Accounting water
Investment in water is an insurance against poverty and drought. Down To Earth reporters visited the eight villages below during the droughts of 2000 and 2001. These villages have several years of experience in water conservation. The inference: the more the years of water conservation, the more the capacity to deal with drought. The table shows that water harvesting to recharge groundwater is a sure-shot drought-proofing mechanism. But water harvesting for a minimum of 8-10 years is needed. The table also shows that water harvesting through check dams helps groundwater recharge more than watershed development or well recharging.
| State | Villages | Year of commencement of works | Number of years till 2001 | Situation in 2001 drought | Number of drought year till 2001 since work started |
| Gujarat | Raj-Samadhiyala | 1986 | 16 | Numerous check dams built. Survived the second consecutive drought without an iota of impact. Took three crops | 6 |
| Mahudi | 1992 | 10 | Numerous check dams on a stream. Very little impact of the second consecutive drought. Took both rabi and kharif crops | 4 | |
| Mandlikpur | 1993 | 9 | Well recharging. Partial kharif and limited rabi crops Water tankers at village cost supplied water No migration | 4 | |
| Madhya Pradesh | Gelhar Choti | 1997 (work under the Rajiv Gandhi mission stopped in 1999) | 5 | Watershed development with a few check dams. No kharif and rabi crops Drinking water scarcity 50 per cent migration | 2 |
| Kakradhara | 1995 (work under the Rajiv Gandhi mission stopped in 1998) | 7 | Watershed development with a few check dams. No kharif and rabi crops Drinking water scarcity 80 per cent migration | 3 | |
| Maharashtra | Ralegan Siddhi | 1979 | 23 | Watershed development with a few check dams. took three crops Village"s earning maintained rising trend | 7 |
| Rajasthan | Hamirpura | 1986 | 16 | Built numerous johads. Took two crops despite third year of drought No distress migration | 7 |
| Bishnoi Ki Dhany | 1998 | 4 | Built a few johads. One crop in third year of drought No drinking water problems | 3 |
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