Rejuvenating Irrigation Tanks through Local Institutions

India’s water resources potential and the country’s agricultural economy hinge on the monsoon rains and its spatial and temporal variations. Nearly 40 per cent of India’s land mass falls under semi-arid conditions with annual rainfall of 500-1,000 mm and normal rainfall is necessary for a good crop. Facing high spatial and temporal variability of rainfall since time immemorial, India’s rural communities have followed a policy of conserving rainwater for subsequent use through innumerable tanks or small storage structures like ponds built, owned and managed by the local people through community organisations. Tanks in the Indian context are inextricably linked to the sociocultural aspects of rural life and have historically been an indispensable part of the village habitat, sustaining its socioecological balance. Tank systems, developed ingeniously and maintained over the centuries, have provided insulation from recurring droughts, floods, vagaries of the monsoon, and offered the much needed livelihood security to the poor living in fragile semi-arid regions. Of late, the importance of tanks is being realised even more, as the rapidly growing use of groundwater and large surface irrigation systems are proving costly and inadequate to meet the increasing demands for irrigation water. Conserving the tank eco-systems for multiple uses such as irrigation, domestic and livestock use and groundwater recharge is a way to provide a safety net to protect the livelihood of millions in a semi-arid India. II