Water Resource Management in India - Case Study Example

Designing strаtеgiеs аnd mаnаgеmеnt оf wаtеr rеsоurсеs соuld bе thе sоlutiоn tо thе biggеst сhаllеngеs fасing wаtеrlеss in Indiа. Disсuss thе роtеntiаl аdvаntаgеs аnd disаdvаntаgеs оf thеsе рlаnning Author’s Name Institutional affiliation Date Tutor Introduction Water resource management refers to the making of plans so as to distribute and manage water resources at optimum levels. Water resource management is a subset of the water cycle management. In making plans for management of water resources, it is important to put into consideration the different needs that require water. These needs are competing and it is therefore important that the scarce resource is allocated on a basis that is equitable so that all the demands and uses can be attained. This would only occur in an ideal situation and it is difficult for this to happen in practice (Crase, & Gandhi, 2009). Water is one of the most important resources that ensure that earth sustains life. It is only a small fraction of the water resources that is represented by fresh water. Out of the about three per cent of fresh water resources, about two thirds is locked in glaciers and ice caps. The amount which remains which is one percent cannot be accounted for in entirety since some of it is in areas that are not accessible while flood water and water from seasonal river cannot be fully utilized (Crase, & Gandhi, 2009). The world population exploits about 0.08% of the fresh water resources to be found on the earth. It is this tiny fraction which takes care of the many needs such as drinking, sanitation, among others. This essays looks at the advantages and disadvantages of the strategies that India has made use of in the endeavour to optimally use its water resources well. Discussion India is faced with major challenges with regard to management of water resources. The challenges take different forms such ensuring that there is clean supply of water, making sure that the energy needs are met, dealing with effects of flood and ensuring that the population is cushioned against hunger. The problems for India are bound to become more pressing especially in the light of climate change and the population which is growing at a very high rate. Intrusion by seawater poses one the greatest threats to groundwater. At times seawater gets into contact with fresh water and this causes such water unfit to be drunk or used in any other way domestically. At times such contamination has caused aquifers to be abandoned. The intrusion by sea water happens when the hydraulic potential is a coastal aquifer becomes low resulting in landward migration of the sea water. In coastal areas such as Maharashtra, Gujarat among others, intrusion of sea water has resulted due to the heightened demand for water for the purposes of irrigation, many industries as well as domestic use. Sea water then gets to the aquifers since there is over exploitation of water resources of the available groundwater mostly due to farming and to meet the needs of the growing number of industries. South Chennai aquifer does have a large amount in terms of groundwater and one fifth of the water needs for the city are met by the groundwater. However, pumping of the water without limits and lack of proper management has led to the aquifer being under the danger of getting contaminated. This is a very serious challenge since during the times of drought; ground water is usually the sole source of water for drinking. According to estimates, nearly fifty per cent of the world's population is affected at one time or the other from diseases related to drinking contaminated water or unavailability of water in sufficient quantities. Many national and international programs set amongst their millennium development goals provision of clean water. The rivers in India contribute to a lot of pollutants with about 35% of all sediments going to the sea worldwide emanating from Indian rivers alone. The rivers have been observed to contain high levels of mercury (Jain & Singh, 2003). Many Indian discharge untreated waster and organic waste into the waters of its coast. Industrial effluents are dumped to the sea on a large scale by large industries in India. The coast of Kerala experience about 650 tones of organic discharged into it by municipal bodies. This represents only a small amount of waste matter that is discharged into the sea. There is a heavy presence of fishing vessels and other activities such as defence and port related operations make coastal water susceptible to its quality being degraded. The coasts of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry are polluted by among others, paper, chemicals, textiles and sugar industries. The heavy activities along the coastal areas of India have led to serious degradation of the quality of water resources in the country. Water borne diseases are very common in India due to the poor quality and management of water resources. The diseases since not enough arrangement are made to treat, transport and dispose of waste which gets in natural water bodies. The outcome of this is that surface as well as ground water gets contaminated. Many people in India consume water and apply it to other purposes without treating it first. This exposes the citizenry to water borne diseases. Fluorosis has become endemic in a number of states in India resulting from increase in mineral which bear fluoride. Close to half a million people in India are ailing as a result of consuming water containing excessive levels of fluoride. The water consumed also does contain quite high levels of iron. Even though there is no short term risk of excessive consumption of water with high levels of iron, homochromatosis may result due to iron accumulating in the body over a long period of time. This leads to body tissues getting damaged. Human and animal waste is not properly or treated at all. This leads to high occurrence of diseases related to water. Less than one fifth of the rural population in India has access to adequate sanitation facilities (Briscoe & Malik, 2007). The statistics are not good either for the town dweller where less than half the urbanized population is able to access adequate sanitation facilities. Human waste therefore ends up being discharged directly to watercourses. Some of the waste matters seep into ground water due to septic tanks that are not properly constructed. Fecal coliform bacteria found in many Indian river is far much higher than the standards that are recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Due to the presence of these bacteria, gastrointestinal ailments are very common to Indians. The highest contributor of human mortality in India is diseases borne by water. The most affected are children and more so those who dwell in urban slums as well as rural areas. Following monsoon season there are many incidents of dengue fever leading to a number of deaths. Polio, Amoebasis and Hepatitis A are other diseases which result from contaminated water. Concepts of water governance in India There have been efforts to revive the traditional system of harvesting rain water. However, such methods are prone to serious challenges. There are a few areas where water harvesting has been successful. These are to be fond in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, among other but they have been due to dedication of the people involved in the projects. Many failures have been experienced across India (Jain & Singh, 2003). There are people who have stated that there is a possibility of traditional water harvesting can play a major part in meeting the current demands. In areas of India that are arid or semi arid storing large amount of water in small reservoirs would not be possible and hence necessitating construction of tanks. The tanks constructed render many hectares of fertile land unproductive (Singh, 2004). Seepage also poses a challenge to the tanks and such tanks dry when the rainy seasons end. Wherever the monsoon fails, situations become much worse. It is therefore an uphill task to try to meet the challenges of water supply in India through water harvesting. The availability of fresh water can also be assured by recycling and reusing water. An example is cited of Frankfurt in Germany where each drop of water get used eight times following recycling. Water which is of less quality such as waste water which has been reclaimed could be used in fire fighting and cooling and this would lead to reduction in costs incurred by large industries (Vaidyanathan, 2006). These results in an increase in production and a drop in the amount of energy consumed. As a result of this, the water which is of a higher quality can be used for drinking and other essential tasks. India does not practice recycling of water on a large scale although it is an attractive and viable option for the country. India has been developing technology to desalinate sea water. Methods such as reverse osmosis, electrolysis and distillation have been tried (Singh, 2004). Such technology is suited for an area with scarce freshwater and saline water is available and so is availability of cheap energy. Desalination poses the least amount of health risks compared to other methods of water recycling. Fossil fuels are the ones that are applied in desalinating water (Iyer, 2003). Due to the availability of solar and wind energy in India on a large scale, they would form an important alternative sources of energy to aid in desalination processes. This would be very helpful in areas around the coast Jain, et. al, 2007). Due to the capital costs incurred in setting up the systems and the cost of energy, the cost of desalinated water is higher than that which is supplied using means that are conventional. However, due to improvements in technology, the cost of desalinated water has dropped dramatically. Reverse osmosis is the most common method applied in desalinization of water. Water pollution prevention strategies in additional to ecological systems' restoration are central in development plans for India. This aspect has been given little attention for a long time in India. This has resulted in the deplorable quality of water in most of the river. Lakes and ponds have been turned into dumping sites (Mandal, & BAG Conference, 2006). There is need to change the ways in which food is grown, goods manufactured and waste disposed of. it is important therefore that the society and individuals are educated on how they are able to bring about changes. Water quality would be greatly improved if pollution resulting from agriculture was reduced (Jain, et. al, 2007). The benefits of this would be reduction in cost of treating diseases. Some of the measures that would need to be taken include elimination of chemicals which are very harmful and embracing organic farming. Industrial waste needs to be treated very carefully before being discharged. Industries would play their role better by using alternatives that are not very toxic. Industrial symbiosis would also be encouraged where industries would reused wastes from other industries and thus preventing them from being discharged anyhow (Vaidyanathan, 2006). The government would also benefit by introducing some form of taxation to ensure that industries do not discharge waste containing heavy metals which include arsenic and mercury. Improvements in the environment and restoration require planning and implementation so that there is protection of fresh water resources and ensure that quality of such resources is not compromised (Asawa, 2005). There is need to come up with an approach that is broad enough to cover social, economic and environmental concerns. This would apply where there is an integration of wetlands, urban areas and upland forests. This would be achieved by capture of water and having it released safely so that soil erosion is not accelerated. Hydraulic structures ad vegetation would play a very critical role in this respect. Inter basin water transfer would help alleviate the problem of some areas in India experiencing drought while others experience flooding. This would be achieved through methods such as interlinking of rivers. Groundwater requires to be managed properly (Vaidyanathan, 1999). Aquifers should be protected from the threat of being over exploited. There should be a policy of promoting efficiency, equity and sustainability in ground water. The agricultural lands in India are fragmented into small and uneconomical pieces coupled with high population densities. There should be regulations in place to ensure aquifers are not overexploited and recharge through artificial means could be explored to cure the defects that are currently available. There is need to have conjunctive use of water. This means that there ought to be coordination in management of ground and surface water resources. Such coordination would be aimed at raising agricultural production, ensure that the system is sustainable and ensure that there is socio economic equity. This approach is important due to recognition of the fact that water should be treated as a single natural resource be it surface water or ground water. Ground water dams should be exploited. Such dams have a subsurface that is impervious and therefore ensures that there is no lateral outflow of ground water. This adds to the water that is already available in a given area (Vaidyanathan, 1999). Such dams could also be applied in collecting ground water so that adjacent aquifer can be recharged. Damming of ground water helps during dry seasons. A sub surface dam stems the outflow of water from a sub basin. The focal point for environmental and water quality programmes are vested in the Ministry of Environment and Forest. There are also other departments of the government that have a stake in activities geared towards protecting the environment. When people are making use of land and water resources, the danger exists that such resources cannot serve others. This largely stem from carelessness on the part of the users of the natural resources. There should be efforts to ensure that ecosystems and landscapes are restored so that protection of the quality of water can be protected in a manner that is more efficient and coordinated (Gurjar & Jat, 2008). Legislation is also required. It would be important to come up with legislation which forces those involved in pollution activities to pay for cleaning up the mess that they caused (Asawa, 2005). In addition to passing such laws, strict observance and enforcement should follow. River pollution has reached endemic levels in India. Sewage treatment plants should be constructed so that raw sewage is not diverted into rivers but to the treatment plants. Construction of sanitation facilities would ensure that people do not defecate on river banks. The crematoria should be constructed in a way that is more environmental friendly and that makes use of less energy. An environmental flow refers to a water regime which is provided within a river, costal zone or wetland with the aim of maintaining an ecosystem and the benefits of such an ecosystem where there are competing uses for water and flows get regulated. Environmental flows provide very important contribution to the health of rivers (Rao, 2006). Economic development also takes place and the levels of poverty are greatly reduced. It becomes possible to the many benefits of a healthy river and groundwater systems are maintained in a given society. Many of the rivers in India contain hydrological regimes which are driven by monsoon. Close to 80% of annual flow for the river takes place within three or at most four months. The rivers in India have flow regimes which vary very greatly. The total environmental flow requirements for rivers in India lie between 20% and 27% of the water resources that are renewable. These figures are just estimates which needs confirmation through farther research (Durga& Sankara, 1999). Where environmental flow regime falls below 20% of the mean annual flow the river is likely to be degraded beyond limits where rehabilitation can possibly be carried out. Reduction in river flow also reduces the capacity of the river to carry away the pollutants that are deposited into it. Conclusion India is a large country which could also be considered to shoulder large problems. Despite the promising developments that have taken place in the country for a long time, there are few issues the country needs to sort out if it really hopes to achieve sustainable development. There is need to explore ways which can stop the over exploitation of the natural resources. The stage at which India is such that the natural processes of replenishment hardly take place due to over exploitation. Pollution is a big hazard for the country. The heavy pollution has resulted into a sickly population and the country needs to find urgent solutions to this otherwise as the time goes by it could be faced by a situation which would be impossible to respond to. Every person has a responsibility to reclaim the lost glory of the country but the government should lead from the front. The government should come up with proper policies and legislation which should make it very expensive for any given person to be polluting the environment. The rate of population growth rate is also another area that should be urgently addressed. The decisions made now are going to determine the quality of life that the current and future generations are going to lead. References Asawa, G. L. (2005). Irrigation and water resources engineering. New Delhi: New Age International (P) Ltd. Publishers. Blöschl, G., International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, General assmbly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), & International symposium. (2003). Hydrological risk, management and development. Wallingford: IAHS Press. Briscoe, J., & Malik, R. P. S. (2007). Handbook of water resources in India: Development, management, and strategies. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Crase, L., & Gandhi, V. P. (2009). Reforming institutions in water resource management: Policy and performance for sustainable development. London: Earthscan. Durga, P. M. K., & Sankara, P. P. (1999). Inland water resources, India. New Delhi: Discovery Pub. House. Gurjar, R. K., & Jat, B. C. (2008). Geography of water resources. Jaipur: Rawat Publications. Iyer, R. R. (2003). Water: Perspectives, issues, concerns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Jain, S. K., & Singh, V. P. (2003). Water resources systems planning and management. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Jain, S. K., Agarwal, P. K., & Singh, V. P. (2007). Hydrology and water resources of India. Dordrecht: Springer. Mandal, R. B., & BAG Conference. (2006). Water resource management. New Delhi: Concept Publishing. Rao, K. N. (2006). Water resources management: Realities and challenges. New Delhi: New Century Publications. Singh, V. P. (2004). The Brahmaputra basin water resources. Dordrecht: Kluwer Acad. Publ. Vaidyanathan, A. (1999). Water resource management: Institutions and irrigation development in India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press Vaidyanathan, A. (2006). India's water resources: Contemporary issues on irrigation. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Read More

Sea water then gets to the aquifers since there is over exploitation of water resources of the available groundwater mostly due to farming and to meet the needs of the growing number of industries. South Chennai aquifer does have a large amount in terms of groundwater and one fifth of the water needs for the city are met by the groundwater. However, pumping of the water without limits and lack of proper management has led to the aquifer being under the danger of getting contaminated. This is a very serious challenge since during the times of drought; ground water is usually the sole source of water for drinking.

According to estimates, nearly fifty per cent of the world's population is affected at one time or the other from diseases related to drinking contaminated water or unavailability of water in sufficient quantities. Many national and international programs set amongst their millennium development goals provision of clean water. The rivers in India contribute to a lot of pollutants with about 35% of all sediments going to the sea worldwide emanating from Indian rivers alone. The rivers have been observed to contain high levels of mercury (Jain & Singh, 2003).

Many Indian discharge untreated waster and organic waste into the waters of its coast. Industrial effluents are dumped to the sea on a large scale by large industries in India. The coast of Kerala experience about 650 tones of organic discharged into it by municipal bodies. This represents only a small amount of waste matter that is discharged into the sea. There is a heavy presence of fishing vessels and other activities such as defence and port related operations make coastal water susceptible to its quality being degraded.

The coasts of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry are polluted by among others, paper, chemicals, textiles and sugar industries. The heavy activities along the coastal areas of India have led to serious degradation of the quality of water resources in the country. Water borne diseases are very common in India due to the poor quality and management of water resources. The diseases since not enough arrangement are made to treat, transport and dispose of waste which gets in natural water bodies. The outcome of this is that surface as well as ground water gets contaminated.

Many people in India consume water and apply it to other purposes without treating it first. This exposes the citizenry to water borne diseases. Fluorosis has become endemic in a number of states in India resulting from increase in mineral which bear fluoride. Close to half a million people in India are ailing as a result of consuming water containing excessive levels of fluoride. The water consumed also does contain quite high levels of iron. Even though there is no short term risk of excessive consumption of water with high levels of iron, homochromatosis may result due to iron accumulating in the body over a long period of time.

This leads to body tissues getting damaged. Human and animal waste is not properly or treated at all. This leads to high occurrence of diseases related to water. Less than one fifth of the rural population in India has access to adequate sanitation facilities (Briscoe & Malik, 2007). The statistics are not good either for the town dweller where less than half the urbanized population is able to access adequate sanitation facilities. Human waste therefore ends up being discharged directly to watercourses.

Some of the waste matters seep into ground water due to septic tanks that are not properly constructed. Fecal coliform bacteria found in many Indian river is far much higher than the standards that are recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Due to the presence of these bacteria, gastrointestinal ailments are very common to Indians. The highest contributor of human mortality in India is diseases borne by water. The most affected are children and more so those who dwell in urban slums as well as rural areas.

Following monsoon season there are many incidents of dengue fever leading to a number of deaths.

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