Sardar Sarovar Project—a conservation threat to the Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur) S.P. Goyal *, B. Sinha, N. Shah, H.S. Panwar Wildlife Institute of India, PO Box 18, Dehra Dun 248 001, India Received 29 August 1994; accepted 23 September 1996 Abstract The 4900 sq. km 2 Wild Ass Sanctuary (WAS) in western India harbours one of the surviving endangered subspecies of Asian wild ass Equus hemionus khur, and other flora and fauna unique to this area. The proposed irrigation component of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) threatens the conservation value of the area, since it will cause loss of wildlife habitat, grazing land and will have long-term consequences due to waterlogging caused by excessive irrigation and soil salinization. Wildlife habitat constitut- ing 30—51% of 1.3 million ha in eight administrative units (talukas) around WAS will be aected by changes in land use pat- tern. Appropriate changes in the canals around WAS are suggested to conserve the biological integrity of the area. Such changes will cause the decline of only 8.6% of the total SSP irrigated (command) area. Compensatory development programmes for 93 villages deprived of SSP benefits due to the changes are suggested. # 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Salt desert; Habitat change; Irrigation; Equidae 1. Introduction Salt or coastal desert is a unique ecosystem in the western part of Gujarat, India and covers about 9000 km 2 (22–25  N, 68–71  E) in Greater and Little Rann of Kachchh (LRK). Most of Rann is salt-impregnated, flat land which is inundated by sea water and by discharge from rivers during the monsoon (July–September). No vegetation grows on these flat inundated areas and plant life is confined to small islands, or bets, of higher ground within the Rann or its high-ground mainland fringes. These higher areas provide a habitat for flora and fauna typical of salt desert ecosystems. In order the conservation of this ecosystem, about 4900 km 2 was declared a Wild Ass Sanctuary (WAS) in 1973, of which 46% is Rann. The proposed Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) threatens the ecosystem around LRK as excessive irrigation and lack of adequate water drainage system would lead to the problems of waterlogging and soil salinization. Most of the desert soils are saline and have calcareous subsurface layers and when irrigated the percolating water activates the calcium content of the calcareous layer, which solidifies and become impervious. This prevents water from penetrating deep into the soil, resulting in waterlogging (Sharma and Mathur, 1991). When water evaporates through capil- lary action, dissolved salts along with water move towards the surface and leave a crust of salt after eva- poration (Shankarnarayana and Gupta, 1991). The changes to land use pattern and soil moisture regimes brought about by irrigation will have deleterious eects on the plant life and consequently on the fauna. Such impacts on the native flora and fauna and problems of waterlogging and salinity have previously been observed in the irrigation areas of Indira Gandhi Canal in Rajasthan, India (Chatterji and Saxena, 1986; Prakash, 1993). This report discusses the likely impact of SSP on WAS and suggests measures to mitigate the loss of bio- logical diversity of this area. 2. The Sardar Sarovar Project The SSP being implemented by the Government of Gujarat is a large multipurpose project designed to provide irrigation and hydroelectric power to a sub- stantial part of Gujarat, including irrigation to the par- ched Kachchh (Fig. 1). 0006-3207/99/$—see front matter # 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0006-3207(98)00082-2 Biological Conservation 88 (1999) 277–284 * Corresponding author. Fax: +91-135-640117; e-mail: goyalsp@- wil.gov.in