Reforming Water Governance: Philosophy, Hydrology and Institutional Analysis

Name of the Speaker: Dr. Sharachchandra (Sharad) Lele

Title of the Seminar: Reforming Water Governance: Philosophy, Hydrology and Institutional Analysis

Date and Time: 20th February, 2019 (Wednesday), 4:00PM

Venue: Lecture Hall, ICWaR

About the speaker: Sharachchandra (Sharad) Lele got a B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering in IIT Bombay (1984) but then decided that environmental studies were more exciting and socially relevant. So, he did an M.S. on the environmental impacts of large dams at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (1987) and then a Ph.D. in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley (1993), focusing on forest use in the Western Ghats.

Abstract: Karnataka, like most of the peninsular states in India, is facing a serious water crisis. Basins have closed, groundwater is depleting, baseflows have dried up, and existing water is being inequitably distributed. Conventional responses tend to be supply side, lacking an integrated hydrological understanding, and top-down. A paradigm shift is required in multiple dimensions: the normative goals, the world view, the hydrological underpinnings and the institutional arrangements. He discussed the rationale and key elements of such a paradigm shift and make a case for using an interdisciplinary value-based framework for all efforts in reforming water governance.

Date/Time
Date(s) - 20/02/2019
4:00 pm