This report under the WHiRL research project by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) identifies the potential unintended impacts of water harvesting so that, if at all possible they are avoided altogether, but if these do occur, they are recognised at an early stage and steps are taken to mitigate their affects. It highlights evidence that is emerging about water harvesting in semi-arid areas, on how water if used inappropriately, can lead to inequitable access to water resources and, in the extreme, to unreliable drinking water supplies.
Accepted wisdom is that rainfall should as far as possible be harvested where it falls and that these technologies are totally benign. Water balance studies in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka show that water harvesting programmes impact significantly on patterns of water use and that this can result in distinct winners and losers. Winners include people who have improved access to water for productive purposes (e.g. irrigated agriculture) and losers include people whose access to water for domestic, productive and other purposes is reduced.
It is also clear that livelihood gains experienced by some “winners” can dissipate as competition for water resources increases and traditional drought coping strategies become less viable and/or increasingly expensive. The recommendation from the analysis presented in the report is that -
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