Rainwater Harvesting & Recharge
Capture rain safely where storage or recharge adds verified local value.
Define the service failure before selecting infrastructure.
A standard structure may fail where soil, aquifer, contamination or maintenance conditions differ.
Harvesting performance is rarely measured after construction.
Record state, district, city/block, village/ward or supply zone; season and date; source or asset; affected users; observed service; measurement or sample method; photo/document where safe; and uncertainty. Never imply 100-metre accuracy unless the evidence genuinely supports it.
Test the full source-to-service chain.
Design based on mandate not water balance
Treat this as a hypothesis until records, field observation, seasonal evidence and credible alternatives are checked.
Silt and contamination controls neglected
Treat this as a hypothesis until records, field observation, seasonal evidence and credible alternatives are checked.
Ownership of maintenance unclear
Treat this as a hypothesis until records, field observation, seasonal evidence and credible alternatives are checked.
Captured water lacks planned use
Treat this as a hypothesis until records, field observation, seasonal evidence and credible alternatives are checked.
Components that must work together.
Rooftop capture
Define the responsible actor, operating standard, input, handoff, maintenance requirement, failure trigger and evidence record.
Recharge wells where suitable
Define the responsible actor, operating standard, input, handoff, maintenance requirement, failure trigger and evidence record.
Village and farm ponds
Define the responsible actor, operating standard, input, handoff, maintenance requirement, failure trigger and evidence record.
Check dams and watersheds
Define the responsible actor, operating standard, input, handoff, maintenance requirement, failure trigger and evidence record.
Urban retention and rain gardens
Define the responsible actor, operating standard, input, handoff, maintenance requirement, failure trigger and evidence record.
Stormwater capture and reuse
Define the responsible actor, operating standard, input, handoff, maintenance requirement, failure trigger and evidence record.
Match intervention to hydrogeology, settlement and service capacity.
Screen rainfall, catchment, soil, aquifer and water quality first.
Size storage and overflow for local extremes.
Provide first-flush, silt and maintenance systems.
Measure captured, used or recharged water.
Diagnose, protect, pilot, measure and institutionalise.
Verify & protect
Confirm the location, affected users, service chain, immediate health or safety risk, responsible agency and existing evidence.
Controlled pilot
Compare rooftop storage, landscape retention and recharge at representative sites with a full monsoon water balance.
Durable system
Fund operations, preventive maintenance, skilled teams, monitoring, public reporting, correction pathways and independent evaluation.
Measure service and outcomes—not assets alone.
Water interventions can transfer risk across people, places and time.
- RiskContaminated rechargePrevention · accountable owner · trigger · remedy
- RiskMosquito or drowning hazardsPrevention · accountable owner · trigger · remedy
- RiskDownstream flow impactsPrevention · accountable owner · trigger · remedy