Climate change is intensifying the hydrological cycle and water stress that adversely impacts the
livelihoods, ecology, and economies in a variety of ways. Food security, ecology, human health, energy
and economic development are primarily dependent on water resources and thus vulnerable to
increasing climate risks. However, the management of water resources supports to address both
adaptation and mitigation to climate crisis/change which is crucial for sustainable development. The UN
report on World Water Development Report, 2020 reiterates the interconnectedness between water and
climate change resilient development pathways for sustainable future. It is evident from the important
global commitments for 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development namely UN Sustainable
Development Goals, UN Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNFCC’s Paris agreement and
Nationally Determined Contributions.
In this backdrop, Composite Water Resources Management tool under Indo- German bilateral Project,
‘Water Security and Climate Adaptation in Rural India’, embedded with social, climate, agriculture and
water vulnerabilities has been piloted at the district scale (Ramanathapuram and Tiruvannamalai districts
in the state of Tamil Nadu, India) to address the climate risks through innovative climate resilient
pathways and strategies. The tool (http://65.1.201.178/cwrmwebapp/) is designed to adopt bottom-up
approach in planning, science-based inputs to identify water security risks, hazards and evolve locally
relevant climate resilient development measures and participatory approach in the whole
developmental process.
In addition, the climate monitoring tool is also developed to assess the impact of various climate resilient
models on water resources. The piloted core climate resilient models that have an impact on water
resources are restoring the cascade of tanks including drainage line treatments, different types of
plantations suitable to the location like mini forests with diverse tree species, greening of hillocks and
massive tree plantations, stabilizing the river bunds and sand dunes with vegetation, farm ponds,
recharge shafts and other ground water recharging technologies, spring-sheds in the hilly terrains,
restoring the fallow lands with agroforestry and silvi-pasture systems, river rejuvenation, community
based grey water treatment for recycling and reuse of water and rainwater harvesting and storage
structures. These models are identified by assessing potential climate risks at the decentralized scales (gram panchayat and blocks as well as micro watersheds and sub-basins) and demonstrated at the field
level. At the implementation level, key available government schemes and resources are mapped and
mobilized for action adopting convergence approach. The paper will elaborate the innovative sciencebased tools for planning the climate resilient strategies and the process of implementation in the field
and its impacts on the water resources management.