Trends in watershed management in arid and semi-arid regions : DGIS policy supporting paper

This paper focuses on the impacts of small scale watershed management on groundwater resources in arid and semi-arid areas. It draws mainly on experiences of watershed management from India, and to a lesser extent of catchment management from Southern Africa (South Africa and Zimbabwe). The paper examines the use of watershed management to improve access to and sustainability of water resources, with special attention to: 'productive' uses of water, and the role of water in rural livelihoods, as an entry point to involving communities in watershed management; the potential for productive uses of water within a watershed framework to sustainably reduce rural poverty, improve women's position etc; the development of appropriate institutional frameworks for applying a watershed approach at a community, intermediate, and national level; necessary tools, methodologies, and capacity building for the above; current international initiatives and developments in watershed management; and the role of the water supply and sanitation (WATSAN) sector in watershed management. The paper concludes by identifying priority areas for Dutch development cooperation support in watershed management.

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