Study Tour to Maharashtra
Andhra Pradesh Surface Water deputed 15 Officers for Study Tour to Maharashtra. The Team visited Basin Simulation Division at Pune, Hydro meteorological Data Processing Division at Nashik and WALMI at Aurangabad. During the visit, the Officials from Maharashtra shared their learning and experiences with APSW team. Such cross-learning opportunity helped the visiting team to gain insights on

• Effective use of Hydro meteorological Information System
• Working of Real Time Decision Support System (RTDSS) which comprises of RTDAS and RTSF and ROS in Krishna and Bhima Basin network stations of Maharashtra State.
• Benefits of RTDSS
• Whether information and forecast data availability in the website
• Working of Hydro meteorological Data Storage Centre
• Process of Validation of Hydrological and Metrological data
• Hydro meteorological network at field level.

Kerala Surface Water

A. Real Time Data Acquisition Systems (RTDAS):- Stations finalised and submitted to CWC for approval

A. Rejuvenation of water bodies: - Hiring of consultancy services for preparation of DPR for rejuvenation of Meenachil, Periyar, Bharathapuzha, Kallayi and valapattanam- REOI approved by NPMU

Telangana Groundwater

As a part of awareness raising activity under National Hydrology Project, Kala-Jattha – the traditional folk song and dance performers were engaged by the Telengana Ground Water Department to explain complex topics like Importance of Ground water, Participatory Ground Water Management, Low Cost Artificial Recharge Techniques for Ground Water Augmentation, Cropping Pattern and Advanced Irrigation Technologies etc. to its farming community in local language, t. They also carried out awareness raising activities on “Ground water issues, Management and Augmentation” in the villages of 31 districts of Telangana where over exploitation of Groundwater is rampant with an allocated budget of Rs. 35,000/- per district. As on 26th March 2019, Twenty (20) such programmes were conducted in 20 districts of Telangana State.
The District Ground Water Officer, Officials from Line Departments i.e., Irrigation, Agriculture, Horticulture and other allied sectors participated in these programmes along with NGO’s and local people. During the programmes 2000 farmers and water users were enlightened with water availability, planning and management in their vicinity for effective utilization of water and meet agriculture and other needs.
Apart from creating awareness among farming community, some programmes were also carried out in urban areas for the students and residents.

The First Stakeholder Workshop for PDS titled “Impact Assessment of the Upcoming Irrigation Project and Climate Change on the Drought and Desertification Scenario for Chambal Basin in Western Madhya Pradesh” was held on 27th March,2019 at State Water Data Centre, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal.
The Workshop was attended by senior officers from Central Water Commission (CWC), Central Groundwater Board (CGWB), Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering (CIAE), MP Water Resources Department (MPWRD), Madhya Pradesh Agency for Promotion of Information Technology (Map_IT), Development Alternates (DA) and National Institute of Hydrology (NIH). This workshop organized by National Institute of Hydrology & Water Resources Department, Bhopal under National Hydrology Project.

Australian Water Partnership (AWP) in collaboration with the NPMU organized two workshops on Integrated Water Resources Management and presented the Basin Planning User Guide developed by the Australian Water Partnership team. First workshop was organized in Bangalore (6th March 2019) with participation of senior officials from Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Second workshop was organized at National Water Academy Pune on 11th March 2019 with participation of Maharashtra Surface and Ground Water departments. The River Basin Planning Team from Australian Water Partnership had some interesting discussions and interactions with the Krishna and Godavari Basin States on sharing the learning from Australian experiences in the form of a Basin Planning user guide and States (Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra) came together on one platform and shared their various initiatives for the improvement of the Water Resources Management.

Within the framework of cooperation between the Indian and the Spanish Governments a high level delegation of the Ministry of Water Resources visited Spain in February 2019. Headed by Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, RD & GR, Shree UP Singh, the delegation met several top officials of the Spanish water administration, including the Secretary of State of the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition, the Presidents of the River Basin Authorities of the Júcar and Segura basins, the delegate of the Central Government in the Region of Murcia and the Directors of CEDEX and the Centre for Water Resources Studies. During the visit, Spanish officials presented their approach towards water governance and the framework for water resources planning and management. Many similarities between India and Spain as regards to hydrological conditions and water uses were identified, such as regional and temporal imbalances in water distribution and the importance of irrigation. Being one of the first countries worldwide to implement water management on a river basin scale, the Spanish experience is particularly interesting for India as the MoWR is currently in the process of drafting a river basin management bill which considers the creation of river basin authorities and the preparation of river basin master plans.

The delegation also made a number of site visits including a wastewater treatment plant with a membrane bioreactor (MBR) process for water reuse, a desalination plant, a constructed wetland located in the vicinity of a protected lagoon and a couple of storage and flood protection reservoirs. A visit to the “Campo de Cartagena” –an irrigation farmers’ association, gave valuable insights into the institutional relationship between farmers and the water administration. The study tour provided an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences and discuss the way water challenges in water scarce countries such as India and Spain can be addressed. Both sides agreed to continue and intensify the cooperation. A Memorandum of Understanding between India and Spain will be signed soon, establishing the basis for a long-term cooperation in the field of water resources planning and management.