Dr. Gunwant Joshi Chief Chemist

Central Laboratory, Bhopal

Though Earth is a Watery Planet

Where is the water?If the world’s total water supply were in a 200 L drum. . .

•Ocean Water: 97.2%

•Glaciers and ice caps: 2.11%

• Groundwater: 0.62%

• Lakes: 0.009%

• Atmospheric moisture: 0.001%

• Rivers: 0.0001%

With Rising Population,the water availability is going down

Source: World water resources at the beginning of the 21st century” prepared in the framework of ihp unesco

• Drinking• Bathing• Municipal Water Supply• Navigation• Irrigation• Aquaculture• Industrial Use• Waste disposal

"If the Wars of this Century were fought on Oil,

the Wars of the Next Centurywill be fought over Water"

Ismail Serageldin, 1995, Vice President, WORLD BANK

Because of Continued scarcity of good quality of fresh waters in sufficient quantity there are conflicts

USA & Mexico : R. Rio Grande, R. Colorado & R. Pecos USA & Canada : Great Lakes[Erie, Huron, Michigan,Ontario &

Superior]

Argentina & Brazil : R.Parana Ecuador & Peru : R. Cenepa•

R. Blue Nile Waters :Ethiopia [86% Flow], Sudan, Egypt, Uganda,Kenya,Tanzania,Eritrea.R.White Nile Waters :Burundi, Rwanda, Republic of Congo,

Present Population in the region : 245 MillionProjected Population in 2025 : 859 Million

R.Tigris & Euphrates :Turkey, Syria, Iraq & the Kurds in all these countries

R. Jordon : Israel [3% Basin ,82% Water], Jordon, Syria, Lebanon & West Bank

Not only the River Waters, But even the Ground waters are also a potent cause of Conflicts

• R. Indus Waters : With Pakistan• R. Jhelam Waters : With Pakistan• R. Chinab Waters : With Pakistan • R. Rawi Waters : With Pakistan• R. Ganga Waters : With Bangladesh • R. Brahamaputra Waters : With Bangladesh• R. Brahamaputra Waters : With China• R. Gandak Waters : With Nepal• R. Ghagghar Waters : With Nepal

• R. Sutlej : Punjab – Haryana,Rajasthan• R. Yamuna : Haryana, Delhi• R. Ganga : Uttaranchal,UP,Bihar,Bengal• R. Indravati : Orissa, Chattisgarh• R. Mahanadi : Orissa, Chattisgarh• R. Krishna : Andhra [Rayalseema] , Karnataka• R. Kaweri : Karnataka, Tamilnadu• R. Narmada : M.P.,Gujrat,36garh,Maharashtra

The Water, that was earlier a Common Community Resource

accessible to all the user groups in justifiable quantities

for centuries, because of excessive exploitation

turned in to a scarce & unsustainable commodity

Most rivers in India have hardly any

water left in summer

Groundwater depletion in India

With almost 70 percent, Agriculture is the largest abstractor of

Water resources

With increasing Population, Cash crop farming and use of energy

intensive practices, Water demands are increasing

Immediate steps are necessary to reduce the water use

in Farming Practices

More People : More Resources

Africa : 1.36 (Mozambique:0.47 & Burundi : 0.48)China : 1.54, India : 1.5; UK: 5.35, US : 9.7

With advent of GlobalizationThere is increasing Industrial demand on Water Resources

(Rees’2K)

(Hoekstra’2K8)

(Willam Rees & Wackernagel’96)

Water foot-print of common foods items

• 1 cup of coffee needs 140 litres of water.1 litre of milk needs 1000 litres of water.1 kg of wheat needs 1350 litres of water.1 kg of Barley needs 1300 litres of water 1 kg of rice needs 3000 litres of water.1 kg maize needs 900 litres of water1 kg of Sorgham needs 650 litres of water.1 kg of Chicken needs 3900 litres of water1kg of Beef needs 22,000 litres of water

While Tube-well use is increasing,Tank irrigation is declining

Groundwater is the major source of water in our country catering 85% of the total population demands.

Groundwater water table decline is at the rate of 33 centimeters per year.

How efficient is the present paradigm?– Irrigation efficiency is 36 per cent; i.e, 64 per cent water is lost in

transit and due to bad management practices.

– Cost recovery is 2 to 3 per cent;

– Farmers at the tail end of a canal depends on the mercy of those at the head end to get even life saving irrigation

• Heavy use of surface water – some rivers have no flow left in summer season

• Heavy use of groundwater without recharging leading to falling water table all over the country

• ADD on• Pollution of ground and surface waters from urbanization,

industrialization and agricultural modernization.

• The Large stretches of almost all our rivers are severely polluted[Yamuna:clinically dead at Delhi, Ganges River of dead bodies]

• SURFACE WATER• Submergence & Displacement • Relocation and Rehabilitation• Compensatory Afforestation• Water Logging• Salinity• Siltation

• GROUND WATER• Depletion due to Over

Exploitation• Wasteful Use• Pollution• Sea Water Intrusion

• Cities are water stressed;

• Many get water once in 3 days;

• What we have is fast

getting polluted.

Drought is becoming more or less permanent

Even in “good” rainfall years, there is water stress

Even after a flood there is a drought

Nearly 13% of total land area declared drought prone.

1994 – 2004 : 20,000

2001-2004 : 10,000 May 2004 to July 2004 : 950

Out of Which 650 only from Andhra In 1972 : 1,50,000 Villages were Water Deficient

- 94,000 Tube Wells sunk

In 1980 : 2,31,000 Villages became Water Deficient - 94,000 more Tube wells sunk

In 1985 : 1,61,722 Still faced shortage 1994 : 1,40,975 still left with Water Problems

We are Not only mismanaging our Surface Waters

We are also Mining Ground Water Unsustainably

• Believe it or not, Cherrapunji which gets 11000 mm rainfall suffers from serious drinking water shortages

• In 2003 Kerala received 2000 mm, yet there were farmer suicides

• Kalahandi (Western Orissa)-in News for Extreme Poverty and deprivation- often under drought and sometimes under flood

Another Disastrous Aspect of Water problems isDevastating Floods

in Eastern India specially Bihar & Assam

In Bihar Alone

Several hundred million rupees have been spent

But flood affected area increased from

1977 : 2.93 Million hectares

2004 : 7.1 Million hectares Despite several hundred cror rupees spent for Flood control each year the extent of area inundated and the damage caused is steadily rising

Abstracting nearly 07 percent Water Industry sector demands are quite high

With Recent estimates at nearly 13 %, Water demands are only increasing

A liter of Waste water renders another 07 liter unfit for any other use

Hence, the actual Environmental demands are much more, and given the

in-efficient use in Indian Industry situation is really alarming

Industry pays a pittance for the water it uses, and causes wastes

Major Water Issues

• Water Scarcity

• Bacteriological Pollution

• Oxygen Depletion

• Salinity

• Eutrophication

• Toxicity

Domestic: 423 class I cities and 499 class II towns harboring population of abt 22 Crore generate about 33,000 mld of wastewater of which only 6955 mld is treated.

Industrial: About 57,000 polluting industries in India generate about 15,500 mld of wastewater out of which nearly 60% (generated from large & medium industries) is treated.

Non-point sources also contribute significant pollution loads mainly in rainy season. Pesticides consumption is about 1,00,000 tonnes/year of which AP, Haryana, Punjab, TN, WB, Gujarat, UP and Maharashtra are principal consumers.

Major Factors Responsible for WQ Degradation

Domestic sewage is the major source of pollution in India in surface water which contribute pathogens, the main source of water borne diseases along with depletion of oxygen in water bodies.

Sewage along with agricultural run-off and industrial effluents also contributes large amount of nutrients in surface water causing eutrophication

A large part of the domestic sewage and industrial effluents are not even collected. This results in stagnation of these wastewaters within Towns & Cities, a good breeding ground for mosquitoes and contamination of the groundwater, the only source of drinking water in many cities.

Major Factors Responsible for WQ Degradation

All the religious texts world over, consider water as Devine gift of the Gods bestowed on all living beings

to sustain their life.

To an Ecologists Water is a Renewable Natural Resource

capable of self- replenishment through Hydrological Cycle

Hydrological Cycle

If

the Resources could be freely moved from the Regions of Abundance to that of Scarcity,

the needs of the people shall be met

Basic Conflict in Water Management is due to a paradigm shift

In most Indigenous Communities Collective Water Rights & Management practiced

and therefore All the Traditions and Cultural values in use and Management of an Ecological Resource Were therefore Planned & Practised recognizing Ecological Limits of the Area

The major Natural water quality

components

Out of 4000 BCM rainfall received,

only about 600 BCM is put to use so far

rest goes to the sea.

Water Quality

Chemical properties (composition, partitioning,

solubility of gases and other materials, osmosis,

Diffusion, dispersion and otherprocesses

Physical properties(Thermal stability,

viscocity, stratification,Transpirancy, vepour pressure

and other other processes

Biological processes(Photosynthesis, respiration,

Nature and density of biologicalCommunities Other biological

processes

Hydrological processesFlow regime, velocity, bed

characters, periodicity,Advection, convection,

Mixing, turbulence,Meandering, scouring,

depositing

Dated as far back as 5000 years. Dholavira of the Indus Valley Civilisation was harvesting runoff in Thar desert of Rajasthan a technique still being practiced in most parts of Rajasthan state

60% of the world’s available fresh water supply is located in: • Brazil, Russia,

• China ,Canada,• Indonesia, U.S India, Columbia, and

Democratic Republic of Congo. and still if we do not have enough water

means there is something grossly

lacking in our water managementWhere is our Traditional Wisdom?

If the Resources could be freely moved from the regions of abundance to that of Scarcity, the needs of the people shall be met and Higher prices at the same time will lead to it’s conservation

• Physical infrastructures

(dams,pipes/canals) at huge cost often on borrowed funds

• Most state governments have projects in the pipeline to bring water to cities from distant rivers or digging deep wells

• These are funded by World bank/ADB

• India has spent till date Rs. 2,92,767 crore (Planning commission) on water supply projects

• Can such investments be sustained?

Both these paradigm are Contrary to each other

The Communities throughout the World Consider Water as Common Property and thus managed their Water Resources as Commons,

[ in Democratic way]

ECOLOGICAL DEMOCRACY

Increase water productivity in

rain-fedagriculture

Make better use of ‘green water’