M1 Principles of Water Resources Engineering

Module
1
Principles of Water
Resources Engineering
Version 2 CE IIT, Kharagpur
Lesson
1
Surface and Ground
Water Resources
Instructional Objectives
After completion of this lesson, the student shall know about
1. Hydrologic cycle and its components
2. Distribution of earth’s water resources
3. Distribution of fresh water on earth
4. Rainfall distribution in India
5. Major river basins of India
6. Land and water resources of India; water development potential
7. Need for development of water resources
1.1.0 Introduction
Water in our planet is available in the atmosphere, the oceans, on land and
within the soil and fractured rock of the earth’s crust Water molecules from one
location to another are driven by the solar energy. Moisture circulates from the
earth into the atmosphere through evaporation and then back into the earth as
precipitation. In going through this process, called the Hydrologic Cycle (Figure
1), water is conserved – that is, it is neither created nor destroyed.
Figure 1. Hydrologic cycle

It would perhaps be interesting to note that the knowledge of the hydrologic cycle
was known at least by about 1000 BC by the people of the Indian Subcontinent.
This is reflected by the fact that one verse of Chhandogya Upanishad (the
Philosophical reflections of the Vedas) points to the following:
“The rivers… all discharge their waters into the sea. They lead from sea to sea,
the clouds raise them to the sky as vapour and release them in the form of
rain…”
The earth’s total water content in the hydrologic cycle is not equally distributed
(Figure 2).
Figure 2. Total global water content

The oceans are the largest reservoirs of water, but since it is saline it is not
readily usable for requirements of human survival. The freshwater content is just
a fraction of the total water available (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Global fresh water distribution
Again, the fresh water distribution is highly uneven, with most of the water locked
in frozen polar ice caps.
The hydrologic cycle consists of four key components

1. Precipitation
2. Runoff
3. Storage
4. Evapotranspiration
These are described in the next sections.

1.1.1 Precipitation
Precipitation occurs when atmospheric moisture becomes too great to remain
suspended in clouds. It denotes all forms of water that reach the earth from the
atmosphere, the usual forms being rainfall, snowfall, hail, frost and dew. Once it
reaches the earth’s surface, precipitation can become surface water runoff,
surface water storage, glacial ice, water for plants, groundwater, or may
evaporate and return immediately to the atmosphere. Ocean evaporation is the
greatest source (about 90%) of precipitation.
Rainfall is the predominant form of precipitation and its distribution over the world
and within a country. The former is shown in Figure 4, which is taken from the
site http://cics.umd.edu/~yin/GPCP/main.html of the Global Precipitation
Climatology Project (GPCP) is an element of the Global Energy and Water Cycle
Experiment (GEWEX) of the World Climate Research program (WCRP).
Figure 4. A typical distribution of global precipitation (Courtesy: Global

Precipitation Climatology Project)
The distribution of precipitation for our country as recorded by the India

Meteorological Department (IMD) is presented in the web-site of IMD
http://www.imd.ernet.in/section/climate/. One typical distribution is shown in
Figure 5 and it may be observed that rainfall is substantially non-uniform, both in
space and over time.

Figure 5. A typical distribution of rainfall within India for a particular week
(Courtsey: India Meteorological Department)
India has a typical monsoon climate. At this time, the surface winds undergo a
complete reversal from January to July, and cause two types of monsoon. In
winter dry and cold air from land in the northern latitudes flows southwest
(northeast monsoon), while in summer warm and humid air originates over the
ocean and flows in the opposite direction (southwest monsoon), accounting for
some 70 to 95 percent of the annual rainfall. The average annual rainfall is
estimated as 1170 mm over the country, but varies significantly from place to
place. In the northwest desert of Rajasthan, the average annual rainfall is lower
than 150 mm/year. In the broad belt extending from Madhya Pradesh up to
Tamil Nadu, through Maharastra, parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the
average annual rainfall is generally lower than 500 mm/year. At the other
extreme, more than 10000 mm of rainfall occurs in some portion of the Khasi
Hills in the northeast of the country in a short period of four months. In other
parts of the northeast (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, etc.,) west coast

and in sub-Himalayan West Bengal the average annual rainfall is about 2500
mm.
Except in the northwest of India, inter annual variability of rainfall in relatively

low. The main areas affected by severe droughts are Rajasthan, Gujarat (Kutch
and Saurashtra).
The year can be divided into four seasons:

• The winter or northeast monsoon season from January to February.
• The hot season from March to May.
• The summer or south west monsoon from June to September.
• The post – monsoon season from October to December.
The monsoon winds advance over the country either from the Arabian Sea or
from the Bay of Bengal. In India, the south-west monsoon is the principal rainy
season, which contributes over 75% of the annual rainfall received over a major
portion of the country. The normal dates of onset (Figure 6) and withdrawal
(Figure 7) of monsoon rains provide a rough estimate of the duration of monsoon
rains at any region.

Figure 6. Normal onset dates for Monsoon (Courtsey: India Meteorological
Department)

Figure 7. Normal withdrawal dates for Monsoon (Courtsey: India Meteorological
Department)
1.1.2 Runoff
Runoff is the water that flows across the land surface after a storm event. As
rain falls over land, part of that gets infiltrated the surface as overland flow. As
the flow bears down, it notches out rills and gullies which combine to form
channels. These combine further to form streams and rivers.
The geographical area which contributes to the flow of a river is called a river or a
watershed. The following are the major river basins of our country, and the

corresponding figures, as obtained from the web-site of the Ministry of Water
Resources, Government of India (http://www.wrmin.nic.in) is mentioned
alongside each.
1. Indus (Figure 8)
2. Ganges (Figure 9)
3. Brahmaputra (Figure 10)
4. Krishna (Figure 11)
5. Godavari (Figure 12)
6. Mahanandi (Figure 13)
7. Sabarmati (Figure 14)
8. Tapi (Figure 15)
9. Brahmani-Baitarani (Figure 16)
10. Narmada (Figure 17)
11. Pennar (Figure 18)
12. Mahi (Figure 19)

Some statistical information about the surface water resources of India, grouped
by major river basin units, have been summarised as under. The inflow has been
collected from the inistry of Water Resources, Government of India web-site.
River basin unit Location Draining Catchment Average Utilizable

into area km2 annual surface
runoff water
(km3) (km3)
1 Ganges- Northeast Bangladesh
Brahmaputra-
Meghna 861 452 525.02* 250.0
-Ganges (1) 537.24* 24.0
- 193 48.36 -
Brahmaputra(2) 413(1)
-Barak(3) 41 113.53 24.3
2 Southwest Arabian 723(1)
West flowing coast sea
river from Tadri 56 177 110.54 76.3
3 to Kanyakumari 87.41 11.9
4 Central Bay of
Godavari Central- Bengal 312 812 78.12 58.0
5 West flowing West Arabian 55 940 73.31* 46.0
6 rivers from Tapi coast sea 66.88* 50.0
7 to Tadri Central 258 948 45.64 34.5
8 Krishan Northwest Bay of 321 31.00* -
9 Indus Central- Bengal 289(1)
Mahanadi east Pakistan 141 589 28.48 18.3
10 Namada(5) Central- Bay of 98 796 22.52 13.1
11 Minor rivers of west Bengal 36
the northeast Extreme Arabian 302(1)
Brahmani- northeast sea 21.36 19.0
12 Baitarani Northeast Myanmar 51 822 16.46 16.7
13 East flowing Central- and 86 643
rivers between east coast Bangladesh
Mahanadi & Bay of 15.10 15.0
14 Pennar Bengal 81 155
South Bay of 100 139 14.88 14.5
15 Cauvery(4) Southeast Bengal 12.37 6.8
16 East flowing coast 11.02 3.1
17 rivers between 321 851 6.32 6.9
18 Kanyakumari Bay of 3.81 1.9
19 and Pennar Northwest Bengal 65 145 negligible -
20 coast Bay of 29 196
West flowing Central- Bengal 34 842
rivers of Kutsh west 55 213
and Saurashtra Northeast 21 674

Tapi Northwest Arabian -
Subernarekha Southeast sea
Mahi Northwest
Pennar northwest Arabian
Sabarmati sea
Rajasthan and Bay of
inland basin Bengal
Arabian
sea
Bay of
Bengal
Arabian
sea
-
Total 3 227 121 1 869.35 690.3

* Earlier estimates reproduced from Central Water Commission (1988).
Notes:
(1) Areas given are those in India territory.

(2) The potential indicated for the Brahmaputra is the average annual flow at
Jogighopa situated 85 km upstream of the India-Bangladesh border. The
area drained by the tributaries such as the Champamati, Gaurang, Sankosh,
Torsa, Jaldhaka and Tista joining the Brahmaputra downstream of Jogighopa
is not accounted for in this assessment.
(3) The potential for the Barak and others was determined on the basis of the
average annual flow at Badarpurghat (catchment area: 25 070 km2) given in
a Brahmaputra Board report on the Barak sub-basin.
(4) The assessment for Cauvery was made by the Cauvery Fact Finding
Committee in 1972 based on 38 years’ flow data at Lower Anicut on
Coleroon. An area of nearly 8 000 km2 in the delta is not accounted for in
this assessment.
(5) The potential of the Narmada basin was determined on the basis of
catchment area proportion from the potential assessed at Garudeshwar
(catchment area: 89 345 km2) as given in the report on Narmada Water
Disputes Tribunal Decision (1978).
1.1.3 Storage
Portion of the precipitation falling on land surface which does not flow out as
runoff gets stored as either as surface water bodies like Lakes, Reservoirs and
Wetlands or as sub-surface water body, usually called Ground water.
Ground water storage is the water infiltrating through the soil cover of a land
surface and traveling further to reach the huge body of water underground. As

mentioned earlier, the amount of ground water storage is much greater than that
of lakes and rivers. However, it is not possible to extract the entire groundwater
by practicable means. It is interesting to note that the groundwater also is in a
state of continuous movement – flowing from regions of higher potential to lower.
The rate of movement, however, is exceptionally small compared to the surface
water movement.
The following definitions may be useful:
Lakes: Large, naturally occurring inland body of water

Reservoirs: Artificial or natural inland body of water used to store water to meet
various demands.
Wet Lands: Natural or artificial areas of shallow water or saturated soils that
contain or could support water–loving plants.
1.1.4 Evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration is actually the combination of two terms – evaporation and
transpiration. The first of these, that is, evaporation is the process of liquid
converting into vapour, through wind action and solar radiation and returning to
the atmosphere. Evaporation is the cause of loss of water from open bodies of
water, such as lakes, rivers, the oceans and the land surface. It is interesting to
note that ocean evaporation provides approximately 90 percent of the earth’s
precipitation. However, living near an ocean does not necessarily imply more
rainfall as can be noted from the great difference in the amount of rain received
between the east and west coasts of India.
Transpiration is the process by which water molecules leaves the body of a living
plant and escapes to the atmosphere. The water is drawn up by the plant root
system and part of that is lost through the tissues of plant leaf (through the
stomata). In areas of abundant rainfall, transpiration is fairly constant with
variations occurring primarily in the length of each plants growing season.
However, transpiration in dry areas varies greatly with the root depth.
Evapotranspiration, therefore, includes all evaporation from water and land

surfaces, as well as transpiration from plants.

1.1.5 Water resources potential
1.1.5.1 Surface water potential:
The average annual surface water flows in India has been estimated as 1869
cubic km. This is the utilizable surface water potential in India. But the amount
of water that can be actually put to beneficial use is much less due to severe
limitations posed by Physiography, topography, inter-state issues and the
present state of technology to harness water resources economically. The recent
estimates made by the Central Water Commission, indicate that the water
resources is utilizable through construction of structures is about 690 cubic km
(about 36% of the total). One reason for this vast difference is that not only does
the whole rainfall occur in about four months a year but the spatial and temporal
distribution of rainfall is too uneven due to which the annual average has very
little significance for all practical purposes.
Monsoon rain is the main source of fresh water with 76% of the rainfall occurring
between June and September under the influence of the southwest monsoon.
The average annual precipitation in volumetric terms is 4000 cubic km. The
average annual surface flow out of this is 1869 cubic km, the rest being lost in
infiltration and evaporation.
1.1.5.2 Ground water potential:
The potential of dynamic or rechargeable ground water resources of our country

has been estimated by the Central Ground Water Board to be about 432 cubic
km.
Ground water recharge is principally governed by the intensity of rainfall as also

the soil and aquifer conditions. This is a dynamic resource and is replenished
every year from natural precipitation, seepage from surface water bodies and
conveyance systems return flow from irrigation water, etc.
The highlighted terms are defined or explained as under:
Utilizable surface water potential: This is the amount of water that can be
purpose fully used, without any wastage to the sea, if water storage and
conveyance structures like dams, barrages, canals, etc. are suitably built at
requisite sites.
Central Water Commission: Central Water Commission is an attached office of

Ministry of Water Resources with Head Quarters at New Delhi. It is a premier
technical organization in the country in the field of water resources since 1945.

The commission is charged with the general responsibility of initiating,
coordinating and furthering, in consultation with the State Governments
concerned, schemes for control, conservation and utilization of water resources
throughout the country, for purpose of flood control, irrigation, navigation,
drinking water supply and water power development.
Central Ground Water Board: It is responsible for carrying out nation-wide

surveys and assessment of groundwater resources and guiding the states
appropriately in scientific and technical matters relating to groundwater. The
Central Ground Water Board has generated valuable scientific and technical data
through regional hydro geological surveys, groundwater exploration, resource
and water quality monitoring and research and development. It assists the States
in developing broad policy guidelines for development and management of
groundwater resources including their conservation, augmentation and protection
from pollution, regulation of extraction and conjunctive use of surface water and
ground water resources. The Central Ground Water Board organizes Mass
Awareness Programmes to create awareness on various aspects of groundwater
investigation, exploration, development and management.
Ground water recharge: Some of the water that precipitates, flows on ground
surface or seeps through soil first, then flows laterally and some continues to
percolate deeper into the soil. This body of water will eventually reach a
saturated zone and replenish or recharge groundwater supply. In other words,
the recuperation of groundwater is called the groundwater recharge which is
done to increase the groundwater table elevation. This can be done by many
artificial techniques, say, by constructing a detention dam called a water
spreading dam or a dike, to store the flood waters and allow for subsequent
seepage of water into the soil, so as to increase the groundwater table. It can
also be done by the method of rainwater harvesting in small scale, even at
individual houses. The all India figure for groundwater recharge volume is 418.5
cubic km and the per capita annual volume of groundwater recharge is 412.9
cubic m per person.
1.1.6 Land and water resources of India

The two main sources of water in India are rainfall and the snowmelt of glaciers
in the Himalayas. Although reliable data on snow cover in India are not
available, it is estimated that some 5000 glaciers cover about 43000 km2 in the
Himalayas with a total volume of locked water estimated at 3870 km3.
considering that about 10000 km2 of the Himalayan glacier is located within
India, the total water yield from snowmelt contributing to the river runoff in India
may be of the order of 200 km3/year. Although snow and glaciers are poor
producers of fresh water, they are good distributors as they yield at the time of
need, in the hot season.

The total surface flow, including regenerating flow from ground water and the
flow from neighbouring countries is estimated at 1869 km3/year, of which only
690 km3 are considered as utilizable in view of the constraints of the present
technology for water storage and inter – state issues. A significant part (647.2
km3/year) of these estimated water resources comes from neighbouring
countries; 210.2 km3/year from Nepal, 347 km3/year from China and 90
km3/year from Bhutan. An important part of the surface water resources leaves
the country before it reaches the sea: 20 km3/year to Myanmar, 181.37 km3/year
to Pakistan and 1105.6 km3/year to Bangladesh (“Irrigation in Aisa in Figures”,
Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations, Rome, 1999;
http://www.fao.org/ag/agL/public.stm). For further information, one may also
check the web-site “Earth Trends” http://elearthtrends.wri.org.
The land and water resources of India may be summarized as follows.

Geographical area 329 million
hectare
Natural runoff (Surface water and ground water) 1869 cubic
km/year
Estimated utilizable surface water potential 690 cubic
km/year
Ground water resources 432 cubic
km/year
Available ground water resource for irrigation 361 cubic
km/year
Net utilizable ground water resource for irrigation 325 cubic
km/year
1.1.7 International indicators for comparing water resources

potential
Some of the definitions used to quantify and compare water resource potential
internationally are as follows:
1. Internal Renewable Water Resources (IRWR): Internal Renewable

Water Resources are the surface water produced internally, i.e., within a
country. It is that part of the water resources generated from endogenous
precipitation. It is the sum of the surface runoff and groundwater recharge
occurring inside the countries' borders. Care is taken strictly to avoid
double counting of their common part. The IRWR figures are the only
water resources figures that can be added up for regional assessment and
they are being used for this purpose.

2. Surface water produced internally: Total surface water produced
internally includes the average annual flow of rivers generated from
endogenous precipitation (precipitation occurring within a country's
borders). It is the amount of water produced within the boundary of a
country, due to precipitation. Natural incoming flow originating from
outside a country’s borders is not included in the total.
3. Groundwater recharge: The recuperation of groundwater is called the

groundwater recharge. This is requisite to increase the groundwater table
elevation. This can be done by many artificial techniques, say, by
constructing a detention dam called a water spreading dam or a dike, to
store the flood waters and allow for subsequent seepage of water into the
soil, so as to increase the groundwater table. It can also be done by the
method of rainwater harvesting in small scale, even at individual houses.
The groundwater recharge volume is 418.5 cubic km and the per capita
annual volume of groundwater recharge is 412.9 cubic m per person.
4. Overlap: It is the amount of water quantity, coinciding between the

surface water produced internally and the ground water produced
internally within a country, in the calculation of the Total Internal
Renewable Water Resources of the country. Hence, Overlap = Total
IRWR- (Surface water produced internally + ground water produced
internally). The overlap for Indian water resources is 380 cubic km.
5. Total internal Renewable Water Resources: The Total Internal

Renewable Water Resources are the sum of IRWR and incoming flow
originating outside the countries' borders. The total renewable water
resources of India are 1260.5 cubic km.
6. Per capita Internal Renewable Water Resources: The Per capita annual
average of Internal Renewable Water Resources is the amount of average
IRWR, per capita, per annum. For India, the Per capita Internal
Renewable Water Resources are 1243.6 cubic m.
7. Net renewable water resources: The total natural renewable water

resources of India are estimated at 1907.8 cubic km per annum, whereas
the total actual renewable water resources of India are 1896.7 cubic km.
8. Per capita natural water resources: The present per capita availability of
natural water, per annum is 1820 cubic m, which is likely to fall to 1341
cubic m, by 2025.
9. Annual water withdrawal: The total amount of water withdrawn from the
water resources of the country is termed the annual water withdrawal. In
India, it amounts 500000 to million cubic m.

10. Per capita annual water withdrawal: It is the amount of water withdrawn
from the water resources of the country, for various purposes. The per
capita annual total water withdrawal in India is 592 cubic m per person.
The above definitions have been provided by courtesy of the following web-site:
http://earthtrends.wri.org/text/theme2vars.htm.
1.1.8 Development of water resources

Due to its multiple benefits and the problems created by its excesses, shortages
and quality deterioration, water as a resource requires special attention.
Requirement of technological/engineering intervention for development of water
resources to meet the varied requirements of man or the human demand for
water, which are also unevenly distributed, is hence essential.
The development of water resources, though a necessity, is now pertinent to be

made sustainable. The concept of sustainable development implies that
development meets the needs of the present life, without compromising on the
ability of the future generation to meet their own needs. This is all the more
important for a resource like water. Sustainable development would ensure
minimum adverse impacts on the quality of air, water and terrestrial environment.
The long term impacts of global climatic change on various components of
hydrologic cycle are also important.
India has sizeable resources of water and a large cultivable land but also a large
and growing population to feed. Erratic distribution of rainfall in time and space
leads to conditions of floods and droughts which may sometimes occur in the
same region in the same year. India has about 16% of the world population as
compared to only 4% of the average annual runoff in the rivers.
With the present population of more than 1000 million, the per capita water
availability comes to about 1170 m3 per person per year. Here, the average does
not reflect the large disparities from region to region in different parts of the
country. Against this background, the problems relating to water resources
development and management have been receiving critical attention of the
Government of India. The country has prepared and adopted a comprehensive
National Water Policy in the year 1987, revised in 2002 with a view to have a
systematic and scientific development of it water resources. This has been dealt
with in Lesson 1.3, “Policies for water resources development”.
Some of the salient features of the National Water Policy (2002) are as follows:
• Since the distribution of water is spatially uneven, for water scarce areas,
local technologies like rain water harvesting in the domestic or community
level has to be implemented.

• Technology for/Artificial recharge of water has also to be bettered.
• Desalination methods may be considered for water supply to coastal
towns.
1.1.9 Present water utilization in India

Irrigation constitutes the main use of water and is thus focal issue in water
resources development. As of now, irrigation use is 84 percent of total water
use. This is much higher than the world’s average, which is about 65 percent. For
advanced nations, the figure is much lower. For example, the irrigation use of
water in USA is around 33 percent. In India, therefore, the remaining 16 percent
of the total water use accounts for Rural domestic and livestock use, Municipal
domestic and public use, Thermal-electric power plants and other industrial uses.
The term irrigation is defined as the artificial method of applying water to crops.
Irrigation increases crop yield and the amount of land that can be productively
farmed, stabilizes productivity, facilitates a greater diversity of crops, increases
farm income and employment, helps alleviate poverty and contributes to regional
development.
1.1.10 Need for future development of water resources

The population of India has been estimated to stabilize by about 2050 A.D. By
that time, the present population of about 1000 million has been projected to be
about 1800 million (considering the low, medium and high estimates of 1349
million 1640 million and 1980 million respectively). The present food grain
availability of around 525 grams per capita per day is also presumed to rise to
about 650 grams, considering better socio-economic lifestyle (which is much less
than the present figures of 980 grams and 2850 grams per capita per day for
China and U.S.A., respectively). Thus, the annual food grain requirement for
India is estimated to be about 430 MT. Since the present food grain production is
just sufficient for the present population, it is imperative that additional area
needs to be brought under cultivation. This has been estimated to be 130 Mha
for food crop alone and 160 Mha for all crops to meet the demands of the country
by 2050 A.D.
Along with the inevitable need to raise food production, substantial thrust should
be directed towards water requirement for domestic use. The national agenda for
governance aims to ensure provision of potable water supply to every individual
in about five years time. The National Water Policy (2002) has accorded topmost
water allocation priority to drinking water. Hence, a lot of technological
intervention has to be made in order to implement the decision. But this does not

mean that unlimited funds would be allocated for the drinking water sector. Only
20% of urban demand is meant for consumptive use . A major concern will
therefore be the treatment of urban domestic effluents.
Major industrial thrust to steer the economy is only a matter of time. By
2050, India expects to be a major industrial power in the world. Industry needs
water fresh or recycled. Processing industries depend on abundance of water. It
is estimated that 64 cubic km of water will be needed by 2050 A.D. to sustain the
industries. Thermal power generation needs water including a small part that is
consumptive. Taking into account the electric power scenario in 2050 A.D.,
energy related requirement (evaporation and consumptive use) is estimated at
150 cubic km.
Note:
Consumptive use: Consumptive use is the amount of water lost in evapo-
transpiration from vegetation and its surrounding land to the atmosphere,
inclusive of the water used by the plants for building their tissues and to carry on
with their metabolic processes. Evapo-transpiration is the total water lost to the
atmosphere from the vegetative cover on the land, along with the water lost from
the surrounding water body or land mass.
1.1.11 Sustainable water utilisation

The quality of water is being increasingly threatened by pollutant load, which is
on the rise as a consequence of rising population, urbanization, industrialization,
increased use of agricultural chemicals, etc. Both the surface and ground water
have gradually increased in contamination level. Technological intervention in the
form of providing sewerage system for all urban conglomerates, low cost
sanitation system for all rural households, water treatment plants for all industries
emanating polluted water, etc. has to be made. Contamination of ground water
due to over-exploitation has also emerged as a serious problem. It is difficult to
restore ground water quality once the aquifer is contaminated. Ground water
contamination occurs due to human interference and also natural factors . To
promote human health, there is urgent need to prevent contamination of ground
water and also promote and develop cost-effective techniques for purifying
contaminated ground water for use in rural areas like solar stills.
In summary, the development of water resources potential should be such that in

doing so there should not be any degradation in the quality or quantity of the
resources available at present. Thus the development should be sustainable for
future.

References to web-sites:
1. http://cics.umd.edu/~yin/GPCP/main.html
2. http://www.imd.ernet.in/section/climate/
3. http://www.wrmin.nic.in/
Bibliography:
1. Linsley, R K and Franzini, J B (1979) “Water Resources Engineering”,
Third Edition, McGraw Hill, Inc.
2. Mays, L (2001) “Water Resources Engineering”, First Edition, John Wiley
and Sons.

Module
1
Principles of Water
Lesson
2
Concepts for Planning
Water Resources
Development

On completion of this lesson, the student shall be able to know:
1. Principle of planning for water resource projects
2. Planning for prioritizing water resource projects
3. Concept of basin – wise project development
4. Demand of water within a basin
5. Structural construction for water projects
6. Concept of inter – basin water transfer project
7. Tasks for planning a water resources project
1.2.0 Introduction
Utilisation of available water of a region for use of a community has perhaps
been practiced from the dawn of civilization. In India, since civilization flourished
early, evidences of water utilization has also been found from ancient times. For
example at Dholavira in Gujarat water harvesting and drainage systems have
come to light which might had been constructed somewhere between 300-1500
BC that is at the time of the Indus valley civilization. In fact, the Harappa and
Mohenjodaro excavations have also shown scientific developments of water
utilization and disposal systems. They even developed an efficient system of
irrigation using several large canals. It has also been discovered that the
Harappan civilization made good use of groundwater by digging a large number
of wells. Of other places around the world, the earliest dams to retain water in
large quantities were constructed in Jawa (Jordan) at about 3000 BC and in Wadi
Garawi (Egypt) at about 2660 BC. The Roman engineers had built log water
conveyance systems, many of which can still be seen today, Qanats or
underground canals that tap an alluvial fan on mountain slopes and carry it over
large distances, were one of the most ingenious of ancient hydro-technical
inventions, which originated in Armenia around 1000BC and were found in India
since 300 BC.
Although many such developments had taken place in the field of water
resources in earlier days they were mostly for satisfying drinking water and
irrigation requirements. Modern day projects require a scientific planning
strategy due to:
1. Gradual decrease of per capita available water on this planet and

especially in our country.
2. Water being used for many purposes and the demands vary in time and
space.

3. Water availability in a region – like county or state or watershed is not
equally distributed.
4. The supply of water may be from rain, surface water bodies and ground
water.
This lesson discusses the options available for planning, development and
management of water resources of a region systematically.
1.2.1 Water resources project planning

The goals of water resources project planning may be by the use of constructed
facilities, or structural measures, or by management and legal techniques that do
not require constructed facilities. The latter are called non-structural measures
and may include rules to limit or control water and land use which complement or
substitute for constructed facilities. A project may consist of one or more
structural or non-structural resources. Water resources planning techniques are
used to determine what measures should be employed to meet water needs and
to take advantage of opportunities for water resources development, and also to
preserve and enhance natural water resources and related land resources.
The scientific and technological development has been conspicuously evident

during the twentieth century in major fields of engineering. But since water
resources have been practiced for many centuries, the development in this field
may not have been as spectacular as, say, for computer sciences. However,
with the rapid development of substantial computational power resulting reduced
computation cost, the planning strategies have seen new directions in the last
century which utilises the best of the computer resources. Further, economic
considerations used to be the guiding constraint for planning a water resources
project. But during the last couple of decades of the twentieth century there has
been a growing awareness for environmental sustainability. And now,
environmental constrains find a significant place in the water resources project
(or for that matter any developmental project) planning besides the usual
economic and social constraints.
1.2.2 Priorities for water resources planning
Water resource projects are constructed to develop or manage the available

water resources for different purposes. According to the National Water Policy
(2002), the water allocation priorities for planning and operation of water
resource systems should broadly be as follows:

1. Domestic consumption
This includes water requirements primarily for drinking, cooking, bathing,
washing of clothes and utensils and flushing of toilets.
2. Irrigation
Water required for growing crops in a systematic and scientific manner in
areas even with deficit rainfall.
3. Hydropower
This is the generation of electricity by harnessing the power of flowing
water.
4. Ecology / environment restoration

Water required for maintaining the environmental health of a region.
5. Industries
The industries require water for various purposes and that by thermal
power stations is quite high.
6. Navigation
Navigation possibility in rivers may be enhanced by increasing the flow,
thereby increasing the depth of water required to allow larger vessels to
pass.
7. Other uses
Like entertainment of scenic natural view.
This course on Water Resources Engineering broadly discusses the facilities to

be constructed / augmented to meet the demand for the above uses. Many a
times, one project may serve more than one purpose of the above mentioned
uses.
1.2.3 Basin – wise water resource project development

The total land area that contributes water to a river is called a Watershed, also
called differently as the Catchment, River basin, Drainage Basin, or simply a
Basin. The image of a basin is shown in Figure 1.

A watershed may also be defined as a geographic area that drains to a common
point, which makes it an attractive planning unit for technical efforts to conserve
soil and maximize the utilization of surface and subsurface water for crop
production. Thus, it is generally considered that water resources development
and management schemes should be planned for a hydrological unit such as a
Drainage Basin as a whole or for a Sub-Basin, multi-sectorially, taking into
account surface and ground water for sustainable use incorporating quantity and
quality aspects as well as environmental considerations.
Let us look into the concept of watershed or basin-wise project development in

some detail. The objective is to meet the demands of water within the Basin with
the available water therein, which could be surface water, in the form of rivers,
lakes, etc. or as groundwater. The source for all these water bodies is the rain
occurring over the Watershed or perhaps the snowmelt of the glacier within it,
and that varies both temporally and spatially.
Further due to the land surface variations the rain falling over land surface tries to
follow the steepest gradient as overland flow and meets the rivers or drains into
lakes and ponds. The time for the overland flows to reach the rivers may be fast
or slow depending on the obstructions and detentions it meet on the way. Part of
the water from either overland flow or from the rivers and lakes penetrates into
the ground and recharge the ground water. Ground water is thus available almost
throughout the watershed, in the underground aquifers. The variation of the water
table is also fairly even, with some rise during rainfall and a gradual fall at other
times. The water in the rivers is mostly available during the rains. When the rain
stops, part of the ground water comes out to recharge the rivers and that results
in the dry season flows in rivers.
Note:
Temporal: That which varies with time

Spatial: That which varies with time

1.2.4 Tools for water resources planning and management
The policy makers responsible for making comprehensive decisions of water
resources planning for particular units of land, preferably a basin, are faced with
various parameters, some of which are discussed in the following sections.
1.2.4.1 The supply of water
Water available in the unit

This may be divided into three sources
- Rain falling within the region. This may be utilized directly before it
reaches the ground, for example, the roof – top rain water
harvesting schemes in water scarce areas.
- Surface water bodies. These static (lakes and ponds) and flowing
(streams and rivers), water bodies may be utilized for satisfying the
demand of the unit, for example by constructing dams across
rivers.
- Ground water reservoirs. The water stored in soil and pores of

fractured bed rock may be extracted to meet the demand, for
example wells or tube – wells.
Water transferred in and out of the unit

If the planning is for a watershed or basin, then generally the water available
within the basin is to be used unless there is inter basin water transfer. If
however, the unit is a political entity, like a nation or a state, then definitely there
shall be inflow or outflow of water especially that of flowing surface water.
Riparian rights have to be honored and extraction of more water by the upland
unit may result in severe tension.
Note: Riparian rights mean the right of the downstream beneficiaries of a river to
the river water.
Regeneration of water within the unit

Brackish water may be converted with appropriate technology to supply sweet
water for drinking and has been tried in many extreme water scarce areas.
Waste water of households may be recycled, again with appropriate technology,
to supply water suitable for purposes like irrigation.

1.2.4.2 The demand of water
Domestic water requirement for urban population
This is usually done through an organized municipal water distribution network.

This water is generally required for drinking, cooking, bathing and sanitary
purposes etc, for the urban areas. According to National Water Policy (2002),
domestic water supplies for urban areas under various conditions are given
below. The units mentioned “lpcd” stands for Liters per Capita per Day”.
1. 40 lpcd where only spot sources are available
2. 70 lpcd where piped water supply is available but no sewerage system
3. 125 lpcd where piped water supply and sewerage system are both
available. 150 lpcd may be allowed for metro cities.
Domestic and livestock water requirement for rural population
This may be done through individual effort of the users by tapping a local
available source or through co-operative efforts, like Panchayats or Block
Development Authorities. The accepted norms for rural water supply according
to National Water Policy (2002) under various conditions are given below.
• 40 lpcd or one hand pump for 250 persons within a walking distance of 1.6
km or elevation difference of 100 m in hills.
• 30 lpcd additional for cattle in Desert Development Programme (DDP)
areas.
Irrigation water requirement of cropped fields
Irrigation may be done through individual effort of the farmers or through group
cooperation between farmers, like Farmers’ Cooperatives. The demands have to
be estimated based on the cropping pattern, which may vary over the land unit
due to various factors like; farmer’s choice, soil type, climate, etc. Actually, the
term “Irrigation Water Demand” denotes the total quantity and the way in which a
crop requires water, from the time it is sown to the time it is harvested.
Industrial water needs
This depends on the type of industry, its magnitude and the quantity of water
required per unit of production.
1.2.5 Structural tools for water resource development

This section discusses the common structural options available to the Water
Resources Engineer to development the water potential of the region to its best
possible extent.

Dams
These are detention structures for storing water of streams and rivers. The water
stored in the reservoir created behind the dam may be used gradually,
depending on demand.
Barrages
These are diversion structures which help to divert a portion of the stream and
river for meeting demands for irrigation or hydropower. They also help to
increase the level of the water slightly which may be advantageous from the point
of view of increasing navigability or to provide a pond from where water may be
drawn to meet domestic or industrial water demand.
Canals/Tunnels
These are conveyance structures for transporting water over long distances for
irrigation or hydropower.
These structural options are used to utilise surface water to its maximum
possible extent. Other structures for utilising ground water include rainwater
detentions tanks, wells and tube wells.
Another option that is important for any water resource project is Watershed
Management practices. Through these measures, the water falling within the
catchment area is not allowed to move quickly to drain into the rivers and
streams. This helps the rain water to saturate the soil and increase the ground
water reserve. Moreover, these measures reduce the amount of erosion taking
place on the hill slopes and thus helps in increasing the effective lives of
reservoirs which otherwise would have been silted up quickly due to the
deposition of the eroded materials.
1.2.6 Management tools for water resource planning

The following management strategies are important for water resources planning:
• Water related allocation/re-allocation agreements between planning units

sharing common water resource.
• Subsidies on water use
• Planning of releases from reservoirs over time
• Planning of withdrawal of ground water with time.
• Planning of cropping patterns of agricultural fields to optimize the water
availability from rain and irrigation (using surface and/or ground water
sources) as a function of time
• Creating public awareness to reduce wastage of water, especially filtered
drinking water and to inculcate the habit of recycling waste water for
purposes like gardening.

• Research in water management: Well established technological inputs are
in verge in water resources engineering which were mostly evolved over
the last century. Since, then not much of innovations have been put
forward. However, it is equally known that quite a few of these
technologies run below optimum desired efficiency. Research in this field
is essential for optimizing such structure to make most of water resource
utilization.
An example for this is the seepage loss in canals and loss of water during
application of water in irrigating the fields. As an indication, it may be pointed out
that in India, of the water that is diverted through irrigation canals up to the crop
growing fields, only about half is actually utilized for plant growth. This example
is also glaring since agriculture sector takes most of the water for its assumption
from the developed project on water resources.
A good thrust in research is needed to increase the water application efficiently

which, in turn, will help optimizing the system.
1.2.7 Inter-basin water transfer

It is possible that the water availability in a basin (Watershed) is not sufficient to
meet the maximum demands within the basin. This would require Inter-basin
water transfer, which is described below:
The National water policy adopted by the Government of India emphasizes the
need for inter-basin transfer of water in view of several water surplus and deficit
areas within the country. As early as 1980, the Minister of Water Resources had
prepared a National perspective plan for Water resources development. The
National Perspective comprises two main components:
a) Himalayan Rivers Development, and
b) Peninsular Rivers Development
Himalayan rivers development

Himalayan rivers development envisages construction of storage reservoirs on
the principal tributaries of the Ganga and the Brahamaputra in India, Nepal and
Bhutan, along with interlinking canal systems to transfer surplus flows of the
eastern tributaries of the Ganga to the west, apart from linking of the main
Brahmaputra and its tributaries with the Ganga and Ganga with Mahanadi.
Peninsular rivers development

This component is divided into four major parts:

1. Interlinking of Mahanadi-Godavari-Krishna-Cauvery rivers and building
storages at potential sites in these basins.
2. Interlinking of west flowing rivers, north of Mumbai and south of Tapi.
3. Interlinking of Ken-Chambal rivers.
4. Diversion of other west flowing rivers.
The possible quantity of water that may be transferred by donor basin may be
equal to the average water availability of basin minus maximum possible water
requirement within basin (considering future scenarios).
Note: A Donor basin is the basin, which is supplying the water to the
downstream basin.
The minimum expected quantity of water for recipient basin may be equal to the
minimum possible water requirement within basin (considering future scenarios)
minus average water availability of basin.
Note: A Recipient basin is the basin, which is receiving the water from the
Donor basin.
National Water Development Agency (NWDA) of the Government of India has

been entrusted with the task of formalizing the inter-linking proposal in India. So
far, the agency has identified some thirty possible links within India for inter-basin
transfer based on extensive study of water availability and demand data.
Note:
The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) was set up in July, 1982 as
an Autonomous Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1960, to carry out
the water balance and other studies on a scientific and realistic basis for optimum
utilization of Water Resources of the Peninsular rivers system for preparation of
feasibility reports and thus to give concrete shape to Peninsular Rivers
Development Component of National Perspective. In 1990, NWDA was also
entrusted with the task of Himalayan Rivers Development Component of National
Perspective.
Possible components of an inter-basin transfer project include the following:

• Storage Dam in Donor basin to store flood runoff
• Conveyance structure, like canal, to transfer water from donor to recipient
basin
• Possible pumping equipments to raise water across watershed-divide

Possible implications of inter-basin transfer: Since a large scale water transfer
would be required, it is necessary to check whether there shall be any of the
following:
• River bed level rise or fall due to possible silt deposition or removal.
• Ground water rise or fall due to possible excess or deficit water seepage.
• Ecological imbalance due to possible disturbance of flora and fauna
habitat.
• Desertification due to prevention of natural flooding (i.e. by diversion of
flood water)
• Transfer of dissolved salts, suspended sediments, nutrients, trace
elements etc. from one basin to another.
1.2.8 Tasks for planning a water resources project

The important tasks for preparing a planning report of a water resources project
would include the following:
• Analysis of basic data like maps, remote sensing images, geological data,
hydrologic data, and requirement of water use data, etc.
• Selection of alternative sites based on economic aspects generally, but
keeping in mind environmental degradation aspects.
• Studies for dam, reservoir, diversion structure, conveyance structure, etc.
- Selection of capacity.
- Selection of type of dam and spillway.
- Layout of structures.
- Analysis of foundation of structures.
- Development of construction plan.
- Cost estimates of structures, foundation strengthening measures,
etc.
• Studies for local protective works – levees, riverbank revetment, etc.
• Formulation of optimal combination of structural and non-structural
components (for projects with flood control component).
• Economic and financial analyses, taking into account environmental
degradation, if any, as a cost.
• Environmental and sociological impact assessment.
Of the tasks mentioned above, the first five shall be dealt with in detail in this
course. However, we may mention briefly the last two before closing this
chapter.

1.2.9 Engineering economy in water resources planning
All Water Resources projects have to be cost evaluated. This is an essential part
of planning. Since, generally, such projects would be funded by the respective
State Governments, in which the project would be coming up it would be helpful
for the State planners to collect the desired amount of money, like by issuing
bonds to the public, taking loans from a bank, etc. Since a project involves
money, it is essential that the minimum amount is spent, under the given
constraints of project construction. Hence, a few feasible alternatives for a project
are usually worked out. For example, a project involving a storage dam has to be
located on a map of the river valley at more than one possible location, if the
terrain permits. In this instance, the dam would generally be located at the
narrowest part of the river valley to reduce cost of dam construction, but also a
couple of more alternatives would be selected since there would be other
features of a dam whose cost would dictate the total cost of the project. For
example, the foundation could be weak for the first alternative and consequently
require costly found treatment, raising thereby the total project cost. At times, a
economically lucrative project site may be causing submergence of a costly
property, say an industry, whose relocation cost would offset the benefit of the
alternative. On the other hand, the beneficial returns may also vary. For example,
the volume of water stored behind a dam for one alternative of layout may not be
the same as that behind another. Hence, what is required is to evaluate the so-
called Benefit-Cost Ratio defined as below:
AnnualBenefits ( B)
Benefit − CostRatio =
AnnualCost (C )
The annual cost and benefits are worked out as under.
Annual Cost (C): The investment for a project is done in the initial years during
construction and then on operation and maintenance during the project's lifetime.
The initial cost may be met by certain sources like borrowing, etc. but has to be
repaid over a certain number of years, usually with an interest, to the lender. This
is called the Annual Recovery Cost, which, together with the yearly maintenance
cost would give the total Annual Costs. It must be noted that there are many non-
tangible costs, which arise due to the effect of the project on the environment that
has to be quantified properly and included in the annual costs.
1.2.10 Assessment of effect on environment and society

This is a very important issue and all projects need to have clearance from the
Ministry of Environment and Forests on aspects of impact that the project is likely
to have on the environment as well as on the social fabric. Some of the adverse
(negative) impacts, for which steps have to be taken, are as follows:

• Loss of flora and fauna due to submergence.
• Loss of land having agricultural, residential, industrial, religious,
archaeological
importance.
• Rehabilitation of displaced persons.
• Reservoir induced seismicity.
• Ill-effect on riverine habitats of fish due to blockage of the free river
passage
There would also be some beneficial (positive) impacts of the project, like
improvement of public health due to availability of assured, clean and safe
drinking water, assured agricultural production, etc. There could even be an
improvement in the micro-climate of the region due to the presence of a water
body.

Module
1
Principles of Water
Lesson
3
National Policy For
Water Resources
Development

On completion of this lesson, the student shall be able to:
1. Appreciate the policy envisaged by the nation to develop water resources
within the country
2. Conventional and non-conventional methods in planning water resources
projects
3. Priorities in terms of allocation of water for various purposes
4. Planning strategies and alternatives that should be considered while
developing a particular project
5. Management strategies for excess and deficit water imbalances
6. Guidelines for projects to supply water for drinking and irrigation
7. Participatory approach to water management
8. Importance of monitoring and maintaining water quality of surface and
ground water sources.
9. Research and development which areas of water resources engineering
need active
10. Agencies responsible for implementing water resources projects in our
country
11. Constitutional provision guiding water resource development in the county
12. Agencies responsible for monitoring the water wealth of the country and
plan scientific development based on the National Policy on water
1.3.0 Introduction
Water, though commonly occurring in nature, is invaluable! It supports all forms
of life in conjunction with air. However, the demand of water for human use has
been steadily increasing over the past few decades due to increase in
population. In contrast, the total reserve of water cannot increase. Hence each
nation, and especially those with rapidly increasing population like India, has to
think ahead for future such that there is equitable water for all in the years to
come. This is rather difficult to achieve as the water wealth varies widely within a
country with vast geographical expanse, like India. Moreover, many rivers
originate in India and flow through other nations (Pakistan and Bangladesh) and

the demands of water in those counties have to be honored before taking up a
project on such a river. Similarly there are rivers which originate form other
counties (Nepal, Bhutan and China) and flow through India.
All these constraints have led to the formulation of the national water policy which
was drafted in 1987 keeping in mind national perspective on water resource
planning, development and management. The policy has been revised in 2002,
keeping in mind latest objectives. It is important to know the essentials of the
national policy as it has significant bearing on the technology or engineering that
would be applied in developing and managing water resources projects.
This section elucidates the broad guidelines laid own in the National Water Policy
(2002) which should be kept in mind while planning any water resource project in
our country.
1.3.1 Water Resources Planning

Water resources development and management will have to be planned for a
hydrological unit such as a drainage basin as a whole or a sub-basin. Apart from
traditional methods, non-conventional methods for utilization of water should be
considered, like
• Inter-basin transfer
• Artificial recharge of ground water
• Desalination of brackish sea water
• Roof-top rain water harvesting
The above options are described below in some detail:
Inter-basin transfer: Basically, it's the movement of surface water from one river
basin into another. The actual transfer is the amount of water not returned to its
source basin. The most typical situation occurs when a water system has an
intake and wastewater discharge in different basins. But other situations also
cause transfers. One is where a system's service area covers more than one
basin. Any water used up or consumed in a portion of the service area outside of
the source basin would be considered part of a transfer (e.g. watering your yard).
Transfers can also occur between interconnected systems, where a system in
one basin purchases water from a system in another basin.
Artificial recharge of ground water: Artificial recharge provides ground water

users an opportunity to increase the amount of water available during periods of
high demand--typically summer months. Past interest in artificial recharge has
focused on aquifers that have declined because of heavy use and from which
existing users have been unable to obtain sufficient water to satisfy their needs.

Desalination of brackish sea water: Water seems to be a superabundant
natural resource on the planet earth. However, only 0.3 per cent of the world's
total amount of water can be used as clean drinking water. Man requires huge
amounts of drinking water every day and extracts it from nature for innumerable
purposes. As natural fresh water resources are limited, sea water plays an
important part as a source for drinking water as well. In order to use this water, it
has to be desalinated. Reverse osmosis and electro dialysis is the preferred
methods for desalination of brackish sea water.
Roof-top rain water harvesting: In urban areas, the roof top rain water can be
conserved and used for recharge of ground water. This approach requires
connecting the outlets pipe from roof top to divert the water to either existing
well/tube wells/bore wells or specially designed wells/ structures. The Urban
housing complexes or institutional buildings have large roof area and can be
utilized for harvesting the roof top rain water to recharge aquifer in urban areas.
One important concept useful in water resources planning is Conjunctive or

combined use of both surface and ground water for a region has to be planned
for sustainable development incorporating quantity and quality aspects as well as
environmental considerations. Since there would be many factors influencing the
decision of projects involving conjunctive use of surface and ground water,
keeping in mind the underlying constraints, the entire system dynamics should be
studied to as detail as practically possible. The uncertainties of rainfall, the
primary source of water, and its variability in space and time has to be borne in
mind while deciding upon the planning alternatives.
It is also important to pursue watershed management through the following

methodologies:
• Soil conservation
This includes a variety of methods used to reduce soil erosion, to prevent
depletion of soil nutrients and soil moisture, and to enrich the nutrient
status of a soil.
• Catchment area treatment

Different methods like protection for degradation and treating the
degraded areas of the catchment areas, forestation of catchment area.
• Construction of check-dams
Check-dams are small barriers built across the direction of water flow on
shallow rivers and streams for the purpose of water harvesting. The small
dams retain excess water flow during monsoon rains in a small catchment
area behind the structure. Pressure created in the catchment area helps
force the impounded water into the ground. The major environmental
benefit is the replenishment of nearby groundwater reserves and wells.
The water entrapped by the dam, surface and subsurface, is primarily

intended for use in irrigation during the monsoon and later during the dry
season, but can also be used for livestock and domestic needs.
1.3.2 Water allocation priorities

While planning and operation of water resource systems, water allocation
priorities should be broadly as follows:
• Drinking water
• Irrigation
• Hydropower
• Ecology
• Industrial demand of water
• Navigation
The above demands of water to various sectors are explained in the following
paragraphs.
Drinking water: Adequate safe drinking water facilities should be provided to the
entire population both in urban and in rural areas. Irrigation and multipurpose
projects should invariably include a drinking water component, wherever there is
no alternative source of drinking water. Drinking water needs of human beings
and animals should be the first charge on any available water.
Irrigation: Irrigation is the application of water to soil to assist in the production

of crops. Irrigation water is supplied to supplement the water available from
rainfall and ground water. In many areas of the world, the amount and timing of
the rainfall are not adequate to meet the moisture requirements of crops. The
pressure for survival and the need for additional food supplies are causing the
rapid expansion of irrigation throughout the world.
Hydropower: Hydropower is a clean, renewable and reliable energy source that

serves national environmental and energy policy objectives. Hydropower
converts kinetic energy from falling water into electricity without consuming more
water than is produced by nature.
Ecology: The study of the factors that influence the distribution and abundance
of species.
Industrial demand of water: Industrial water consumption consists of a wide

range of uses, including product-processing and small-scale equipment cooling,
sanitation, and air conditioning. The presence of industries in or near the city has
great impact on water demand. The quantity of water required depends on the
type of the industry. For a city with moderate factories, a provision of 20 to 25
percent of per capita consumption may be made for this purpose.

Navigation: Navigation is the type of transportation of men and goods from one
place to another place by means of water. The development of inland water
transport or navigation is of crucial importance from the point of energy
conservation as well.
1.3.3 Planning strategies for a particular project

Water resource development projects should be planned and developed (as far
as possible) as multi-purpose projects . The study of likely impact of a project
during construction and later on human lives, settlements, socio-economic,
environment, etc., has to be carried out before hand. Planning of projects in the
hilly areas should take into account the need to provide assured drinking water,
possibilities of hydropower development and irrigation in such areas considering
the physical features and constraints of the basin such as steep slopes, rapid
runoff and possibility of soil erosion.
As for ground water development there should be a periodical reassessment of

the ground water potential on a scientific basis, taking into consideration the
quality of the water available and economic viability of its extraction. Exploitation
of ground water resources should be so regulated as not to exceed the
recharging possibilities, as also to ensure social equity. This engineering aspect
of ground water development has been dealt with in Lesson 8.1.
Planning at river basin level requires considering a complex large set of

components and their interrelationship. Mathematical modelling has become a
widely used tool to handle such complexities for which simulations and
optimization techniques are employed. One of the public domain software
programs available for carrying out such tasks is provided by the United States
Geological Survey at the following web-site http://water.usgs.gov/software/. The
software packages in the web-site are arranged in the following categories:
• Ground Water
• Surface Water
• Geochemical
• General Use
• Statistics & Graphics
There are private companies who develop and sell software packages. Amongst
these, the DHI of Denmark and Delft Hydraulics of Netherlands provide
comprehensive packages for many water resources applications.

Note:
Multi-purpose projects: Many hydraulic projects can serve more than one of the
basic purposes-water supply, irrigation, hydroelectric power, navigation, flood
control, recreation, sanitation and wild life conservation. Multiple use of project of
facilities may increase benefits without a proportional increase in costs and thus
enhance the economic justification for the project. A project which is which is
designed for single purpose but which produces incidental benefits for other
purposes should not, however, be considered a multi-purpose project. Only those
projects which are designed and operated to serve two or more purposes should
be described as multi-purpose.
1.3.4 Guidelines for drinking and irrigation water projects

The general guidelines for water usage in different sectors are given below:
1.3.4.1 Drinking water
Adequate safe drinking water facilities should be provided to the entire population
both in urban and rural areas. Irrigation and multi purpose projects should
invariably include a drinking water component wherever there is no alternative
source of drinking water.
Primarily, the water stored in a reservoir has to be extracted using a suitable

pumping unit and then conveyed to a water treatment plant where the physical
and chemical impurities are removed to the extent of human tolerance. The
purified water is then pumped again to the demand area, that is, the urban or
rural habitation clusters. The source of water, however, could as well be from
ground water or directly from the river.
The aspect of water withdrawal for drinking and its subsequent purification and
distribution to households is dealt with under the course Water and Waste Water
Engineering. The following books may be useful to consult.
• Waster Water Engineering by B C Punmia and A K jain
• Water and waste water engineering by S P Garg
1.3.4.2 Irrigation
Irrigation planning either in an individual project or in a basin as whole should

take into account the irrigability of land, cost of effective irrigation options
possible from all available sources of water and appropriate irrigation techniques
for optimizing water use efficiency. Irrigation intensity should be such as to
extend the benefits of irrigation to as large as number of farm families as
possible, keeping in view the need to maximize production.

• Water allocation in an irrigation system should be done with due regard
to equity and social justice. Disparities in the availability of water between
head-reach and tail-end farms and (in respect of canal irrigation) between
large and small farms should be obviated by adoption of a rotational
water distribution system and supply of water on a volumetric basis
subject to certain ceilings and rational water pricing.
• Concerned efforts should be made to ensure that the irrigation potential

created is fully utilized. For this purpose, the command area
development approach should be adopted in all irrigation projects.
• Irrigation being the largest consumer of freshwater, the aim should be to

get optimal productivity per unit of water. Scientific water management,
farm practices and sprinkler and drip system of irrigation should be
adopted wherever possible.
The engineering aspects of irrigation engineering have been discussed in

Section 6.
Some terms defined in the above passages are explained below:
Water allocation: Research on institutional arrangements for water allocation

covers three major types of water allocation: public allocation, user-based
allocation, and market allocation. This work includes attention to water rights and
to the organizations involved in water allocation and management, as well as a
comparative study of the consequences of water reallocation from irrigation to
other sectors. A key aspect of this research is the identification of different
stakeholders' interests, and the consequences of alternative institutions for the
livelihoods of the poor.
Rotational water distribution system: Water allocated to the forms one after
the other in a repeated manner.
Volumetric basis: Water allocated to each farm a specified volume based on

the area of the farm, type of crop etc.
Irrigation Potential: Irrigation is the process by which water is diverted from a

river or pumped from a well and used for the purpose of agricultural production.
Areas under irrigation thus include areas equipped for full and partial control
irrigation, spate irrigation areas, equipped wetland and inland valley bottoms,
irrespective of their size or management type. It does not consider techniques
related to on-farm water conservation like water harvesting. The area which can
potentially be irrigated depends on the physical resources 'soil' and 'water',
combined with the irrigation water requirements as determined by the cropping
patterns and climate. However, environmental and socioeconomic constraints

also have to be taken into consideration in order to guarantee a sustainable use
of the available physical resources. This means that in most cases the
possibilities for irrigation development would be less than the physical irrigation
potential.
Command area development: The command area development programme

aims mainly at reducing the gap between the potential created for irrigation to
achieve higher agriculture production thereof. This is to be achieved through the
integrated development of irrigated tracks to ensure efficient soil land use and
water management for ensuring planned increased productivity.
Sprinkler irrigation: Sprinkler irrigation offers a means of irrigating areas which

are so irregular that they prevent use of any surface irrigation methods. By using
a low supply rate, deep percolation or surface runoff and erosion can be
minimized. Offsetting these advantages is the relatively high cost of the sprinkling
equipment and the permanent installations necessary to supply water to the
sprinkler lines. Very low delivery rates may also result in fairly high evaporation
from the spray and the wetted vegetation. It is impossible to get completely
uniform distribution of water around a sprinkler head and spacing of the heads
must be planned to overlap spray areas so that distribution is essentially uniform.
Drip: The drip method of irrigation, also called trickle irrigation, originally
developed in Israel, is becoming popular in areas having water scarcity and salt
problems. The method is one of the most recent developments in irrigation. It
involves slow and frequent application of water to the plant root zone and
enables the application of water and fertilizer at optimum rates to the root
system. It minimizes the loss of water by deep percolation below the root zone or
by evaporation from the soil surface. Drip irrigation is not only economical in
water use but also gives higher yields with poor quality water.
1.3.5 Participatory approach to water resource management

Management of water resources for diverse uses should incorporate a
participatory approach; by involving not only the various government agencies
but also the users and other stakeholders in various aspects of planning, design,
development and management of the water resources schemes. Even private
sector participation should be encouraged, wherever feasible.
In fact, private participation has grown rapidly in many sectors in the recent years
due to government encouragement. The concept of “Build-Own-Transfer (BOT)”
has been popularized and shown promising results. The same concept may be
actively propagated in water resources sector too. For example, in water scarce
regions, recycling of waste water or desalinization of brackish water, which are

more capital intensive (due to costly technological input), may be handed over to
private entrepreneurs on BOT basis.
1.3.6 Water quality

The following points should be kept in mind regarding the quality of water:
1. Both surface water and ground water should be regularly monitored for
quality.
2. Effluents should be treated to acceptable levels and standards before
discharging them into natural steams.
3. Minimum flow should be ensured in the perennial streams for maintaining
ecology and social considerations.
Since each of these aspects form an important segment of water resources

engineering, this has been dealt separately in course under water and waste
water engineering.
The technical aspects of water quality monitoring and remediation are dealt with
in the course of Water and Waste – Water Engineering. Knowledge of it is
essential for the water resources engineer to know the issues involved since,
even polluted water returns to global or national water content.
Monitoring of surface and ground water quality is routinely done by the Central
and State Pollution Control Boards. Normally the physical, chemical and
biological parameters are checked which gives an indication towards the
acceptability of the water for drinking or irrigation. Unacceptable pollutants may
require remediation, provided it is cost effective. Else, a separate source may
have to be investigated. Even industrial water also require a standard to be met,
for example, in order to avoid scale formation within boilers in thermal power
projects hard water sources are avoided.
The requirement of effluent treatment lies with the users of water and they should
ensure that the waste water discharged back to the natural streams should be
within acceptable limits. It must be remembered that the same river may act as
source of drinking water for the inhabitants located down the river. The following
case study may provoke some soul searching in terms of the peoples’
responsibility towards preserving the quality of water, in our country:
Under the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) initiated by the government to clean the
heavily polluted river, number of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) have been
constructed all along the river Ganga. The government is also laying the main
sewer lines within towns that discharge effluents into the river. It is up to the
individual house holders to connect their residence sewer lines up to the trunk

sewer, at some places with government subsidy. However, public apathy in
many places has resulted in only a fraction of the houses being connected to the
trunk sewer line which has resulted in the STPs being run much below their
capacity.
Lastly, it must be appreciated that a minimum flow in the rivers and streams,
even during the low rainfall periods is essential to maintain the ecology of the
river and its surrounding as well as the demands of the inhabitants located on the
downstream. It is a fact that excessive and indiscriminate withdrawal of water
has been the cause of drying up of many hill streams, as for example, in the
Mussourie area. It is essential that the decision makers on water usage should
ensure that the present usage should not be at the cost of a future sacrifice.
Hence, the policy should be towards a sustainable water resource development.
1.3.7 Management strategies for excess and deficit water

imbalances
Water is essential for life. However, if it is present in excess or deficit quantities
than that required for normal life sustenance, it may cause either flood or
drought. This section deals with some issues related to the above imbalance of
water, and strategies to mitigate consequential implications. Much detailed
discussions is presented in Lesson 6.2.
1.3.7.1 Flood control and management
• There should be a master plan for flood control and management for each
flood prone basin.
• Adequate flood-cushioning should be provided in water storage projects,
wherever feasible, to facilitate better flood management.
• While physical flood protection works like embankments and dykes will
continue to be necessary, increased emphasis should be laid on non-
structural measures such as flood forecasting and warning, flood plain
zoning, and flood proofing for minimization of losses and to reduce the
recurring expenditure on flood relief.
1.3.7.2 Drought prone area development
• Drought-prone areas should be made less vulnerable to drought

associated problems through soil conservation measures, water
harvesting practices, minimization of evaporation losses, and
development of ground water potential including recharging and
transfer of surface water from surplus areas where feasible and
appropriate.

Terms referred to above are explained below:
Flood cushioning: The reservoirs created behind dams may be emptied to

some extent, depending on the forecast of impending flood, so that as and when
the flood arrives, some of the water gets stored in the reservoir, thus reducing the
severity of the flood.
Embankments and dykes: Embankments & dykes also known as levees are
earthen banks constructed parallel to the course of river to confine it to a fixed
course and limited cross-sectional width. The heights of levees will be higher
than the design flood level with sufficient free board. The confinement of the river
to a fixed path frees large tracts of land from inundation and consequent
damage.
Flood forecast and warning: Forecasting of floods in advance enables a

warning to be given to the people likely to be affected and further enables civil-
defence measures to be organized. It thus forms a very important and relatively
inexpensive nonstructural flood-control measure. However, it must be realized
that a flood warning is meaningful if it is given sufficiently in advance. Also,
erroneous warnings will cause the populace to loose faith in the system. Thus the
dual requirements of reliability and advance notice are the essential ingredients
of a flood-forecasting system.
Flood plain zoning: One of the best ways to prevent trouble is to avoid it and
one of the best ways to avoid flood damage is to stay out of the flood plain of
streams. One of the forms of the zoning is to control the type, construction and
use of buildings within their limits by zoning ordinances. Similar ordinances might
prescribe areas within which structures which would suffer from floods may not
be built. An indirect form of zoning is the creation of parks along streams where
frequent flooding makes other uses impracticable.
Flood proofing: In instances where only isolated units of high value are
threatened by flooding, they may sometimes by individually flood proofed. An
industrial plant comprising buildings, storage yards, roads, etc., may be protected
by a ring levee or flood wall. Individual buildings sufficiently strong to resist the
dynamic forces of the flood water are sometimes protected by building the lower
stories (below the expected high-water mark) without windows and providing
some means of watertight closure for the doors. Thus, even though the building
may be surrounded by water, the property within it is protected from damage and
many normal functions may be carried on.
Soil conservation measures: Soil conservation measures in the catchment

when properly planned and effected lead to an all-round improvement in the
catchment characteristics affecting abstractions. Increased infiltration, greater
evapotranspiration and reduced soil erosion are some of its easily identifiable
results. It is believed that while small and medium floods are reduced by soil

conservation measures, the magnitude of extreme floods are unlikely to be
affected by these measures.
Water harvesting practices: Technically speaking, water harvesting means

capturing the rain where it falls, or capturing the run-off in one’s own village or
town. Experts suggest various ways of harvesting water:
• Capturing run-off from rooftops;

• Capturing run-off from local catchments;
• Capturing seasonal flood water from local streams; and
• Conserving water through watershed management.
Apart from increasing the availability of water, local water harvesting systems
developed by local communities and households can reduce the pressure on the
state to provide all the financial resources needed for water supply. Also,
involving people will give them a sense of ownership and reduce the burden on
government funds.
Minimization of evaporation losses: The rate of evaporation is dependent on

the vapour pressures at the water surface and air above, air and water
temperatures, wind speed, atmospheric pressure, quality of water, and size of
the water body. Evaporation losses can be minimized by constructing deep
reservoirs, growing tall trees on the windward side of the reservoir, plantation in
the area adjoining the reservoir, removing weeds and water plants from the
reservoir periphery and surface, releasing warm water and spraying chemicals or
fatty acids over the water surface.
Development of groundwater potential: A precise quantitative inventory

regarding the ground-water reserves is not available. Organization such as the
Geographical Survey of India, the Central Ground-Water Board and the State
Tube-Wells and the Ground-Water Boards are engaged in this task. It has been
estimated by the Central Ground-Water Board that the total ground water
reserves are on the order of 55,000,000 million cubic meters out of which
425,740 million cubic meters have been assessed as the annual recharge from
rain and canal seepage. The Task Force on Ground-Water Reserves of the
Planning Commission has also endorsed these estimates. All recharge to the
ground-water is not available for withdrawal, since part of it is lost as sub-surface
flow. After accounting from these losses, the gross available ground-water
recharge is about 269,960 million cubic meters per annum. A part of this
recharge (2,460 million cubic meters) is in the saline regions of the country and is
unsuitable for use in agriculture owing to its poor quality. The net recharge
available for ground-water development in India, therefore, is of the magnitude of
about 267,500 million cubic meters per annum. The Working Group of the
Planning Commission Task Force Ground-Water Reserves estimated that the
usable ground-water potential would be only 75 to 80 per cent of the net ground-
water recharge available and recommended a figure of 203,600 million cubic

meters per annum as the long-term potential for ground-water development in
India.
Recharging: Artificial recharge provides ground water users an opportunity to

increase the amount of water available during periods of high demand--typically
summer months. Past interest in artificial recharge has focused on aquifers that
have declined because of heavy use and from which existing users have been
unable to obtain sufficient water to satisfy their needs.
Transfer of surface water: Basically, it's the movement of surface water from
one river basin into another. The actual transfer is the amount of water not
returned to its source basin. The most typical situation occurs when a water
system has an intake and wastewater discharge in different basins. But other
situations also cause transfers. One is where a system's service area covers
more than one basin. Any water used up or consumed in a portion of the service
area outside of the source basin would be considered part of a transfer (e.g.
watering your yard). Transfers can also occur between interconnected systems,
where a system in one basin purchases water from a system in another basin.
1.3.8 Implementation of water resources projects

Water being a state subject, the state governments has primary responsibility for
use and control of this resource. The administrative control and responsibility for
development of water rests with the various state departments and corporations.
Major and medium irrigation is handled by the irrigation / water resources
departments. Minor irrigation is looked after partly by water resources
department, minor irrigation corporations and zilla parishads / panchayats and by
other departments such as agriculture. Urban water supply is generally the
responsibility of public health departments and panchayatas take care of rural
water supply. Government tube-wells are constructed and managed by the
irrigation/water resources department or by the tube-well corporations set up for
the purpose. Hydropower is the responsibility of the state electricity boards.
Due to the shared responsibilities, as mentioned above, for the development of

water resources projects there have been instances of conflicting interests
amongst various state holders.

1.3.9 Constitutional provisions for water resources
development
India is a union of states. The Constitutional provisions in respect of allocation of
responsibilities between the State and Center fall into three categories: the Union
List (List-I), the State List (List-II) and the Concurrent List (List-III). Article 246 of
the Constitution deals with subject matter of laws to be made by the Parliament
and by Legislature of the States. As most of the rivers in the country are inter-
State, the regulation and development of waters of these rivers is a source of
inter-State differences and disputes. In the Constitution, water is a matter
included in entry 17 of List-II i.e., State List. This entry is subject to provision of
entry 56 of List-I i.e., Union List. The specific provisions in this regard are as
under:
• Article 246
Notwithstanding anything in clauses (2) and (3), Parliament has exclusive
power to make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List-I
in the seventh schedule (in this Constitution referred to as the “Union
List”).
1) Notwithstanding anything in clauses (3), Parliament, and, subject to
clause (1), the Legislature of any State also, have power to make
laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List-III in the
seventh schedule (in this Constitution referred to as the “Concurrent
List”).
2) Subject to clauses (1) and (2), the Legislature of any state has
exclusive power to make laws for such state or any part thereof with
respect to any of the matters enumerated in List-II in the seventh
schedule (in this Constitution referred to as the “State List”).
3) Parliament has power to make laws with respect to any matter for
any part of the territory of India not included in a State
notwithstanding that such matter is a matter enumerated in the State
List.
• Article 262
In case of disputes relating to waters, article 262 provides:
1) Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or
complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters
of, or in, any inter-State river or river-valley.
2) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may, by law
provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other Court shall
exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute or complaint as is
referred to in clause (1).
• Entry 56 of list I of seventh schedule

Entry 56 of List I of seventh schedule provides that “Regulation and
development of inter-State rivers and river valleys to the extent to which
such regulation and development under the control of the Union are
declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest”.
• Entry 17 under list II of seventh schedule

Entry 17 under List II of seventh schedule provides that “Water, that is to
say, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments,
water storage and water power subjects to the provisions of entry 56 of
List I”.
As such, the Central Government is conferred with powers to regulate and
develop inter-State rivers under entry 56 of List I of seventh schedule to
the extent declared by the Parliament by law to be expedient in the public
interest.
It also has the power to make laws for the adjudication of any dispute
relating to waters of Inter-State River or river valley under article 262 of
the Constitution.
1.3.10 Central agencies in water resources sector

Some of the important offices working under the Ministry of Water Resources,
Government of India (website of the ministry: http://wrmin.nic.in) which plays key
role in assessing, planning and developing the water resources of the country are
as follows:
• Central Water Commission (CWC)

• Central Ground Water Board (CGWB)
• National Water Development Agency (NWDA)
• Brahmaputra Board
• Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS)
• Central Soil and Materials Research Station (CSMRS)
• National Institute of Hydrology (NIH)
• Ganga Flood Control Commission (GFCC)
• Water and Power Consultancy Services (India) ltd (WAPCOS)
• National Projects Construction Corporation ltd (NPCC)
Detailed activities of the above departments may be obtained from the Ministry of
Water Resources web-site.
Although not directly under the ministry of water resources, the National
Hydropower Corporation (NHPC) as well as Rail India Technical Engineers
Services (RITES) also actively participate in water resources development
projects.

Module
1
Principles of Water
Lesson
4
Planning and
Assessment of Data for
Project Formulation

On completion of this lesson, the student shall be able to learn:
1. The range of water resources project and the general planning philosophy
2. Planning arrangements for drinking water supply project and related data
requirement
3. Planning arrangements for irrigation water supply project and related data
requirement
4. Planning arrangements for hydropower generation project and related
data requirement
5. Planning arrangements for flood control project and related data
requirement
6. Investigations for data assessment for constructing water resource
engineering structures
7. Water availability computations
8. Data collection for environment, socio-economic and demographic
informations
9. Data collection methods for topography, geology, rainfall and stream flow.
1.4.0 Introduction
A water resources systems planner is faced with the challenge of conceptualizing
a project to meet the specific needs at a minimum cost. For a demand intensive
project, the size of the project is limited by the availability of water. The planner
then has to choose amongst the alternatives and determine the optimum scale of
the project. If it is a multi-purpose project, an allocation of costs has to be made
to those who benefit from the project. An important aspect of planning is that it
has to prepare for a future date – its effects in terms of physical quantities and
costs over a period of time spanning the useful life of project has to be evaluated.
The return expected over the project period has to be calculated.
All this requires broader decisions, which affect the design details of the project.
This chapter looks into the different aspects of preparing a project plan likely to
face a water resources system planner, including the basic assessment of data
that is primary to any project plan formulation.

1.4.1 Meeting the challenges
The major projects which water resources systems planner has to conceptualize
are shown in Figure 1. Although the figure shows each project to be separate
entity, quite a few real projects may actually serve more than one purpose. For
example, the Hirakud or the Bhakra dams cater to flood control, irrigation and
hydropower generation. On the other hand more than one project is necessary
(and which actually forms a system of projects) to achieve a specific purpose.
For example, to control the floods in the Damodar River, which earlier used to
havoc in the districts of Bardhaman, Hooghly and Howrah in West Bengal, a
number of dams were constructed on the Damodar and its tributaries between
1950s and 1970. For irrigation projects, a dam may be constructed across a
river to store water in the upstream reach and a barrage may be constructed in
the downstream reach to divert and regulate the water through an off taking
canal.

1.4.2 Project planning for domestic water supply
The project for supplying drinking water to a township would usually consist of a
network of pipelines to reach the demand area. The source of water could be
underground or from a surface water body, usually a river. At times, it could be a
judicious combination of the two. A water resources systems planner has to
design the whole system from the source up to the distribution network.
However, the scope of water resources engineering is generally be limited to the
intake system design. The storage of water, its treatment and finally distribution
to the consumers are looked after by the authorities of the township. Further
details may be obtained in a course on Water and Waste Water Engineering.
Typical intake systems could possibly be one of the following, depending and the
convenience of planning.
1. Construction of a water intake plant directly from the river

Example: Water intake system at Palta for Kolkata from river
Hooghly.
2. Construction of a dam across a river and drawing water from the reservoir
behind.
Example: Dam at Mawphlang on river Umiam for water supply to
Shillong.
3. Construction of a barrage across a river and drawing water from the pool
behind
Example: Wazirabad barrage across river Yamuna for water
supply to Delhi.
4. Construction of infiltration wells near a river to draw riverbed ground water

Example: For water supply to IIT Kharagpur campus from river
Kangsabati.
5. Construction of deep wells to draw water from lower strata of ground water
Example: Water intake system for the city of Barddhaman.
A simple line sketch is shown in Figure 2 to show the processes for intake,
storage, treatment and distribution of a typical drinking water project.

1.4.3 Data requirement for domestic water supply project
The following data is required for planning and designing a typical water supply
system.
1.4.3.1 Demand of water
As discussed in lesson 1.2, according to the norms laid out in the National
Building Code, and revised under National Water policy (2002), the following
demand of domestic water consumption may be adopted:
Rural water supply:

• 40 litres per capita per day or one hand pump 250 persons within
walking distance of 1.6 km or elevation difference of 100m in hills
• 30 lpcd additional for cattle in desert development programmed
areas
Urban water supply:
• 40 lpcd where only sources are available
• 70 lpcd where piped water supply is available but no sewerage
system
• 125 lpcd where piped water supply and sewerage system are both
available.
• 150 lpcd for main cities

• Additional water for other demands like commercial, institutional,
firefighting, gardening, etc.
Since the water supply project would serve a future population, a realistic
projection has to be made based on scientific projection methods like
• Arithmetic increase method.

• Geometric increase method.
• Incremental increase method.
Water supply projects, under normal circumstances, may be designed for a

period of thirty years. This period may be modified in regard to certain
components of the project, depending upon:
• The useful life of the component facility
• Ease in carrying out extensions, when required.
• Rate of interest.
1.4.3.2 Availability of water and other data
The availability of water has been discussed in a subsequent section of this

lesson, which would be used to design the capacities of the intake by the water
resources engineer, by comparing with the demand. The data for constructing
the structures would usually be topography for locating the structure, geology for
finding foundation characteristics and materials required for construction of the
structure.
1.4.4 Project planning for irrigation water supply

The project may consist of supplying water to irrigate an area through a network
of canals, by diverting some of the water from a river by constructing a barrage
for water diversion and head regulator for water control. The water through
canals mostly flows by gravity (except for pumped canal projects), the area under
cultivation by the water of the canal is called the Command Area. This area is
decided by the prevailing slope of the land. Although the main source of water for
irrigating an area could be surface water, it could be supplemented with ground
water. This combination of surface and ground water for irrigation is known as
Conjunctive use.
The principal component of an irrigation scheme is a diversion structure – a weir

or a barrage – though the latter is preferred in a modern irrigation project. Since
the height of such a structure is rather small compared to that of a dam, the
volume of water stored behind a barrage (the barrage pool) is small compared to
that stored behind a dam (the dam reservoir). The elevated water surface of the

barrage pool causes the water to be diverted into the canal, the entry of which is
regulated through a canal head works. If the river is perennial, and the minimum
flow of the river is sufficient to cater to the flow through the canal, this
arrangement is perfectly fine to irrigate a command area using a barrage and an
irrigation canal system. However, if the river is non-perennial, or the minimum
flow of the river is less than the canal water demand, then a dam may be
constructed at a suitable upstream location of the river. This would be useful in
storing larger volumes, especially the flood water, of water which may be
released gradually during the low-flow months of the river.
A conceptual scheme of a diversion scheme for irrigation is shown in Figure 3.
1.4.5 Data requirement for water supply to an irrigation

project
The following data is required for planning and designing a typical irrigation
system.
1.4.5.1 Demand of water for irrigation water supply
The demand of water for an irrigation scheme is to be calculated from the

cropping schedule that is proposed in the Command Area. Different crops have

different water requirements and their demand also varies with the growth of the
plants. Further, Command Area may be able to cultivate more than one crop
within since many of the crops have maturity duration of few months.
The field requirement decides the design discharge for the distributaries and so
on up to the canal regulator. Of course, most canals are prone to losses with
water seeping through the canal sides. Exceptions are the lined canals, though
in this case, the loss of infiltrating water is very small. Thus the net demand at the
head of the canal system, as a function of time, is calculated. Lessons of Module
3 deal in detail about the irrigation system demand of water.
1.4.5.2 Availability of water and other data
This has discussed in a subsequent section of this lesson. The data for demand
and availability of water would be used to design the reservoir upstream of the
dam for storage. This water, when released in a regulated way, would be
diverted by a barrage and passed through a canal head regulator and water
distribution network consisting of canals and other structures such as regulators
and falls. The data requirements for construction of the structures are usually:
Topography, geology or riverbed soil characteristics, and materials.
1.4.6 Project planning for hydropower generation

A hydroelectricity generation project or a hydropower project in short, would
essentially require water diversion form a continuous surface water source like a
river. The diversion, as shown, could be using a dam or a barrage. A dam has
the advantages of creating a high head and provides sufficient storage in the
reservoir that is created behind. When the stream inflow to a reservoir is less,
the stored water may be released to generate power.
A barrage, on the other hand, does not store much water in the pool. Hence, the
power generation would be according to the available flow in the river. It also
does not create a high head and hence this type of arrangement is usually
practiced in the hilly areas, where a long power channel ensures sufficient head
for power generation. This is because the slope of the power channel would be
rather small compared to the general slope of land. A system with no sufficient
storage is called the run-of-the-river project.
Figure 4 shows a typical schematic diagram for a project with a dam for diverting
water to generate hydropower.

Under some situation, a barrage may also be used to divert water through a
power channel to generate hydropower. This is shown in Figure 5.

1.4.7 Data requirement for hydropower generation project
The following data is required for planning and designing a typical hydropower
system.
1.4.7.1 Demand of water
Power generated ‘P’ is proportional to the discharge ‘Q’ passing through the
turbine generator units and the piezometric head of water ‘H’. Also, the demand
of power varies with the time of the day (Figure 6) and some times on the days of
the week. Hence the demand of water that is required to drive the turbines would
vary too.

However, when a hydropower plant is initially planned, the main constraint
comes from the stream flow availability. Demand, on the other hand, is not really
limited since more generation of power is always welcome. Hence, the
maximum installed capacity of a hydropower plant would be limited to the reliable
all-year-round available flow.
1.4.7.2 Availability of water
This has been discussed in a subsequent section of this lesson. The data for
demand and availability would decide the height of dam or a barrage and the size
of the appurtenant structures required for conveying water up to the power
generation unit and the corresponding exit channel. The data requirement for
construction of the structures is the same as mentioned before, that is,
Topography, Geology and Materials.
1.4.8 Project planning for flood control

Truly speaking, controlling a flood is generally not possible, but with different
combinations, it can be managed in such a way that the resulting damages are
minimized. There are several options, but broadly, these may be classified as
being structural or non-structural. Construction of a large dam across a river to
hold the incoming flood and the release of the regulated flow would fall under
structural measures. On the other hand, if the residents of the flood prone area
are warned before hand by making suitable predictions of the impending flood
using a flood forecasting technique, then it falls under a non-structural measure.
Lesson 6.2 deals with different types of flood management techniques, but
presently, the discussion is limited to the construction of dams for management
of floods, as illustrated in Figure 7.

1.4.9 Data requirement for flood control project
Theoretically a dam constructed to reduce a flood peak should require the
maximum possible stream flow hydrograph.
However, this is neither possible to be determined exactly, nor is desirable as it

would too costly to build a huge dam. Rather, a flood of a certain probability of
occurrences (say 1 in 100 years) is estimated from past peak stream flow
records and a corresponding hydrograph constructed. This is generally used to
design the height of the dam (which determines the size of the reservoir) and the
spillway.
Hence, if a dam is used to moderate the flood of a river, then the data collection
should be aimed at that required for constructing a dam. They usually concern
topography, geology and materials. If other structural measures like
embankment are constructed, then also the above mentioned parameters
appropriate to the construction of embankment would be required to be collected.
1.4.10 Planning for other miscellaneous projects

Other major types of water resources project include those for
• Ecology restoration

• Industrial water supply
• Navigation
In each of the above, a certain demand of water is first estimated, for example.
• How much water is required for restoration of a marshy or aquatic

habitat and how is it spread overtime.
• How much water is required to be supplied to an industry (relatively
larger demands being required for the cooling of thermal energy
producing plants).
• How much water is required to flush out sediment from a navigable
channel or to what height the river water level should be raised to
increase the draft necessary for moving vessels.
Accordingly, a dam or a barrage and possibly a water conveying canal would be

required, to achieve the above objectives. The construction details for each of
these components have been dealt with in the lessons of Module 4. We shall
look now into the data requirement and its source.
1.4.11 Investigations for data assessment

The main structural components that are proposed for any water resource project
include the following:
• A storage structure like Dams

• A diversion structure like Barrages
• A water conveyance structure like Canals
The primary job of the water resources engineer would be to locate or site the
structure and for that the land surface elevation, or topography, is required.
Once a structure is sited (or a few alternatives sited), then the next phase would
be investigate the suitability of the foundation. Thus, geological characteristics
determination forms an important data requirement.
For demand intensive projects, where the demand is more than the supply, the
maximum possible flow that can be diverted for useful function is limited by the
stream flow availability. Hence, the water availability studies form the third set of
important data assessment
In the national level, the survey and investigation wing of the Central Water
Commission (CWC) takes up these assessment jobs for surface water projects
in concurrence with concerned state governments or central government. The
CWC monitors most of the country’s Major and Medium Projects and the

detailed project reports (DPRs) have been prepared and submitted to concerned
authorities.
1.4.12 Topographic details

These are the elevation contour maps the area where a project is proposed to be
executed. The Survey of India has the responsibility to prepare and publish
such maps for the nation. The maps (called toposheet) in the scale of 1:50,000
have been completed for almost all regions the country. The contour interval in
these maps is 20 meters and each sheet covers 15 minutes of latitude and
longitude. Some areas have been surveyed in greater detail in the scale of
1:25000 in which the contour interval is 5 meters.
The survey of India also conducts specific surveys for particular project sites to
serve the needs of project authorities. The scale and contour interval depends
upon the nature of the terrain (country) and the purpose of the survey. The
National Remote Sensing Agency has also acquired a Lidar for precision
survey work with a topographic precision of 0.01m.
The elevation contour map of a region is useful to decide among others
• Height of storage structures (dam) and elevation of its spillway.

• Extent of inundation due to reservoir formation behind a dam.
• Amount of storage possible in the reservoir.
• Alignment of canals and their branches.
1.4.13 Geological characteristics

Usually hydraulic structures like dams or barrages for major water resources
projects are massive. Unless the foundation properties are correctly found from
geologic features and their interpretation, chances of structural failure would
increase. Even for barrages, which are comparatively lighter structures, the
underlying foundation strata of the river bed needs to be properly investigated.
The Geological Survey of India has produced maps showing geological
structure of the country. However, whenever a project is planned, a detailed
geological investigation is carried out by drilling Bore Holes at required number
of places and taking a Boring Log. The Strength Parameters of the underlying
rock/soil layers are investigated by extracting cores of samples and taken to
laboratory for Strength Tests. Sometimes, In-situ Laboratory Tests are
conducted that avoids disturbing the foundation material in its original form.

The geological tests of the foundation material of the proposed project allow the
determination of the following major parameters.
• Base width of a dam or a barrage so that the Bearing Pressure is

within safe limits.
• Degree of protection required for prevention of seepage below the
hydraulic structure. ( grout holes for dams and sheet piles for
barrages)
4.1.14 Water availability data

Lesson 1.1 gives details about the average water availability of the country in
general for a specific project dependant on surface water sources, however more
detailed data of the amount of water availability needs to be established. In fact,
the success of a water resources project depends on how accurate has been the
estimation of the total quantity of water available and its variation with time – over
days, weeks, months and years. This would require collection of data and its
analysis by suitable methods.
Project Dependable water availability*
Irrigation 75%
Drinking water 100%
Hydro power project 90%
*n% dependable availability means that the minimum water

required for the project would be available for ‘n’ units of time (say
days or weeks, 10 day period, monthly) from within 100 equivalent
units.
Database:
For computations of water availability, the following rainfall and stream runoff
data should be collected in order of preference as given below. Daily observed
data collected for ten consecutive days is more commonly used and mentioned
here as ten-daily data
• Runoff data at the proposed site for at least 40 – 50 years.
Or

• Rainfall data of the catchment for 40-50 years and Runoff data for at least
5-10 years.
Or
• Rainfall data of the catchment for 40-50 years and Runoff data and
concurrent rainfall data at existing project on upstream or down stream of
the proposed site for at least 5-10 years.
Or
• Rainfall data of the catchment for 40-50 years and Runoff data concurrent
rainfall data at existing project of a nearby river for at least 5 to 10 years
provided Orographic conditions of the catchment at the work site are
similar to that of the proposed site.
4.1.15 Water availability computations

Depending on the type of data available, the water availability can be computed
from the following methods:
Direct observation method:

This method is applied when observed runoff data at the proposed site is
available for the last 50 years or so. The method has been discussed in Lesson
2.4.
Rainfall-Runoff series method:

The method consists in extending the runoff data with the help of rainfall data by
means of rainfall-runoff relationships (Lessons 2.2 and 2.3).Depending upon the
availability of rainfall and runoff data, following three cases arise
• Long term precipitation record along with a stream flow data for a few
years is available.
• Long term precipitation record is available for the catchment along with a
few years of stream flow data at a neighboring site on the same river.
• Long term precipitation record is available for the catchment rainfall-runoff
data on a nearby river.
Langbein’s log-deviation method:

This method is used when short term runoff data is available at the proposed site
along with long term runoff at a nearby gauging station.
There are other methods which are discussed in the advanced texts, as the
following:

Mutreja, K N (1995) Applied Hydrology, Tata McGraw Hill.
4.1.16 Environmental data

Any water resources project would be affecting the environment in one way or
other. Construction of a dam or barrage may not allow free movement of fish
along the river, the ponded water behind may cause submergence of valuable
forest and even human habitation. Construction of flood protection environment
may cause water logging in the area behind the embankment unless proper
drainage is provided, thus leading to breeding of mosquitoes and other disease
carrying vectors.
It is, therefore, always mandatory to check the impact on the environment due to
construction of a water resource project. For this purpose, the relevant data on
environment and ecology has to be collected for analysis.
4.1.17 Socio-economic and demographic data

Dam and barrage projects constructed at one point on a river benefits people
downstream largely. However, the construction affects the people residing on
the upstream as the ponded water causes submergence of villages and force
people to migrate. It is pertinent, therefore, to study the effect of the project on
the people and impact on the socio-economic fabric of the region benefited or
affected by the project.
4.1.18 Data collection methods

Rainfall:
This is measured with rain gauges, which may be of Recording (Figure 8) or
Non-Recording (Figure 9) types. The specifications regarding these gauges
may be found in the following Indian Standard codes of practices:
• IS: 5225 (1998) - Specifications for non-recording rain gauges.

• IS: 4986 (2002) - Installation of non-recording rain gauges and rain
measurement
• IS: 5235 (1998) - Specifications for recording rain gauges.
• IS: 8389 (2003) - Installation and use of recording rain gauges.

The rain gauges may be distributed within the catchment as specified in the
following IS code:
• IS: 4987 (1994) - Recommendations for establishing network of rain

gauge stations

Stream Runoff (Discharge):
The discharge of a stream or a river at a point varies with time. Usually, the
discharge is measured by calculating the average velocity of the stream and
multiplying by the cross sectional area. Since the velocity of a stream varies
across the cross section, it is usual to divide the cross section hypothetically into
several vertical strips (Figure 10).
Calculation of the discharge passing through each strip is then done by
multiplying the average velocity of the strip by the area of the strip (approximated
as a trapezium). The velocity is measured with a current meter (Figures 11 and
12) which dipped in the flowing water to a distance of 0.6 times the depth of
water at that point, since the velocity at this point is seen to represent the
average velocity well for most streams. There are many different types of current
meters, of which the “Price” cup-type current meter attached to a round wading
rod is illustrated in Figure 8. Discussions on the principles of measurement of
stream flow, including the types of current meters may be obtained from the
United States Bureau of Reclamation online document “Water measurement
manual” which may be found in the following web-site:
http://www.usbr.gov/pmts/hydraulics_lab/pubs/wmm/indexframe.html

4.1.19 Important terms
Arithmetic increase method
In this method it is assumed that, the population increases at constant a rate.
_
Therefore, population after n decades Pn = PO + n x
Where,
PO Æ Present population.
Pn Æ Forecasted population after n decades.
_
x Æ Arithmetic mean of population increase in the known decades.
n Æ No of decades.
Geometric increase method

In this method, the decade wise percentage increase or percent growth rate is
n
⎛ r ⎞
assumed to be constant. Thus, population after n decades Pn = PO ⎜1 + ⎟
⎝ 100 ⎠
Where,
r Æ Percent of increase in population in the known decades.
n Æ No of decades.
Incremental increase method

In this method it is assumed that per decade growth rate is not constant, but is
progressively increasing or decreasing. Hence, population after n decades
_
n( n + 1) _
Pn = PO + n x + y
2
Where,
_
x Æ Average increase in the known decades.
_
y Æ Average incremental increase in known decades.
n Æ No of decades.
Hydrograph: This is a plot of the discharge of a stream versus time.
Spillway: Spillway is the sluiceway/passage that carries excess water from the
water body over a dam or any other obstructions.

Major, Medium and Minor Projects: This is a classification of the irrigation
projects in India according to the area of land cultivated.
Toposheet: The Survey of India has published maps of the entire country in
different scales. Usually, the ones in scale 1:25,000 or 1:50,000 have the
elevation contours marked out in meters. These maps are called topography
sheets, or toposheets, in short.
Lidar: LIDAR is an acronym for Light Detection and Ranging. This instrument
can:
• Measure distance
• Measure speed
• Measure rotation
• Measure chemical composition and concentration of a remote target
where the target can be a clearly defined object, such as a vehicle, or
a diffuse object such as a smoke plume or clouds
For more information, one may visit: www.lidar.com
Bore Holes
The sub-soil investigation report will contain the data obtained from boreholes.
The report should give the recommendations about the suitable type of
foundation, allowable soil pressure and expected settlements. All relevant data
for the borehole is recorded in a boring log. Depending upon the type of soil the
purpose of boring, the following methods are used for drilling the holes.
• Auger drilling
• Wash boring
• Rotary drilling
• Percussion drilling
• Core boring
Boring Log
It is essential to give a complete and accurate record of data collected. Each
borehole should be identified by a code number. All relevant data for the
borehole is recorded in a boring log. A boring log gives the description or
classification of various strata encountered at different depths. Any additional
information that is obtained in the field, such as soil consistency, unconfined
compression strength, standard penetration test, cone penetration test, is also
indicated on the boring log. It also shows the water table. If the laboratory tests
have been conducted, the information about the index properties, compressibility,
shear strength, permeability, etc. should also be provided in this log.
Strength Parameters: These are the physical strength characteristics of soils

and the important ones are:
• Shear strength (τ)

• Internal angle of friction or angle of shearing resistance (Φ)
• Cohesion intercept (c)
• Effective stress (σ’)
Shear strength (τ) of a soil is its maximum resistance to shear stresses just
before the failure. Shear failure occurs of a soil mass occurs when the shear
stresses induced due to applied compressive loads exceed the shear strength of
the soil. Soils are seldom subjected to direct shear. However the shear stresses
develop when the soil is subjected to direct compression. Shear strength is the
principal engineering property which controls the stability of soil mass under
loads. It governs the bearing capacity of the soils, the stability of slopes in soils,
and the earth pressure against retaining structures.
Shear strength of a soil at a point on a particular plane was expressed by
coulomb as a linear function of normal stress an that plane, as
τ = c +σ tanφ
Where,
c = cohesion interception
φ = angle which the envelop makes with σ−axis called angle of internal
friction
Effective stress (σ’) at any point in the soil mass is equal to the total stress minus
pore water pressure. Total stress (σ) on the base of a prism is equal to the force
per unit area which is given
σ = P/A = γsat h
(σ’) = σ – u = γsat h – γw h
σ’ = (γsat – γw)h = γ’h
Strength Tests: The following tests are used to measure the shear strength of
soil.
• Direct shear test.
• Triaxial compression test
• Unconfined compression test
• Vane shear test
Direct shear test: This test is performed to determine the consolidated-

drained shear strength of a sandy to silty soil. The shear strength is one of
the most important engineering properties of a soil, because it is required
whenever a structure is dependent on the soil’s shearing resistance. The
shear strength is needed for engineering situations such as determining
the stability of slopes or cuts, finding the bearing capacity for foundations,
and calculating the pressure exerted by a soil on a retaining wall.

The direct shear test is one of the oldest strength tests for soils. Direct
shear device will be used to determine the shear strength of a
cohesionless soil (i.e. angle of internal friction (f)). From the plot of the
shear stress versus the horizontal displacement, the maximum shear
stress is obtained for a specific vertical confining stress. After the
experiment is run several times for various vertical-confining stresses, a
plot of the maxi mum shear stresses versus the vertical (normal) confining
stresses for each of the tests is produced. From the plot, a straight-line
approximation of the Mohr-Coulomb failure envelope curve can be drawn,
f may be determined, and, for cohesionless soils (c = 0), the shear
strength can be computed from the following equation:
S = S*Tan (f)
• Direct shear device
• Load and deformation dial gauges
• Balance
Triaxial compression test: Trial test is used for determination of shear

characteristics of all types of soils under different drainage conditions. The
test has been explained in the Indian standard code (IS: 2720-1997).
Unconfined compression test: The unconfined compression test is a

special form of a triaxial test in which the confining pressure is zero. The
test can be conducted only on clayey soils which can withstand
confinement. The test is generally performed on intact, saturated clay
specimens.
Vane Shear Test: The undrained shear strength of soft clays or rocks can
be determined in the laboratory by vane shear test. The test can also be
conducted in the field on the soil at the bottom of the borehole. The field
test can be performed even without drilling a bore hole by the direct
penetration of the vane from the ground surface.
In-situ Laboratory Tests

The strength parameters of soil or rock layers are investigated by extracting
cores of samples and taken to the laboratory for testing. Insitu laboratory tests
are conducted to avoid disturbing of foundation material. These Insitu laboratory
tests mainly include plate jack test for soils and hydro fracture test for rocks.
The hydro-fracture test is done to determine the strength of underlying strata, in
case of site where huge structures, such as dams, etc are built. In this test, water
is injected into the soil at huge pressures and checked if the soil is able to bear
the pressure and even the magnitude of fractured rock can be estimated. In the
hydro-fracture test the magnitude of the minimum principal stress is determined
and back analysis is done from monitored deformations, when suitable
excavations are made for other purposes and economical monitoring can be
used. D5607-02 gives standard test method for performing laboratory direct

shear strength tests of rock specimens under constant normal force. The Insitu
shear test or the plate jack test for the soils is explained in IS: 2720-Part39/sec2.
Bearing Pressure
Foundations for structures are generally classified as deep and shallow. Deep
foundations generally refer to piled foundations, whereas shallow foundations
include pad foundations, raft foundations, and strip footings. The performance
and functional viability of a foundation depends on the interaction between the
structure which is supported and on the founding material. The behavior of the
soil depends on the bearing pressure and width of the foundation, hence the
bearing capacity is not simply a function of the soil, but rather is also a function of
the specific foundation arrangement. Bearing pressure is the maximum pressure
at which the supporting ground is expected to fail in shear.
Orographic: Denotes effects that are related to the presence of mountains or

high ground on, say, rainfall. Orography is the study of the physical geography of
mountains and mountain ranges.
Non- Recording and Recording rain gauges
The non-recording rain gauge that is extensively used in India is the Symon’s
gauge. It essentially consists of a circular collecting area connected to a funnel.
The rim of the collector is set in a horizontal plane at a suitable height above the
ground level. The funnel discharges the rainfall catch into a receiving vessel. The
funnel and receiving vessel are housed in a metallic container. Water contained
in the receiving vessel is measured by a suitably graduated measuring glass,
with accuracy up to 0.1mm. Recently India Meteorological Department (IMD) has
changed over to the use of fiberglass reinforced polyester raingauges, which is
an improvement over the Symon’s gauge. These come in different combinations
of collector and bottles.
Recording rain gauges produce a continuous plot against time and provide
valuable data of intensity and duration of rainfall for hydrologic analysis of
storms. Following are some of the commonly used recording rain gauges.
1. Tipping bucket type
2. Weighing bucket type
3. Natural siphon type
4. Telemetering Rain gauges.
For a detailed list of commercial rain gauges usually manufactured, one may
refer to the web-site of one of the manufacturers Nova Lynx at the following web-
site:
http://www.novalynx.com/products-rain-gauges.html

Current meter
Current meters are velocity measuring devices that that are used to measure the
velocity of a stream at a point. Each point velocity measurement is then assigned
to a meaningful part of the entire cross section passing flow. Several classes of
current meters are used in water measurement.
• Anemometer and propeller velocity meter
• Electromagnetic velocity meters
• Doppler velocity meters
• Optical strobe velocity meters
One may consult the United States Bureau of Reclamation online document
“Water measurement manual” for more information which may be found in the
following web-site:
http://www.usbr.gov/pmts/hydraulics_lab/pubs/wmm/indexframe.html
4.1.19 Important organizations

Central Water Commission
Central Water Commission is a premier Technical Organization in the country in
the field of Water Resources since 1945 and is presently functioning as an
attached office of the Ministry of Water resources. The Commission is charged
with the general responsibilities of initiating, coordinating and furthering in
consultation of the State Governments concerned, schemes for control,
conservation and utilization of water resources throughout the country, for
purpose of Flood Control, Irrigation, Navigation, Drinking Water, Power
Development & water supply. It also undertakes the investigations, construction
and execution of any such schemes as required.
Web-site: http://cwc.nic.in/
Survey of India
Survey of India, The National Survey and Mapping Organization of the country
under the Department of Science & Technology, is the oldest scientific
department of the govt. of India. It was set up in 1767 and has evolved rich
traditions over the years. In its assigned role as the Nation's principal mapping
agency, Survey of India bears a special responsibility to ensure that the country's
domain is explored and mapped suitably to provide base maps for expeditious
and integrated development and ensure that all resources contribute their full
measure to the progress, prosperity and security of our country now and for
generations to come.
Web-site: http://dst.gov.in/scservices/soi.htm
National Remote Sensing Agency

National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) is an autonomous organization under
Department of Space, Govt. of India engaged in operational remote sensing
activities. The operational use of remote sensing applications is in the fields of

water resources, agriculture, soil and land degradation, mineral exploration,
groundwater targeting, geomorphologic mapping, coastal and ocean resources
monitoring, environment, ecology and forest mapping, land use and land cover
mapping and urban area studies, large scale mapping, etc.
The chief activities are satellite data and aerial data reception, data processing,
data dissemination; applications for providing value added services and training.
Web-site: http://www.nrsa.gov.in/
Geological Survey of India

This is the premier organization of Earth Science Studies in the sub-continent
with strength of 2900 geoscientists and technical professionals. The GSI has a
network of Offices located in all the states of India. It is the custodian of
Geoscientific database developed over a period of 150 years and is capable of
handling time-bound jobs in different sub disciplines of earth science: from
geological mapping to deposit modeling. It is also equipped with modern
laboratories run by professionals. It possesses organizational setup to impart
training in the fields of earth science and holds the key to mineral exploration.
Web-site: www.gsi.gov.in

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Module

Figure 1. Hydrologic cycle

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Figure 2. Total global water content

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Figure 3. Global fresh water distribution

The hydrologic cycle consists of four key components

These are described in the next sections.

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Figure 4. A typical distribution of global precipitation (Courtesy: Global

The distribution of precipitation for our country as recorded by the India

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Except in the northwest of India, inter annual variability of rainfall in relatively

The year can be divided into four seasons:

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River basin unit Location Draining Catchment Average Utilizable

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Total 3 227 121 1 869.35 690.3

(1) Areas given are those in India territory.

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The following definitions may be useful:

Lakes: Large, naturally occurring inland body of water

Evapotranspiration, therefore, includes all evaporation from water and land

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1.1.5.2 Ground water potential:

The potential of dynamic or rechargeable ground water resources of our country

Ground water recharge is principally governed by the intensity of rainfall as also

The highlighted terms are defined or explained as under:

Central Water Commission: Central Water Commission is an attached office of

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Central Ground Water Board: It is responsible for carrying out nation-wide

1.1.6 Land and water resources of India

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The land and water resources of India may be summarized as follows.

1.1.7 International indicators for comparing water resources

1. Internal Renewable Water Resources (IRWR): Internal Renewable

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3. Groundwater recharge: The recuperation of groundwater is called the

4. Overlap: It is the amount of water quantity, coinciding between the

5. Total internal Renewable Water Resources: The Total Internal

7. Net renewable water resources: The total natural renewable water

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1.1.8 Development of water resources

The development of water resources, though a necessity, is now pertinent to be

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1.1.9 Present water utilization in India

1.1.10 Need for future development of water resources

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1.1.11 Sustainable water utilisation

In summary, the development of water resources potential should be such that in

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1. Gradual decrease of per capita available water on this planet and

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