Community based rainwater harvesting - the paradigm of the past - has in it as much strength as it ever did before. A survey conducted by CSE of several drought-struck villages found that those which had undertaken rainwater harvesting and/or watershed development in earlier years had no drinking water problem whatsoever and even had some water to irrigate their crops.

Let's make a journey to those villages that have managed their water well...

Rural water harvesting

It is heartening to see the revival of traditional water harvesting systems in various ecological zones of India. Communities in the face of adversity have revived or created new water harvesting systems. They have made checkdams, johads, and other structures to harvest every drop of drain. Some of them have even harvested rooftop runoffs. In many places these efforts have withstood the effects of recurring drought.