A Chauka system is a method for
harvesting rainwater, typically used in
arid
A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...
areas that are subject to
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...
rains. Chauka comes from the
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
word for square.
The system consists of square shaped
embankments. On three sides there are nine inch walls and one side is left open to allow rainwater to fill the structure. As one structure fills, then the overflow fills the next chauka and so on. Retaining the rainwater in this way helps prevent
soil erosion and recharges the surface water enabling various grasses to thrive. This has the effect of holding the soil together and, as the chauka system is used mostly on common land, provides
grazing
In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...
areas for cow and goat herds. For this to be effective it is combined with the planting of grass seeds and trees.
This system is widely in use in the Dudu block of
Jaipur district in
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...
, India. Here a local village development organisation
GVNML, working in the area of Natural Resource Management, has been responsible for its uptake among local villages.
[{{cite journal, title=The chauka magic, journal=Down To Earth, publisher=Society for Environmental Communications, date =September 30, 1999, url=http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/20492?quicktabs_1=0, accessdate=May 15, 2017]
See also
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Rainwater harvesting
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir ...
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Water conservation
Water conservation includes all the policies, strategies and activities to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, to protect the hydrosphere, and to meet the current and future human demand (thus avoiding water scarcity). Popula ...
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Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
References
Water resources management