Margao: With weather forecasters predicting a below-normal monsoon for Goa this year, environmental experts and agriculture researchers are warning that the state’s declining ability to retain rainwater could worsen water scarcity, threaten agriculture and deepen groundwater depletion.They say Goa has steadily dismantled the traditional water management system that once ensured year-round water availability by retaining monsoon runoff across villages.“Not long ago, every lake was bunded by mid-Sep and water was retained in temporary lakes, helping maintain a high water table in every village,” said lawyer and social commentator Radharao Gracias. “The advent of the Agricultural Tenancy Act and the destabilisation of the communidades destroyed the system. Today, a vast majority of lakes remain unbunded, and most village wells run dry.”Gracias said the traditional practice of bunding lakes before the end of the monsoon must be revived to mitigate the anticipated water shortage.Agriculture researcher Sachin Tendulkar said the solution lies in restoring two basic principles of water management: capturing rain where it falls instead of channelling it rapidly into dams and bandharas, and slowing the flow of rainwater so it percolates into the ground and recharges aquifers rather than draining into the sea.According to him, both principles are being systematically violated by private development as well as govt projects.Conservation activists cite the Old Goa bypass highway as an example. “Imagine a 40-metre-wide stretch over 3-4 km — that entire area has been converted into an impervious surface without any provision for rainwater recharge,” an activist said.Tendulkar said every new road, building, or settlement reduces the land available for groundwater recharge.“The surface becomes impervious. At a minimum, every building should harvest rainwater from its rooftop. This must be checked before approvals are given,” he said, adding that existing bylaws mandating rainwater harvesting structures are routinely ignored.Agriculture department sources described Goa’s rapidly depleting groundwater reserves and increasingly erratic monsoons as a “slow-burning crisis”.“If these twin problems persist, agriculture in the state will be drastically affected,” a department source told TOI. “The 16% of the population that depends on farming for their livelihoods should be ready with alternatives.”Agriculture experts stressed that efficient watershed management, particularly in Goa’s hinterland, is essential.“Agriculture can thrive only if there’s abundant water,” one expert said, calling for widespread adoption of rainwater harvesting across the state’s interior talukas.Experts warned that traditional groundwater recharge zones in Sattari, Sanguem and Dharbandora are coming under increasing pressure from expanding settlements, which replace permeable land with concrete surfaces. They added that extensive iron ore mining has further degraded these critical catchment areas.To address the problem, experts have proposed measures at multiple levels.At the household level, Tendulkar advocates dual plumbing systems — one supplying treated drinking water and another carrying recycled or untreated water for flushing and cleaning.At the community level, Gracias wants govt to revive the annual practice of bunding village lakes before the end of the monsoon to restore groundwater recharge and keep wells supplied through the dry season.At the policy level, Tendulkar called for better coordination among departments responsible for agriculture, forests, and water resources.“There is no coordination between the agriculture, forest and water resources departments,” he said. “That has to change.”