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Potential of water harvesting in India: some case studies

Indira Khurana, Coordinator, Natural Resource Management Unit,
Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, India.

Abstract: India today is in the throes of a water crises in urban and rural areas. The irony is that in many parts of the country there is scarcity amidst plenty. The tradition that the Indian people had to manage their water demands by harvesting water and catching every drop of rainwater has eroded thanks to the takeover by the State. Public community participation has almost disappeared. However, a new paradigm is emerging where communities in both urban and rural areas have now again taken water into their own hands to meet their demands. In some places the state government is also exploring the potential of water harvesting and has passed appropriate regulations. This paper discusses the past, its relevance to the present and future and the technological solutions that have been put into operation in a few parts of the country.

PART I: The past and the present

Introduction: India today is in a huge water crises. As clean water sources are being vicously attacked by pollution and overexploitation, hardly any river or groundwater aquifer near a city today escapes the perils of pollution. The situation in rural areas is hardly any different. While agricultural lands go thirsty many thousands of villages find it difficult to get clean drinking water. And the women have to walk miles to get a pitcher of water.

India is witnessing two major discontinuities that emerge in the management of water since the 19th century. One, the State has emerged as the main provider of water, replacing communities and households as the primary agents for provision of water. Two, there has been growing reliance on the use of surface and groundwater. The earlier reliance on rainwater and floodwater has declined, even though rainwater and floodwaters are available in much greater abundance than river water or groundwater.

Water balance of India: According to one water balance study of India, the country receives 400 million hectare- metres (mham) of rain and snowfall. Another 20 mham flow in as surface water, coming from outside the country.

These 420 mham provide the country with river flows of 180 mham- of which as much as 75 % takes place during the rainy season- and another 67 mham is available as ground water. Thus, total river flows and groundwater add up to 247 mham, of which a substantial amount (150 mham) must flow out to neighbouring countries and to the sea.

Potential of water harvesting: India has an enormous amount of water- theoretically as much as 173 mham- lost as evaporation or becomes soil moisture- that can be captured directly as rainwater or as run-off from small catchments in and near villages or towns. Capturing the flood waters of major rivers can further increase water availability.

If even 20-30 mham can be captured through rainwater harvesting, tremendous pressure can be taken off the country’s groundwater and surface water resources, and the availability of clean water would be greatly extended.

Theoretically, the potential of water harvesting meeting household needs is enormous. In reality, there is no village in India, which cannot meet its drinking water needs through rainwater harvesting. Why is Cherrapunji, in Northeast India short of drinking water when it gets more than 15 metres of rainfall every year? Simply because it does not capture the rain that falls. As Aizawl, a neighbouring city does.

Theoretically, if rain was captured on the area of the union territory of Delhi, the capital of India, there would be enough clean water to met the drinking water needs of every individual in India.

Problems with the current strategy: India’s projected use of water is 105 mham in 2025 AD, up from 38 mham in 1974. While the demand for irrigation water is expected to increase from 35 mham to 77 mham, the demand for domestic and industrial uses, which are highly polluting uses, is expected to shoot up from 3 mham in 1974 to 28 mham in 2025 AD.

Of the 105 mham use projected for 2025, some 70 mham is expected to come from surfacewater and about 35 mham from groundwater. This exclusive reliance on riverwaters and groundwater is already leading to a number of problems.

a) Heavy extraction of water from rivers:
Already, there are numerous rivers that are so heavily exploited that they have no river flow left during the summer season. The ministry of environment and forest is talking of the need to legislate ‘minimum river flows’, but none of the agencies involved with water resources development are listening.

b) Construction of large dams versus small water harvesting structures:
This strategy has led to serious problems of forced human displacement, forest submergence, waterlogging and emergence of diseases like malaria and a change in biodiversity and ecology of the region. With the population growing rapidly in India, if large dams are going to be the only option that the government exercises, these problems are only going to increase. Added to this, land availability for resettlement of the displaced will also go down continuously.

c) Heavy extraction of groundwater:
The groundwater table is falling rapidly in many parts of the country.

State endangered problems:

• There are also financial problems and human problems with state sponsored water supply.
• The state subsidises water. People squander it.
• The state soon runs out of money- for new projects to meet the bloated and burgeoning demand and for maintaining the projects already built.
• The state becomes responsible for water supply. The people just sit and watch and demand. They do not lift a finger.

Aggravating factors will become even more aggravating in the future:

• The water demand will grow in the future with population growth and increased urbanisation, industrialisation and agricultural modernisation, the three key elements of modern economic development.
• An acute crises can already be seen in smaller river basins like those of the Yamuna, Sabarmati, Noyyal and Bhavani. The pollution is further reducing the availability of clean water which means that greater stress on the remaining sources of ground water and surfacewaters.

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