Water Resources

 96.5 per cent of the total volume of world’s water is estimated to exist as oceans and only 2.5
per cent exists as fresh water.
 70 per cent of the fresh water occurs as ice sheets and glaciers in Antarctica, Greenland and the
mountainous regions of the world.
 Less than 30 per cent is stored as groundwater in the world’s acquirers.
 Fresh water is mainly obtained from surface run off and ground water. This is continually being
renewed and recharged through the hydrological cycle. All the water moves within the
hydrological cycle making water a renewable resource.
 The hydrologic cycle involves the continuous circulation of water in the Earth-Atmosphere
system. At its core, the water cycle is the motion of the water from the ground to the
atmosphere and back again.
 Fresh Water sources: Precipitation—from rainfall; Surface water—in rivers, lakes, etc.; Ground
water—water stored in underground acquirers which gets recharged by rainfall.

Water scarcity means shortage of water. It is usually associated with regions having low rainfall or
drought prone areas.

 Uneven Precipitation - The seasonal and annual rainfall varies with respect to geographical
region and time.
 Over Exploitation- With the increasing population and unequal access to water resources, the
water resources are exploited for domestic purposes, industrial needs. It is also polluted due to
hazardous practices of the industries.
 Large Population: water scarcity may be an outcome of large and growing population and
consequent greater demands for water, and unequal access to it. A large population means
more water not only for domestic use but also to produce more food. Hence, to facilitate higher
food-grain production, water resources are being over-exploited to expand irrigated areas and
dry-season agriculture.
 Irrigative agricultural fields- Water is needed in a large quantity for growing crops. Farmer owns
individual water pumps, which causes decreased groundwater level in that region, causing
scarcity and drought.
 Industries - Industries not only harm and pollute the water resources like rivers and lakes, they
also require groundwater for working by water pumping devices. The electric power supply
source is also Hydroelectric power. Today, in India hydroeclectric power contributes
approximately 22 per cent of the total electricity produced.
 Releasing untreated chemicals into water bodies by the industries.
 Unplanned drainage system:- Throwing of garbage in water bodies pollute them and makes
them unfit for use.

Hydraulic Structures in Ancient India

• In the first century B.C., Sringaverapura near Allahabad had sophisticated water harvesting
system channelling the flood water of the river Ganga.
• During the time of Chandragupta Maurya, dams, lakes and irrigation systems were extensively
built.
 • Evidences of sophisticated irrigation works have also been found in Kalinga, (Odisha),
Nagarjunakonda (Andhra Pradesh), Bennur (Karnataka), Kolhapur (Maharashtra), etc.
• In the 11th Century, Bhopal Lake, one of the largest artificial lakes of its time was built.
• In the 14th Century, the tank in Hauz Khas, Delhi was constructed by Iltutmish for supplying
water to Siri Fort area

Dams

• Dams are a hydraulic structures built to store water for future use.
• They act as reservoir. They become barrier and restrict the flow of water which can be later
used for purposes such as irrigation, domestic use, industrial use, aquaculture, etc.
• Dams were traditionally built to impound rivers and rainwater that could be used later to
irrigate agricultural fields.
• Today, dams are built not just for irrigation but for electricity generation, water supply for
domestic and industrial uses, flood control (hirakud dam in the Mahanadi), recreational
purposes (Water parks), inland navigation and fish breeding. Hence, dams are now referred to
as multi-purpose projects.
• For example, in the Sutluj-Beas river basin, the Bhakra – Nangal project water is being used both
for hydel power production and irrigation. Similarly, the Hirakud project in the Mahanadi basin
integrates conservation of water with flood control.
• Most dams have a section called a spillway or weir over which or through which it is intended
that water will flow either intermittently or continuously.
• Dams are classified according to structure, intended purpose or height.
• Based on structure and the materials used, dams are classified as timber dams, embankment
dams or masonry dams, with several subtypes.
• According to the height, dams can be categorised as large dams and major dams or alternatively
as low dams, medium height dams and high dams.

Jawaharlal Nehru claimed dams to be "Temples of Modern India '' as they would help in activites like
agriculture, development of village economy, blooming of industries, and growth of the urban economy.

Advantages:

1. They bring water to those areas which suffer from water scarcity and also provide water for
irrigation;
2. These projects generate electricity for industries and our homes;
3. They help in controlling floods;
4. These projects can be used for recreation, inland navigation and fish breeding.

Disadvantages:

1. Constructions of Dam interrupted the flow of water which caused the irregular flow of
sediments, increasing the sedimentation in the reservoir, which caused the livelihood of aquatic
animals quite difficult. The dam led to fragmented rivers which caused the migration of aquatic
organisms difficult.
 2. Multi-purpose projects and large dams have also been the cause of many new social movements
like the ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’ and the ‘Tehri Dam Andolan’ etc. Resistance to these
projects has primarily been due to the large-scale displacement of local communities.Excessive
sedimentation at the bottom of the reservoir.

Narmada Bachao Andolan or Save Narmada Movement is a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) that
mobilised tribal people, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against the Sardar
Sarovar.

It originally focused on the environmental issues related to trees that would be submerged under the
dam water. Recently it has re-focused the aim to enable poor citizens, especially the oustees (displaced
people) to get full rehabilitation facilities from the government.

3. The only people who were benefitting were the landowners and large farmers, industrialists and
few urban centres. The farmers and the poor people were not benefitting at all as they often
had to give up their land, etc.
4. Due to high water availability, all farmers preferred commercial crops, which caused an
ecological imbalance. This has great ecological consequences like salinisation of the soil.
5. There was an increase in the social gap as they caused disputes among the people wanting their
water needs to get prioritized. Even inter-state disputes became common.

In Gujarat, the Sabarmati-basin farmers were agitated and almost caused a riot over the higher
priority given to water supply in urban areas, particularly during droughts. Inter-state water
disputes are also becoming common with regard to sharing the costs and benefits of the multi-
purpose project.

6. Flood control dams triggered floods as well because of the sedimentation in the reservoir. When
excessive rainfall occured, dams failed to control floods. The release of water from dams caused
the floods itself many times.

The release of water from dams during heavy rains aggravated the flood situation in
Maharashtra and Gujarat in 2006. The floods have not only devastated life and property but also
caused extensive soil erosion

7. Land degradation: Other than the loss of lives and properties, the flood also eroded soil. It was
also observed that the multi-purpose projects induced earthquakes, caused waterborne
diseases and pests and pollution resulting from excessive use of water.

Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater harvesting is done according to the region and its climatic conditions. It is done in India since
ancient times. People had in-depth knowledge of rainfall regimes and soil types and developed wide
ranging techniques to harvest rainwater, groundwater, river water and flood water in keeping with the
local ecological conditions and their water needs

• In Western Himalayas - 'guls' or 'kuls' were formed which were the diversion channels for water
for agriculture.
 • In Rajasthan - Rooftop Rainwater harvesting is common. (Today, in western Rajasthan, sadly the
practice of rooftop rainwater harvesting is on the decline as plenty of water is available due to
the perennial Rajasthan Canal, though some houses still maintain the tankas since they do not
like the taste of tap water.)
• In West Bengal - Inundation channels are formed for irrigation.
• In Arid and Semi-arid regions - Agricultural fields are used as rain-fed storage structures which
allowed the rainwater to be stagnant and made the soil moist. They had large tanks which were
as big as a room and were placed in the courtyard of their house, the rainwater from their
sloppy roofs would accumulate in the tanks through a pipe.

Roof top rain water

• Roof top rain water is collected using a PVC pipe