Water Management needs a Hydro Social Approach 

News: The fact that freshwater resources are under stress is very widely acknowledged, and also that the principal driving force behind this situation are human activities in their various forms. 

According to the IPCC estimates the gap between demand for and supply of fresh water may reach up to 40% by 2030 if present practices continue.  

What have been international efforts for conservation of water? 

2030 Water Resource Group was formed in 2008 at the instance of the World Economic Forum, it has been promoted by World Bank since 2018. 

This Group will is help in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on water availability and sanitation for all by 2030 (SDG 6). 

How are some current water management techniques a cause of concern? 

Water resources are not distributed uniformly. Thus, world over intra- and inter-basin transfer (IBT) of water is used as a major hydrological intervention to rectify the imbalance in water availability due to naturally prevailing unequal distribution. 

However, World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature has suggested a cautious approach and the necessity to adhere to sustainability principles set out by the World Commission on Dams, while taking up IBT projects. 

What has been India’s approach towards IBT projects? 

Recently, inter-basin transfer of water drew attention in India due to a provision made in Budget 2022 for the Ken Betwa river link project which is a part of the National River Linking project (mooted in 1970 and revived in 1999).  

This decision raises larger questions about hydrological assumptions and the use and the management of freshwater resources. 

What are the factors that are making the situation of water scarcity worse? 

The basic idea behind IBT is to export water from the surplus basin to a deficit basin. However, the status of basin as surplus may change if factors of present and future land use, especially cropping patterns, population growth, urbanisation, etc are considered.

Besides this, rainfall in many surplus basins has been reported as declining. 

There is also concern about the present capacity utilisation of water resources created in the country. The average water use efficiency of irrigation projects in India is only 38% against 50%-60% in the case of developed countries. 

Even at the crop level, we consume more water than the global average.  The agriculture sector uses a little over 90% of total water use in India. And in industrial plants, consumption is 2 times to 3.5 times higher per unit of production of similar plants in other countries. 

There is also lack of proper disposal and reuse of grey water in our country. It is estimated that 55% to 75% of domestic water use turns into grey water depending on its nature of use, people’s habits, climatic conditions, etc. This untreated grey water and industrial effluents get into freshwater bodies and becoming a source of pollution. 

Apart from the inefficient use of water in all sectors, there is also a reduction in natural storage capacity and deterioration in catchment efficiency. 

What is the way forward? 

There is a need to involve non-state actors in decision-making processes. 

Hydro-social cycle approach is one such approach that studies water resource in sync with the human-nature interactive structure. 

A hybrid water management system is necessary, where (along with professionals and policy makers) the individual, a community and society have definite roles in the value chain.  

Source: This post is based on the article “Water Management needs a Hydro Social Approach” published in The Hindu on 10th March 2022.