World Bank's John Briscoe, senior water adviser for South Asia at the World Bank until recently, in a grim report titled India's Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future, indicated a departure in the World Bank's strategy. He also recommended a move to managing existing water resources better rather than making fresh investments. The report says that while there is an inverse relation between the irrigation levels of cropped area and the population below the poverty line in those areas, the poverty-reducing impact of irrigation is declining.