The winter seems to have come to an end and spring is ushering in with its pristine glory, breathing life into the lifeless landscape of the Valley. The spring rains have started to fall and with this we will see our roads turning into a mess. Whenever there is sufficient rainfall during spring, it spawns good fortune for the farmers, However, excess rains can also spell trouble. In the last year, the months of March and April remained largely dry, which sparked drought-like conditions in many parts of the Valley as well as Jammu. The dry spell at the onset of spring compelled the administration to appeal to the farmers not to go for water-intensive crops such as paddy but instead sow crops such as peas and beans which don’t consume so much water. When the summer arrived, incessant rains not just ended the rainfall deficit but also impacted the crops. In many parts of Kashmir, farmers who had sown peas and beans were devastated after their crop got inundated under heavy precipitation. Excessive rainfall in summer also triggered fears of flood with Jhelum river running above danger mark on two occasions. This year, the arrival of winter also brought more rainfall with J&K recording high precipitation. While all the other districts recorded good amounts of rainfall, the only place which recorded deficient rainfall was Shopian where 41 percent deficit was recorded last year. While Anantnag, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Kathua, Kupwara and Udhampur received excess rainfall, Jammu district received normal precipitation with 45.7mm rainfall. Srinagar also recorded excess rainfall. Against the normal of 46.9 mm, the summer capital recorded 109.4 mm at the peak of autumn. Winter also arrived early last year with the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir receiving snowfall on at least three occasions, which has charged up the water bodies. This provides an opportunity for the administration to chalk out a grand strategy of water conservation and rain harvesting which could be used to rescue the farmers during drought situations. With the signs of climate change starkly visible in the form of flood-like and drought-like situations simultaneously reported from Kashmir in summer last year, it is natural that erratic weather conditions are going to become a more consistent feature of life. To prevent scarcity of water for drinking and irrigation purposes, the government must formulate a strategy under which rain water harvesting should not only be encouraged but also incentivised which will go a long way in protecting J&K’s precious water resources and nourishing our agricultural lands.