Category: Climate Change Adaptation

Semi-arid regions have problems of water scarcity, droughts even floods due to climate variability, but high rainfall areas with ample water bodies are prone to frequent floods  and arid regions have scanty rainfall and face water shortages all year round. The point of stating these issues is that adaptation has a different meaning for different types of regions.Thus, the costs of adaptation will differ as well. Areas prone to climatic disasters will require higher investments towards adaptation than the figures in this blog and vice versa. The idea of putting a small village like Bhojdari at the center of this study is that the adaptation figures here can serve a proxies for other similar area and it could also serve as a benchmark to determine what costs go into building adaptive capacities in disaster prone areas.

 The groundwater pollution is  a serious concern worldwide. The geogenic (natural phenomena) and anthropogenic pressures are major reasons for groundwater pollution. However, in  arid and semi-arid regions, pollution is mainly aggravated due to anthropogenic activities. It can be further exacerbated in future due to climate change and it’s variability.

 The proper monitoring and treatment of contaminants for groundwater  are absolute necessary to avoid risks to health, agriculture productivity and environmental degradation. It also calls for giving high priority to its protection and enhancement in the wake of future climate externalities. This blog post highlights the approach that WOTR has undertaken to bridge the gaps in existing water quality monitoring, assessment programmes and its communication with local stakeholders in India. It provides insights from the current study on preparation of groundwater quality index in Upper Godavari River basin, Ahmednagar.

WOTR developed a tool called Community Driven Vulnerability Evaluation-Programme Designer (CoDriVE-PD) that clearly identifies the need to factor in an evaluation of all such key vulnerabilities at an early stage in the project design and subsequently integrate these variables within the project framework, so as to minimize adverse impacts and thus, have better control of the project and the achievement of desired outcomes.

WOTR conducted a study to understand the current status of land degradation, its causes, farm management practices employed by people and the perceived impacts of the varying climatic conditions. The study was conducted in 21 villages spread across three districts in Maharashtra- Ahmednagar, Dhule and Jalna. Ten percent farmer households from these villages were interviewed.

Our perceptions and plans to address issues revolving around our water resources need to adapt if we are to respond effectively to the challenge of climate change. Most of our surface water bodies and aquifers are stressed not just in terms of availability of water but also at the quality front. The reasons can be attributed to changes in the timing, form and intensity of precipitation; changes in agricultural practices, urbanisation, industrial pollution and the use of surface and groundwater . It has the potential to have a long lasting impact on various ecosystems and their services that we are completely dependent on. The impacts are likely to affect the ongoing and future programs designed to protect water quality, public health, safety and livelihood of people. With this in mind, WOTR’s Groundwater and Ecology team continued to explore villages in their second leg of Mula-Pravara sub-basinal seasonal study to assess the reasons for the declining water quality.