Wading Through The Complexity of India’s Surface Water Resources
Interlinked pressures on India’s water resources—uneven distribution of resources, groundwater depletion, deteriorating water quality, and ageing surface water infrastructure are further exacerbated by climate change. These challenges can be addressed by efficient water management, open data, and integrated water research, policy, and governance.
Veena Srinivasan, Executive Director, WELL Labs, unpacks India’s water crisis in ‘Climate Change and Climate Justice: India’s Efforts to Balance Economic Growth with Green Transition’—an e-book published by The Hindu.
The following paragraphs are excerpts from Veena’s chapter
The effects of climate change on India’s water resources are becoming increasingly evident. A consistent warming trend across most parts of India is increasing water demand. Rainfall trends, however, are less clear. Some simulation models project an intensification of the monsoon and an increase in extreme rainfall events, especially in central India — even as observational data in regions like the Western Ghats and the eastern Gangetic plains suggest declining seasonal rainfall and spatial redistribution.
Compounding this uncertainty is the retreat of the Himalayan glaciers. Currently, snowmelt contributes significantly to dry-season flows in rivers like the Ganga. As warming accelerates glacial retreat, an initial increase in flow could be followed by steep declines, threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people downstream.
But even as climate change has increased complexity, India’s management of water systems remains stagnant, rooted in thumb rules. For instance, most inter-State water sharing agreements allocate fixed volumes, with little flexibility for dry years, which results in conflicts over disagreements on how to manage shortfalls. Most drainage infrastructure was built using the idea of a “100-year storm”—a statistical estimate of a rainfall event that has a 1% chance of occurring in any given year—even though these events are occurring more frequently now.
Acknowledgements
Author Veena Srinivasan
Published in Climate Change and Climate Justice: India’s Efforts to Balance Economic Growth with Green Transition’—an e-book by The Hindu
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