Monsoon Harvests: Rainwater Harvesting and Agricultural Sustainability in India
Rainwater harvesting, a “soft path” approach towards water management, is increasingly recognized as a key strategy towards ensuring food security and alleviating problems of water scarcity. Interestingly this "modern" approach has been in use for millennia in numerous older civilizations. We are exploring the social, economic and environmental dimensions of agricultural rainwater harvesting ponds, and evaluating the viability of these centuries-old systems under current climate and population pressures. A holistic watershed-scale approach that accounts for tradeoffs in water availability and socioeconomic wellbeing is recommended for assessing the sustainability of these systems.
|
Relevant Publications
Van Meter, K. J., Steiff, M., McLaughlin, D. L., & Basu, N. B. (2016). The socio-ecohydrology of rainwater harvesting in India: understanding water storage and release dynamics at tank and catchment scales. http://doi.org/doi:10.5194/hess-20-2629-2016
Van Meter, K. J., Basu, N. B., Tate, E., & Wyckoff, J. (2014). Monsoon harvests: The living legacies of rainwater harvesting systems in south India. Environmental Science & Technology, 48(8), 4217–4225. http://doi.org/10.1021/es4040182
Van Meter, K. J., Steiff, M., McLaughlin, D. L., & Basu, N. B. (2016). The socio-ecohydrology of rainwater harvesting in India: understanding water storage and release dynamics at tank and catchment scales. http://doi.org/doi:10.5194/hess-20-2629-2016
Van Meter, K. J., Basu, N. B., Tate, E., & Wyckoff, J. (2014). Monsoon harvests: The living legacies of rainwater harvesting systems in south India. Environmental Science & Technology, 48(8), 4217–4225. http://doi.org/10.1021/es4040182