SHIVA stands for “Socio-economic Assessment of the rural Vulnerability of water users under stressors of global changes in the Hard rock area of South India”. The project aims at assessing the rural vulnerability of water uses under stressors of global change in the hard rocks area of South India from a socio-economic point of view and at evaluating the possibilities to modify this baseline rural vulnerability through improved water management policies or initiatives.
The main challenges of the project are :
Case studies will be conducted in watersheds in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh that are representative of both hydrological and socioeconomic dynamics of the hard rocks areas of southern India and of the impact of global changes. These studies will be used to develop hydrologic models allowing for impact simulation. Subsequently, these results at the watershed level will be up-scaled to the appropriate level ? at which socio-economic approaches are carried out. The up-scaling methodology will rely on the integration of remote sensing data within hydrological approaches. Uncertainties, particularly those associated with the up-scaling will be thoroughly evaluated and reflected into the socio-economic approaches, which in turn, will be consistent with the hypotheses made in the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios at the global level.
Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency)
