Water Storage and Water Management in India

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India is endowed with a rich and vast diversity of water resources. India has seasonal rainfall with high temporal and spatial variability. 50% of precipitation in a year falls in just 15 days and over 90% of rivers flow in just four months.

Water Storage in India

According to the recent report on Water in India from www.india-reports.com, http://www.india-reports.com/summary/water.aspx, pre-twentieth century India had community level water resource management practices across regions. India has invested in building its water infrastructure (dams, reservoirs and canals) in arid areas. But still the per capital water storage capacity in India is much below that of China and the US. India can still store only relatively small quantities of its fickle rainfall. Whereas arid rich countries (such as the United States and Australia) have built over 5,000 cubic meters of water storage per capita, and China can store about 1,000 cubic meters per capita, India’s dams can store only 200 cubic meters per person. Moreover, India can store only about 30 days of rainfall, compared to 900 days in major river basins in arid areas of developed countries.

State of Rivers in India

But Indian rivers are in a state of decay. India’s irrigation and water supply services are in poor shape. Urban India heavily depends upon groundwater sources to meet the daily water requirements. The total utilizable water resources of India are assessed as 1086 km3.

Water Consumption in India

Average water consumption around the world is about 53 liters per head per day. In India, we expect to soon have only about 20 liters available per head per day. We have had droughts for a long time, and now with global climate change, things will become even more difficult. The glaciers are receding from the Himalayan Mountains. They are about one fifth the size they were about 60 years ago.
Extending Flood Areas, Depleting Water Resources

The waters from the Himalayan glaciers provide water for about 70 percent of all the people in Asia. In India, we have three major rivers - the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra – and it is likely that they will drain to small rivers. In most of northern India, there will be no water according to some leading water experts. Right now there are floods. The flood area has increased from 25 million hectares to 60 million hectares in the last 30 years. That is an indication that the water is draining away, and these will become dry areas. This is expected to happen in less than 30 years.

India needs to invest in water infrastructure at all levels − from large multipurpose water projects to small community watershed management and rainwater harvesting projects.

Read about the Water Resources and Water Management Practices in India at http://www.india-reports.com/summary/water.aspx

Click here to read on the Water Issues in India

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