Jaltol: A Quasi-Experimental Approach to Evaluating Watershed Interventions
Jaltol is a ready-to-use web app designed to assess the impact of watershed interventions on rabi crop acreage—the land cultivated in winter. It follows a difference-in-differences (DID) approach in which changes in a treatment group over time are compared with changes in a control village over the same time period.
Data source
Jaltol utilises IndiaSAT remote sensing data, which provides rabi crop acreage (double cropping) post-2017 at 10 m resolution. The IndiaSAT datasets, created by the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, aim to improve land use land cover (LULC) classification. Currently, the data can be generated for any sub-district in India based on the request.
Impact metrics
Jaltol helps evaluate the impact of watershed programmes on both water access and economic prosperity, as changes in rabi crop acreage are influenced by both factors. It is particularly useful for assessing interventions aimed at enhancing water availability at the village level, such as check dams, farm ponds, and farm bunds.
This document is Part 4 of the MEL Toolbox series. Click to view Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
About the MEL Toolbox
The MEL toolbox simplifies scientific methods for grassroots practitioners to effectively monitor, evaluate, and learn from watershed management interventions in India. It compiles existing methodologies into an accessible format to support impact assessments that are robust despite limited resources and short project timelines. By strengthening evaluation capacity, the toolbox enables users to maximise the benefits of watershed interventions. As a living document, it will evolve through testing with partner organisations and the inclusion of new methodologies to enhance MEL practices.
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Acknowledgements
Authors Lakshmikantha NR, Gopal Penny
Technical Review Veena Srinivasan, Vivek Singh Grewal
Editors Ananya Revanna, Syed Saad Ahmed
Design Aparna Nambiar, Sarayu Neelakantan, Srilakshmi Viswanathan
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