This is a grassroots project aimed at alleviating poverty and providing a reliable water supply to some of the most remote populations in rural Rajasthan who have been in the grips of severe drought for the last four years.

The project will utilise traditional Rainwater Harvesting techniques to provide a sustainable model to be used in drought affected areas throughout the world.

Internationally 3-4 million children under the age of 5 die every year from dehydration as a result of waterborne diseases caused by polluted water.

Overview

To address the major water crisis in the desert state of Rajasthan India, the International Sri Deep Madhavananda Ashram Fellowship, has launched a Desert Rainwater Harvesting initiative.

This Rajasthan initiative will utilise traditional Rainwater Harvesting techniques in conjunction with community based watershed management plans to provide a sustainable model to be used in drought affected areas throughout the world.

The Desert Rainwater Harvesting Initiative is a grass roots project aimed at alleviating poverty and providing a reliable water supply to some of the most remote populations in rural Rajasthan, who have been in the grip of severe drought for the last decade.

A key outcome of the Initiative will be the formation of global partnerships and the establishment of an international centre to promote Rainwater Harvesting for desert and semi-arid regions of the world.

Only 3.6 percent of the rural population of India has water sanitation. 74% of the population of the Indian State of Rajasthan are in poverty.

Each year 500,000 Indian children die from water borne diseases.

The Need for the Desert Rainwater Harvesting Initiative

The Rajasthan Water Crisis

Rajasthan is a desert state in India with a geographical area equal to 10 percent of the country, but with only one percent of the country's water resources. The scarce and fragile water resources in this semi-arid environment are under threat from frequent droughts, increasing groundwater salinity and falling water tables.

In some villages women are walking over 4km each day in over 40 degree heat just to bring the families water supply.

The region's recent drought has lasted over 4 years, today almost all bore wells are dried up or providing water that is so salty that it is not fit even for irrigating plants and crops, let alone for drinking.

The bulk of Rajasthan's annual rainfall, (54 to 82cm) falls during the monsoon season followed by months of dry hot days that typically yield only several centimeters of additional rain.

These rural areas are also faced with increasing desertification as a result of over grazing and wide spread tree cutting by local people. A combination of both wind and monsoon rains create severe erosion of up to 3000 tonnes per hectare.

The state's poor rural communities, which account for 77 percent of the population, need access to fresh water for drinking and agriculture.

The Desert Rainwater harvesting initiative will provide a wholistic approach that addresses the freshwater needs of local communities, as well as promoting sustainable agriculture, reforestation and increased biodiversity.

A reliable water supply underpins the success of industry, health and environment and therefore is one of the crucial factors in the alleviation of poverty.

The Rainwater Harvesting Solution

The Desert Rainwater Harvesting Initiative was created in response to the ever increasing water crisis facing India's remote rural communities in Rajasthan and from direct requests from villages affected by a recent 4 year drought.

The Initiative aims to provide a year round supply of fresh water for rural communities in drought affected areas of Rajasthan where the Lead Partner has had a long standing presence and ongoing working relationship with the local villages.

If only 1% or 2% of the rain that falls on India was captured, it would be sufficient to meet the drinking requirement of a billion people at a liberal 15 litres per person per day.

The benefits for the local communities will be on three fronts; social, economic and environmental including improved health by providing safe drinking water, enhanced local environments through reforestation and increased ground water recharge, and enhanced local economies through improved agriculture and food supply.

The initial rainwater harvesting activities in Jadan started as a small scale project to construct a traditional rainwater reservoir and provide water delivery via tanker to a surrounding drought affected communities. With the drought extending into its fourth year, it was soon realised through discussion with villagers and from increasing requests for water solutions in communities throughout the wider Rajasthan region that this was an issue on a much larger scale in urgent need of attention.

The initiative aims to provide a year round supply of fresh water for rural communities in Rajasthan.

Village Water Action Planning - Community Based Water Management

Village Water Action Planning is a community based participatory process originally developed by OzGREEN (Global Rivers Environmental Education Network - Australia) in 1997 for the World Bank. The process involves working directly with local villages and training them to conduct an environmental assessment of their village and watershed and then develop Village Water Action Plans that will provide the village with a sustainable freshwater supply as well as restore the health of their local environment.
During the preliminary phases of Village Water Action Planning, the community is consulted at all levels and Village Water Committees are formed along with Women's Action Groups to ensure complete participation in all aspects of the initiative. Engaging the Women's groups is a crucial component of successful Village Water Action Planning as women are primarily responsible for the daily collection of water and fuelwood, grazing livestock, collecting produce as well as working in the fields. Being the major providers of household needs it is essential that they are actively involved in designing and implementing the Village Water Action Plans.

Water delivery from Jadan Ashram

Village Water Action Planning allows local communities to sustainably manage their local environment by developing and implementing strategies that:
 
· Provide safe reliable water reducing public health issues and water borne diseases
· Protect and rehabilitate village water supply watersheds recharging groundwater
· Promote sustainable farming practices resulting in a better local economy and alleviating poverty
· Identify links with government agencies and NGOs to provide technical advice and assist with funding
· Sustainably manage natural resources and enhancing biodiversity
· Manage and reduce wastes
· Promote and provide ongoing training for women, children and disadvantaged groups
· Allow for ongoing monitoring and assessment to provide feedback resulting in improved outcomes.

Village Water Action Plans are developed through active community participation. This involves working in close collaboration with all community stakeholders (including women's groups, elders, landholders and labourers from all castes) and liaising with NGOs and government agencies in order to develop strategies appropriate to the local situation. Developing a VWAP involves the following steps:

· Villagers prepare a village resource map (define village watershed area)

Villagers assessing the soil

· Identification of Key Issues - The results of the village and watershed environmental assessment are presented at a community meeting; key environmental issues are identified and prioritised by the community.
· Development of a Vision for the Future - Villagers develop a vision for how they would like their village to be in 25 years covering social, economic and environmental areas. A projected village map is developed.
· Develop Strategies and Identify Priority Actions - The community then develops priority action plans to address the identified key issues and to create the vision they've developed for their village.
· Implementation of the Village Water Action Plan - Once the actions have been prioritised and responsibilities defined, a timeline is developed and on-ground actions begin in conjunction with partner organisations and NGOs.
· Monitor and Evaluate VWAP - Using the skills gained in the training phase, villagers regularly monitor the changes in the village and watershed environment to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs and modify the VWAP as necessary.

Village Water Action Planning also takes into account the dissemination of a range of sustainable approaches to watershed management including:
 

· water conservation through village level watershed protection plans

Village Community Water Management Meeting

Village Water Action Planning also helps build social capital. Active participation in VWAP helps build community. Promoting community ownership of all aspects of the Desert Rainwater Harvesting Initiative enables communities to come together, share knowledge and experiences, and develop their technical skills so they have the capacity and self confidence to initiate their own solutions. This will ensure the ongoing maintenance of the water harvesting structures and a commitment to following through on the sustainable practices that will protect and conserve the natural resources (including soil, water, ground water and catchment areas) for the benefit of the whole community for now and future generations.

A Global Blueprint

Taking the Initiative through Rajasthan

Using the experience in the Jadan region, the International Fellowship and its partners will extend the Desert Rainwater Harvesting Initiatives to six other locations throughout remote, rural Rajasthan - where it's other Education and Research Centres have been operating for decades within the local communities. The project will benefit the local communities by providing local employment, fresh water for drinking and agriculture, education opportunities for women and children, reducing pollution, preventing water related diseases and improving public health.

   
A Global Blue Print for Desert Rainwater Harvesting

All aspects of the Desert Rainwater Harvesting Initiative will be documented on an ongoing basis and made available through the Internet, this information includes:

- technology development
- implementation and capacity building strategies
- community and environmental impact and
- a training manual for methodologies of developing successful Village Water Plans

The initiative will be designed to be used as a blueprint for other Desert water projects around the world. 

Partnership & Funding

A Global Partnership

The initiative is led by the International Sri Deep Madhavananda Ashram Fellowship and the Australian Association of Yoga in Daily Life.

Other contributing partners include:

OzGREEN - Global Rivers Environmental Education Network, Australia
Om Vishwa Deep Gurukul, Jadan Pali District, India
Sri Devapuriji Ashram, New Delhi, India
Sri Deep Ashram, Jaipur, India
Yoga in Daily Life - centers in America, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Yugoslavia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada.

The initiative would like to acknowledge the initial information and knowledge support of the following NGO's who have done enormous work in the field of Rainwater harvesting:
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), CECOEDECON,
Fresh Water Action Network (FAN),
Global Rainwater Harvesting Collective
Global Ecovillage Network (GEN)