land use etc. The analysis of different water harvesting structures illustrate that about 3-6 ha catchment can yield a unit ha-m storage capacity in ponds. A series of water harvesting structures (WHS) on the ephemeral streams can increase the areas under irrigation and the structures can again be useful in augmenting the ground water in the region.