India Water Portal

The India Water Portal is an open, inclusive, web-based platform for sharing water management knowledge amongst practitioners and the general public. It aims to draw on the rich experience of water-sector experts, package their knowledge and add value to it through technology, and then disseminate it to a larger audience through the internet. Its creator, the Arghyam Foundation, saw knowledge asymmetry amongst stakeholders of the water sector as a critical factor hampering the sustainable management of India's water resources. The portal seeks to address this asymmetry by sharing best practices, advocating sustainable approaches, bringing transparency of public data and information, and spreading awareness.

In addition to the English language website, there are two associated regional language websites, one in Hindi and one in Kannada. These serve as a knowledge platform for the regional audiences and cater to some region-specific initiatives/case studies and happenings in the water sector. Another portal operated by India Water Portal staff is "water conflicts: its for real", related to water usage and needs. More specifically, it is an effort to bring together all those interested in working on issues related to water conflicts in India into a loose network for action and interaction. For further communication connectivity, the sites link to the following: Flickr, Slideshare, YouTube, Blog, and Twitter.

According to the website, "the ultimate objective of the Portal is to address equity and sustainability issues in the Water Sector. Therefore, we are actively pursuing alternate outreach methods like print media, radio and workshops, to ensure this knowledge reaches those on the ground who need it most. We believe that the India Water Portal has the potential to catalyse change on a large-scale by this sharing of knowledge leading to improved practices and informed debates....The Water Portal is created in a spirit of sharing and openness by a wide range of partners including technical water experts, research institutes, NGOs [non-governmental organisations], Government departments, historians and hydrogeologists, IT [information technology] specialists, educators and others."

The site features an "Ask a Question" section. India Water Portal has collaborated with the Water and Environmental Sanitation Network (WES-Net India) and is engaging in promoting knowledge sharing and coordination within the water and sanitation sector through this service.

Contents are organised either in pages on organisations, tools and techniques, data and research, network, and a blog section, or by the following sections and contents:Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) Get Advice Case Studies Multimedia Courses Water Quality Kits Community Radio Trainings & Workshops Citizens Get Advice List of Organisations Design Competition Rain Water Harvesting Schools Water Portal Researchers Meteorological Data Policies and Laws Maps and Statistics Water Balance Conference Outputs Spotlight Design Competition Water Photos Short Films New interviews Recent Additions

The Water Portal is the recipient of the 2008-09 Manthan Award for Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) and Digital Content in Development in the E-Science and Environment Category.