Participatory watershed development programmes in Orissa began after the introduction of the revised watershed guidelines of 2001 developed by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India and Janasahabhagita Guidelines of the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. In order to better facilitate participatory watershed development programmes, the Government of Orissa (GoO) set up the Orissa Watershed Development Mission (OWDM) in August 2000. The OWDM is a registered body under the Societies Registration Act. OWDM was created to plan, coordinate, supervise and monitor all watershed projects in Orissa. Since 2000, the OWDM is supervising watershed development schemes like the IWDP, DPAP, NWDPRA and EAS. At present, more than 2000 watersheds are the under the supervision of the OWDM throughout Orissa. The majority of these watersheds are located in the KBK districts.