Community-led Adaptation: Water is Life

Significant climate impacts have begun to rattle the communities around the world…heat waves, wildfires, cloud bursts, cyclones, floods, droughts…While experts and policy-makers debate causes and mitigation models, local communities, largely the poor and vulnerable, bear most of the consequences of such climate changes. They struggle to find local solutions to adapt vigorously and minimize adverse consequences on their livelihood and well-being.
Water is at the centre of the impacts. Deforestation causes changes in rainfall patterns; chemicals used in intensive farming and urban over-usage (and wastage) have been causing depletion of groundwater, with reducing recharge. Rapid commercialisation of coastal areas, wet-lands and mangroves is further destroying natural water carrying systems. The pandemic of past 18 months has hugely disrupted the global-supply chain, thereby raising questions about relevance of universal policies, irrespective of contextual particularities.
Local communities in rural areas have been relying on their local resources to face the pandemic; they are using local technologies based on indigenous knowledge for water harvesting, storage and distribution. The choice of crops, grazing of cattle and seasonality of migration are influenced by their knowledge of water, rainfall, and equitable practices of governance of water in and by the community.
As many of these community-led models of water governance have been marginalized through pre-pandemic policies, new efforts are required to reinvigorate community-led climate adaptation models. Fresh deliberations about policy and investment choices need to be undertaken simultaneously, if countries like India want to build back fairer and sustainably in post- pandemic recovery.
PRIA’s interventions in the past have focused upon integrating local traditional water practices with government’s programmes on water management. Mobilising Gram Sabha in PESA areas for community-led governance of natural resources, including water and forests, have been documented and disseminated by PRIA. Building local capacity of panchayats and civil society to co-govern water bodies by integrating these in local planning had also been undertaken in several states.
Learning from practices being developed and followed in community-led adaptation to ensure that the ‘source of life: water’ is regenerated for future has become urgent. As part of its PRIA@40 conversations, we are co-convening this dialogue in partnership with ICCCAD, Bangladesh and UNNATI, India on 1^st October 2021 between 4 pm and 6 pm. The dialogue is aimed at discussing the following questions:

1. What methods and approaches have been effectively deployed in many current examples of community-governed water arrangements?
2. What lessons, principles and strategies can be identified for more vigorous dissemination of community-led adaptation of water resources?

 
Program Design
04:00- 04:10             Welcome and overview (Dr Anshuman Karol, PRIA)
(Moderator: Binoy Acharya, Director, Unnati, Ahmedabad)
04:10-04:25              Opening comments: Setting the stage

• Prof Saleemul Huq, Director, ICCCAD, Bangladesh

04:25- 05:25             Panel discussion- Community led water management- Examples and case studies

• Swapni Shah, Program Director, Unnati, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
• Sanjay Joshie, Executive Director, Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), India 
• A Vikranth Raja (IAS), Secretary, Public Works Department, Govt of Puducherry (tbc)
• James Kharkongor, Deputy Project Director, Meghalaya Basin Development Agency, Meghalaya, India
• Dr Sarder Shafiqul Alam, Coordinator, Urban Climate Change Programme and Country Coordinator, ACCCRN-ICCCAD Bangladesh
• Susan Nanduddu, Uganda, Africa

05:25- 05:35             Q&A
 05:35- 05:50             Special Address: “Water: A Shared Commitment for Sustainable Management and Long-term Security”
Bharat Lal (IAS), Additional Secretary (JJM), Department of Drinking Water and  Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India (tbc)
05:50- 06:00             Key takeaways and Ways Forward

• Dr Rajesh Tandon, Founder President, PRIA, India