Water Resources

3/4th Earth → Water

Small Portion → Usable Freshwater

Water Scarcity and the Need for Water Conservation and

Management
Scarcity due to Quantity of Water
Low Rainfall Regions & Drought Prone Regions
Caused due to over-exploitation. excessive use and unequal access among social groups

Large and Growing Population:

Domestic Use

Irrigation of Food

Largest Consumer of Water → Irrigated Agriculture

Overuse of Wells & Tubewells → Falling groundwater levels
MNCs & Industries ← Hydroelectric Power
Dense Population and Urban Lifestyles

Scarcity due to Quality of Water

Polluted by Domestic and Industrial Wastes, Chemicals, Agricultural Byproducts etc.

📄 Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), is to enable every rural household get assured supply of
portable piped water at a service level of 55 liters per capita per day regularly on long-
term basis by ensuring functionality of the tap water connections.

Multi-Purpose River Projects and Integrated Water Resources

Management
Dams
A barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or
impoundment.

“Dam” refers to the reservoir than the structure.

Types of Dams
Structure and Material: Timber, Embankment, Masonry Dams
Height: Large, Major, Low, Medium, High Dams

Advantages of Dams
To impound rivers and rainwater that can be used later to irrigate agricultural fields.

For electricity generation.

Water Resources 1
 Water supply for domestic and industrial uses.

Flood control.

Recreation, inland navigation and fish breeding.

Drawbacks of Dams
Regulating and damming rivers affect their natural flow.

Poorer the habitats for the rivers’ aquatic life.

Fragmented rivers make it difficult for aquatic fauna to migrate.

Dams created on the floodplains submerge the existing vegetation and soil, leading to its
decomposition over a period of time.

Creating of large dams has been the cause of many new environmental movements like the ‘Narmada
Bachao Andolan’ and the ‘Tehri Dam Andolan’.

Many times local people had to give up their land, livelihood and their control over resources for the
construction of the dam.

📄 Narmada Bachao Andolan or Save Narmada Movement (NGO) → Against Sardar Sarovar
Dam, being built across the Narmada river in Gujarat.

Dam Irrigation → Ecological Consequences (Salination of Soil) + Social Gap between Rich and Poor

Inter-state disputes, regards to sharing costs and benefits of MPPs.

Excessive use of water has resulted in earthquakes, water-borne diseases, pests and pollution.

Rainwater Harvesting
1. ‘Guls’ or ‘Kuls’ in the Western Himalayas

2. Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting ← Rajasthan

a. Gendathur, Mysuru, Karnataka: Famous for being rich in rainwater

3. Bengal Floodplains → Inundation Channels

4. ‘Khadins’ in Jaisalmer; ‘Johads’ in other parts of Rajasthan

a. Arid and Semi-Arid Regions

b. Agricultural fields → Rainfed storage structures

c. Standing water → moisten the soil.

5. Bikaner, Phalodi & Barmer → Underground tanks (tankas) for storing water.

a. Built inside house or in the courtyard

b. First spell not collected, as it contains impurities

c. Connected to adjoining rooms for cooling

Western Rajasthan 🔽 Rainwater Harvesting ← Water from India Gandhi Canal

Water Resources 2