As part of its SCA-Himalayas project, SDC along with project partner ICIMOD, ACWADAM and People Science Institute (PSI) is supporting springshed management initiatives in Uttarakhand. An important component of the project is capacity building of local institutions. Watershed Management Directorate (WMD), Uttarakhand is the nodal agency for the implementation Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana 2.0(PMKSY) in the state. In order to build the capacity of WMD officials, a series of five day training programmes on springshed management were organized in three districts of Uttarakhand, i.e, Almora (6-10 December, 2022), Pithoragarh (3-7 January, 2023), and Pauri (9-13 January, 2023). The training included Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) exercises, development of spring inventory at the project site, geo-hydrological surveys, identification of rock type and spring typology, hydrological mapping of springshed for identification of recharge area, structural and vegetative treatment measures, testing of water quality parameters and plotting geological excel data on google earth. The training included three days of field learning and two days of classroom learning. Around 45 officials from WMD were trained on springshed management.
