In a major environmental step towards sustainable management of water resources, the Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), an initiative of the Jammu & Kashmir Rural Development Department, collaborated with KU to draft the DPRs for the Springshed Rejuvenation Projects.
The collaboration is also an extension of the Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana 2.0 (WDC-PMKSY 2.0), thereby marrying governmental policies and academic expertise, which should yield long-term environmental and agricultural benefits for the Region.
Springs are essential to rural J&K as they serve as primary sources of drinking water and irrigation. With climate change, deforestation, and rampant urbanization, many springs have dried up or become seasonal, creating risks for water security.
The expertise at KU in hydrology, geology, and environmental sciences will help provide robust research for the springshed projects such that they are grounded in high-level research and are more useful to local communities.
The collaboration of KU with IWMP is an example of how academic knowledge can advance policy impacts at another level. One of IWMP’s goals is to retain the technical expertise of KU and fine-tune their field experience, to support the DPRs to account for J&K’s extraordinary geographic and hydrology.
By maximizing the efforts of IWMP and KU’s partnership, communities will have a project that is based on better technical studies and will also fit the needs of the communities to fulfill their needs and maximize sustainability efforts locally.
The PMKSY 2.0 initiative prioritizes “Har Khet Ko Pani” (Water for Every Farm) and spring shed rejuvenation is a priority to support that. Rejuvenating springs will create more water for irrigation and help sustain agrarian economies, as well as reduce the distress of rain-fed agricultural farmers.
Watershed management work will also reduce soil erosion, improve groundwater recharge, and enhance overall biodiversity, among the many other benefits that systems-based watershed management should be providing far beyond just water.
Involvement with local communities in planning and implementation will be key to the successful execution of these projects and it will ensure that all of the relevant traditional knowledge is adopted into a scientific-based approach for communities to own that process for sustainability.
This becomes a participatory model towards future developmental work in the region.
The IWMP-KU agreement is a watershed moment towards a water future for J&K. This agreement couples the will of an administrator with the new ideas and academic vision of a University, and is an approach for not just short-term water solutions but solutions that are aimed at climate-resilient rural development.
