Rally for Rivers

India’s rivers are undergoing a drastic change. Due to the pressures of population and development, our perennial rivers are becoming seasonal. Many of the smaller rivers have already vanished. Flood as well as drought are becoming increasingly frequent, as rivers turn unruly during the monsoon, and vanish once the rainy season is over.

• 25% of India is turning into desert.
• In 15 years, we may have only half the water we need for our survival.
• The Ganga is one of the most endangered rivers in the world.
• The Godavari was dry along much of its length last year.
• The Kaveri has lost 40% of its flow. Krishna and Narmada have lost around 60%

In every state, perennial rivers are either becoming seasonal or totally going dry. In Kerala – the Bharatpuzha, in Karnataka – the Kabini, in Tamil Nadu – the Kaveri, Palar and Vaigai, in Odisha – the Musal, in Madhya Pradesh – the Kshipra. Many smaller rivers have already vanished.

Most major rivers are the subject of interstate water disputes.

• Estimates say 65% of our water needs are met by rivers.
• 2 out of 3 major Indian cities already deal with daily water shortage. Many urban residents pay ten times the normal amount for a can of water.
• We consume water not just to drink or for domestic purposes. 80% of water is used to grow our food. Each person’s average water requirement is 1.1 million liters a year.
• Flood, drought and rivers turning seasonal are increasingly leading to crop failure across the country.
• Climate change is expected to cause worse floods and droughts within the next 25-50 years. During the monsoon, rivers will flood. The rest of the year, drought will follow. These trends are already beginning.

• Ganga
• Godavari 
• Cauvery 
• Krishna 
• Narmada 
• Yamuna 
• Brahmaputra 
• Noyyal 
• Kabini 
• Musi 
• Bhima 
• Gomti 
• Mahanadi 
• Sabarmati 
• Thamirabarani 
• Vaigai

1.  Charting our water future
2.  Wastelands Atlas 2011
3.  World’s top 10 rivers at risk
4.  Quiet chokes the Godavari: River turns into trickle in Maharashtra
5.  The remains of our rivers
6.  Godavari goes dry
7. Case study of large Asian rivers
8. Bharathapuzha is dry much ahead of summer
9. Kabini dries up, farmers hit
10. Well drying up: Mysuru,Bengaluru worried
11. Unsung sisters of Vaigai
12. Rivers run dry: northern and Central Tamil Nadu run
13. Dring Shipra, Ujjain
14. Perennial river Musal dries up
15. River water disputes
16. 22 of India’s 32 big cities face water crisis
17. Impact of Deforestation in Developing World
18. Deforestation and soil erosion in Himalayas 
19. Deforestation drives worsening flooding in Kashmir
20. South India’s Drought
21. Water resources of India
22. The water footprint of humanity

Maintaining a substantial number of trees for at least one kilometre width along the riversides has vast environmental, social and economic benefits for nation and society.

• Healthy river systems safeguard our water and food for the present and future generations.
• Secure water resources are essential for individual wellbeing and India’s industry and commerce.
• Farmers’ incomes increase at least three to four-fold by changing from crop to organic fruit tree cultivation.
• Farmers, who are the largest section of India’s workforce, are also among the lowest earning groups. Increasing their income will create a huge positive impact.
• This will also diversify and boost India’s rural economy significantly.

Such large-scale, long-term action can only be sustained through government policy. To create awareness and initiate action on this national issue, Sadhguru has conceived “Rally for Rivers”, where he will be personally driving from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas.

India’s rivers are mainly rain-fed. So how do they flow throughout the year, even in the dry season? Because of forests.Trees are important in ensuring that perennial rivers flow even when the rains end.

Source: wri.org

Tree roots make the soil porous so that it can absorb rain and hold water when rain falls. This water in the soil is then released into the river gradually throughout the year.

If there are no trees, a destructive cycle of floods and droughts occur. During the monsoon, excess water will flow over the surface and cause floods because the soil does not absorb the rainwater. When the monsoon ends, rivers go dry because there is no moisture in the soil to feed them. This is why it is important to maintain substantial tree cover along riversides.

Trees along riversides has several benefits according to scientific studies:

• Keep rivers perennial
• Reduce floods
• Combat drought
• Recharge groundwater
• Normalize rainfall
• Combat climate change
• Prevent soil erosion
• Improve water quality
• Enhance soil quality
• Protect biodiversity

India’s rivers are dependent on rainfall. Rainfall enters rivers and streams through two main mechanisms. One mechanism is surface flow over land. The second mechanism is through underground flow. Rain seeps into soil and becomes groundwater, which then gradually flows underground and enters streams, rivers etc.

Trees help rain seep into soil because living and decaying roots make soil porous by creating a network of well-connected, minuscule channels in the soil. Rainwater seeps into soil with such channels several hundred times faster than it seeps through soil without channels.

Additionally, when plant debris falls on the soil and starts to organically degrade, it helps soil maintain integrity and form small aggregated clumps. These clumps also ensure that soil is porous.

Once water is absorbed by soil, just as rainwater percolated downward into soil, water can percolate horizontally in soil as well. This kind of underground “water flow” can feed water into streams and rivers wherever the water table intersects the streambed. This underground component is known as base flow.

Proportion of river water from underground flow
It is hard to exactly calculate how much of a rivers water comes from this base flow component, so figuring out how much water is actually entering the river has many variables. Estimates for peninsular rivers range between 20-40%. For the Narmada, it is about 20-22%. For the Godavari it is estimated at around 35%.

Comparison of water absorption by soil with and without trees
Studies have found that water more easily infiltrates soil in forested areas than in crops, degraded forests and grazed pasture. A study done in Belgavi, Karnataka on a sub-tributary of the Krishna shows that groundwater absorption was 42% for forests, 32% in agricultural land and 15% in degraded scrub land i.e. forests absorbed approximately 30% more water than agricultural land and nearly thrice that of degraded land. In a similar study in Uttara Kannada in the Western Ghats, the percentage of water flowing into streams within a few hours of a storm event was 80-90% of the total flow in degraded lands. In planted acacia forests, it was between 50-80%. In forests it was 35-70%. Percentage variations arose due to different soil types, intensity of rainfall and perhaps slope of the land.

In the UK, studies showed that soil infiltration rates were 67 times greater in plots planted with trees compared to grazed pasture. Grazed pasture is especially bad at absorbing water because animal hoofs compact the soil, which makes it lose its porosity.

The greater absorption of water in forests also translates into ensuring rivers stay perennial when forests are intact. Some studies in India also report “that there is a significant improvement in the ground water availability due to tree based farming interventions.”

Native tree species better than exotics
It is important to note that native tree species are more generally suited to plantation along rivers. Researchers often discourage non-native tree planting because of concerns that these trees reduce water availability. Some scientific papers in fact look at how “water-guzzling” exotic trees affect the water table, and state that afforestation and tree-planting lead to consumption of groundwater by the trees, which reduces the water flow in streams in the area. These conclusions are however not applicable when the right kinds of trees are planted.

The studies often looked at young, fast-growing tree plantation with exotic species such as Eucalyptus, not native species. These exotic species often extracted much more water than native species. Most studies also neglected long-term effects. In degraded areas or areas under groundwater stress, planting trees often results in recharge of groundwater for the first few years, before it begins to have a positive impact on streamflow.

These studies also often measured water flow in streams in terms of annual flow. Annual flow includes water flow during floods and similar high intensity events. When trees are taken off, floods often increase because most of the water enters streams and rivers in a very short timeframe. Such high intensity flow is often not usable by human beings and usually flows into the ocean, while also causing soil erosion which leads to loss in soil nutrients. This is why large areas of formerly productive land, where annual rainfall is relatively high, have become desertified once tree cover is removed.

A study by IIT Roorkee compared  the peak flood levels before and after vegetation has been removed due to urbanization. Conversion of woodland to low density residential uses gives a 11-30% reduction in groundwater recharge. Conversion of woodland to high density residential uses gives 52-100% reduction in groundwater recharge. Conversion of woodland to commercial uses gives 94-100% reduction in groundwater recharge.

However, tree-planting reduces these high intensity events and creates a more sustainable flow that is available even after rain ceases. It also limits soil erosion.

The trade-off between trees consuming water and trees helping water enter soil was studied and a paper was published in the journal Nature. Scientists found that rainwater absorbed into the soil is maximum at an optimal tree density that is neither too high nor too low. When there are too few trees, groundwater does not infiltrate soil. When trees are too many, they may consume more water than the soil absorbs. One point they noted is that even “beyond the optimum tree cover, recharge decreased but remained higher than in scenarios without trees.”

Experts at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) also stress the importance of native tree species. They cite several examples about how vegetation rich areas like its campus have seen an increase in water table. Citing the examples of K R Puram, Whitefield and ITPL regions in Bangalore, they said these places have lost vegetation drastically, which resulted in a drop in the groundwater table. Increased vegetation is the solution to depleted groundwater table they say. But the best results would come if the vegetation is of native species. A study had found that the native species with their root structures allow water to infiltrate soil much more than foreign species.

References

1. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/7539/7/07_chapter%202.pdf
2. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/baseflow-studies-three-rivers-between-mahanadi-and-godavari-deltas-research-report-national
3. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/Regional_low_flow_analysis_for_Narmada_basin_NIH_1997-98.pdf
4. http://www.a-a-r-s.org/acrs/administrator/components/com_jresearch/files/publications/Ab%200095.pdf
5. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169412008190
6. http://www.fao.org/docrep/ARTICLE/WFC/XII/0051-B5.HTM
7. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep21930
8. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378017300134
9. http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/u5620e/U5620E05.htm
10. http://ijiet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/77.pdf
11. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/125574/trees-can-raise-groundwater-table.html

Rivers are losing water for many reasons. The biggest loss comes from water used for irrigation. This water is consumed by crops and also lost in evaporation.

The next loss is due to the groundwater situation. India’s groundwater situation is growing dire. In 2011, almost 30% of India’s districts had a groundwater situation that was either semi-critical, critical or overexploited. This is up from just 8% in 1995. “If current trends continue, in 20 years about 60% of all India’s aquifers will be in a critical condition” says a World Bank report. When groundwater is over-extracted, this leads to a drop in the water table. The water in the river then seeps into the ground rather than groundwater feeding the river.

Additionally, when forest turns into cropland or wasteland, the soil does not absorb as much water from rain. So, rain that falls may evaporate directly from the land surface. A study in 2012 on a portion of the Varahi river in the Western Ghats found that even small changes in forest cover – 9% over 27 years – can reduce the buffering capacity of the river’s flow. The number of days the river flowed after cessation of rainfall reduced and the number of dry stream days increased.

Also, more water enters the river from flow over the land surface than through underground water. This reduces the perennial nature of the river and increase flood risks.

Extraction for domestic and industrial use in major rivers accounts for about 1% of the water volume. The final reason is change in rainfall, which varies from basin to basin.

Example: Changes in the Krishna River
Some figures can be found in an analysis done on the Krishna river comparing the situation between 1955-1965 and 1990-2000. Between 1955-1965, average flow of water into the sea was 67.3 cubic kms.. Between 1990-2000, the avg flow was 19 cubic kms, a reduction of 48.3 cubic kms. Of this, domestic consumption increased by 1.2 cubic kms. Rainfall decreased by 15.6 cubic kms. The underground baseflow into the river dropped by 10.5 cubic kms, mainly because groundwater pumping increased by 8.8 cubic kms. 27.3 cubic kms was due to increased consumption from irrigated crops. Though rainfed crops consumed more water than irrigated crops, the situation with rainfed crops did not change between these two time periods. Natural vegetation also stayed more or less the same.

Net irrigated area in the Krishna basin increased from 0.52 million hectares to 1.3 million hectares and average cropping intensity rose from 108 to 120%. In these areas, millets – which consume less water per kg of grain – were mainly replaced by rice and cash crops such as sugarcane and cotton.

Rice was the most commonly grown crop in irrigated areas. 84% of rice was cultivated with irrigation. 100% of the sugarcane was irrigated. About 25% of fruits were irrigated, though fruits were only grown on 2% of the agricultural land.

References

1. http://www.prsindia.org/administrator/uploads/general/1455682937~~Overview%20of%20Ground%20Water%20in%20India.pdf
2. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/03/06/india-groundwater-critical-diminishing
3. http://serialsjournals.com/serialjournalmanager/pdf/1345722010.pdf
4. http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers15-08/010047105.pdf
5. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hyp.9826/abstract
6. http://www.seipub.org/awrp/Download.aspx?ID=9750

Deforestation reduces water availability
A study from IISc on the Western ghats area clearly shows that in the basins of Sharavati and the Kaveri tributary Lakshmanteertha, streams which had good forest cover had waterflow through the year. But streams where forests had been removed carried water for only 4-6 months.

A study in 2012 on a portion of the Varahi river in the Western Ghats found that even small changes in forest cover – 9% over 27 years – can reduce the buffering capacity of the river’s flow. The number of days the river flowed after cessation of rainfall reduced and the number of dry stream days increased.

Perennial streams becoming intermittent have been reported in Brazil as well, and in islands after they were occupied by European powers in the seventeenth century.

Reforestation increases water availability
Villagers in Hesatu village, Jharkhand used 365 acres of fallow land to grow 100,000 trees. They began in 2010. By 2017, they make about Rs. 40-50 lakh a year. The Domba river nearby which used to dry up in the summers is now perennial.

Similarly, the village of Ufrenkhal, in Pauri Garhwal (Uttarakhand), have grown their own forest and rebirthed a river – Gad Ganga. The plan involved planting trees around percolation pits. According to Indiawaterportal, “Trees that were planted around the pits were nourished by the water that was retained there. Once grown, they helped in retaining soil and water. The pits and the trees developed a mutually beneficial relationship, which rejuvenated an entire system.”

The website reports on the results, “The once-dry ravine is dry no more. Now, while walking along the boundary between Dandkhil and Gad Kharak villages, one’s ears continually hear the musical chattering of a stream. This is the Gad Ganga, created by the villagers for the villagers. It is a perennial river with a discharge of 3 litres per minute near its source. This is one-fourth the flow rate of a tap when opened to its full extent. It seems small, but the river continues to build up as it flows down the slopes. The stream is used for irrigation by means of a canal, and also for drinking water in times of drought. The many springs that have been born as a result of this effort to prevent soil erosion and rainwater run-off are yet to be counted.

A miracle in action, that’s what this is. In an area where the recurring narrative is that of dying springs and lost rivers, this effort has shown that miracles are indeed possible.”

In Tamil Nadu, the sacred hill of Arunachala, where Ramana Maharishi spent most of his life, had lost much of its forests in the last few decades. With support from the government, an NGO has taken up reforestation here. The increased tree cover has cut down rainwater run-off drastically as the soil absorbs more water now. And seasonal streams flow more slowly and steadily, lasting longer after the monsoon has ended, making it easier for more trees to survive.

Times of India also reported in 2015 on experts recommending maintaining a buffer zone of trees to ensure the Ganga’s waterflow. From the report: Experts from Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, met at Forest Research Institute early this week and sought forestry interventions for maintaining ecological flow in the 2,525-km-long river. The project part of the National Mission on Cleaning Ganga under the Union ministry of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation.

FRI director PP Bhojvaid told the paper, “Agricultural fields on both sides of the river add to the silt in the river. But the tree line on the banks helps in further release of water into the river. The precipitation process of trees triggers this release.”

According to Bhojvaid, trees soak moisture which gets accumulated over a period of time. He said forests can give rise to a river, as happened in case of Godavari which emanates from a forest area and not from a glacier.

He also cited example of Kerala and many other countries which have developed parks and catchment areas on their banks.

Government Initiatives
Ganga Tree-planting: In November 2016, the Union Government announced that it would be planting trees and conducting associated activities along the river Ganga and its tributaries in five states.

The initiative plans for plantations on sites located within 5 kms on both sides of the river and 2 kms for its major tributaries. 6197 sites have been identified by Forest Departments of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The initiative plans to carry out plantations in 133,751 hectares in the five states over five years. 4 crore trees are planned.

For agricultural areas, economically beneficial trees will be planted. In urban areas, bioremediation and biofilteration of effluents, and riverfront development, ecopark development, institutional and industrial estate plantation will be conducted. For government-owned land, each state will develop a model based on its ecosystems.

Bihar: Bihar was the first state to submit a detailed proposal for this Ganga tree-plantation drive. The proposal will cost 1150 crore. Plantation on government land along the river’s banks, agro-forestry work on private land and soil conservation work are three aspects of the initiative. It also includes river cleaning and riverfront development in urban cities.

Plantation has been proposed on around 3000 hectares of government land and 200 hectares of private land along the riverbank. Three types of plantation will be carried out on government lands: medicinal shrubs near the bank, bamboo plantation beyond that and regular trees on the outermost layer. The width of plantation will be decided based on availability of land.

In case of private land, agroforestry will be promoted among farmers. The forest department will provide support through subsidies.

Kerala: Kerala used bamboo plantation for restoration and bank stabilization of its rivers, at a cost of 2.57 crores over 3 years. The scheme was begun in November 2014. The upper reaches of all of Kerala’s rivers are forested. The Forest Department plans to encourage local self-governments, NGOs, Citizen Groups and individuals to take up plantation in non-forested areas. Financial support will be given. Funds can also be utilized through MNREGA. Protection and post planting care will be the responsibility of the organization or individual who undertook the plantation. They will be supported financially in this through an MoU.

Andhra Pradesh: Casuarina plantation is planned in coastal and river areas to dampen wind velocity and control damage from natural calamities. Casuarina are rapid-growing species. They have the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. The forest department is encouraging Vana Samrakshana Samitis to take up plantation under joint forest management.

Intercropping with groundnut, cucumber, watermelons, sesame and pulses is allowed in the plantation area. Banks are financing with support from NABARD. The loan plus interest can be repaid at the end of five years, in view of the fact that farmer receives no income for the first four years.

Chhattisgarh: In Chhattisgarh, in 2015, the Forest Department planned to plant 5 crore saplings. Chief Minister Raman Singh emphasized on saplings being planted on the river banks.

As per the Forest Department’s Climate Change mitigation plan for the Mahanadi river, “Regeneration of degraded bamboo forests along the wetlands will be encouraged.” Other interventions include, “Run off management interventions by constructing different water conservation & harvesting structure. Catchment area treatment & maintenance of existing water bodies. Promotion of vegetation to reduced soil erosion”

Rajasthan: In January 2016, the government launched the Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan (MJSA) to make the state drought free by 2020. Within six months, 94,941 water harvesting structures were constructed in 3529 of the state’s 21,000 villages.

The key feature of MJSA is that it brings all water-related projects undertaken by various government departments under its umbrella for effective implementation. No new construction is taking place under MJSA itself. MJSA follows, what the officials call, “ridge to valley” approach to conserve and harvest water – from the catchment area in the ridge to the valley where the runoff flows.

2.8 million trees were planted, all around these water-harvesting structures. A five-year maintenance plan has been given to the forest department, which is the nodal agency for planting trees under the project. One of the basic tenets of this program has been to involve people in all stages—planning, execution and maintenance. Village residents, who are well-versed with water-harvesting methods, participated in the survey [to plan the location and specification of the water harvesting structure suited to an area] along with the officers and engineers, resulting in the selection of the most appropriate water harvesting structures.

Geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing technologies are being used to get data on groundwater level, soil moisture, topography and rainfall to decide the location of structures. Geo tagging is being used to track the projects and the progress is published by the government online.

Gujarat: Village forests were raised in unused land, and barren areas were re-forested. Trees were planted along canals, rivers and lakes. Private and degraded farmlands were also brought under tree plantation.

In 2011, Gujarat began the Farm Forestry scheme to grow 400 trees per hectare on farms, using MGNREGA funds. 750 farmer camps were organised every year to promote this and educate farmers.

Maharashtra: Maharashtra has signed an MoU with Isha Foundation for the greening of Maharashtra. The government plans to plant 50 crore trees by 2019.

Madhya Pradesh: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched the Narmada Sewa Yatra to spread awareness among people about the state of the Narmada river, and to bring out the essential relationship between human beings and rivers. The MP government has launched a comprehensive plan to rejuvenate the Narmada, with inputs from Isha Foundation. Action points include supporting farmers to move to horticulture, and planting forest trees in government land along riversides.

Overseas
United States: Virginia state has sponsored a riparian reforestation project in Fairfax county to prevent pollution from entering waterways, stabilize stream banks, provide food and habitat to wildlife and keep streams cool during hot weather. 8000 miles of tree strips have been planted. Plans include planting 15,000 more miles of streamside buffers.

Most forest departments in the United States encourage the planting and maintaining of streamside tree cover. According to the Kansas Forest Service, “streamside forests provide a wide range of benefits to both the environment, as well as landowners – benefits that include water quality and quantity enhancement, streambank stabilization, wildlife habitat, and enhanced recreational activities. These areas can also act as a sustainable source of income through timber harvest and the production of other forest products.”

European Union: There is a European government project for revitalising the Danube river. A central component of that is to restore the natural ecosystems affected by human activity. And the way of doing that is to establish a continuous ecological corridor River Greenway adjacent to the Danube river.

England: The municipal authorities of Pickering in North Yorkshire have used tree planting to reduce flooding. This is in stark contrast to other areas where heavy rainfall caused devastating flooding. Their initiative is called “Slowing the Flow”. An analysis of the scheme concludes that the measures reduced peak river flow by 15-20%. The scheme was set up in 2009 after the town had suffered four serious floods in 10 years, with the flooding in 2007 estimated to have caused about £7m of damage.

The work included planting 40,000 trees and the restoration of heather moorland, all intended to slow the flow of water into the river and reduce flood peaks. The project cost the government £500,000. An analysis of the project calls for a more natural approach to flood risk management that followed a series of serious floods in recent years.

Simon Dixon, the study’s lead author from the University of Birmingham, said: “We believe that tree planting can make a big contribution to reducing flood risk, and should be part of a wider flood risk management approach, including conventional flood defences. Tree planting would represent an extra element that helps to slow down the arrival of rain water to vulnerable locations.”

Pakistan: Torrential rains and landslides during April 2016 in Pakistan resulted in the deaths of more than 140 people and destruction to material property. Deforestation and erosion of mountain slopes are said to have increased the level of destruction. According to environmentalists, “While climate change is causing the enhanced intensity of rainfall, deforestation is unfortunately abetting the mass scale damage”.

After this experience, the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province began the “Green Growth Initiative”. Under this initiative, the party aims to reverse sixty years of deforestation. A large scale afforestation project called “The Billion Tree Tsunami” is a key aspect.

Starting from June 2015, over 250 million saplings have been raised in largely private nurseries so far. The remaining 450 million saplings are being naturally generated in forest enclosures, which are being maintained by local communities. Such nurseries are present in almost every district of the area. Most are privately owned and the demand is increasing.

According to thirdpole, “Under the “youth nurseries” package, the provincial government provides a secure buyback agreement for unemployed youth or rural women to set up kitchen nurseries – with about 25,000 saplings – as well as a 25% of costs in advance. The nursery can then earn around PKR 12,000 to 15,000 (USD 115-143) per month, which is a sizeable income in the area. In fact, most of the small scale or household nurseries are currently being run by rural women who have managed to enhance their income.”

The WWF is supporting the government in this endeavour. Imran Khan aslo launched the “One Tree, One Life” initiative, under which children are being inspired to take up tree planting and caring for trees.

Pakistan’s federal government is also joining in with a “Green Pakistan Program”, which aims to plant 100 million trees in five years.

Around the world, Agroforestry has been shown to be an effective means of river watershed management. Studies have been conducted in several places. Indonesia has had a program in place since the 1970s to regreen its watersheds, which are crucial for drinking water, irrigation and other activities that support many of the country’s poorest communities. Besides these ecological benefits, benefits to farmers also include higher crop yields, increased income, resilience to climate change, reduced dependence on natural forests, reduced pest incidence due to birds nesting in trees, and more biomass production.

References

1. http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/water/paper/Modelling-Hydrologic/Cauvery_GHTC.pdf
2. http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/water/paper/Hydrological-Responses/JBD-5-1,2-011-14-38-Ramachandra-T-V-Tx[2].pdf
3. http://serialsjournals.com/serialjournalmanager/pdf/1345722010.pdf
4. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Qc8rBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126#v=onepage&q&f=false
5. http://historia-actual.org/Publicaciones/index.php/rha/article/viewFile/335/728
6. https://thewire.in/112409/growing-forest-transforms-jharkhand-village/
7. http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=154097
8. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Govt-to-plant-4-crore-trees-along-Ganga-river/articleshow/51515294.cms
9. http://www.forganga.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Forestry-models-proposed-for-states.pdf
10. https://www.telegraphindia.com/1150707/jsp/bihar/story_30003.jsp
11. http://circle.forest.kerala.gov.in/sfkollam/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149&Itemid=141
12. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/casuarina-plantations-offer-multiple-benefits/article3407049.ece
13. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/raipur/target-set-chhattisgarh-to-be-greener-in-2015.html
14. http://www.cgmfpfed.org/new/act_rules/Chhattisgarh%20Forest%20Policy%20Act%202001%20(English).pdf
15. http://www.moef.gov.in/sites/default/files/Chhattisgarh.pdf
16. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/dry-no-more-57481
17. http://www.bayjournal.com/article/our_streams_could_just_die_for_more_riparian_forest_buffers
18. http://www.kansasforests.org/streamside_forestry/
19. http://www.danubeparks.org/files/855 DanubeRiverMorphologyRevitalization.pdf
20. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/13/500000-tree-planting-project-helped-yorkshire-town-miss-winter-floods
21. https://www.thethirdpole.net/2016/05/11/pakistans-billion-tree-tsunami-takes-hold/
22. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/publications/PDFs/PO99146.PDF
23. http://www.fao.org/docrep/ARTICLE/WFC/XII/0051-B5.HTM
    

Trees help rain seep into soil because living and decaying roots make soil porous by creating a network of well-connected, minuscule channels in the soil. Rainwater seeps into soil with such channels several hundred times faster than it seeps through soil without channels.

Additionally, when plant debris falls on the soil and starts to organically degrade, it helps soil maintain integrity and form small aggregated clumps. These clumps also ensure that soil is porous.

Thus, land under tree cover is more capable of absorbing rainwater. This reduces the volume of water flowing over the surface after a rain event, and thus reduces the volume of water entering rivers and streams. Computational models show that if reforesting is done in 20-35% of the river’s catchment, a 10-15% reduction is seen in flood peak heights after 25 years of forest growth.

When trees are taken off, floods often increase because most of the rainwater enters streams and rivers in a very short timeframe. Such high intensity flow is often not usable by human beings and usually flows into the ocean, while also causing soil erosion which leads to loss in soil nutrients. This is why large areas of formerly productive land, where annual rainfall is relatively high, have become desertified once tree cover is removed.

A study by IIT Roorkee compared  the peak flood levels before and after vegetation has been removed due to urbanization. Conversion of woodland to low density residential uses gives a 11-30% reduction in groundwater recharge. Conversion of woodland to high density residential uses gives 52-100% reduction in groundwater recharge. Conversion of woodland to commercial uses gives 94-100% reduction in groundwater recharge.

However, tree-planting reduces these high intensity events and creates a more sustainable flow that is available even after rain ceases. It also limits soil erosion.

There are several examples worldwide of governments using tree planting to control floods. In England, the municipal authorities of Pickering in North Yorkshire have used tree planting to reduce flooding. This is in stark contrast to other areas where heavy rainfall caused devastating flooding. Their initiative is called “Slowing the Flow”. An analysis of the scheme concludes that the measures reduced peak river flow by 15-20%. The scheme was set up in 2009 after the town had suffered four serious floods in 10 years, with the flooding in 2007 estimated to have caused about £7m of damage.

The work included planting 40,000 trees and the restoration of heather moorland, all intended to slow the flow of water into the river and reduce flood peaks. The project cost the government £500,000. An analysis of the project calls for a more natural approach to flood risk management that followed a series of serious floods in recent years.

Simon Dixon, the study’s lead author from the University of Birmingham, said: “We believe that tree planting can make a big contribution to reducing flood risk, and should be part of a wider flood risk management approach, including conventional flood defences. Tree planting would represent an extra element that helps to slow down the arrival of rain water to vulnerable locations.”

In Pakistan, torrential rains and landslides during April 2016 in Pakistan resulted in the deaths of more than 140 people and destruction to material property. Deforestation and erosion of mountain slopes are said to have increased the level of destruction. According to environmentalists, “While climate change is causing the enhanced intensity of rainfall, deforestation is unfortunately abetting the mass scale damage”.

After this experience, the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province began the “Green Growth Initiative”. Under this initiative, the party aims to reverse sixty years of deforestation. A large scale afforestation project called “The Billion Tree Tsunami” is a key aspect.

Starting from June 2015, over 250 million saplings have been raised in largely private nurseries so far. The remaining 450 million saplings are being naturally generated in forest enclosures, which are being maintained by local communities. Such nurseries are present in almost every district of the area. Most are privately owned and the demand is increasing.

According to thirdpole, “Under the “youth nurseries” package, the provincial government provides a secure buyback agreement for unemployed youth or rural women to set up kitchen nurseries – with about 25,000 saplings – as well as a 25% of costs in advance. The nursery can then earn around PKR 12,000 to 15,000 (USD 115-143) per month, which is a sizeable income in the area. In fact, most of the small scale or household nurseries are currently being run by rural women who have managed to enhance their income.”

The WWF is supporting the government in this endeavour. Imran Khan aslo launched the “One Tree, One Life” initiative, under which children are being inspired to take up tree planting and caring for trees.

Pakistan’s federal government is also joining in with a “Green Pakistan Program”, which aims to plant 100 million trees in five years.

Up until recently, stormwater management strategies have been focused on detaining large volumes of water in basins that had little to no effect on removing the pollutants in the stormwater. But that is changing. For example, in the US, municipal authorities are working to protect water quality and to put stormwater back into the ground where it fell. One of the ten principles for new stormwater management is “preserve and utilize natural systems (soil, vegetation, etc)”.

The role of trees and forests in managing stormwater and protecting water quality is just beginning to be understood by some engineers, planners and community leaders. One of the most powerful statements that help support this came from the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council in 2006 and reads:

‘Forests are the most beneficial land use for protecting water quality, due to their ability to capture, filter, and retain water, as well as air pollution from the air. Forests are also essential to the provision of clean drinking water to over 10 million residents of the watershed and provide valuable ecological services and economic benefits including carbon sequestration, flood control, wildlife habitat, and forest products’.

Around the world, Agroforestry has been shown to be an effective means of river watershed management. Studies have been conducted in several places. Indonesia has had a program in place since the 1970s to regreen its watersheds, which are crucial for drinking water, irrigation and other activities that support many of the country’s poorest communities. Besides these ecological benefits, benefits to farmers also include higher crop yields, increased income, resilience to climate change, reduced dependence on natural forests, reduced pest incidence due to birds nesting in trees, and more biomass production.

The mechanism through which trees prevent floods is the same mechanism through which they mitigate droughts. When trees are planted water is absorbed by soil, and just as rainwater percolated downward into soil, water can percolate horizontally in soil as well. This kind of underground “water flow” can feed water into streams and rivers wherever the water table intersects the streambed.

This underground or base flow is what keeps most of India’s rivers flowing even in the dry season. It is hard to exactly calculate how much of a rivers water comes from this base flow component because most rivers are dammed these days, so figuring out how much water is actually entering the river has many variables. Estimates for peninsular rivers range between 20-40%. For the Narmada, it is about 20-22%. For the Godavari it is estimated at around 35%.

References

1. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/esp.3919/abstract
2. http://www.a-a-r-s.org/acrs/administrator/components/com_jresearch/files/publications/Ab%200095.pdf
3. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/13/500000-tree-planting-project-helped-yorkshire-town-miss-winter-floods
4. https://www.thethirdpole.net/2016/05/11/pakistans-billion-tree-tsunami-takes-hold/
5. http://extension.psu.edu/plants/green-industry/landscaping/culture/the-role-of-trees-and-forests-in-healthy-watersheds
6. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/publications/PDFs/PO99146.PDF
7. http://www.fao.org/docrep/ARTICLE/WFC/XII/0051-B5.HTM
8. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/7539/7/07_chapter%202.pdf
9. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/baseflow-studies-three-rivers-between-mahanadi-and-godavari-deltas-research-report-national
10. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/Regional_low_flow_analysis_for_Narmada_basin_NIH_1997-98.pdf

Groundwater flow is one of the mechanisms through which trees keep rivers flowing even the dry season. Besides this, the recharge of groundwater tables also benefits people because India’s groundwater situation is growing dire. In 2011, almost 30% of India’s districts had a groundwater situation that was either semi-critical, critical or overexploited. This is up from just 8% in 1995. “If current trends continue, in 20 years about 60% of all India’s aquifers will be in a critical condition” says a World Bank report.

While more sustainable irrigation practices need to be brought in to completely reverse these trends, trees are also an important component in the solution. There are many examples of how  groundwater availability has declined when trees are cut down from an area. In Bengaluru, for example, Thindlu or Doddabommasandra lake used to be surrounded by thick vegetation and had a high groundwater table. But when construction started coming up in the region, vegetation was removed. This led to the drastic decline in the groundwater table. The lake was once home to several hundreds of bird species that spent part of their migratory cycle there. But today, the lake is completely dry. The residents in this area face water shortage with groundwater levels falling to 700 feet below the surface.

The Koramangala Games Village in the city is no better. With the removal of vegetation and the proliferation of concrete structures, rainwater no longer seeps into the ground. The water table has thus dropped to 600 feet below the surface, and residents are bearing the brunt.

This groundwater or base flow component of river flow is especially important in the context of climate change. Several studies have shown that the Indian subcontinent will experience more extreme wet and dry spells. In this situation, the planting of trees will ensure that water sinks into the soil rather than flowing above ground and causing floods. This groundwater component also increases dry season flow, thus reducing the effect of dry spells.

Agroforestry techniques are now being used in many countries to increase food production, check soil erosion and reduce flooding. Computational models show that if reforesting is done in 20-35% of the river’s catchment, a 10-15% reduction is seen in flood peak heights after 25 years of forest growth.

Another important factor is that many native trees in India consume less water per kilogram of produce than rice and wheat – the predominant food crops grown in India today accounting for 59% of India’s agricultural area under food grains. For example, wheat requires about 1900 liters/kg and rice needs 3000 liters/kg. Mangoes, like wheat, need 1900 liters/kg – which is still 30% less than rice. But fruits such as oranges need  900 liters/kg – less than half what wheat consumes and less than a third of what rice consumes. Pomegranate needs even less – about 750 liters/kg.

References

1. http://www.prsindia.org/administrator/uploads/general/1455682937~~Overview%20of%20Ground%20Water%20in%20India.pdf
2. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/03/06/india-groundwater-critical-diminishing
3. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/125574/trees-can-raise-groundwater-table.html
4. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/314/5804/1442
5. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n6/full/nclimate2208.html
6. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2008GL035143/abstract
7. http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/u5620e/U5620E05.htm
8. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/esp.3919/abstract
9. http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/PDF/Agricultural-Statistics-At-Glance2014.pdf
10. http://waterfootprint.org/en/resources/water-footprint-statistics/#CP1
11. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283514605_Water_Management_in_Pomegranate

There are several case studies of farmers’ incomes rising when they shift from crop cultivation to tree plantations. In Tamil Nadu, even farmers with just half an acre are reported to be earning Rs. 5 lakh a year. In Maharashtra, some farmers’ earning have increased almost seven-fold from about Rs. 20,000 an acre to Rs. 1.5 lakh an acre.

Farmers are also making money through Carbon Credit trading. The Maharashtra government is finalizing a trading exchange to encourage people to plant trees. It is estimated that 1 hectare with 200 sandalwood trees would give the farmer Rs 3500 in the first year. This income would increase by Rs. 3500 every year as the tree grows and captures more carbon. So at the end of 5 years, the farmer would be making Rs 17,500/yr.

Some companies in Tamil Nadu have already created a business model where farmers plant trees and earn a commission, and companies trade these carbon credits on the international exchange.

In Himachal Pradesh, over 50,000 farmers raised forest plantations on degraded public land and shared cash benefits of Rs. 1.93 crore earned through carbon credits.

Tree-based products such as neem leaves, honey, craft products, ayurvedic medicines and tree-based products such as rubber are also an income source.

Tourism is another income source. Farm tourism or rural tourism is a small but growing trend. Ecotourism is another sector applicable when trees and the surrounding ecosystem reach maturity. Worldwide in 1994, nature tourists (distinct from wildlife tourists) spent about 90 billion USD. India rarely even makes it into popular nature tourism lists right now, indicating lot of scope for growth.

Tree & farmers – Success stories                                                

1. Siva Prasad in Thippaipally, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh (pomegranate)

Siva Prasad was growing crops like bengal gram, maize and groundnut on his 25-acre farm. Annual farm expenditure was 2.15 lakhs and revenue stood at 4.9 lakhs. After joining a government horticulture scheme, he took up pomegranate cultivation on his land. He had no knowledge of irrigation, pruning, usage of fertilizers, harvesting or marketing from a horticulture point of view and was trained accordingly by the government.

Organic manure, vermicompost and oil cakes were used. Drip irrigation was followed and inorganic fertilizers applied through fertigation. Drip irrigation was especially useful in preventing the growth of fungus which cracks the pomegranate on the tree.

Currently, his annual expenditure is 12.5 lakh and revenue is 35 lakh.

2. K.P.Muthu Nagathasampatti, Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu (citrus, jasmine)

Mr. Muthu, grows jasmine and citrus in his land that is 50 cents (0.5 acre) in extent. He earns over Rs. 4 lakh annually. All the crops are being grown using goat manure, farmyard manure, groundnut and neem cake. With five goats and five bulls, he faces no difficulty in sourcing the inputs.

The 25 citrus trees are pruned during the summer and the fruits have a good demand in the market. “The reason for the demand is that the fruits are round, juicy, big, free from spots, scars and glossy in appearance,” he says. “I am able to harvest about 5000 fruits from each tree in a year. Each fruit is sold at the local market for Rs. 1.50 to Rs. 2 and I get a regular income of Rs. 1500 to Rs. 2000 per day,” says the farmer. During the jasmine season, the rates for the jasmine flowers also hit a peak and Mr. Muthu is able to get upto Rs. 300 a kg for the flowers. All the crops are grown organically.

3. Mr. R. Kolandaisamy, Marungulam village, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu (amla)

Mr. Kolandaisamy has integrated a high-tech nursery with his 25-hectare organic farm. He has also laid a demonstration plot of 0.4 hectare with more than 400 grafts of high yielding varieties of amla. Good organic manure, mulched with coir pith compost, neem cake and vermicompost is used to increase the water holding capacity of the soil. Drip irrigation is applied. Biofertilizers such as Azotobacter, phosphobacterium and Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhiza (VAM) are applied regularly to boost plant growth.

Economically viable and bigger fruits can be harvested from the third year of planting. The cost of raising an amla plantation works out to Rs. 1.25 lakh per hectare. The returns from the third year of planting, at an average price of Rs. 10 per kg of fruits, are about Rs. 2.5 lakhs. Each plant will yield about 25 kg of fruits a year. When the trees are five years old, the yield will gradually rise to 50 kg a year. From the eighth year, the average output per tree will be about 100 kg a year.

4. P. Veerabhadran, Mampakkam village, Chengalpattu district, Tamil Nadu (mango)

With 0.7 hectares, Veerabhadran is a marginal farmer. He says, “”A decade ago I was growing crops such as paddy and vegetables. Because of severe water shortage and successive monsoon failures, I lost a major portion of my crop. To overcome this problem, I thought of planting alternative crops, which would require less water unlike paddy and decided to plant mango in my field. At present I have about 250 Banganapalli and 400 Rumani varieties planted in my field. Both the varieties are able to fetch me a tidy income every year.”

For the first four years after planting the mango seedlings, he grew a variety of intercrops such as vegetables and groundnuts to supplement income. After harvest, the intercrops were ploughed into the soil as green manure. He also used rotten farmyard manure and neem cake. Panchagavya was sprayed to prevent pests.

He says, “”I had spent about Rs. 15,000 per hectare for growing, harvesting the intercrops, tree maintenance, and labour. I am expecting a harvest of 8-10 tonnes of Rumani fruits this year.” Rumani mangoes come to the market usually at the end of the mango season and fetch a good price when most of the other varieties lapse.”

5. Bhagwan Singh, Bharatpur district, Rajasthan (guava)

Bhagwan Singh was cultivating mustard on his land as his ancestors had always done. Due to the lack of income, he lost hope on the mustard crop and decided to plant 300 guava saplings at a cost of just Rs. 500 in the year 2007. He used a sweet and seedless variety of the guava. There is great demand now for his fruits in Agra, Mathura and Delhi, and he earns Rs. 5 lakh a year now.

6. Amarchintha village in Mahabubnagar district and Revalli village in Nalgonda district, Telangana (neem)

The Bio-India Biological Corporation (BIB), Hyderabad, is working with a Japanese company to develop a food ingredient from neem leaves, to be mixed with water. This will be packaged and sold in Japan, where the demand for green tea and medicated tea is quite high.

BIB purchases the neem leaves from the villagers under an agreement signed under the aegis of the Andhra Pradesh State Biodiversity Board. BIB pays Rs. 100 per kg of leaves.

References

1. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/oct/29/indian-farmers-fight-against-climate-change-using-trees-as-a-weapon
2. http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/money-to-grow-on-trees-maharashtra-will-give-tree-credits-to-those-who-raise-trees-262412.html
3. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/1-million-trees-raised-in-5-districts/article4640431.ece
4. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/himachal-pradesh-earns-rs-1-93-crore-through-carbon-credits-under-bio-carbon-project/
5. http://www.active-tourism.com/factsEcotourism1.pdf
6. http://shm.ap.nic.in/Success_Stores/SHMSuccessStories23-03-2010.pdf
7. http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/plan-according-to-market-requirement-before-cultivation/article5892441.ece
8. http://www.agritech.tnau.ac.in/success_stories/sucess%20stories_Hoticulture.html
9. http://www.krishijagran.com/farm-data/success-stories/2016/01/From-Traditional-Agriculture-to-Modern-Horticulture
10. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/A-sweet-tale-of-how-neem-trees-yield-money/article12549014

About 30 % of the world’s arable land has become unproductive as 60 % of its soil has been washed away and deposited in rivers, streams and lakes, that has made these water bodies prone to flooding and contamination with pesticides present in soil. Once soil is lost, those areas become desertified. It takes many centuries of careful work to once again make these lands productive.

Examples of this can be seen around the world. For example, the region along the Mediterranean in North Africa was known as the “Granary of the Roman Empire” two thousand years ago. However, this region suffered significant “land degradation during the Roman period itself, as a result of their agricultural techniques and expansion.”

The Great Dust Bowl in the American and Canadian prairies in the 1930s was a result of improper agricultural practices leading to loss of soil. Extensive deep plowing of the virgin topsoil of the American Great Plains during the previous decade displaced the native vegetation, which allowed the top soil to be swept off by winds during an extensive drought in the 1930s. This led to massive dust storms in American cities such as Washington DC and New York, and the collapse of agriculture in 400,000 sq kms in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado.

Today, a giant dustbowl is forming in Northwestern China and Mongolia. The yearly dust storms that happen in spring and engulf Beijing and other Chinese cities are due to these dustbowls that have formed because of over ploughing and overgrazing. The dust from these areas also enters South Korea every year, and sometimes travels across the Pacific and into Western US and Canada.

Trees minimize soil erosion from surface water runoff and flooding. This helps maintain soil health and prevents silt deposition in water bodies. Studies have shown that the more closely an agricultural system resembles a natural forest in its canopy structure, tree spacing and ground cover, the less chance there is of soil erosion.

Every year, India loses about 5.3 billion tons of soil or 16.4 tons per hectare due to erosion. Of India’s 3.2 million sq km, about 25% or 820,000 sq km is facing desertification. Another 40% or 1.26 million sq km is facing water erosion. Almost 20% of this is very severe erosion with over 40 tons of soil lost per hectare per year. 10% of this land is facing extreme erosion, with 80 tons of soil lost per year. 80 tons of soil is about 5mm of topsoil a year.

Erosion is especially serious in the Himalayas and Eastern and Western Ghats. The entire Himalayan region is prone to soil loss. For example, within just the state of Himachal Pradesh, about 280 million tons of soil is lost every year.

In the Eastern and Western Ghats, 40-50 tons are lost per hectare each year. This is about 3mm of topsoil a year. It takes 30-40 years to form a millimeter  of topsoil, and it takes about 150mm of topsoil to grow a good crop. Average topsoil depth in India is only about 180mm. At an erosion rate of 5mm per year, the entire topsoil will disappear in 35 years.

And soil erosion is not a recent phenomenon in India. It has been a problem for many decades. Which is why 170,000 sq km of land is considered to have already suffered topsoil loss in India. In 2010, the country is estimated to have lost INR 28,500 crore on account of degraded lands. This is a loss of 12% of the total value productivity of these lands.

Soil loss per hectare in agricultural land is five to ten times more than land under forests. During episodes of very heavy rainfall, agricultural land may lose up to 26 times more soil than forests. This susceptibility under heavy rain is especially significant considering that climate change models predict more spells of heavy rain on the Indian subcontinent.

Tree cover plays an important role in reversing soil erosion, and additionally preventing landslides in hilly regions. In a study done in the Alaknanda Valley of the Uttarakand Himalayas, it was found that the landslide occurrence for open and degraded pine forests was 2-3 times higher than for healthy pine forests. The density of the pine forest was found to be the slope-stabilizing factor.

Soil is protected under tree cover because of the litter – the leaves and branches that our shed by the tree and fall to the ground. When the ground is free from litter and cover, water flows freely and can take away the soil with it. So, along with the planting of trees, ensuring that the ground – the understorey and leaf litter – beneath the trees is not disturbed is also critical. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, forest and tree crop plantations in which ground cover was disturbed are more susceptible to erosion than areas where ground cover was undisturbed.

Soil restoration through tree plantation

In the Loess Plateau in China, nearly one million hectares of degraded land were reforested between 1994 to 2005, in the Wei and Yellow river basins. During the 1980s and 1990s, the degradation of the region’s soils and vegetation had reduced food production, affected water transport and air quality in nearby as well as distant cities. The erosion of soil was at such a serious level that almost 90% of the sediment entering the Yellow River – one of China’s largest rivers – was due to the plateau.

Working with the World Bank, China invested in six forestry programs, targeting around 1100 small rivers and streams in the plateau. Over a ten-year period, this initiative led to greater food security, increased per capita grain production, 89,600 hectares of new agricultural land and reduction of sediment in the water by 99%.

Similar work has been done around the world. For example, starting from 1935, the United States government worked with farmers to restore the Coon valley rivershed. By planting trees and other initiatives, tree cover went up from 37% in 1939 to 50% in 1993. Results included better dry season water levels in the river, reduced floods and healthier soil.

References

1. http://punenvis.nic.in/index2.aspx?slid=208&mid=1&langid=1&sublinkid=63
2. http://www.ohioswallow.com/extras/9780821417515_chapter_01.pdf
3. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/dustbowl-drought/
4. https://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-agriculture/full-planet-empty-plates-chapter-5-eroding-soils-darkening-our-future.html
5. http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/u5620e/U5620E05.htm
6. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/desertification-affects-quarter-of-indias-land/1/367345.html
7. http://www.icar.org.in/files/Degraded-and-Wastelands.pdf
8. http://web.utk.edu/~drtd0c/Soil%20Erosion.pdf
9. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_010152.pdf
10. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=QI93ntXUA4sC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&f=false#v=onepage&q&f=false
11. https://www.scribd.com/document/271781705/Integrated-Remote-Sensing-and-Geographic-Information-System-Based-RUSLE-Modelling-for-Estimation-of-Soil-Loss-in-Western-Himalaya-India
12. http://www.financialexpress.com/archive/degraded-land-costs-rs-28500-crore-to-india/636262/
13. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3673736
14. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/314/5804/1442
15. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n6/full/nclimate2208.html
16. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2008GL035143/abstract
17. https://in.boell.org/sites/default/files/valuation_of_ess_.pdf
18. http://www.fao.org/docrep/T0178E/T0178E03.htm
19. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0309133307081290
20. http://www.wri.org/sites/default/files/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_China.pdf
21. https://www.crcpress.com/Land-Use-Effects-on-Streamflow-and-Water-Quality-in-the-Northeastern-United/de-la-Cretaz-Barten/p/book/9780849391873

Besides soil erosion, soil quality is another issue facing agriculture in India today. For example, according to Rattan Lal, President of the International Union of Soil Science, the carbon content of top soil in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh — the granary of the country – is a mere 0.05%. Healthy soil is expected to have 2% carbon content.

Forests contribute in soil formation through physical, biological and chemical weathering of the parent rock materials and also through the addition of foliage and its subsequent decomposition. It is well-known that trees help improve soil fertility. Studies show that compared to farms in which only crops are cultivated, when trees are also grown, crop production increased to 200% or more in two-thirds of cases. Increasing the soil’s organic content also increases the amount of water that soil can hold. For every 1% increase in the soil organic content, the soil can hold an additional 60,000 liters per acre.

Science knows very little about soil. Centuries ago, Leornado Da Vinci is supposed to have said: “We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.” That still holds true today. According to the Atlantic: “There can be 10,000 to 50,000 species in less than a teaspoon of soil. In that same teaspoon of soil, there are more microbes than there are people on the earth. In a handful of healthy soil, there is more biodiversity in just the bacterial community than you will find in all the animals of the Amazon basin.”

What little we know about soil and its interaction with trees and the rest of the ecosystem is just the tip of the iceberg. We know for instance that some species of trees provide habitat for bacteria and fungi in their root structure. These organisms perform nitrogen fixation, which is a significant factor in soil fertility.

Trees also recycle nutrients by pulling them up from deeper layers of the ground and bringing them up to the surface through the decomposition of leaf and plant litter to form soil organic matter. Tree canopies also trap some amounts of nutrient from the atmosphere, a source of free fertilizer which is washed from the leaves to the soil by rain.

No Ploughing Recommendation: No-till agriculture, where seeds are directly inserted into the soil, is considered to be supportive to soil biodiversity. No-till results in more organic matter in soil and less erosion, which means more fertility, less fertilizer, and higher yields.

Ploughing reduces a farm’s long-term productivity by exposing the organic-matter-rich topsoil to the surface. This creates fluctuations in soil moisture and temperature, which many soil organisms cannot handle. Tilling also reduces the pores in soil, which would otherwise have allowed water to infiltrate the soil and recharge groundwater.

For example, the number of earthworms per square meter varied between 119 in ploughed land and 160 in no-till land. Earthworms are an important component of the sub-surface soil ecosystem and play an important role in adding nutrient to soil. Tilling also affects certain fungi in the soil that form beneficial symbiotic relationships with plants – receiving sugars from plants and supplying them with nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen.

References

1. http://www.avenuemail.in/india/top-soil-scientist-keen-help-india-nobody-listens/106387/
2. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-15305271
3. http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/compost_increases_the_water_holding_capacity_of_droughty_soils
4. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/06/healthy-soil-microbes-healthy-people/276710/
5. http://www.asopah.org/journals/ajga/ajga6/ajga620510034.pdf
6. http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd/newsletter/notill.htm
7. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/14si5_en.pdf
8. http://snowmannetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/SN03-14-17_GlobalSoilBiodiversityAtlas_No-till-vs-conventional-tillage_Aug2014.pdf

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, “Vegetation and plant debris slow surface runoff, encouraging sediment and sediment-bound contaminants to settle before entering surface water. Once in the soil, contaminants can be immobilized and transformed by soil microbes or taken up by vegetation. Groundwater flowing through the root zone is also filtered by these processes. Additionally, trees can trap windblown dust before it enters stream and lakes.”

Trees and forest areas also help filter water used for drinking water purposes in New York’s water supply system – the largest unfiltered water system in the United States. The water system delivers 1.2 billion gallons of water each day to 9 million residents. New York manages this because it gets water from watersheds where forests, swamps and soils act as natural filters, removing pollutants.

New York’s water supply is drawn from three watersheds, the Delaware, Catskill and Croton rivers. In 1997, the city made a revolutionary decision to preserve its natural water sources rather than spending 8-10 billion dollars on a new filtration plant. In comparison, maintaining the natural ecosystem of the watersheds was estimated to cost only 1.5 billion dollars. Among various initiatives, one aspect was that the city paid landowners in the watersheds to keep the forests as they were.

However, of the three watersheds, the Croton river region was already much more populated and degraded, with more paved surfaces and increased stormwater runoff and pollution, compared to the other two river areas. This necessitated the construction of a filtration plant for the water coming from the Croton river area, but not for the other two. This illustrates the difference in water quality and subsequent cost to the exchequer when forests are lost or degraded.

Most states in the United States encourage the planting of trees along rivers and streams, and several states have incentives for farmers doing so. For example, streamside tree planting has been used in Maryland and other US states bordering Chesapeake Bay to reduce pollution from agricultural and pesticide runoff. The states have planted over 8000 miles of trees along riversides, and studies showed reductions of up to 88% of nitrate and 76% of phosphorus from fertilizers used in adjacent fields because of filtration by the trees. Plans include planting 15,000 more miles of streamside buffers.

Besides directly filtering the water before it enters streams from fields, trees also help indirectly. Pollution entering rivers is especially troublesome when rivers have insufficient water. When water volumes in a river are high, pollution and sewage are diluted to some extent. While treatment of pollution is essential, a river in full flow can have a mitigating effect on pollution, according to the Central Pollution Control Board of India.

Depending on the species, trees that shade crops can reduce evapotranspiration. The water use efficiency of crops also increased in the presence of trees, which act as shelters that create a conducive microclimate around crops. Increased water use efficiency means more growth per unit of water.

References

1. https://nac.unl.edu/documents/workingtrees/brochures/wtwq.pdf
2. http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/07/29/maintaining-the-superiority-of-nyc%E2%80%99s-drinking-water/
3. http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/articles/ecosystem-services-in-the-new-york-city-watershed-1969-12-31/
4. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/21/us/planting-trees-and-not-crops-to-fight-water-pollution.html
5. http://www.bayjournal.com/article/our_streams_could_just_die_for_more_riparian_forest_buffers
6. http://cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_211_IRBM_Report.pdf
7. http://www.scirp.org/(S(i43dyn45teexjx455qlt3d2q))/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=50596
8. http://orgprints.org/18172/1/Agroforestry_synopsis.pdf
9. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0167880988900345

Removal of trees and changes in the way land is used is one of the most important contributors to climate change. It accounts for almost a quarter of humanity’s carbon dioxide emissions.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air as they grow. Through the use of solar energy, the carbon in carbon dioxide is transformed the stem, leaves, branches and the rest of the tree’s body. This is why it is so important to plant trees. A tree is essentially a reservoir of carbon. If the tree did not exist, this carbon would remain in the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. When we plant trees, some of that carbon is held in the tree and the rest enters the soil through decomposition of leaves and branches that are naturally shed by trees. This decomposing material adds to the fertility of the soil.

Currently, about a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humanity adds to the atmosphere is soaked up by trees and plants. If we don’t add more trees soon, this human-induced carbon dioxide emission will accelerate the global warming that has already begun.

Forests are also known to have a cooling effect on the planet. However, they do this job effectively only in the tropics. Planting trees in high latitudes can have a reverse effect of increasing temperatures. However, trees do act as natural carbon sinks at all latitudes.

Plants combat warming not just on a global scale but even on a local level. Urban areas can be up to 12°C warmer than rural surroundings due to the heat given off by buildings, roads and traffic, as well as reduced evaporative cooling, in what is commonly referred to as an “urban heat island”.

An urban heat island not only increases the temperature in the area, but can also increase the intensity and frequency of rainstorms, leading to flooding in cities.

Scientists looking at the effect global warming will have on our major cities say a modest increase in the number of urban parks and street trees could offset decades of predicted temperature rises.

The University of Manchester study has calculated that with just a 10% increase in the amount of green space in built-up centers would reduce urban surface temperatures by as much as 4°C.

This 4°C drop in temperature, which is equivalent to the average predicted rise through global warming by the 2080s, is caused by the cooling effect of water as it evaporates into the air from leaves and vegetation through a process called transpiration.

Additionally, a University of Sheffield study found that rivers can cool their local urban environment. Dr. Abigail Hathway, a lecturer in Computational Mechanics and Design in the University’s Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, has been researching the microclimate effect of the river Don, which flows through Sheffield to investigate how these principles could be put to use in urban planning.

She explains: “We monitored temperatures at a number of sites close to the river Don in Sheffield and discovered that, in hot weather and during the daytime, the river has a significant cooling effect.

Even in non-urban areas, on the scale of continents, trees can play a role in regulating rainfall – augmenting rain where rain is scarce, and reducing it where it is too much.

Increasing Rainfall: One study looking at how a corridor of trees along rivers can “transport” rain to the interior of continents suggests that “In the non-forested region’s precipitation declines exponentially with distance from the ocean. In contrast, in the forest-covered region’s precipitation does not decrease and even grows along several thousand kilometers inland. This indicates that forest cover plays a major role in the atmospheric circulation and water cycling on land. This suggests a good potential for forest-mediated solutions of the global desertification and water security problems.”

For example, the tree cover in the Amazon rainforest is known to create its own rainy season. This happens in India too. A recent study from IIT Bombay showed that deforestation over the last few decades has led to weakening of the summer monsoon. The study author says, “Our study found that there are local factors such as changes in land use and land cover that lead to changes in monsoon rainfall. These local changes are in our hands, and because of them there has been a significant reduction in rainfall over two major regions, the Ganga basin and northeast India. That is really alarming.” Recycled precipitation or precipitation caused by vegetation is estimated to account for 20–25% of the rainfall in North India (Ganga Basin) and Northeast India during August and September.

Trees also release tiny organic particles called aerosols that allow water vapour in the air to condense, bringing rainfall to areas that need them.

Decreasing Rainfall: A decrease in rainfall doesn’t sound like a nice experience. However, as already mentioned, climate change is creating unseasonal rainfall and more extreme wet spells and dry spells – which means more flood and drought. There is increasing amount of evidence pointing towards an increase in the number of heavy rainfall events because nearly the whole of India has experienced very strong warming of between 0.1-1 degree Celsius per year. Essentially, rain falls when it is not supposed to and doesn’t fall when it should. Trees help lower temperatures over land, and therefore mitigate rainfall extremes, keeping rainfall at its normal levels.

References

1. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/08/trees-amazon-make-their-own-rain
2. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/dec/21/what-is-climate-change
3. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/11/forests-trees-climate
4. “More Trees, Less Global Warming, Right? — Not … – Scientific American.” 10 Apr. 2007, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tropical-forests-cool-earth/. Accessed 20 May. 2017.
5. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060726-rain-cities.html
6. “Build parks to climate proof our cities – Phys.org.” 14 May. 2007, https://phys.org/news/2007-05-climate-proof-cities.html. Accessed 20 May. 2017.
7. “Rivers may aid climate control in cities – Phys.org.” 17 Nov. 2011, https://phys.org/news/2011-11-rivers-aid-climate-cities.html. Accessed 20 May. 2017.
8. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1476945X08000834
9. https://phys.org/news/2017-07-amazon-rainy-season.html
10. “Weakening of Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall due to … – Nature.” 24 Aug. 2016, https://www.nature.com/articles/srep32177. Accessed 19 May. 2017.
11. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v533/n7604/full/nature17953.html
12. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/making-sense-of-erratic-monsoon-sporadic-flooding-55128
13. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/video/a-presentation-on-how-india-s-temperature-is-rising-over-the-years-58026
14. http://assets.wwfindia.org/downloads/impacts_of_climate_change_on_growth_and_yield_of_rice_and_wheat_in_the_upper_ganga_basin.pdf
15. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/humble-jackfruit-offers-hope-amid-climate-worries/article5941842.ece
16. http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=214
17. http://www.winrock.org/fnrm/factnet/factpub/FACTSH/ziziphus.htm
18. http://www.feedipedia.org/node/80
19. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/indian_jujube.html
20. http://www.popularkheti.info/documents/2014-1/PK-2-1-28-154-159.pdf
21. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Y2n2pH4G9ocC&lpg=PT931&pg=PT931#v=onepage&q&f=false

Trees along riversides also provide habitat for flora and fauna and increase biodiversity. They act as wildlife corridors between fragmented habitats, keep river water cool and improve habitat conditions for aquatic animals. When branches or tree stumps fall into the water, this also creates new habitats and provides new energy sources for organisms.

Though India is a global hotspot for freshwater fish diversity with nearly 1000 species, India’s rivers are currently undergoing a biodiversity crisis. India is second in the world in freshwater fish production, and over 75% of fishermen depend on freshwater for their catch. However, fish yields from rivers are dropping steadily. Today, they yield stands at 15% of actual potential – 0.3 tons per km.

A few examples from some rivers gives an idea of the heavy decline. The average yield of major carps in the Ganga has declined by 90% over the last 40 years. The Hilsa fish – a central part of Bengali cuisine – has almost disappeared in the Ganga.

Hilsa fisheries have also reduced in the western Narmada River system. They decline between 1993-2005 amounted to two-thirds. Carp fisheries have also collapsed as water levels in the river dropped. Monthly catches of Mahseer, an endangered species, have now vanished.

References

1. https://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/india%E2%80%99s-dammed-rivers-suffer-fisheries-collapse-7758
2. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/Publications/files/bookchapter/BC0147-05.pdf

Isha Outreach has appointed an eminent Rally for Rivers board (constituted on November 8, 2017) to oversee the Cauvery Calling project. The board comprises Mr. Ravi Singh, CEO and Secretary-General, World Wide Fund for Nature-India; Justice Arijit Pasayat, Retired Judge, Supreme Court of India; Ms. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon Ltd; Mr. Shashi Shekhar, former Secretary, Water Resources, Government of India; Dr AS Kiran Kumar, former Chairperson, Indian Space Research Organisation; Mr. Pravesh Sharma, former Secretary and MD of Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium, Government of India; Mr. B Muthuraman, former Chairperson, Tata Steel, Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industries.

At Isha, we are committed to finding a holistic, long-term solution to reviving India’s rivers, taking into consideration the interests of all the stakeholders. We have been in discussion with foremost scientists and experts in the fields of environment to draft a comprehensive policy recommendation for the Government. Take a look at what some of these experts have to say below.

In formulating the River Revitalization policy recommendation draft for the Government, Isha brings to the table two decades of experience in environmental matters. Isha’s Project GreenHands, pilot project of Cauvery Calling is one of the largest environmental movements in Asia. Through people’s support, PGH has facilitated the planting of over 32 million saplings till date in Tamil Nadu – the only state in India that has seen an increase in tree cover in the last 15 years.

We are currently in the process of creating a draft policy for river revitalization in collaboration with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and various other technical experts. The policy will cover the many aspects surrounding river restoration – tree plantation, farmers’ livelihood, corporate and government involvement, etc. This draft document for an overarching national level policy will be presented to the Central Government on the 2nd of October. It will then become available to the media and open for public opinion and inputs. Afterwards, we will create a more detailed document on individual state level policies and execution.

During the phase of drafting the policy document, we welcome suggestions and contributions from those who have knowledge and experience when it comes to rivers and river revitalization. If you have any such inputs, we look forward to hearing from you! You can get in touch with us at Ideas@RallyforRivers.org .

Send Us Your Ideas

We welcome all environmental scientists, experts and practitioners to contribute their knowledge and expertise towards creating a roadmap to rejuvenate our depleting rivers and save our country’s lifelines.

We look forward to receiving your suggestions at Ideas@RallyForRivers.org

River Basins: Water Discharge & Other Datasets

1. India-WRIS Basin Reports
2. Indian Census 2011
3. India-WRIS Hydromet Data
4. Center for Sustainability and Global Environment – University of Wisconsin-Madison
5. The role of mega dams in reducing sediment fluxes
6. Man-made climatic changes in the Ganges basin
7. Major Ganga sub basins water balance analysis report – World Bank
8. Aqueduct by Global Forest Watch
9. Google Earth Engine

India’s Water Availability

1. Per Capita availability of Water – Press Information Bureau
2. India’s Water Wealth
3. Overview of Ground Water in India
4. India Groundwater: a Valuable but Diminishing Resource – World Bank
5. Charting Our Water Future
6. A Clash of Competing Necessities
7. Dwindling Groundwater Resources in northern India
8. Water for a Sustainable World – UN

Our Rivers Are Dying

1. Climate Change in the Himalaya
2. Drawing Water for Thirsty Lands Stories of the Closing Krishna River
3. Evaluating the hydrological response to land cover change
4. Ganga Sub-basins Water Balance Report
5. Rejuvenation of Non Glacial Fed Rivers in Uttarakhand
6. WWF’s Top 10 Rivers at Risk

Saving Our Rivers

1. Trees, forests and water: Cool insights for a hot world
2. Trees can raise groundwater table – Deccan Herald
3. The Role of Trees and Forests in Healthy Watersheds
4. Estimation of Groundwater Recharge under various land covers
5. The rain–runoff response of tropical humid forest ecosystems
6. Role of Agroforestry in Watershed Management
7. Role of agroforestry in maintenance of hydrological functions
8. Danube Rivers Morphology and Revitalization
9. Restoration Diagnostic Case Example – China
10. Intermediate tree cover can maximize groundwater recharge
11. Working Trees for Water Quality – National Agroforestry Center
12. Trees boost African crop yields and food security – BBC News
13. The role of trees in soil and nutrient conservation
14. Benefits of Streamside Forestry
15. Modelling Hydrologic regime of Lakshmanatirtha
16. Hydrological Responses at Regional Scale to Landscape Dynamics
17. Degraded and Wastelands of India
18. Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Forest Governance
19. Where Rivers Are Born

Riparian forests for healthy rivers

Increasing Farmers’ Incomes

1. http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-maharashtra-government-to-give-tree-credits-as-an-incentive-for-planting-trees-2228327
2. http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/plan-according-to-market-requirement-before-cultivation/article5892441.ece
3. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/oct/29/indian-farmers-fight-against-climate-change-using-trees-as-a-weapon
4. http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/money-to-grow-on-trees-maharashtra-will-give-tree-credits-to-those-who-raise-trees-262412.html
5. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/1-million-trees-raised-in-5-districts/article4640431.ece
6. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/himachal-pradesh-earns-rs-1-93-crore-through-carbon-credits-under-bio-carbon-project/
7. http://www.active-tourism.com/factsEcotourism1.pdf
8. http://shm.ap.nic.in/Success_Stores/SHMSuccessStories23-03-2010.pdf
9. http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/plan-according-to-market-requirement-before-cultivation/article5892441.ece
10. http://www.agritech.tnau.ac.in/success_stories/sucess%20stories_Hoticulture.html
11. http://www.agritech.tnau.ac.in/success_stories/sucess%20stories_Hoticulture.html
12. http://www.krishijagran.com/farm-data/success-stories/2016/01/From-Traditional-Agriculture-to-Modern-Horticulture
13. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/A-sweet-tale-of-how-neem-trees-yield-money/article12549014.ece

How Planting Trees Works

1. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/7539/7/07_chapter%202.pdf
2. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/baseflow-studies-three-rivers-between-mahanadi-and-godavari-deltas-research-report-national
3. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/Regional_low_flow_analysis_for_Narmada_basin_NIH_1997-98.pdf
4. http://www.a-a-r-s.org/acrs/administrator/components/com_jresearch/files/publications/Ab%200095.pdf
5. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169412008190
6. http://www.fao.org/docrep/ARTICLE/WFC/XII/0051-B5.HTM
7. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep21930
8. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378017300134
9. http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/u5620e/U5620E05.htm
10. http://ijiet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/77.pdf
11. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/125574/trees-can-raise-groundwater-table.html

Why Rivers Are Losing Water

1. http://www.prsindia.org/administrator/uploads/general/1455682937~~Overview%20of%20Ground%20Water%20in%20India.pdf
2. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/03/06/india-groundwater-critical-diminishing
3. http://serialsjournals.com/serialjournalmanager/pdf/1345722010.pdf
4. http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers15-08/010047105.pdf
5. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hyp.9826/abstract
6. http://www.seipub.org/awrp/Download.aspx?ID=9750

Case Studies & Initiatives

1. http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/water/paper/Modelling-Hydrologic/Cauvery_GHTC.pdf
2. http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/water/paper/Hydrological-Responses/JBD-5-1,2-011-14-38-Ramachandra-T-V-Tx[2].pdf
3. http://serialsjournals.com/serialjournalmanager/pdf/1345722010.pdf
4. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Qc8rBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126#v=onepage&q&f=false
5. http://historia-actual.org/Publicaciones/index.php/rha/article/viewFile/335/728
6. https://thewire.in/112409/growing-forest-transforms-jharkhand-village/
7. http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=154097
8. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Govt-to-plant-4-crore-trees-along-Ganga-river/articleshow/51515294.cms
9. http://www.forganga.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Forestry-models-proposed-for-states.pdf
10. https://www.telegraphindia.com/1150707/jsp/bihar/story_30003.jsp
11. http://circle.forest.kerala.gov.in/sfkollam/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149&Itemid=141
12. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/casuarina-plantations-offer-multiple-benefits/article3407049.ece
13. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/raipur/target-set-chhattisgarh-to-be-greener-in-2015.html
14. http://www.cgmfpfed.org/new/act_rules/Chhattisgarh%20Forest%20Policy%20Act%202001%20(English).pdf
15. http://www.moef.gov.in/sites/default/files/Chhattisgarh.pdf
16. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/dry-no-more-57481
17. http://www.bayjournal.com/article/our_streams_could_just_die_for_more_riparian_forest_buffers
18. http://www.kansasforests.org/streamside_forestry/
19. http://www.danubeparks.org/files/855 DanubeRiverMorphologyRevitalization.pdf
20. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/13/500000-tree-planting-project-helped-yorkshire-town-miss-winter-floods
21. https://www.thethirdpole.net/2016/05/11/pakistans-billion-tree-tsunami-takes-hold/
22. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/publications/PDFs/PO99146.PDF
23. http://www.fao.org/docrep/ARTICLE/WFC/XII/0051-B5.HTM

How Trees Reduce Flood & Droughts

1. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/esp.3919/abstract
2. http://www.a-a-r-s.org/acrs/administrator/components/com_jresearch/files/publications/Ab%200095.pdf
3. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/13/500000-tree-planting-project-helped-yorkshire-town-miss-winter-floods
4. https://www.thethirdpole.net/2016/05/11/pakistans-billion-tree-tsunami-takes-hold/
5. http://extension.psu.edu/plants/green-industry/landscaping/culture/the-role-of-trees-and-forests-in-healthy-watersheds
6. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/publications/PDFs/PO99146.PDF
7. http://www.fao.org/docrep/ARTICLE/WFC/XII/0051-B5.HTM
8. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/7539/7/07_chapter%202.pdf
9. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/baseflow-studies-three-rivers-between-mahanadi-and-godavari-deltas-research-report-national
10. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/Regional_low_flow_analysis_for_Narmada_basin_NIH_1997-98.pdf

How Trees Improve Groundwater Recharge

1. http://www.prsindia.org/administrator/uploads/general/1455682937~~Overview%20of%20Ground%20Water%20in%20India.pdf
2. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/03/06/india-groundwater-critical-diminishing
3. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/125574/trees-can-raise-groundwater-table.html
4. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/314/5804/1442
5. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n6/full/nclimate2208.html
6. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2008GL035143/abstract
7. http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/u5620e/U5620E05.htm
8. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/esp.3919/abstract
9. http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/PDF/Agricultural-Statistics-At-Glance2014.pdf
10. http://waterfootprint.org/en/resources/water-footprint-statistics/#CP1
11. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283514605_Water_Management_in_Pomegranate

How Trees Increase Farmers’ Incomes

1. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/oct/29/indian-farmers-fight-against-climate-change-using-trees-as-a-weapon
2. http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/money-to-grow-on-trees-maharashtra-will-give-tree-credits-to-those-who-raise-trees-262412.html
3. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/1-million-trees-raised-in-5-districts/article4640431.ece
4. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/himachal-pradesh-earns-rs-1-93-crore-through-carbon-credits-under-bio-carbon-project/
5. http://www.active-tourism.com/factsEcotourism1.pdf
6. http://shm.ap.nic.in/Success_Stores/SHMSuccessStories23-03-2010.pdf
7. http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/plan-according-to-market-requirement-before-cultivation/article5892441.ece
8. http://www.agritech.tnau.ac.in/success_stories/sucess%20stories_Hoticulture.html
9. http://www.krishijagran.com/farm-data/success-stories/2016/01/From-Traditional-Agriculture-to-Modern-Horticulture
10. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/A-sweet-tale-of-how-neem-trees-yield-money/article12549014

How Trees Prevent Soil Erosion

1. http://punenvis.nic.in/index2.aspx?slid=208&mid=1&langid=1&sublinkid=63
2. http://www.ohioswallow.com/extras/9780821417515_chapter_01.pdf
3. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/dustbowl-drought/
4. https://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-agriculture/full-planet-empty-plates-chapter-5-eroding-soils-darkening-our-future.html
5. http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/u5620e/U5620E05.htm
6. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/desertification-affects-quarter-of-indias-land/1/367345.html
7. http://www.icar.org.in/files/Degraded-and-Wastelands.pdf
8. http://web.utk.edu/~drtd0c/Soil%20Erosion.pdf
9. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_010152.pdf
10. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=QI93ntXUA4sC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&f=false#v=onepage&q&f=false
11. https://www.scribd.com/document/271781705/Integrated-Remote-Sensing-and-Geographic-Information-System-Based-RUSLE-Modelling-for-Estimation-of-Soil-Loss-in-Western-Himalaya-India
12. http://www.financialexpress.com/archive/degraded-land-costs-rs-28500-crore-to-india/636262/
13. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3673736
14. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/314/5804/1442
15. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n6/full/nclimate2208.html
16. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2008GL035143/abstract
17. https://in.boell.org/sites/default/files/valuation_of_ess_.pdf
18. http://www.fao.org/docrep/T0178E/T0178E03.htm
19. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0309133307081290
20. http://www.wri.org/sites/default/files/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_China.pdf
21. https://www.crcpress.com/Land-Use-Effects-on-Streamflow-and-Water-Quality-in-the-Northeastern-United/de-la-Cretaz-Barten/p/book/9780849391873

How Trees Improve Soil Quality

1. http://www.avenuemail.in/india/top-soil-scientist-keen-help-india-nobody-listens/106387/
2. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-15305271
3. http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/compost_increases_the_water_holding_capacity_of_droughty_soils
4. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/06/healthy-soil-microbes-healthy-people/276710/
5. http://www.asopah.org/journals/ajga/ajga6/ajga620510034.pdf

. Accessed 21 May. 2017.

1. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=T9qY2AxnUowC&pg=PA38
2. http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd/newsletter/notill.htm
3. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/14si5_en.pdf
4. http://snowmannetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/SN03-14-17_GlobalSoilBiodiversityAtlas_No-till-vs-conventional-tillage_Aug2014.pdf

How Trees Mitigate Climate Change & Regulate Rainfall

1. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/08/trees-amazon-make-their-own-rain
2. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/dec/21/what-is-climate-change
3. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/11/forests-trees-climate
4. “More Trees, Less Global Warming, Right? — Not … – Scientific American.” 10 Apr. 2007, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tropical-forests-cool-earth/. Accessed 20 May. 2017.
5. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060726-rain-cities.html
6. “Build parks to climate proof our cities – Phys.org.” 14 May. 2007, https://phys.org/news/2007-05-climate-proof-cities.html. Accessed 20 May. 2017.
7. “Rivers may aid climate control in cities – Phys.org.” 17 Nov. 2011, https://phys.org/news/2011-11-rivers-aid-climate-cities.html. Accessed 20 May. 2017.
8. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1476945X08000834
9. https://phys.org/news/2017-07-amazon-rainy-season.html
10. “Weakening of Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall due to … – Nature.” 24 Aug. 2016, https://www.nature.com/articles/srep32177. Accessed 19 May. 2017.
11. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v533/n7604/full/nature17953.html
12. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/making-sense-of-erratic-monsoon-sporadic-flooding-55128
13. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/video/a-presentation-on-how-india-s-temperature-is-rising-over-the-years-58026
14. http://assets.wwfindia.org/downloads/impacts_of_climate_change_on_growth_and_yield_of_rice_and_wheat_in_the_upper_ganga_basin.pdf
15. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/humble-jackfruit-offers-hope-amid-climate-worries/article5941842.ece
16. http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=214
17. http://www.winrock.org/fnrm/factnet/factpub/FACTSH/ziziphus.htm
18. http://www.feedipedia.org/node/80
19. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/indian_jujube.html
20. http://www.popularkheti.info/documents/2014-1/PK-2-1-28-154-159.pdf
21. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Y2n2pH4G9ocC&lpg=PT931&pg=PT931#v=onepage&q&f=false

How Trees Improve Water Quality

1. https://nac.unl.edu/documents/workingtrees/brochures/wtwq.pdf
2. http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/07/29/maintaining-the-superiority-of-nyc%E2%80%99s-drinking-water/
3. http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/articles/ecosystem-services-in-the-new-york-city-watershed-1969-12-31/
4. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/21/us/planting-trees-and-not-crops-to-fight-water-pollution.html
5. http://www.bayjournal.com/article/our_streams_could_just_die_for_more_riparian_forest_buffers
6. http://cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_211_IRBM_Report.pdf
7. http://www.scirp.org/(S(i43dyn45teexjx455qlt3d2q))/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=50596
8. http://orgprints.org/18172/1/Agroforestry_synopsis.pdf
9. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0167880988900345

How Trees Protect Biodiversity

1. https://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/india%E2%80%99s-dammed-rivers-suffer-fisheries-collapse-7758
2. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/Publications/files/bookchapter/BC0147-05.pdf

References with Access Restrictions

1. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joc.732/abstract
2. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep21930
3. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378017300134
4. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2008GL035143/abstract
5. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/esp.3919/abstract
6. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n6/full/nclimate2208.html
7. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/314/5804/1442
8. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3673736

Miscellaneous References

1. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169412008190
2. http://ijiet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/77.pdf
3. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/125574/trees-can-raise-groundwater-table.html
4. http://www.prsindia.org/administrator/uploads/general/1455682937~~Overview%20of%20Ground%20Water%20in%20India.pdf
5. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/03/06/india-groundwater-critical-diminishing
6. http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers15-08/010047105.pdf
7. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hyp.9826/abstract
8. http://www.seipub.org/awrp/Download.aspx?ID=9750
9. http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/water/paper/Modelling-Hydrologic/Cauvery_GHTC.pdf
10. http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/water/paper/Hydrological-Responses/JBD-5-1,2-011-14-38-Ramachandra-T-V-Tx[2].pdf
11. http://serialsjournals.com/serialjournalmanager/pdf/1345722010.pdf
12. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Qc8rBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126#v=onepage&q&f=false
13. http://historia-actual.org/Publicaciones/index.php/rha/article/viewFile/335/728
14. https://thewire.in/112409/growing-forest-transforms-jharkhand-village/
15. http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=154097
16. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Govt-to-plant-4-crore-trees-along-Ganga-river/articleshow/51515294.cms
17. http://www.forganga.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Forestry-models-proposed-for-states.pdf
18. https://www.telegraphindia.com/1150707/jsp/bihar/story_30003.jsp
19. http://circle.forest.kerala.gov.in/sfkollam/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149&Itemid=141
20. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/casuarina-plantations-offer-multiple-benefits/article3407049.ece
21. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/raipur/target-set-chhattisgarh-to-be-greener-in-2015.html
22. http://www.cgmfpfed.org/new/act_rules/Chhattisgarh%20Forest%20Policy%20Act%202001%20(English).pdf
23. http://www.moef.gov.in/sites/default/files/Chhattisgarh.pdf
24. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/dry-no-more-57481
25. http://www.kansasforests.org/streamside_forestry/
26. http://www.danubeparks.org/files/855 DanubeRiverMorphologyRevitalization.pdf
27. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/13/500000-tree-planting-project-helped-yorkshire-town-miss-winter-floods
28. https://www.thethirdpole.net/2016/05/11/pakistans-billion-tree-tsunami-takes-hold/
29. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/publications/PDFs/PO99146.PDF
30. http://www.fao.org/docrep/ARTICLE/WFC/XII/0051-B5.HTM
31. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/esp.3919/abstract
32. http://www.a-a-r-s.org/acrs/administrator/components/com_jresearch/files/publications/Ab%200095.pdf
33. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/13/500000-tree-planting-project-helped-yorkshire-town-miss-winter-floods
34. https://www.thethirdpole.net/2016/05/11/pakistans-billion-tree-tsunami-takes-hold/
35. http://extension.psu.edu/plants/green-industry/landscaping/culture/the-role-of-trees-and-forests-in-healthy-watersheds
36. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/publications/PDFs/PO99146.PDF
37. http://www.fao.org/docrep/ARTICLE/WFC/XII/0051-B5.HTM
38. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/7539/7/07_chapter%202.pdf
39. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/baseflow-studies-three-rivers-between-mahanadi-and-godavari-deltas-research-report-national
40. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/Regional_low_flow_analysis_for_Narmada_basin_NIH_1997-98.pdf
41. http://punenvis.nic.in/index2.aspx?slid=208&mid=1&langid=1&sublinkid=63
42. http://www.ohioswallow.com/extras/9780821417515_chapter_01.pdf
43. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/dustbowl-drought/
44. https://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-agriculture/full-planet-empty-plates-chapter-5-eroding-soils-darkening-our-future.html
45. http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/u5620e/U5620E05.htm
46. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/desertification-affects-quarter-of-indias-land/1/367345.html
47. http://www.icar.org.in/files/Degraded-and-Wastelands.pdf
48. http://web.utk.edu/~drtd0c/Soil%20Erosion.pdf
49. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_010152.pdf
50. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=QI93ntXUA4sC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&f=false#v=onepage&q&f=false
51. https://www.scribd.com/document/271781705/Integrated-Remote-Sensing-and-Geographic-Information-System-Based-RUSLE-Modelling-for-Estimation-of-Soil-Loss-in-Western-Himalaya-India
52. http://www.financialexpress.com/archive/degraded-land-costs-rs-28500-crore-to-india/636262/
53. https://in.boell.org/sites/default/files/valuation_of_ess_.pdf
54. http://www.fao.org/docrep/T0178E/T0178E03.htm
55. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0309133307081290
56. http://www.wri.org/sites/default/files/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_China.pdf
57. https://www.crcpress.com/Land-Use-Effects-on-Streamflow-and-Water-Quality-in-the-Northeastern-United/de-la-Cretaz-Barten/p/book/9780849391873
58. http://www.avenuemail.in/india/top-soil-scientist-keen-help-india-nobody-listens/106387/
59. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-15305271
60. http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/compost_increases_the_water_holding_capacity_of_droughty_soils
61. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/06/healthy-soil-microbes-healthy-people/276710/
62. http://www.asopah.org/journals/ajga/ajga6/ajga620510034.pdf
63. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=T9qY2AxnUowC&pg=PA38
64. http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd/newsletter/notill.htm
65. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/14si5_en.pdf
66. http://snowmannetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/SN03-14-17_GlobalSoilBiodiversityAtlas_No-till-vs-conventional-tillage_Aug2014.pdf
67. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/dec/21/what-is-climate-change
68. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/11/forests-trees-climate
69. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tropical-forests-cool-earth/
70. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060726-rain-cities.html
71. https://phys.org/news/2007-05-climate-proof-cities.html
72. https://phys.org/news/2011-11-rivers-aid-climate-cities.html
73. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v533/n7604/full/nature17953.html
74. http://www.bioversityinternational.org/fileadmin/user_upload/online_library/publications/pdfs/1541.pdf
75. http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/PDF/Agricultural-Statistics-At-Glance2014.pdf
76. http://nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu/~vecy/LitSurvey/Adams98.pdf
77. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/03/climate-change-battle-food-head-world-bank
78. https://ccafs.cgiar.org/publications/vulnerability-wheat-production-climate-change-india#.WWtE4oSGPIU
79. http://assets.wwfindia.org/downloads/impacts_of_climate_change_on_growth_and_yield_of_rice_and_wheat_in_the_upper_ganga_basin.pdf
80. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/humble-jackfruit-offers-hope-amid-climate-worries/article5941842.ece
81. http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=214
82. http://www.winrock.org/fnrm/factnet/factpub/FACTSH/ziziphus.htm
83. http://www.feedipedia.org/node/80
84. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/indian_jujube.html
85. http://www.popularkheti.info/documents/2014-1/PK-2-1-28-154-159.pdf
86. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Y2n2pH4G9ocC&lpg=PT931&pg=PT931#v=onepage&q&f=false
87. https://nac.unl.edu/documents/workingtrees/brochures/wtwq.pdf
88. http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/07/29/maintaining-the-superiority-of-nyc%E2%80%99s-drinking-water/
89. http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/articles/ecosystem-services-in-the-new-york-city-watershed-1969-12-31/
90. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/21/us/planting-trees-and-not-crops-to-fight-water-pollution.html
91. http://www.bayjournal.com/article/our_streams_could_just_die_for_more_riparian_forest_buffers
92. http://cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_211_IRBM_Report.pdf
93. http://www.scirp.org/(S(i43dyn45teexjx455qlt3d2q))/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=50596
94. http://orgprints.org/18172/1/Agroforestry_synopsis.pdf
95. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0167880988900345
96. https://www.internationalrivers.org/resources/india%E2%80%99s-dammed-rivers-suffer-fisheries-collapse-7758
97. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea/Publications/files/bookchapter/BC0147-05.pdf
98. http://www.dolr.nic.in/WastelandsAtlas2011/Wastelands_Atlas_2011.pdf
99. http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/quiet-chokes-the-godavari-river-turns-into-trickle-in-maharashtra/story-DOW9nPPGq0GinjG2338TUM.html
100. https://www.telegraphindia.com/1160525/jsp/frontpage/story_87509.jsp
101. http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Telangana/2016-03-29/Godavari-goes-dry/217107
102. http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/300416/godavari-so-dry-it-s-now-a-short-cut.html
103. http://mel.xmu.edu.cn/upload_paper/2013319152508-aNTXo7.pdf
104. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/Bharathapuzha-is-dry-much-ahead-of-summer/article14989576.ece
105. http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31811&articlexml=Kabini-dries-up-farmers-hit-04052016002029
106. https://www.pressreader.com/india/the-times-of-india-mumbai-edition/20170530/281986082510011
107. http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/the-unsung-sisters-of-vaigai/article8218660.ece
108. http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/310117/rivers-in-northern-and-central-tamil-nadu-run-dry.html
109. http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2016/05/20/dry-river-fails-to-dampen-kumbh-mela-spirit-in-ujjain/
110. http://www.orissapost.com/perennial-river-musal-dries-up/
111. http://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2017/jul/03/odisha-and-chhattisgarh-turning-mahanadi-into-the-next-Kaveri-1623446–1.html
112. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/22-of-Indias-32-big-cities-face-water-crisis/articleshow/22426076.cms
113. http://www.firstpost.com/india/south-indias-drought-part-1-five-states-face-a-severe-water-crisis-made-worse-by-the-onset-of-summer-3394636.html
114. http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/sep102005/794.pdf
115. http://www.pnas.org/content/109/9/3232
116. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/insure-farmers-against-climate-change/article8587072.ece
117. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/kerala-drought/article9557716.ece
118. http://zeenews.india.com/tamil-nadu/tamil-nadu-faces-worst-drought-in-140-years-chennai-drinking-water-supply-restricted-by-50-2018775.html
119. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=40601
120. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/driven-by-drought-crocodiles-leave-manjeera-river-enter-fields/article7899664.ece
121. http://newsable.asianetnews.tv/karnataka/warning-source-of-Kaveri-river-goes-dry-no-fight-speeches-can-get-the-water-back
122. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/bulging-waste-lines-killing-the-narmada/articleshow/59245074.cms
123. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/Narmada-riverbed-turning-into-salt-pan/articleshow/52597147.cms
124. https://thewire.in/48424/government-inaction-is-turning-the-banks-of-the-narmada-into-salt-pans/
125. https://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/climate-change-induced-drought-causing-crop-failure-livestock-problems-in-indian-himalayas.html
126. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/dry-yamuna-could-sink-taj-mahal/1/103853.html
127. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ganga-drying-up-as-summer-intensifies-across-India/articleshow/52054391.cms
128. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-37217679
129. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/drought-like-situation-prevails-over-manipur/article5928737.ece
130. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Manipur-declared-drought-hit/articleshow/4709714.cms

Rivers References

Bharathapuzha River:

1. http://file.scirp.org/pdf/JGIS20100400007_86122860.pdf
2. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/03/05/stories/2004030501121700.htm
3. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/Bharathapuzha-is-dry-much-ahead-of-summer/article14989576.ece
4. http://file.scirp.org/pdf/JGIS20100400007_86122860.pdf
5. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/bharathapuzha-richest-among-kerala-rivers-in-fish-diversity/article5406623.ece
6. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/Water-from-Bharathapuzha-poses-health-hazard-in-Kerala/article14000038.ece
7. Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kuttippuram_Bharathapuzha_10_Image0333.jpg

Bhima River

1. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=WRIS_Publications#Basin_Reports
2. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/HydroObservationStationApp.html?UType=QWR2YW5jZWQ=?UName=
3. https://wrd.maharashtra.gov.in/portal/content/default/pdf/events/K5Draft.pdf
4. https://wrd.maharashtra.gov.in/portal/content/default/pdf/events/K6final.pdf
5. http://www.tata.com/article/inside/!$$$!t9v9lB!$$$$!Oic=/TLYVr3YPkMU=

Gomti River

1. http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/108/03/0434.pdf
2. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/983071491924854124/Major-Ganga-sub-basins-water-balance-analysis-report
3. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/149040/11/11_chapter%204.pdf
4. http://www.earthscienceindia.info/pdfupload/tech_pdf-1327.pdf
5. Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gomati_River.JPG

Noyyal River

1. http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/05/19/stories/2003051900900100.htm
2. http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mag/2005/10/30/stories/2005103000240400.htm
3. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/coconut-farmers-in-udumalpettai-feel-the-heat-cut-down-trees/articleshow/59497508.cms
4. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/33831/3/chapter3.pdf
5. http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mag/2005/10/30/stories/2005103000240400.htm
6. http://isha.sadhguru.org/blog/yoga-meditation/history-of-yoga/the-velliangiris-a-mountain-of-a-temple/
7. Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noyyal-at-Noyyal-Cross.JPG

Yamuna River

1. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=WRIS_Publications#Basin_Reports
2. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/983071491924854124/Major-Ganga-sub-basins-water-balance-analysis-report
3. http://www.aloki.hu/pdf/1403_773792.pdf
4. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=wNivbEPTAfMC&lpg=PA23&ots=fKeg3ZwU0h&f=false
5. Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dms_303/3841989607/

Ganga River

1. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=WRIS_Publications#Basin_Reports
2. http://nelson.wisc.edu/sage/data-and-models/riverdata/index.php
3. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/983071491924854124/Major-Ganga-sub-basins-water-balance-analysis-report
4. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=2W4WooQGUkMC&lpg=PT13&ots=vJMRepN6LG&pg=PT13#v=onepage&q&f=false
5. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17134270
6. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/river-ganga-can-fight-microorganisms-that-cause-tuberculosis-pneumonia-study/articleshow/54505873.cms

Narmada River

1. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=WRIS_Publications#Basin_Reports
2. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/HydroObservationStationApp.html?UType=QWR2YW5jZWQ=?UName= http://nelson.wisc.edu/sage/data-and-models/riverdata/index.php
3. http://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/gateway-to-the-world/article17440934.ece

Godavari River

1. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=WRIS_Publications#Basin_Reports
2. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/HydroObservationStationApp.html?UType=QWR2YW5jZWQ=?UName=
3. http://nelson.wisc.edu/sage/data-and-models/riverdata/index.php
4. Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Godavari_river_at_Puntamba_in_January.JPG

Krishna River

1. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=WRIS_Publications#Basin_Reports
2. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/HydroObservationStationApp.html?UType=QWR2YW5jZWQ=?UName=
3. http://nelson.wisc.edu/sage/data-and-models/riverdata/index.php
4. Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jogamindenkinek/6379455835/

Kaveri River

1. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=WRIS_Publications#Basin_Reports
2. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/HydroObservationStationApp.html?UType=QWR2YW5jZWQ=?UName=
3. http://nelson.wisc.edu/sage/data-and-models/riverdata/index.php
4. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212094713000236
5. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=agRh_BzopMsC&lpg=PA132&pg=PA132#v=onepage&q&f=false
6. Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sriram80/521578354/

Kabini River

1. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=WRIS_Publications#Basin_Reports
2. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/HydroObservationStationApp.html
3. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/79189/3/12_chapter2.pdf
4. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kozhikode/Kabini-dries-up-farmers-hit/articleshow/52101127.cms
5. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/inflow-into-kabini-dam-up-flood-alert-issued/article4881775.ece
6. http://waterresources.kar.nic.in/river_systems.htm
7. https://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20170721/3151512.html
8. http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report-kabini-reservoir-full-bangalore-can-now-get-more-water-1727484
9. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/152362/wild-encounters.html
10. Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chandanb/403616551/

Musi River

1. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/HydroObservationStationApp.html?UType=QWR2YW5jZWQ=?UName=
2. http://nelson.wisc.edu/sage/data-and-models/riverdata/index.php
3. http://nihroorkee.gov.in/rbis/basin%20maps/Krishna/musi.htm
4. Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Musi_River_from_Nayapul.jpg

Thamirabarani River

1. http://www.indianetzone.com/14/thamirabarani_river.htm
2. http://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/business-of-brands/pepsi-coca-cola-permitted-to-draw-water-from-thamirabarani-river/57442282
3. http://www.tangedco.gov.in/hydrokoday.html
4. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Tamirabarani-States-only-perennial-river-will-also-be-its-1st-navigable-one/articleshow/55717313.cms
5. http://www.thehindu.com/society/the-river-that-tamil-nadu-often-forgets/article18919699.ece
6. http://palaeontologicalsociety.in/vol35/v6.pdf
7. http://www.fisheriesjournal.com/vol2issue5/Pdf/2-5-70.1.pdf
8. http://www.saconenvis.nic.in/e_bulletin_jan_2015_files/Thamirabarani.htm
9. Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thamirabarani_River_தாமிரபரணி_பொருணை_ஆறு.jpg

Brahmaputra River

1. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=ZKs1gBhJSWIC
2. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/Publications/BasinReports/Brahamaputra%20Basin.pdf
3. http://dspace.nehu.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/12434/1/103776.pdf
4. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=Brahmaputra
5. Photo Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Homeward_bound.jpg

Mahanadi River

1. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169412006397
2. http://www.dowrorissa.gov.in/NEWS/HirakudHLC/Report.pdf
3. Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mahanadi_rajim.JPG

Sabarmati River

1. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/Publications/BasinReports/Sabarmati%20Basin.pdf
2. http://www.indiawaterportal.org/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/Sabarmati.pdf
3. http://ahmedabadcity.gov.in/portal/jsp/Static_pages/water_project.jsp
4. Photo Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/River-Sabarmati-1.jpg/1020px-River-Sabarmati-1.jpg

Vaigai River

1. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/124334/7/07_chapter%202.pdf
2. http://www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/wrpinfo/index.php?title=Vaigai
3. http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/the-unsung-sisters-of-vaigai/article8218660.ece
4. http://www.cpreecenvis.nic.in/Database/River_Vaigai_908.aspx
5. http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/dry-vaigai-for-chithirai-fest/article18294672.ece
6. http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/a-river-of-change/article6217456.ece
7. https://www.skymetweather.com/content/water/float-festival-in-india-water-crisis-in-india-hits-hindu-festival/
8. http://www.tnau.ac.in/vaigai.html
9. http://indiabiodiversity.org/biodiv/content/projects/project-7703e48b-8b2d-4df4-99bb-7952a63bb861/779.pdf
10. http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/beneath-the-city-archaeologists-discover-remains-of-sangam-age/story-20zsnWS1YR7KAdzewdgYRO.html
11. Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vaigai_river.jpg

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Youth of India, if you can rise above ‘what about me,’ we can make our Rivers flow. Let’s make it happen.

– Sadhguru

The rivers of this country have nourished us for thousands of years. Now the time has come when we have to embrace our rivers and nourish them back to life.

Sadhguru has opened up this possibility for all those who would like to become a part of Rally for Rivers, that they can join as full-time volunteers for the next 3 years and be a part of this movement to revitalize our rivers.

For queries, contact us: contact@rallyforrivers.org

Please feel free to contact us if you have any inquiries about Rally For Rivers.
contact@rallyforrivers.org

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