Increased awareness
Educated farmers and households on the long-term benefits of rainwater harvesting — a community behavioural shift that laid the foundation for widespread water conservation practices.
Rainwater harvesting program
A Coodu Trust initiative delivered across all our operational villages in Tamil Nadu — the foundation water conservation programme, run as the erratic monsoons of the early 2000s failed the farming community.
2002–2003
Implementation period
All villages
Every operational village covered
Ponds renewed
For rain retention in the wet season
Foundation
Water conservation initiative
The project
What this project set out to do
Project mission
A timely and critical initiative to address severe drought conditions in Tamil Nadu through widespread adoption of rainwater harvesting techniques — conserving water, recharging groundwater sources, and building community resilience.
Coodu Trust recognised early the true value of natural resources, and of water for existence. Rainwater is precious, and the erratic monsoons of Tamil Nadu had failed the hopes of the farming community. The 2002–2003 programme therefore ran a series of activities across all our operational villages to build the knowledge base needed to meet a growing demand for adequate water — focused on demonstration and awareness rather than construction counts.
Experts held demonstrations on rainwater harvesting and on ways to avoid the depletion of ground and surface water. Ponds in our operational areas were renewed so they would retain rain through the wet season, and structural arrangements were built beside borewells and open wells. The programme actively involved farmers, rural women, SHG members and local panchayats, fostering collective responsibility for water conservation.
- Rainwater capture
- Groundwater recharge
- Community participation
- Sustainable agriculture
Why this work matters
The challenge on the ground — and our answer
The challenge
Erratic monsoons and depleting groundwater
The erratic monsoons of Tamil Nadu had failed the hopes of the farming community, with ground and surface water both depleting and little awareness of how to capture the rain that did fall.
Our response
Awareness and demonstration at village level
Awareness programmes and expert-led demonstrations across all operational villages — effective methods to capture and store rainwater, renew ponds and recharge groundwater at borewells and open wells.
The challenge
Water conservation without community ownership
Conservation efforts rarely last when villagers see them as someone else's responsibility — lasting change needs farmers, women and panchayats to take collective charge.
Our response
Stakeholder engagement across the village
Farmers, rural women, SHG members and local panchayats were all actively involved, fostering collective responsibility — and giving the assets built a local structure to maintain them.
At a glance
The essentials
- Scheme
- Trust initiativeRun by Coodu Trust with no external funder or government scheme named in the report
- Period
- 2002–2003Responding to the erratic monsoons that had failed the farming community
- Coverage
- All operational villagesAcross the districts where Coodu Trust was then active in Tamil Nadu
- Beneficiaries
- Farming communitiesFarmers, rural women, SHG members & local panchayats
- Structures
- Ponds & well rechargePonds renewed for rain retention; structural arrangements built near borewells and open wells
- Status
- Foundation programFocus on demonstration & awareness rather than construction counts
Outcomes
What the project changed
Groundwater recharge
Renewed ponds and structural arrangements at borewells and open wells returned rain to the aquifer instead of letting it run off.
A foundation to build on
Provided the practical grounding for Coodu Trust's later water management work — from rainwater harvesting training for project beneficiaries, SHGs and farmers in 2003–04 to the CSR recharge programmes of Manur Block two decades later.
Get involved
Support water conservation
Join us in conserving water, recharging groundwater and building drought resilience — community by community, across Tamil Nadu.