Water stress & water scarcity
Water scarcity involves water stress, water shortage or deficits, & water crisis.
Water stress is the difficulty of obtaining sources of fresh water for use during a period of time & may result in further depletion & deterioration of available water resources.
Water scarcity can be due to physical water scarcity & economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity refers to a situation where natural water resources are unable to meet a region’s demand & economic water scarcity is a result of poor water management resources.
• About 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water but only 3% of it is fresh water. Around 2/3rd of that is frozen.
Causes of Water Scarcity
• Overuse of Water: An average U.S. family wastes 13,000 gallons of water every year. (Developed > Developing)
• Geographical distribution: Usage depends on availability of water; (US 100 gallons, Israel: 36)
• Pollution of Water: 80% of wastewater is discharged into waterways without treatment. (Bangalore water crisis: polluted city lakes)
• Conflict: Water stress in Yemen, Syria, & Iraq are examples of water crisis due to conflicts.
• Distance: Areas far away from water body or desert have water scarcity.
• Time spent in collecting water affects employment opportunity. Women in sub‐Saharan Africa collectively spend about 40 billion hours a year collecting water.
• Due to drought like conditions/low rainfall. (Marathawada, Cape town south Africa)
• Due to climate change & rising temperature there is change in global weather & monsoon. Leading to drying up of rivers & reservoirs. Floods too affect the
usability of water.
Findings of UNDP
• In 2011, 41 countries experienced water stress – 10 of which are close to depleting their supply of renewable freshwater sources.
• By 2050, it is projected that at least one in four people will be affected by recurring water shortages.
• Water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of people around the world.
Way forward
• Ensuring universal access to safe & affordable drinking water for all by 2030 (SDG6) requires we invest in infrastructure, provide sanitation facilities, & encourage hygiene at every level.
• Protecting & restoring water‐related ecosystems such as forests, mountains, wetlands & rivers is essential.
• International cooperation to encourage water efficiency & technologies.
Water Crisis in India:
NITI Aayog: India is suffering from worst water crisis.
• 60 crore people facing high to extreme water stress.
• 40% of population will have no access to drinking water by 2030 &
• 21 cities will run out of groundwater by 2020
A country is water‐stressed if average annual per capita water availability is less than 1,700 mˆ3. For India, it was 1545 mˆ3 in 2011.
Among G20 countries, India has the largest water withdrawal (World Bank), while its water productivity is the 2nd lowest in the group. This situation is due to a combination of factors:
• Population pressure: It has been projected that per capita availability may reduce further to 1341 mˆ3 in
2025 & as low as 1,140 by 2050.
• Groundwater over exploitation: Due to overextraction by farmers, subsidised electricity & inefficient irrigation practices.
• Weak & irregular monsoon coupled with poor rain water harvesting infrastructure.
• Reduction in traditional water recharging areas due to encroachment, modern construction & increased concretization.
• Lack of efficient water management & distribution of water between urban consumers, agriculture sector & industry.
• Poor water quality due to release of sewage and industrial waste into water bodies
• Lack of on‐time de‐silting operations in large water bodies to enhance capacity in monsoon.
• Unregulated sand & stone mining along river basins affect recharge capacity & quality. According to NITI aayog water crisis can affect 100 million people & can cause 6% loss in country‘s GDP.
Adopt the following sustainable strategies:
• Participative groundwater management: empower local groups for water management. For e.g. Mexico‘s efforts at cooperative management of groundwater.
• Watershed development through community‐based efforts. For e.g. Ralegaon Siddhi in Maharashtra, efforts by Tarun Bharat Sangh‘ in Alwar District of Rajasthan.
• Urban & industrial water management: Adequate sewage and effluent treatment facilities must be constructed.
• Adequate regulatory mechanism (balance between development and environment)
• Adopting basin approach in water management. (Mihir Shah Recommendation)
• Increasing storage in reservoirs by enlarging capacity of existing and making new reservoirs.
• Efficient water supply and distribution for industrial and domestic use
• Improving Irrigation efficiency by switching from flood irrigation to sprinklers or drips etc.
• Increasing the capacity or numbers of desalination plants in coastal areas (Israel)
Ground Water Resources Crisis:
Reasons for ground water degradation in India
• Mainly Same as above
Impacts of groundwater degradation
• Declining groundwater levels & quality
• Lowering of water table & drying up of wells.
• Reduction of water in streams & lakes.
• Agricultural crisis
• Contamination with fluoride, nitrate, arsenic
• Diseases like diarrhea, typhoid, & hepatitis.
Measures:
• National Hydrology Project: for strategic assessment & developing knowledge base for groundwater situation.
• Model Bill for Conservation, Regulation &
Management of Groundwater:
• To do away with the British Common Law concept, that those owning the land can extract unlimited groundwater.
• Heavy fines for non‐compliance.
• The corporations & industries extracting groundwater to submit plans
• Top priority of ground water usage for drinking, sanitation, food security, sustenance agriculture & needs of women.
• Comprehensive water budgeting, simultaneously in watershed & the river basin
• Combining technology & economic incentives that reduce actual water use.
• Strong water governance system based on awareness building & science & Technology
Desertification in India
Desertification is land degradation in arid, semi‐arid, & dry sub‐humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations & human activities.
• In India environmental reports tells that nearly 30% area i.e. 96.4 MHA out of 328.72 MHA is degraded or facing desertification.
• In eight states, Rajasthan, Delhi, Goa, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Tripura & Himachal Pradesh‐ around 40% to 70% of land has undergone
desertification.
• Twenty‐six out of Twenty‐ nine states have reported an increase in the area undergoing desertification in the past 10 years.
Desertification occurs due to
A) Natural Factors: Soil erosion: It is responsible for around
16% of desertification in India.
B) Anthropogenic factors:
• Vegetation destruction by deforestation & overgrazing.
• excess use of water, fertilizers & pesticides, erosion of nutrients, increase in salinity.
• Urbanization & l& development projects.
• CC periods of drought become more frequent.
• Mining.
Measures
India being a signatory to UNCCD has taken many steps
• National Action Plan: Combat Desertification
• Integrated Watershed Management Prog.
• National Afforestation Programme
• Fodder & Feed Development Scheme etc. Ordos project (China).
• Billion tree Tsunami (india, china, pak) UN
• Desertification & Land Degradation Atlas released by
ISRO.
• India will be hosting the (COP ‐ 14)
• forest landscape restoration (FLR)
• Bonn Challenge: global effort to bring 150 mha of the world’s deforested & degraded land into restoration by 2020,
However, steps taken by the government have not been very effective.
Reasons
• shortage & weakness of insti. & human
• lack of dedicated funds
• need of coordination among ministries
• disproportionate attention to planning
Ways to address the soil erosion
• Careful tilling – Since tilling destroys the top soil,
• Mulching – It increases humus in the soil,
• Contour bunding & tillage – Terrace farming with contour bunding for sloping lands
• Proper irrigation technique‐ sprinkling etc.
• Shelter belts – reduce wind speed & prevent soil erosion.
• Afforestation – Tree roots bind with the soil which in turn reduces soil erosion.
• Check over grazing – since due to over – grazing normally top soil is lost.
• Increasing mangrove cover to prevent soil erosion in coastal regions.
Conclusion
According to report of national centre for coastal research,
India lost one – third of its coastline due to soil erosion. Government initiative like Vanotsva, soil health card are steps in right direction to save the gift of nature
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