The population of Himachal Pradesh increased over the years, so has the pressure on land. Deforestation, unplanned urbanisation, rising number of tourists, improper use of technology for development and over exploitation of natural resources have become major concerns not only in Himachal Pradesh but also in the entire Himalayan region. The most important among the problems of the region is the availability of water. In spite of sufficient rainfall, there is an acute shortage of water both for drinking and irrigation purposes. Rainwater harvesting and storage must be central to all the strategies planned for sustainable development.

Moolbari and other watersheds in Himachal Pradesh have been identified by DRDA for implementing a watershed management programme. Watershed development committees have been formed in these watersheds to ensure people’s participation and to suggest conservation measures to be undertaken in the watershed. The whole work is executed by DRDA under the supervision of a block development officer. Major emphasis is on the construction of water harvesting structures. Water harvesting tanks have been constructed at the higher location from where channels have been constructed to irrigate downstream areas. In addition to these, check dams have also been constructed at some locations to check soil erosion.

For development of land use plan and decision support system (DSS), knowledge of land use, soil characteristics, water availability, status of land degradation, socioeconomic conditions of the farmers etc are essential. The study was funded by the Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. It was carried out for Moolbari watershed in Shimla district. Before undertaking the study, a status report on the need for “Hydrological Studies and Integrated Land Use Planning in Sub-Himalayan Region” was prepared and a users’ need assessment was done. To collect information on socioeconomic aspects, surveys and interviews with farmers and State government officials were also conducted. Land use map, drainage network map and soil maps were prepared using GIS. Detailed physical and chemical analyses of soil and water resources of the watershed were carried out. Two micro-watersheds under Moolbari watershed were selected for hydrologic monitoring. Digital rain gauge, digital stage level recorder and sediment sampler were installed to record the data on a continuous basis. The data recorded were used to assess the water resource availability and investigate the hydrologic response of the micro-watersheds. Based on the results obtained from the investigation, a DSS and land use plan for the micro-watershed was developed.