Learning Objective
- Water Scarcity and the Need for Water Conservation and Management
- Multi-Purpose River Projects and Integrated Water Resources Management
- Rain Water Harvesting
Three-fourths of the earth’s surface is covered with water, but only a small proportion of it accounts for freshwater that can be put to use. Water is a renewable resource.
Water Scarcity and the Need for Water Conservation and Management
- Water availability varies across space and time.
- Water scarcity arises from over-exploitation, excessive use, and unequal access among social groups.
- Over-exploitation for expanding irrigated areas exacerbates water scarcity.
- Even in areas with sufficient water, scarcity can occur due to poor water quality.
- To address this, we must conserve and manage water resources:
- Safeguard health from hazards related to water quality.
- Ensure food security, livelihoods, and productive activities.
- Prevent degradation of natural ecosystems.
Multi-Purpose River Projects and Integrated Water Resources Management
In ancient times, water conservation was achieved through sophisticated hydraulic structures such as stone dams, reservoirs, embankments, and irrigation canals. This tradition continues in modern India with the construction of dams across most river basins.
Dams
A dam is a barrier that obstructs or redirects flowing water, often forming a reservoir. Dams serve various purposes:
- Storing water for irrigation, domestic, and industrial use.
- Generating electricity.
- Controlling floods.
- Facilitating recreation, navigation, and fish breeding.
However, dams have side effects:
- Altered natural flow affects river ecosystems and aquatic life.
- Fragmented rivers impede migration of aquatic fauna.
- Submergence of floodplains disrupts vegetation and soil.
- Construction of large dams has sparked environmental movements like the ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’ and ‘Tehri Dam Andolan’.
- Local communities often sacrifice land, livelihoods, and resource control for dam construction.
Rain Water Harvesting
Rainwater harvesting involves collecting rainfall for future use. Different methods include:
- Diversion channels like ‘guls’ or ‘kuls’ in hilly regions for agriculture.
- Rooftop rainwater harvesting, common in Rajasthan for drinking water.
- Inundation channels in Bengal’s floodplains for irrigation.
- Rain-fed storage structures like ‘khadins’ in Jaisalmer and ‘Johads’ in Rajasthan’s semi-arid regions.
- ‘Tankas’, part of rooftop harvesting, prevalent in Rajasthan’s Bikaner, Phalodi, and Barmer areas, also used for cooling underground rooms.
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