Integrated Water Resources Management of Thatipudi Command Area, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh

IWRM provides ideas to help us make social choices about water allocation, the sustainability of water resources and the infrastructure use to manage the resources establishment of an overall water policy and laws which use the basin as the scale of management. It is widely recognised that better water management and governance is the key to developing a sustainable, efficient and equitable water sector. The present study area is Thatipudi reservoir and its command area. The command area is characterised by highly fluctuating rainfall. This paper discusses on preparing GIS maps, water requirement for command area using crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling software, storage capacity of the reservoir and cropping pattern to implement IWRM on command area. Highly fluctuating rainfall and corresponding run-off water was analysed considering the irrigation requirements, conveyance efficiency, domestic water requirements and water release into the sea during the floods. The present study reveals that the current capacity of the reservoir is insufficient to cater the allocation needs and thus necessitates the increase in storage capacity to cater the water needs in dry season.