Kolleru Lake Water Management and Fish Culture Tradition, Eluru

Kolleru Lake's water management system in the Eluru region historically involved a sophisticated understanding of the lake's seasonal fluctuations — rising when monsoon floods from both the Krishna and Godavari deltas spill into it, and contracting in summer. Traditional fishing communities (Besthas) who lived on the lake's margins mapped the seasonal fish concentrations and optimised their catch timing accordingly. The lake's overflow channels, managed by village committees, regulated drainage to prevent flooding of adjacent agricultural land. The introduction of intensive prawn aquaculture in the 1990s disrupted this traditional water management balance, leading to the ecological degradation documented by the Ramsar authority. Restoration of the traditional balance between fishing and seasonal water level management is now a conservation priority.