ABSTRACT
Water assessment and management needs to be decisively done because of the essential nature of this natural resource in day-to-day life. Water resources usually act as an environmental measure for developmental planning, monitoring, and management, which is a key initiative towards sustainable development. This chapter studies the myths and facts of devising a water resource development plan and their usefulness for application on the ground. Researchers have attempted to put forward many facts on various means and methods for water and land conservation strategies. The key myth revealed by the authors is that the effect of scale variation from the 1:50,000 scale to the 1:10,000 scale has a skimpy impact on the development of a water resource action plan. The merged product of Cartosat and LISS IV R2 satellite data with 2.5 m resolution is used for geo-spatial data generation. Decentralization means moving the power to take decisions on planning activities and their implementation from higher-level governance to local-level governance, like grampanchayats. Grampanchayats in India are empowered to undertake grassroots-level development works without dependency on the state government. A survey was carried out on how much area treatment has been done in Maharashtra State, but not limited to the targeted watershed. As regards the watershed’s effect on the community, the water resource development plan is imperative for employment and empowerment for people in rural India.
