Shivalik foothills in Himachal Pradesh are marked by frequent crop failures due to erratic rainfall, lack of irrigation facilities, serious soil erosion problem, unemployment and poverty. During the earlier days the villages of the region had their own ponds, which served the society. Over the period of time bond of the villagers over such common property is getting weak.

This article examines the traditional water resources in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, which is blessed with varied and bountiful natural water resources such as khads, nalas, baudis, nawns, chhrudus, khatris, wells etc. However a recent study has revealed that 20% of the traditional water resources are in disuse, many of them dying a natural death due to poor maintenance, disrepair and the availability of modern facilities such as hand pumps and taps.

Environmental isotope techniques have been employed to identify the recharge areas of springs in India, in order to construct artificial recharge structures for rainwater harvesting and groundwater augmentation for their rejuvenation. A model project was taken up in the mountainous region of Gaucher

The National Water Award and the Bhoomijal Samvardhan Puraskar-2007 were awarded by the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India in September 2007 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

Rajasthan's Karauli district has been reeling under droughts for the last four years. To tackle this, people of this region are reviving pokhar -- a 200-year-old traditional water harvesting system.