Talking Points of Sh Vinay Kumar, CE(PAO), CWC at Brainstorming Session of India Water Week 2013 on Incentivizing the Water Use Efficiency – Defining Roadmap on th 11 April 2013 -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ •
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The Document on National Water Mission has identified “Incentivizing the water use efficiency” as one of the important strategies for achieving the goal of increasing water efficiency by 20%. Water has a very important role in the developmental activities and economic growth of any country. Water is required for various purposes e.g., domestic and industrial needs, irrigation, hydropower generation, navigation and industrial uses etc. Growing population, industrialization and urbanization will result into increased demands for various purposes. At the same time it is a fact that the water resources available for meeting the demands are more or less constant. Therefore, it is necessary to have a comprehensive planning to address the growing needs for various purposes. It is also equally important to develop the resources in a sustainable manner. We have instances of development, particularly of groundwater resources, which have resulted in lowering in ground water table in certain areas. Such lowering of ground water table has been partly responsible for deterioration of quality of ground water. Such instances should not be repeated and all the developments should be planned in a sustainable manner. In India we are facing a number of challenges in water sector which include ensuring water and food security to our people, meeting increasing demand for water for irrigation, drinking domestic and technical purposes due to industrialization and urbanization, reducing per capita availability of water due to
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population growth, deteriorating water quality due to anthropogenic pollution and depletion of ground water in some areas. We cannot create more water than provided by Nature. But we can manage water optimally to mitigate the impact of inadequate availability of water. The situation emerging due to deficiency of rainfall at the crucial time of sowing and transplantation during last year in some parts of the country has only highlighted the importance of efficiency in water management. Even under normal monsoon, the availability of water and its temporal and spatial distribution has a direct impact on agriculture sector and hence the food security. National Commission on Integrated Water Resources Development has projected that the demand for water in 2050 will be 1140m3 against the per capita availability of about 1700m3 and per capita utilizable water of 1123m3 provided we adopt most efficient technologies, techniques and practices in the management of water resources systems and in its application in agriculture urban and industrial sectors. Two very serious challenges for India are food security and climate change. Obviously, water is crucial to both the challenges and water resources development and management plays a very important role in addressing these challenges. The objective of food security cannot be achieved without water security. This is more so in case of our country which is primarily agriculture based society and agriculture provides livelihood for majority of its people. Agriculture in India is the largest provider of employment. Though agriculture contributes only over 17% of the GDP, it provides employment to more than half of the workforce. The labour productivity in agriculture is far less than the productivity of labour in other sectors. The existing scenario makes it imperative that the productivity of agricultural labour is increased if we have to eradicate rural poverty and improve income and livelihood in rural areas. Water being an important input to agriculture, expansion of irrigation and improvement in irrigation practices will go a long way in increasing agricultural productivity. The present level of efficiency of the irrigation system in our country is relatively low and there is considerable scope for
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improvement. The National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development assessed that irrigation efficiencies from surface water in India can be improved from the present level of 35 to 40% to about 60% and ground water from 65% to about 75%. With the improvement in efficiency – both through efficient end water use as well as by improving the efficiency of the gross irrigated area. Studies by Water and Land Management Institutes / Irrigation Management and Training Institutes covering evaluation of dam efficiency, delivery system efficiency / conveyance efficiency, on farm application efficiency, drainage efficiency and Irrigation potential created and utilized revealed that the efficiency of water use was in general low. As per the studies the important reasons for low efficiency are a) damaged structures b) silting in the canal system c) poor maintenance d) weed growth in canal system e) seepage in the system f) over irrigation g) change of cropping pattern and that common recommendations for improving water use efficiency are rehabilitation and restoration of damaged / silted canal system, proper and timely maintenance of system, selective lining of canal and distribution system, scientific system of operation, revision of cropping pattern, restoration / provision of appropriate control structures, efficient and reliable communication network, reliable and adequate water measuring system, conjunctive use of ground and surface water, regular revision of water rate, encouragement for formation of Water User’s Association, training to farmers, micro-‐credit facilities, and agricultural extension services etc. The sub-‐optimal utilization of the created facilities is yet another challenge. In our country only about 85% of the created potential has been utilized. Some of the factors which contribute to the under utilization of created potential include (a) relatively poor operation and maintenance (b) lack of field channels and on-‐farm development (c) change in the cropping pattern, and (d) diversion of available water for non-‐irrigation sectors. Obviously, the modern tools for system improvement in the form of hardware and better management practices in the form of software can play very important role. Best technologies and practices are transferred to the farmers to enable them to translate the slogan “More Crop and Income per
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Drop of Water” in to reality. Ministry of Water Resources has implemented “Farmers’ Participatory Action Research Programme (FPARP)” through agriculture Universities and agricultural research institutes to demonstrate available technologies for increasing productivity profitability of agriculture. The study reports indicate that there is very good response from farmers and the programme has helped in increasing yield and saving in water. National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture has identified following intervention in respect of water use efficiency. − Promoting water use efficiency in irrigation; − Research and development in the areas of energy efficient water systems; − Developing mechanisms for integrated management of rainwater, surface and ground water; − Policy instruments for PPP; − Strengthen local institutions in managing water allocation and utilization
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Adoption of latest techniques and technology, both at macro and micro level, is necessary to ensure the optimum and efficient use of water. Apart from measures for improving the efficiency of larger water facilities, due emphasis has to be given to measures like waste water treatment, reuse of water, rainwater harvesting and ground water recharge, watershed development etc. Various studies about climate change indicate that the change may result in intensification of the temporal and spatial variations in the availability of water. National Action Plan on Climate Change has been launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister which envisages institutionalization of eight National Missions including “National Water Mission”. The main objectives of “National Water Mission” are conservation of water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its more equitable distribution both across and within States through Integrated Water Resources Management. One of the five goals identified for the “National Water Mission” is increasing water use efficiency by 20%. Documents on National Water Mission and National Water Policy have indicated about the importance of incentivizing the water
use efficiency. It has been stated therein that “project” and the “basin” water use efficiencies need to be improved through continuous water balance and water accounting studies and provision for incentivizing efficient water use and suggested areas in this regard are as under. − Declining ground water levels in over exploited areas need to be arrested by introducing improved technologies of water use and community based management of aquifers; − A system to evolve benchmarks for water uses for different purposes i.e. water auditing should be developed for incentivizing efficient use of water; − Project financing should be structured to incentivize efficient & economic use of water and facilitate early completion of ongoing projects; − Water saving in irrigation use is of paramount importance, as it counts for about 70 to 80% of total water uses. Methods like aligning cropping pattern with natural resource endowments, micro-‐irrigation (drip, sprinkler etc.), automated irrigation operation, evaporation –transpiration reduction, etc should be encouraged and incentivized; − Recycle and reuse of water after treatment to specified standards should also be incentivized through a properly planned tariff system; − Least water intensive sanitation and sewerage systems with decentralized sewage treatment plants should also be incentivized; − States should be encouraged and incentivized to undertake reforms and progressive measures for innovations, conservation and efficient utilization of water resources.