Water Harvesting and Groundwater Recharging in India:

Potentials and Pitfalls

M. Dinesh Kumar, B. R. Sharma, Ankit Patel and OP Singh IWMI-Tata Water Policy Research Programme

Water Management in Basin Context

Supply management
Building large water storage/diversion systems Decentralized WH Inter-basin water transfers

Demand management
Improving water use efficiency Allocation to economically efficient uses Inter-sectoral water allocation

Inter-regional water allocation Water resource and ecosystem management

Supply Side Management of Water

Uneven distribution of water Across basins Within basins India has built many large water resource systems 250 km3 Concentration of storages in water-deficit areas Basins in water scarce areas are closed Water rich areas have poor demand Inter-basin water transfers

Water Harvesting and Groundwater Recharge in India

Objectives
Improve runoff collection and storage efficiency Equitable distribution of water Resource management Local water self sufficiency; demands are small More structures mean more benefit Structures are cost-effective

Underlying value Assumption

Community-based, decentralized planning & action

Supply-Demand Issues in Rainwater Harvesting

Low rainfall, high variability in water scarce areas Fewer rainy days in semi arid and arid, water scarce areas Evaporation rates are high in water scarce regions Large part of India has hard rock geology

Supply-demand issues in rainwater harvesting

Runoff intensities high and inter-annual variability high

Water rich Cauvery Water scarce north Gujarat

Soil infiltration capacities High water demand in water scarce areas

Economic Issues in Water Harvesting

Difficulty in estimating the unit costs

Lack of data on inflows Lack of data on collection and storage efficiencies

Scale considerations in economic evaluations Trade off between economics and hydrological benefits

Issues related to improving basin water economy

Demands higher in lower plains of river basins; supply potential is high in upper basin areas Economic value of water high in scarce areas Lack of integrated approach to planning
Groundwater contributing to surface flows in hilly areas

Lack of water use planning for harvested water Local Vs Basin Impacts in closed basins
Downstream impacts of water harvesting in Narmada basin Downstream negative impacts in Ghelo river basin, Saurashtra

Findings
Limited potential of RWH in demand supply imbalance
low mean annual rainfalls, high inter-annual variability, high PET & E Inefficient recharging in hard rocks

Many water-scarce regions have water demands, far exceed the supplies

Findings
Scale considerations for cost and economics of WHS Closed & Open basins
U/S diversions reduce prospects of D/S

Future research in WH include

Potential impacts of WH on large water resource systems in basins Optimal level of WH & development in different river basins without any downstream impacts

How to make water harvesting more effective?

Understand catchment hydrology better
Use of hydrological simulation models for un-gauged basins Use of remote sensing and GIS to generate geo-morphological data for simulation models Focus on green water, harvested in RWHS Collection efficiency Use efficiency

How to make water harvesting more effective? Cont Study basin water accounts and water balance
How much water is used up as beneficial ET, non-beneficial Evaporation How much surplus flows available for harnessing

Improve wet water-saving in water harvesting structures and large water resource systems
Develop proper water use plans for WHS as well

Conclusions
Water harvesting/watershed programmes to be supported by proper understanding of basin water accounts and balance

Developing proper water use planning before harvesting initiatives is important

Research on long term impacts of water harvesting is important. It should take into account the scale factor, and cover hydrological and economic imperatives.

Thank you for the attention

Average Mean Annual Rainfall

Average Annual Evaporation

Aquifer System in India

Stage of Storage Creation in Some Major River Basins in India

300.00 250.00 200.00 150.00 100.00 36.0 33.4 50.00 0.00

279.3 165.5 57.3 75.0 73.1 79.5 69.0 80.8 68.6 30.1
EFR Between

49.7 50.4
BrahmaniBaitarani Meghana (Barak) SubGodavari

0.0 42.9
Tapi Pennar

53.7

8.6

Ganga SubBasin

Indus

WFR of Kachchh and

EFR Between

Mahi

Upstream Vs Downstream Water Demand

3.5 3
PET/Rainfall

0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 Sabarmati PET/R (UCD) Per Capita Net Sown Area (UCD) Indus Narmada Cauvery Krishna Mahanadi PET/R (LCD) Per Capita Net Sown Area (LCD)
Per capita Net Sown Area

2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0

Wells are overflowing!

Effect of Watershed Interventions on Run-Off

G-S Rainfall-Runoff, Cms
140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 0 1 2 3 4 5

Total Rainfall, Cms

Total Roff, Cms

Year

Marginal cost & benefits of water harvesting with different stages of basin development

Marginal Cost/ benefit

Marginal benefit (Social, Environmental and Economic) Wet Year

Wet Year r

Dry Year O

Degree of Water Development

Mean Annual Rainy Days

Increasing unit cost for higher runoff collection

Trade off between Economics and Hydrological Opportunity

0.25 0.20

Rs.

0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00 1 MCM 3 11.89