Possible Solution
The early and prolonged protection effort have left the Tambrapani watershed as one of the best protected in Tamil Nadu.We see another artery extending toward the coast in the Tinelvelli district. It is the Tambrapani. That watershed provides the irrigation potential that leaves Tinelelvelli as one of the top three agricultural district in the state in terms of yield. Herein we find the key to the solution to the problem--healthy watersheds. The Javadis, Shevaroys, and Pachamalais have suffered heavily . The lower slopes of that ghats have also been violated. The lowland forest are gone, and the lower hills are either gone or seriously degraded. Tamil Nadu has no control over the headwaters of the Cauvery, but it does have control of the Tamil Nadu tributaries--the Bhavana and the Moyar. In the early 1800's the Vaigai flowed all year to sea. So did the Ponnayar and the Palar. Tamil Nadu has control over these watersheds as well. While climatographic reports indicate that global climate change in the last century years has left Tamil Nadu with 13 fewer rain days per year, the amount of rain has not decreased. Thus the rains come harder albeit more briefly. This accentuates the need for healthier watersheds. Healthier watersheds slow the runoff, increase percolation into underground aquifers, decrease siltation of waterway and pumps, and lengthen the flow period for the rivers. This is not mere speculation or something that works, but not in India. Watershed management has worked for over a century in Tinelvelli. C.C. Wilson, CCF for the Madura district, found that the watershed recovered resulting in improved stream flow in less than five years when cattle grazing and fuelwood harvest were removed. The Palni Hills Conservation Council (PHCC) found that the watersheds of the Karavakurichi Reserve Forest improved in mere two years when fuelwood harvesters were given alternate employment in tree nurseries (PHCC 1995). These are more than a few scattered stories--they are the guidebook to solving the Cauvery issue. Yet, watershed management is no easy task. Politically motivated social forestry or village forest schemes will simply not work. These efforts show the occasional success, but are unwieldy when large areas need to be covered. Similarly commercial plantation projects are not the answer. It would be unwise to base continued agricultural survival on projects that are subject to the whims of the market. Success will require the cooperation of the Forest Department, political parties, NGO's, and local people. It will require the regeneration of 5 lakh hectares (500,000 ha.) of land at a cost of 20 crores (about 7 million dollars). That is a small amount compared to 70 crore per year spent subsidizing rice production.