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Gradonis: Bench terraces of small width formed on contours
by disturbing soil in areas having gentle to steep slopes.
Gram Panchayat: Elected village council.
Gram sabha: Meeting that involves the whole village.
Groundwater drought: A period during which aquifers become
severely depleted such that wells run dry and demand for water is
not met. In general, groundwater droughts are caused by a
combination of meteorological drought and unsustainable
extraction of groundwater for irrigation and other purposes.
Habitation: Village or hamlet having a population in excess
of 250 people.
Halla: Gully lands.
Inbore well: Borewell drilled into the base of an openwell.
Indicator: A parameter or a value derived from parameters, which
points to, provides information about, describes the
state of a phenomenon/environment/area, with a significance
extending beyond that directly associated with a parameter value.
Information management: Process of gathering, storing
and analysing information needed for a specific purpose,
such as planning or making management decisions.
Integrated water resource management: Is a process which
promotes the co-ordinated development and management of water,
land and related resources, in order to maximise the resultant
economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without
compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.
Inter-basin transfer: Practice of pumping or channelling
water from one river basin to another.
Intercropping: Growing two or more crops in the same field
at the same time.
Jowar: Sorghum.
Kharif: June to October cropping season.
Lakh: One lakh = 100,000.
Limit of acceptable change: Indicators only have meaning in the
light of specific targets and threshold values. These targets or
threshold values can be used as triggers for management responses,
as warning signals or as a means of evaluating
project performance. Depending on the context LACs may
also be referred to as safe minimum standards, critical loads,
or critical thresholds. LACs may be determined locally,
nationally or as part of international conventions.
Livelihood: A livelihood compromises the capabilities, assets
(including both material and social resources) and activities
required for a means of living.
Management: The decision-making process whereby a plan or
a course of action is implemented. Planning forms part of this
process as does the allocation of resources and the resolution
of conflicts of interest. Effective management is only possible
if managers have access to reliable information.
Mandal: A sub-district.
Meteorological drought: A period during which rainfall is low
and/or insignificant. Short periods of meteorological drought lead
to depletion of soil moisture and damage to plants. In general, long
periods of meteorological drought lead to surface-water drought
and subsequently to groundwater drought.
Nala: A stream or dry water-course.
Nala bund: An earthen water-harvesting structure built
across a nala.
Non-process depletion: depletion of water by uses other than
the process for which the diversion was intended.
Open basin: a basin where uncommitted utilisable outflows
exist.
Panchayat: elected council.
Panchayati Raj: Local government.
Parameter: A property that is measured or observed.
Process depletion: the amount of water diverted and depleted
to produce an intended good.
Rabi: The cropping season that follows the kharif.
Ragi: Finger millet.
Ratchakattas: platform in the village where meetings take
place.
Runoff (or surface runoff): The portion of rainfall that flows
over the land surface. Runoff can concentrate in depressions or
behind impounding structures or it can continue to flow over
the land surface into water-courses.
Sarpanch: Elected head of the gram panchayat.
Seteria: Fox-tail millet.
Shramadan: The voluntary labour component of an organised
community-based activity.
Stakeholders: In the context of this study, stakeholders are
considered to be institutions and individuals that are concerned
with or have an interest in water resources and that would be
affected by decisions relating to water resource management.
Stakeholders include people who may have little knowledge of
such affects and lack the means to participate.
Surface water drought: A period during which surface water
resources become severely depleted. In general, surface water
droughts are caused by a combination of meteorological drought
and unsustainable use of surface-water and groundwater.
Sustainable rural livelihood: A livelihood is sustainable when
it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks and
maintain its capabilities and assets both now and in the future,
while not undermining the natural resource base.
Taluk: Sub-district.
Tank: major reservoir or large water body.
Tank spillage: Volume of water that passes over the waste
weir of a tank.
Thalarry: (same as etti)
Uncommitted outflow: Outflow from the domain that is in
excess of requirements for downstream uses.
Watershed: An area drained by a river system; also referred
to as a catchment area.
Waste weir: The part of a tank bund over which surplus tank
water will flow once the tank has filled to its design capacity.
Zilla Parishad: District council.
Zingg terrace: Sometimes called a conservation bench terrace.
A water harvesting practice that consists of a contributing area
with natural or slightly altered slope and a receiving area with
no slope in any direction. Rainfall runs off the contributing area
and concentrates in the receiving area.
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