From 5 projects covering 100 villages during 2004-05, the activity was extended to 11 additional districts covering another 225 villages. The programme today covers 16 districts and 325 villages. A total of 460 water-harvesting structures were created during the period, taking the total number of structures to 1,011. This has lead to additional storage capacity of 2.47 MCuM with an irrigation potential of 2,444 hectares benefitting 3,425 farmers.

In order to enhance the quality of interventions by such projects, a process of technical mapping of micro-watershed in a few projects were initiated as pilots. Similarly, ecological and geohydrological studies are also being piloted in a few districts. Based on these studies, GIS based databases will be prepared for these districts for more comprehensive planning, monitoring and evaluation of the project. Such studies will be extended to all the watershed project sites during the coming years.

Efforts towards capacity building of Water User Groups through intensive training programmes and exposure visits by the primary stakeholders are gradually bearing fruit. This is quite evident in the farmers' willingness to make cash contributions towards project costs.