Watershed management plays a pivotal role in food security and environmental security in the present era, characterized by increasing conflicts over water resources. Watershed is a basic hydrologic unit, and hydrologic and ecologic processes govern the quality of soil and water resources within the watershed. Recently, watershed management has emerged as an appropriate strategy to manage natural resources and provide sustainable livelihood to the rural poor. Watershed management is a holistic concept, which tries to integrate several components like soil and water conservation, forestry development, agriculture and livestock. Global experiences show that watershed management practices across the world have led to environmental sustainability, forest regeneration, water conservation, crop productivity and social sustainability. Naturally, after the Earth Summit in 1992, international development agencies declared watershed management as the best strategy to address the issue of sustainable natural resource management. The appeal of this agenda lies in its promise to satisfy Agenda – 21st complex demands with a single coherent strategy of involving local stakeholders and communities at multiple scales and zones, while addressing cross-ecosystem issues and interactions related to natural resource conservation. Against the context of increasing importance of watershed management at the global level, this book brings to the fore the basic concept, procedures, tools, techniques, functions, planning, assessment and monitoring of watershed management. It attempts to analyze the strategy and impact assessment of the best watershed management practices across the world and evaluate the various models and practices of watershed management programmes in India.
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