You are responsible for planning water resource use at a catchment level. You are concerned with runoff generation from different land uses, and the withdrawal of water by upstream farmers (for irrigation). You know that there is severe land degradation occurring in the upper catchment, due to over grazing, deforestation and poor agricultural practices. This is affecting downstream communities through storm surface runoff causing erosion, and a serious reduction in baseflow (groundwater recharge), causing water scarcity downstream. Your task is to (1) map current water uses and runoff generation and (2) organize the community in order to create a forum for common management of water resources which improves the situation for all – improved livelihoods upstream and secured water downstream. You are concerned that downstream water users (for agriculture and for households) do not get enough water, and you are also concerned about a wetland downstream that is drying out. Describe in simple terms the steps you would take in carrying out (1) A survey of current water use and runoff generation, (2) Organize the community for common sharing of water resources. For the mapping (1) think in terms of how you would go about mapping different land use types and what factors (parameters) you would be most interested in knowing (to assess runoff generation).
