Project 1: WATER MANAGEMENT SCENARIOS TO IMPROVE WATER PRODUCTIVITY IN AGRICULTURE OF KRISHNA RIVER BASIN

Results to date show the development of irrigation projects and rainwater harvesting schemes have dramatically decreased outflow to the ocean from 28 percent of rainfall in the first 60 years of the twentieth century to almost 5 percent over the remaining 40 years and thereby effectively "closing" the basin. Estimates of irrigated area from remote sensing show a significant increase in groundwater area over the last 20 years, with an estimated basin wide overdraft of about 30%.. In contrast to other parts of India, conjunctive use of surface and groundwater is estimated to cover only 14% of irrigated area. An assessment of water resources and water balance in the Musi sub-basin showed that the upper part is dry compared to the lower part and the runoff to rainfall coefficient varies from 0.07 to 0.24. Altogether, 854 million m3 (MCM) of water are available in the Musi subbasin, with 170 MCM and 110 MCM imported from Godavari and Nagarjuna Sagar, respectively, to meet domestic water supply of Hyderabad city. A water balance model was developed for the Hyderabad city to study the changes in the local water cycle and evaluate the potential water sources within the city. The net groundwater recharge from the city was estimated as 39 MCM which is much less than the groundwater extraction for urban use (60 MCM). The total outflow from the Hyderabad city in the form of runoff and sewerage is 298 MCM. It is estimated that 30 percent of the total water needs of Hyderabad city will be met by the Krishna river, which will place some stress on agricultural water supply in the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir during dry years.

Project 2: MAPPING INDICATORS OF WATER-LAND-POVERTY NEXUS IN THE LOWER KRISHNA BASIN

Mapping the spatial pattern of poverty revealed that the ultra-poor mandals tend to be concentrated in the north-east area of the basin. The very poor group is concentrated in the south and in the north-east. Mandals with poor households widely spread in the lower basin. The few pockets of non-poor mandals are located in the east and the western regions of the basin (this needs to be verified).

Regression analysis results show that incidence of poverty is significantly correlated with Mandals with large areas under forest cover, a high proportion of land under pastures and other grazing land which indicates the higher of poverty among households dependent on livestock for their livelihoods. GIS data suggests that this is the tribal belt in the North East basin. Results also show that the incidence of poverty is high in remote Mandals located far from towns. In term of access to land, the analysis revealed that incidence of poverty is positively correlated with farmers operating small (1-2 ha) and small-medium (2-4) and medium (4-10 ha) holdings, but was negatively correlated with farmers operating micro-sized (< 1 ha) holdings. This is possibly because micro-holdings are concentrated in areas that are well endowed with irrigation facilities. The analysis shows that there is no correlation between access to drinking water supply and poverty suggesting that drinking water supply is not a major problem in the nine districts of the lower Krishna basin. The results reveal that in Mandals with a higher proportion of scheduled castes and tribes, and in Mandals where female workers, especially female agricultural workers, there is a higher proportion of households below the poverty line. Similar analyses are being conducted for different poverty groups. The results presented are preliminary and need to be re-validated.

Project 3: AGRARIAN CHANGES, INSTITUTIONAL ADJUSTMENTS AND POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY OF WATER AVAILABILITY AND USE IN THE KRISHNA RIVER BASIN

On going study