There is a general feeling that our country with mighty rivers like the Ganga, the Brahmaputra, the Krishna, the Godavari, the Narmada etc. has abundant water resources. But from the last decade it was realised that this impression is not correct. It is therefore necessary to review the availability of water.

- Annual precipitation 4000 Billion Cubic Metres (b. cu. m.)

- Available surface water 1869 b.cu.m. (46.7%)

- Utilisable water resources 690 b. cu. m. (36.9%)

- Utilisable ground water 432 b. cu. m.

Thus, the total water resources available for utilization including ground water is only about 1122 b. cu. m. Only 28.3% of the water derived from rainfall can be utilized. The position in some of our largest river basins is worse. For example in the Brahmaputra basin, which contributes 629 b. cu. m. of surface water of the country’s total flow, only 3.33% i.e. 21 b. cu. m. is utilizable. With the increasing population as well as all round development in the country, the utilization of water has also been consequently increasing at a fast pace. In 1951, the actual utilization of surface water was about 20% and 10% in the case of ground water. In 1997 - 1998, the country used about 57.8% (329 b. cu. m.) of utilizable quantum of surface water and about 53.2% (230 b. cu. m.) of the ground water.

Out of an ultimate hydropower potential of 84,000 MW at 60% load factor at present we are able to utilize only 22,000 MW. There is severe shortage in overall availability of power, which hydropower can compensate.

The food requirement of the growing population will be about 450 million tons in 2050 as against the present highest food grain production

of around 198 million tons. Two-third of this is obtained from irrigated food grain production areas. Thus irrigation requirements of the country are likely to share a major chunk even in the future.

Even with the full development of the estimated ultimate irrigation potential of 139.89 million hectares by 2050 AD only 65% of net sown area will receive irrigation, and the balance 35% will still depend on vagaries of the monsoon. Consequently, irrigation will continue to be a bulk consumer of water.

However, when this is applied in the case of water, it has 3 broad connotations viz.:

In the hydrological sense, water conservation means improving the dependability of the water through augmenting additional resources through storage of rainwater in reservoirs, ponds, lakes, shallow and deep ground water or in the soil moistures. A present day definition may also include the conservation of water as defined above in both qualitative and quantitative assessment.

As of now, the storage capacity created in the country is about 50% of the ultimate possibility. It is interesting to note that the US which has almost the same water potential, has a storage capacity of about 700 b.c.m,. that

Water conservation is a loose and undefined concept which brings out the need for judicious use of water through engineering means to meet the human needs by modifying the space and time availability and the quality of water. It brings out the need to store water, where such storage is necessary, due to a mismatch in timing between supply and demand and to the transportation of the water from the place of demand without unavoidable wastage.

In India, the water available through precipitation on an average is around 4000 billion cubic metres per year. It is estimated that after accounting for the natural evapo-transportation the natural run off through the rivers or through the aquifers would be around 1950 billion cubic metres per year. However, both the precipitation and the run off (particularly, the river run off) are very unevenly distributed in time and space. Out of the run off, around 500 billion cubic metres per year occurs in the heavy precipitation areas of the North-East where demands are low.

In India, it is estimated that after considering all these constraints, the utilizable water in terms of diversions would be around 690 billion cubic metres per year from surface sources and about 432 billion cubic metres per year from the ground sources. However, unconventional techniques like inter-basin transfers and artificial recharge of ground water could overcome some of the constraints and increase the utilizable flows.

Water is part of a closed hydrologic circle and in scientific terms there can be no use of water in the ultimate sense. However, the net utilization of water can be considered as the water which reaches, evaporated through various processes and that water which returns at a place where re-use is not possible.

The precarious balance between growing demands and supplies brings forth the importance of maintaining quality of both surface and ground water. In the face of the very large scale re-use water, unless the return flows are of reasonably good quality, very serious problems of quality degradation would occur both in surface and ground water. Correction of quality degradation, particularly, in ground water is a very difficult process.

Treatment of waste water is essentially a very costly proposition while this is inescapable in the future, the costs could be a very serious constraint in encouraging treatment. In particular, treatment of domestic sewage for all the growing urban centres would be somewhat impracticable, considering that most municipalities are not financially self-sustainable, until cheaper alternatives for human waste disposal could be evolved. Such alternatives are available by the way of Oxidization Ponds, Waste Stabilization Ponds, use of Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) technology, Duck Weed Pond technology, utilization of raw or partially treated sewerage for forestry, artificial wetlands, Root Zone technology etc.

The total investment required in India for urban and rural water supply treatment of domestic and industrial wastes, is not readily available. An attempt in this direction has recently been made by the Indian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (INCID), as also by others and these are under discussion.

is 350% of India’s present potential. The storage capacity in the USSR is of the order of 110 million hectares.

Although the industrial requirement of water constitutes only a small percent, it again cannot be met without construction of storage dams. For example, to meet the needs of the Bokaro Steel Plant another dam in the Damodar Valley at Tenughat has been constructed. Similarly, a cluster of thermal and super-thermal power stations in UP are entirely dependant on the waters stored at Rihand dam.

Various crops need a certain quantum of water for maximum yields. It has been established that with a slightly less supply, the yields are not affected considerably. In fact, in scarcity conditions, there is a much better and optimal use of water.

The third aspect of conservation would be to minimize the wastage and misuse of water if not prevent it altogether. This will again apply to all the uses of water. For example, it is estimated that in urban water supply almost 30 to 40% of the water is wasted through the distribution system. In almost all the major urban centres of the country there is already an acute problem of adequate water supply while the sources of augmentation are very few. It is, therefore, most significant to prevent such wastage.

In industries also, there is a scope for economy in the use of water. For example, in India water used for production per ton of paper is 300 kiloliters while in USA it is only 20 kiloliters. It is estimated by the Bureau of Industrial Costs and Prices that 10 - 30 % saving is possible by recycling, modifications in processing, evaporation control etc.

Against this backdrop, we have to consider strategies for conser-vation of water. Some of the strategies, which can be seriously considered, are as follows:

This world body was created in response to the decision of the Ministerial and Officials Conference on Drinking Water and Environmental Sanitation, held during 1994 in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, which has been endorsed by the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and the UN General Assembly.

Its membership is open to any organisation with an interest in the area of water, ranging from ministries and regional or local government departments, professional associations, research institutes and universities, private sector and industry, UN bodies, NGOs and even media.

The mission of the WWC is to: Promote awareness about critical water issues at all levels including the highest decision making level and the general public, and to facilitate the efficient conservation, protection, development, planning, management and use of water in all its dimensions on a sustainable basis for the benefit of all.

To achieve these aims the WWC shall:

Regional / national visions are being prepared by consultants through stake holder’s participation at all levels. The Ministry of Water Resources has been associated with the international regional consultations being held in various parts of the world for preparation of an Indian Vision for Water The process is being coordinated by Non Governmental Organisations.

Recently Netherlands hosted the Second World Water Forum of the WWC. This forum was held from 17-22 March 2000 in The Hague. The theme of the forum was "From Vision to Action". There were two documents i.e. (i) the long term vision on water, life and the environment in the 21st century prepared by WWC and (ii) Framework for action development by global water partnership. To raise the level of public awareness of the steps to be taken up to meet the world’s water challenges in the 21st century and to gain maximum political commitment to the implementation of the recommendations, the Netherlands government also offered the WWC to organise a Ministerial Conference during the forum. It was held during 21-22 March 2000.

This water body was formally established in August 1996. GWP asserts that to manage water sustainable for continued human development, the competing uses of water must be reconciled. This can occur only if the parties competing for fresh water share the mutual goal of appropriately adjusting their demands and engage in a dialogue on how to do so. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is the means to reach this goal, and it aims to ensure the coordinated development and management of water, land, and related resources by maximising economic and social welfare without compromising the sustainability of vital economic systems.

GWP has four arms of governance: the Consultative Group, the Steering Committee, the Technical Advisory Committee, and the Secretariat. The GWP will:

A Financial Support Group of donor agencies is being formed so that the donor community may work together to rationalise their financial support to the international priorities for water resources management, as identified by the GWP’s technical advisory committee.

These principles were endorsed at the conference on water and environment held in Dublin and Rio respectively. As articulated in the Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development, and Agenda 21, they stress that:

In April 1999, VA Technologies AG (VA Tech), the largest engineering company in Austria, acquired the water business of the Deutsche Babcook Group (WABAG). VA Tech water systems and the acquired WABAG operations have since been merged within the newly formed VA Tech WABAG Group.

VA Tech WABAG is active in the field of industrial water and wastewater treatment, desalination, sludge treatment, evaporation and crystallization.

In India, the WABAG operations started in October 1996 and in a short span of time it has achieved significant growth. The WABAG operations were hitherto carried on as a division of Balcke Durr & Wabag Technologies Limited, Chennai. In March 2000 the company received the approval of the High Court of Madras for demerger of the non-water operations of the company. With this, the company is now an exclusive water company.

The group is now one of the world’s top players in the water treatment industry. The group offers a complete portfolio of state-of-the-art technologies and advanced services and "all these will add value to our enlarging customer base which will also result in entering our customer profile" says Rajiv Mittal, Head, Indian operations, VA Tech WABAG.

The company has commissioned the biggest industrial effluent treatment plant at Reliance Petroleum Limited, Jamnagar followed by the successful completion of a wastewater treatment plant at Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. It has successfully commissioned the RO-based demineralization plant and wastewater treatment plant for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at Haldia.

The company will concentrate its efforts to further extend its market share as immense opportunities exist in wastewater as well as drinking water segments. The company is set to become the leader in the Indian water treatment industry.