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Volume1,Issue1 June2013

WATERWORLD

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From Editor’s Desk

It is our pleasure to place very first edition of WATERWORLD – a quarterly magazine of Water Management Forum in your hands. Water is central to life, producing food and creating livelihoods for many people around the world. It affects all kind of people—Citizens, farmers, students, teachers, industrialists, planners, policy makers, managers besides engineers. We have therefore endeavored to address the needs of all these stakeholders through this magazine.

Current year is declared as the Year of Water Cooperation by the UN. Looking to the necessity to spread awareness regarding conserving our precious and scarce natural resources like water, Government of India has declared Water Conservation Year. Infographic and other material presented in this magazine make us aware about water conservation and the need for water cooperation.

I believe, this magazine would be of interest to all our esteemed readers.

(P.C.Vyas)

WATER WORLD is a publication of Water Management Forum, a peripheral body of The Institution of Engineers (I) Board of Consulting Editors Mr S J Desai, FIE Mr. Apoorva Oza Mr. L.M.Patra,FIE Mr. M.K.Jadav, FIE Editor Mr. P.C. Vyas, FIE Water Management Forum and The Institution of Engineers (I) as a body accepts no responsibility for statements made by individuals.

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CONTENTS Technical Section

Technical Section

Irrigating with Arsenic Contaminated Groundwater in the Bengal Delta--A Review of Mitigation Options

06

By Narmadha Senanayke and Aditi Mukherji A Review of International Experience in Managing Energy Irrigation Nexus

By Aditi Mukherji and Tushaar Shah

15

Knowledge Section Are We Running Out of Water?

by Brian Richter

23

What is Ground Water?

27

Groundwater Quiz Infographics:WATER: 21ST Century Challenges Water Conservation Pledge Save Water Every Day जल Water Conservation basics series Part I Nature’s Water Cycle Puzzle How Much Water needed to produce?

Stories from the field SRI Technology for paddy

30 33 34 35 38 39 40 41 43

Watershed Management on Participatory Basis in Villages of Bhilwara district of Rajasthan

45

WMF Announcements Poster Competition on Water Conservation – 2013 - 14 for School Students Institution of Awards for best Contribution towards conservation of water News and Views

47 48 49

Irrigating with Arsenic Contaminated Groundwater in the Bengal Delta--- A Review of Mitigation Options

By Narmadha Senanayke and Aditi Mukherji INTRODUCTION Literature on arsenic (As) contamination of groundwater is replete with studies about the impacts of drinking As contaminated water on human health as well as mitigation efforts in that context. Less is known, however, on the extent of use of As rich groundwater for irrigation and effectiveness of As remediation in agricultural contexts despite obvious implications for food and livelihood security (Dittmar et al. 2007) and the possible adverse health and crop impacts associated with As exposure via food chain contamination (Williams et al.

2006; Khan et al. 2009). In this study, we do a systematic review of all available evidence on the impact of mitigation measures aimed at reducing negative consequences of irrigating with As rich water.

While irrigation with As contaminated groundwater has emerged as a threat to health and livelihoods of poor people in the Bengal delta (Bangladesh and West Bengal), the scale and complexity of these threats as well as the tradeoffs involved are not very well understood. This is because of the multi-dimensionality of the problems involved. First, chronic exposure via contaminated crop consumption poses serious health risks such as stroke, cancers of the skin, bladder, lung, and liver (National Research Council 2001).

However, unlike the risk of exposure via drinking water, the numbers affected by food-chain contamination are unquantified. Second dimension is that groundwater is often the only source of irrigation in these regions and plays an important role in livelihood and food security. Consider Bangladesh, which achieved food self-sufficiency and rapid poverty alleviation in the 1990s, thanks to

intensive use of groundwater (Karim 2001) and West-Bengal, which became self-sufficient in the 1980s by using groundwater for irrigation (Pal et al. 2009:3349).

Thus groundwater irrigation plays a crucial role in bridging shortfalls in water supply, stabilizing agricultural production and achieving food security in these regions and is also an effective vehicle of poverty alleviation (Palmer-Jones 1992; Hariss 1993). Third, dependence on groundwater for livelihoods and poverty alleviation means that the very farmers who are the targets of remediation policies often get negatively affected by mitigation efforts, unless those efforts also look at credible alternatives (Khan et al. 2010; Azad et al. 2009; Abedin et al. 2002; Panaullah et al.

2009).

REVIEW METHODOLOGY This review focuses on impact evaluation studies that look at remediation efforts for agricultural uses of As contaminated water. To examine the effectiveness of these mitigation efforts we used the methodology of systematic review (Higgins and Green (eds) 2008), which draws on methodical search and data collation techniques to synthesize evidence across all available studies. To locate as comprehensive a set of studies as possible, we searched all major academic databases. We also conducted searches of ˜grey� literature to locate relevant conference proceedings, technical reports and other unpublished documents.

These searches returned over 1200 records. After reviewing titles and abstracts, we then limited our citations to those which were about mitigation strategies for agriculture in the Bengal delta; studies that used credible counterfactuals to measure impact of mitigation efforts; and where As uptake by crops and soils and yield of crop were used as outcome measures. According to this, 34 studies were included for review. We then coded studies on a range of methodological, descriptive and outcome/ impact related attributes. Though all studies were of high methodological quality, heterogeneity in intervention type and outcomes measured precluded. quantitative meta-analysis. Therefore, we synthesize the existing evidence using narrative summaries and tables.

Table 1 Different categories of interventions for mitigating impact of As in agriculture

Sr. No

Category of intervention

1

Changes in water management practices such as deficit irrigation, aerobic cultivation and intermittent ponding for paddy

2 3 4 5 6

Focus of intervention

To reduce uptake of As by soil and plant parts including grains and to reduce the impact of yield loss Soil remediation including Same as above fertilization and bio-remediation Cooking methods for rice To reduce human ingestion of As contaminated rice Breeding As tolerant paddy or Same as above choosing suitable paddy cultivars Growing field crops other than Same as above paddy Nutritional supplements To combat poor nutritional status and reduce susceptibility to As related diseases

Number of studies 13

11 3 2 1 1

INTERVENTIONS FOR MITIGATING IMPACT OF AS ON UPTAKE BY CROPS, SOILS AND ON CROP YIELDS: A REVIEW OF EFFECTIVENESS A review of literature shows that interventions aimed at mitigating negative impacts of irrigating with As contaminated water may be summarized into six categories (Table 1).

Do water management practices like deficit irrigation reduce the burden of As? The largest number of mitigation related studies focus on paddy and alternative irrigation methods to irrigate paddy. The overwhelming majority of these studies (Stroud et al.2011; Li et al. 2009; Sarkar et al. 2012; Rahaman et al. 2011; Xu et al.

2008; Roberts et al. 2011; Huq et al. 2006; Hua et al. 2011; Das et al. 2008; Basu et al.

2010) show that deficit irrigation systems reduce As grain content when compared to conventional flood irrigation regimes.

Duxbury et al. (2007) is the only key exception.

However, there is some debate over which type of deficit irrigation system: aerobic or intermittent ponding, results in the least grain accumulation. On one hand, Li et al.

(2009) found growing rice aerobically during the entire rice growth duration resulted in the least grain As accumulation. Basu et al.

(2010) and Xu et al. (2008) cite similar findings. On the other hand, Sarkar et al.

(2012) found that while aerobic water regimes resulted in the lowest level of root As, the content of As in leaf and grain attained by imposition of intermittent ponding only during the vegetative stage of rice growth was optimum in terms of reducing As content in straw and grain (by 23 and 33 percent respectively).

The impacts of deficit irrigation on crop productivity are also contested and differ depending on the type of regime used. According to Duxbury et al. (2007), Xu et al.

(2008) and Talukder et al. (2010) the yield of aerobically grown crops is less affected by As contamination than conventional flooded systems. On the other hand, Li et al. (2009), Peng et al.

(2006) and Sarkar et al. (2012) find that the continuous cultivation of aerobic rice actually results in a substantial yield decline vis-Ăƒ -vis other water management regimes.

However, in all reviewed studies As accumulation in soils was the least in aerobic conditions.

According to Sarkar et al. (2012), the highest value of soil As was attained under continuous ponding followed by intermittent ponding, saturated and aerobic regimes.

Similarly, Talukder et al. (2010) and Xu et al. (2008) argue aerobic cultivation reduced the amount of As deposited to the soil.

Taken together, the evidence suggests that the remediation potential of deficit irrigation is promising in terms of reducing As content in grains and soils.

However, the positive impacts of deficit irrigation for crop productivity are contested. This may be a cause for concern from a policy perspective since it will be difficult to convince farmers to move to deficit irrigation regimes if their crop yields go down on account of this.

Do measures like artificial fertilization and bio- remediation help?

A large number of studies explore the mitigation potential of soil amendments such as application of inorganic fertilizer or organic manure which can immobilize,adsorb, bind or co-precipitate As in situ. The overwhelming majority of studies found that fertilization (irrespective of type) reduces As concentrations in grains. Li et al. (2009) for instance found silicon (Si) fertilization decreased the total As concentration in straw and grain by 78 and 16 percent, respectively. Talukder et al.

(2010) and Pigna et al. (2010) show significant reductions of As content in rice grain at higher phosphorous amendments.

Huq et al. (2011) found that the total accumulation of As in three rice varieties BR 29, BR 35, and BR 36 was reduced by 227, 229, and 397 percent, respectively when balanced NPK fertilizers were added to the medium.

Several studies also investigate the potential of organic matter to remediate As accumulation in grains. Rahman et al.

(2011) found that combined applications of various types of organic manure reduced the As content by 33.47 percent and 36.87 percent in whole grains and milled grains respectively, compared to control soils where no such manure was applied.

Similarly, Huq et al. (2008) reported that organic matter application was able to reduce As accumulation by as much as 75 percent in the vegetative part of the plant.

Overall the impact of fertilization on crop yields is positive. Li et al. (2009) found the addition of Si fertilizer increased grain and straw yield significantly.

Huq et al. (2008) found yield differences could be avoided by balance fertilization. Huq et al.

(2011) also found that the effect of balanced fertilization on the total and grain yield of rice was highly significant. Pigna et al. (2010) found that for plants grown without phosphorous addition there was a decrease in biomass production of 15 percent, 52 percent, and 67 percent as As concentration in the irrigation water increased, but this reduction was less severe when phosphorous was added to soils.

Finally, Huq et al. (2008) found that organic-matter application had a more positive effect on yields than no application at all levels of As spiking.

A commonly cited drawback of fertilization, however is that it has not proven to be effective in remediating As accumulation in agricultural soils. Li et al. (2009) for instance found the addition of Si fertilizers increased As concentration in the soil solution.

Huq and Joardar (2008) record similar results for balanced fertilization, and Huq et al. (2011) observed that higher amounts of As were found to remain in the soils treated with balanced fertilizers compared to nonfertilized soils. However, Das et al.

(2008) and Mukhopadhyay et al.

(2000) found that the As content in soil markedly decreased, especially with farmyard manure application.

Bio-remediation of soils using algae and fungi has been tried and shown to be successful. Huq et al. (2007) observed that algae could reduce accumulation of As in rice plants by as much as 71 percent and was also found to depress As accumulation in soil. In a related study, Srivastava et al.

(2010), evaluated the As removal efficacy of ten fungal strains and found five out of these strains were very effective with high rates of bioaccumulation.

Does switching to alternative field crops have any impact?

Substituting dry land crops such as maize or wheat for rice also has the potential to reduce As accumulation in both soils and food crops (Brammer 2009). Dry-land crops are less water-intensive than paddy and as such can reduce soil As content and crop uptake using the same mechanisms as aerobic cultivation. Indeed, Duxbury et al.

(2007) found that 'wheat and maize grain contained approximately 7 and 25 times less As than rice grain.' Williams et al.

(2007) produced similar results in their study of 173 individual sample sets of commercially farmed rice, wheat, and barley. Finally, Su et al. (2010) found that regardless of the As form supplied to plants [arsenite or arsenate], rice accumulated more As in the shoots than wheat or barley.

However, Brammer (2009) raises important questions about the feasibility of substituting field crops, such as wheat, barley and maize for rice on a large scale; given that rice has always been the preferred crop of the farmers in the region.

Does breeding cultivar help?

As

tolerant

paddy

Limitations of crop substitution have led

scholars such as Norton et al.

(2009) to advocate breeding As tolerant rice cultivars. To date, research in this area shows that As uptake, accumulation, and phytotoxicity differ significantly depending on the cultivar used (Rauf et al.2011; Hua et al. 2011).

For example, in a comparative study of As uptake in three different rice cultivars, Hua et al.

(2011) found Rondo and Cocodrie varieties were more susceptible to elevated soil As levels, while Zhe 733 was less susceptible.

Similarly, Rauf et al. (2011:1678) found that the As contents in grain and husk of rice variety BR 11 were higher than those of BRRI Dhan 33. Another study (Huq et al.

2011) found total accumulation of As in the rice variety BR 35 to be less than BR 29 and both to almost 50 percent less than BR 36. Thus, the remediation potential of breeding As tolerant rice varieties is promising in terms of reducing grain content and yield losses.

However, such mitigation solutions have no impact on the rate of soilAs accumulation.

Do cooking methods of rice have an impact on As ingestion by humans?

The potential of cooking methods to reduce As content in rice grains is shown by Pal et al. (2009) who found that, up to 57 percent of As can be removed from As contaminated rice using cooking methods traditional to the Indian subcontinent

sub-continent (wash until clear, cook rice in excess water and finally discard excess water). These results are consistent with those obtained by Sengupta et al.

(2006:1823) and Mihuez et al. (2007:1722).

However, the remediation potential of traditional cooking methods depends on the As content of the cooking water. This again underlines the need for providing As free water for drinking and domestic purposes to all rural households in Bengal.

Can nutritional supplements play any role in reducing susceptibility to As induced diseases?

A very different set of studies investigate the links between poor nutritional status and increased susceptibility to As related diseases (Mitra et al. 2004; Maharjan et al.

2006) and highlight the potential of nutritional supplements to reduce the risk of As related health outcomes. Gamble et al.

(2006) in a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled folic acid supplementation trial in a rural region of Bangladesh found that folic acid supplementation to participants enhances As methylation. Because persons whose urine contains low proportions of dimethyl arsinate (DMA) and high proportions of monomethyl arsonate (MMA) and inorganic (unmethylated) As have been reported to be at greater risk of skin and bladder cancers and peripheral vascular disease, these results suggest that folic acid supplementation may reduce the risk of Asrelated health outcomes.

CONCLUSION As contamination of groundwater and its consequences for drinking water and remediation measures thereof has been an area of intense focus and study since the

early 1990s. However, as this paper highlights, the debate on impact of irrigation with As contaminated water is much more complex than the drinking water debate.

What is encouraging however is that search for solutions has already begun and it is recognized that agriculture and irrigation with groundwater are central to the livelihoods of millions of poor people in the Bengal delta. We found as many as 34 high quality papers that used credible counterfactuals to measure the impact of six broad categories of treatments. Our review shows that all these methods have some positive impact by reducing uptake of As by plant and its accumulation in the soil and preventing yield reduction in crops, though all interventions are not equally effective, some are better than others and effectiveness depends on a large number of other factors.

Here, the area for future research is to understand the combined effect of all these interventions.

For example, Das et al. (2008) studied the interaction between zinc fertilization and deficit irrigation. While these studies and experiments are going on, it is equally important to create awareness among farmers and extension officials about several mitigation interventions that show promising results. It is highly likely that farmers in Bengal delta will continue to use groundwater for irrigation in the foreseeable future because there are

Because there are no other alternate sources of irrigation. Therefore, understanding and adopting these mitigation measures is necessary to minimize the negative impacts of irrigating with As contaminated water.

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Williams P.N., Islam, M.R., Adomako, E.E., Raab, A., Hossain, S.A., Zhu, Y.G., Feldmann J, and Meharg, A.A. 2006. Increase in rice grain arsenic for regions of Bangladesh irrigating paddies with elevated arsenic in groundwaters. Environmental Science & Technology, 40:4903-4908.

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"This paper is based on research undertaken by the IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program with financial support from Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Mumbai." This IWMI-Tata Highlight is based on research carried out with support from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo. It is not externally peer-reviewed and the views expressed are of the authors alone and not of IWMI or its funding partners.

A Review of International Experience in Managing Energy Irrigation Nexus

By Aditi Mukherji and Tushaar Shah Pakistan, Bangladesh and China which also make intensive use of groundwater. Can these countries offer useful lessons for India? This highlight reviews groundwater institutions and policies in these countries, with a special focus on the inter- linkages between energy and groundwater.

It finds that while there are useful lessons from international experience, none of the other countries offer unmetered electricity to farmers as India does. It is this lack of energy accounting and resistance to metering that is at the heart of the invidious energy-irrigation nexus in India.

INTRODUCTION Around 1960, less than 1 million hectare of India's farmland was irrigated with groundwater - much less than most other countries in the world at that time.

However, in the subsequent 50 years, India's groundwater use has grown at a much faster pace compared to US, Mexico and China. Many factors explain this extraordinarily rapid growth. However, arguably by far the most powerful factor is the regime of unmetered and highly subsidized power supply that India has evolved to support groundwater irrigation.

Subsidized electricity for agriculture is not uncommon – it is found in several countries where intensive groundwater use is common such as in Mexico and Oman.

In this Highlight, we review institutions and policies of groundwater governance with a special focus on energy-irrigation nexus with the view to draw lessons for India.

GROUNDWATER POLICIES IN INDIA AND CHINA Comparing groundwater institutions in India and North China is meaningful because of the similarities the two regions share in terms of high population densities, small landholdings and high dependence

on groundwater. However, there are essential differences. China has all but 3.5 million agricultural wells, which withdraw 75 km3 of groundwater annually, the figures for India are staggering at 20 million wells and 200 km3 of water abstraction (Mukherji and Shah 2005).

In India, following the English law, groundwater rights are attached to the land. However, to be able to pump, an investment in pumping equipment is required, and not all farmers can afford it. In addition, high degree of land fragmentation means that even well owners cannot irrigate all their plots using a single pump. A major institutional response to this has been the emergence of informal groundwater markets.

Water markets have been widely studied in the South Asian context. While reservations have been expressed about the markets negative impact on groundwater sustainability (Janakarajan 1994; Adnan 1999; Dubash 2002), there is a general consensus that the water markets

give irrigation access to those who do not have their own source of irrigation and thereby helps to increase net irrigation surplus and thereby reduces poverty (Shah 1993; Fujita and Hossain 1995; PalmerJones 2001). However, these markets are totally informal, and the only point of contact between the groundwater water users and the government is through the electricity utility.

In China, before the agrarian reforms of the Deng administration in 1979, village collectives managed groundwater. After the reforms, a variety of institutional arrangements have been forged in Chinese villages (Shah 2003:5). The price of water is not left to be decided by free-market forces (as it is in most south Asian villages), but village leaders and party officials often fix the water price, which ensures that private contractors cannot earn super normal profits. The strong party presence in the Chinese countryside has also made the energy-irrigation nexus of South Asia a non-issue in China (Shah et al.2004a) as we will see in a later section of this Highlight.

In China, groundwater governance has changed from that of being highly fragmented to that of being more institutionalized and decentralized, with the roles of each agency been clearly demarcated. Yet certain loopholes remain, the most important being the tardy progress in issue of water extraction permits in many counties (Foster et al. 2004).

In the sphere of enacting groundwater laws, China has had more success than any of the South Asian countries. Starting with a significant 1988 National Water Law, China has enacted three more laws and enacted over 30 water management regulations during the last decade (Wang and Huang 2002).

In India, though draft groundwater bills have been making the rounds for several decades, there is no will to make them into law, perhaps precisely because these will be difficult to implement.

However, a phenomenon that is almost wholly missing in the North China Plains, but is quite significant in India, is the popular people's movement for groundwater recharge, especially in water-scarce states like Rajasthan and Gujarat (for details see Steenbergen and Shah 2003, Burke and Moench 2000). An interesting feature of such a people's initiative, however, is that rarely are these aimed at demand management.

GROUNDWATER POLICIES SPAIN AND MEXICO

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While Spain and Mexico are intensive groundwater users, just like South Asia and China, there are three essential differences.

First, the scale of and dependence on groundwater is much less in these countries. Second, both Spanish and Mexican farmers have higher per capita incomes than Indian and Chinese farmers.

Third, farmers' lobby is much stronger in these countries than either south Asia or China. This makes it possible for these countries to apply a wider repertoire of instruments to manage groundwater but in doing so these countries have to face stiff opposition from the farmers' lobby.

Spain, like most parts of the world, until 1985, bestowed private property rights over groundwater resources. However, the 1985 Water Act in response to intensive groundwater use changed the rules of the game. For one, groundwater was taken away from the private domain and ownership rights bestowed upon the state. Second, River Basin Management Agencies were given a role in managing groundwater, and finally, they were also vested with the power to grant permits for groundwater use that started after 1985.

It also gave authority to the river basin agencies to declare an aquifer as overexploited, and once it was so declared, to formulate an aquifer management plan for recovery of the aquifer. In addition, all users of the aquifer were required to organize themselves into groundwater user associations in order to encourage user participation. So far, some 16 aquifers have been declared totally or partly overexploited (Hernandez-Mora et al.2003:398), while such user associations have been formed in only five and implemented in only two aquifer areas. Further amendments to the act were made in 1999 and 2001. An evaluation of the current implementation status of this law paints a rather gloomy picture. For one, even after more than 15 years, recording of groundwater rights still remain incomplete, and less than a quarter of all groundwater structures have been registered. Given Spain's long tradition of successful surface-water user's associations (some in Valencia are centuries old), the new water law has emphasized the formation of groundwater user's associations particularly for management of overexploited aquifers.

Thus, while thousands of small groundwater user's associations have been formed, the majority of them are geared towards 'collective management of the irrigation network', and only a handful has a larger mandate of 'collective management of aquifers' and of these, only a few has been successful. In fact, in the Upper Guadiana Basin (a case of severe overexploitation), what has temporarily halted groundwater over-extraction is not positive collective action on the part of the irrigators, but the European Union's Income Compensation Programme , designed to reduce water abstractions with subsides up to 420 euro/ha (Hernandez-Mora et al. 2003; Lopez-Gunn 2003:370).

Mexico has reformed its water laws extensively since 1992. By the Law of Nation's Waters of 1992, National Water Commission (CNA- the Spanish acronym) was entrusted with responsibility of registering water use concessions. Quite like Spain, Mexico's water sector reforms declared water as a national property and made it mandatory for existing users to legitimize their rights through procuring concessions.

In addition, the CNA was authorized to set up a regulatory structure to enforce and monitor these concessions granted and also to collect a volumetric water fee from all users, except small scale

irrigators.

COTAS or Aquifer Management Councils were promoted by CNA as user's organizations aimed at managing groundwater and in some provinces such as Guanajuato all water resources (Shah et al. 2004b; Sandoval 2004). In governing water, the CNA has essentially adopted three tools; regulatory tools, economic tools and participatory tools (Burke and Moench 2000).

Response to the reforms so far has been at best mixed.

The large water users (industrial and commercial users) have been quick to apply for concession and pay water fees.

However, the real challenge has been registering water rights of the agricultural users who withdraw at least 80 percent of total volumes withdrawn and second, to monitor their withdrawals. Among the agricultural users, the tube well owners have responded to the law quite positively and have applied for water concessions. The major reason for such compliance has been the 'carrot' of subsidized electricity that has been promised to tube well owners who regularize their connection through registration of the wells with the CNAs as we shall see later in this paper.

From the foregoing section, we can draw three major conclusions. First, Mexico and Spain, and to a certain extent China, have viewed governing groundwater with seriousness and have made legal provisions for the same, while India is still grappling with basic issues such as enacting a groundwater law. Second, the experience of all these countries bring to the fore the fact that while making a law is not very difficult, enforcing one is a challenge, a challenge rarely met in any

of the countries discussed above.

This is in spite of the fact that conditions for law enforcement are more likely to happen in countries such as Spain and Mexico, where direct dependence on groundwater is low, economic conditions of farmers' better and political situations stable. However, more effective than direct regulatory measures have been the indirect measures, such as income compensation schemes in Spain or subsidy for electricity power meant to encourage well registration in Mexico. Third, current socioeconomic and political structure in a country determines its ability to govern groundwater, a case clearly exemplified through case of India and China.

THE ENERGY-IRRIGATION NEXUS: A REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE The Non-Existent EnergyIrrigation Nexus in China One of the main reasons for groundwater over- exploitation in India is the regime of electricity subsidy and unmetered supply.

However, this is a non-issue in China. In China, the electricity distribution companies operate on twin principle of full cost recovery with minor concessions for technical losses and metered supply (Shah et al. 2004a). In China, unlike India, rural electricity was charged at a higher rate than both domestic and urban electricity till recently (Wang et al. 2004).The

village committee managed the task of maintaining village electricity infrastructure and collecting users' fee and they in turn hire a local village electrician for doing the same. The village electrician works for a rather modest salary, but he is strongly incentivized to collect user fees such that if he can collect more than 10 percent of line losses allowed, he can keep 40 percent of that additional amount as incentives. In implementing this system, China's unique advantage is its strong village level authority structure.

Electricity Pricing and Groundwater Use in Pakistan The growth of groundwater followed a similar trajectory in Pakistan as in rest of north western India. Here use of electricity for groundwater pumping started in mid 1970s when the rural grid was expanded and government provided capital cost subsidy for tube wells. Much like India, initially all tube wells were metered and farmers were charged full cost of supply.

By mid 1980s, number of electric tube wells had increased manifold and it was decided to change to a flat tariff system (Qureshi and Akhtar 2003) where tariffs were quite high. By mid 1990s, the government withdrew electricity subsidies in the Punjab and the Sindh provinces and later in early 2000s, Pakistan reverted to earlier metered tariff regime. As a result, large numbers of electric tube wells were replaced with diesel pump sets (GOP 2000). Therefore, attempts at managing the electricity groundwater nexus through full cost pricing of electricity and metering did help the electricity sector, but it could not to control groundwater use because given the relatively shallow pumping depths in Pakistan Punjab, most farmers shifted from electricity to diesel tube-wells.

Overall groundwater draft increased from 43 billion cubic meters (BCM) in 1990 to 48 BCM in 2000 (Qureshi and Akhtar 2003; Bhutta 2002) and further increased to 51 BCM in 2006 (World Bank 2007).

Subsidized Electricity Groundwater in Oman

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Oman is one of the most arid countries in the world and its dependence on groundwater is high. There are 1.27 lakh4 wells in the Sultanate distributed over 128 catchment areas. New wells are subject to conditions of the Law on the Conservation of Water Resources, Royal Decree No. 29/2000. Licenses to drill new wells or deepen or replace existing wells are issued by the Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources.

In some ways, Oman's groundwater pumping is closely monitored Ă˘â‚Źâ€œ much more so than most countries. However, all groundwater structures in the country run on electricity and all agricultural consumption is metered, but tariffs are heavily subsidized (Zekri 2008).

Innovations in Managing EnergyIrrigation Nexus in Mexico Mexico, like India, provides electricity at a subsidized rate to farmers. The estimated power subsidy to agriculture in Mexico in 2000 was Mex$5.62 billion (US$592 million) which is almost equivalent to electricity subsidy in India at that time (Scott and Shah 2004).

It is widely acknowledged that direct monitoring of groundwater extraction is beyond the administrative capacity of the water authorities. In response, Mexico has introduced a law called the Rural Energy Law in 2002 which caps an annual energy limit in kilowatt hours (kWh) which, based on the depth of the water table and constant electro- mechanical efficiency, yields an equivalent annual volume of groundwater concessioned for a particular well. This law also established subsidies for the energy consumption of the agricultural sector. The purpose of this law is to help Mexican farmers to remain competitive with their US counterparts, but at the same time, remain within their allocated quota of groundwater determined under the 1992 Mexican Water Law (Morgera et al. 2009). The impact of this law is yet unclear, but prima-facie, this seems to work better than direct monitoring of groundwater (personal communication with Christopher Scott of Arizona University).

Diesel Subsidy and Pre-Paid Electricity Cards in Bangladesh Bangladesh has emerged as a major groundwater user in South Asia and currently has over 15 lakh pump sets, of which almost 95 percent run on diesel.

Goal of rice self- sufficiency is high on the policy agenda of the government, especially after the food price shock of 2008. In response, government of Bangladesh has designed an innovative subsidy scheme for farmers called the Agricultural Input Assistance Card (AIAC).

This scheme provides direct delivery of cash to the farmers' bank account which can then be used for purchase of diesel.

Small farmers operating the LLPs (Low Lift Pumps) and STWs (Shallow Tube Well)

are a major beneficiary of this program. Farmers eligible for receiving the cash subsidies under the program are given a pre-determined amount based on their land holding, which is then transferred directly to their bank account.

Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA)â₏�a government owned Irrigation Company has also introduced a prepaid metering system for farmers using electric tube wells. Under this system, an electronic pre-paid card is provided to the farmers. The farmer inserts his card in the meter slot and selects the number of hours of watering; it automatically opens the valves related to farmer's field and starts watering for chosen duration.

The meter takes a record of energy consumption and debits the amount as per power tariff from the farmer's card.

UNIQUENESS OF ENERGYIRRIGATION NEXUS IN INDIA Our review shows that there are a host of countries which make intensive groundwater use, and most of these countries provide electricity subsidy to farmers. However, none provide unmetered electricity to their farmers as is the practice in most states in India. The genesis of unique energyirrigation nexus in India is the policy decision in many states to supply unmetered power to the agricultural sector. Thus, it is the lack of energy accounting due to unmetered supply that is at the heart of this unique energy-irrigation nexus in India. While there are lessons from international experiences, none of these can be applied unless Indian states decide to meter its agricultural consumers and therein lies the real challenge.

REFERENCES Adnan, S. 1999. Agrarian structure and agricultural growth trends in Bangladesh: The political economy of technological change and policy interventions. In: Rogaly B, Harriss-White B. and Bose S (eds) Sonar Bangla? Agricultural growth and agrarian change in West Bengal and Bangladesh. New Delhi, Sage Publication, pp.177-228.

Bhutta, M.N. 2002. Sustainable management of groundwater in the Indus basin. Paper presented at second South Asia water forum, Pakistan Water Partnership, Islamabad, Pakistan, 14-16 December 2002 Burke, J and Moench, M. 2000. Groundwater and society: Resources, tensions and opportunities.

New York, United Nations. Dubash, N.K. 2002. Tube well capitalism, groundwater development and agrarian change in Gujarat. New Delhi, Oxford University Press.

Foster, S., Garduno, H., Evans, R., Olson, D., Tian, Y., Zhang, W. and Han, Z. 2004. Quaternary aquifer of North China plain - assessing and achieving groundwater resource sustainability.

Hydrogeology Journal, 12(1): 81-93.

Fujita, K. and Hossain, F. 1995. Role of the groundwater market in agricultural development and income distribution: a case study in a northwest Bangladesh village. Developing Economies, 33(4): 442-463.

Government of Pakistan. 2000. Agricultural statistics of Pakistan. Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Economics Division, and Government of Pakistan, Islamabad Hernandez-Mora, N. and Martinez Cortina, L. and Fornes, J. 2003. Intensive groundwater use in Spain. In: Llamas M.R. and Custodio, E. (eds) Intensive use of groundwater: Challenges and opportunities. The Netherlands, Balkema, pp.387-414.

IWMI. 2012. Direct Delivery of Power Subsidy to Agriculture: India Case Study, Report submitted by IWMI to ESMAP, July 2012 Janakarajan, S. 1994. Trading in groundwater: A source of power and accumulation. In: Moench M (ed) Selling water: conceptual and policy debates over groundwater markets in India. Ahmedabad, VIKSAT, pp.47-58 Lopez-Gunn, E. 2003. The role of collective action in water governance: a comparative study of groundwater user associations in La Mancha aquifers in Spain. Water International, 28(3): 367-378.

Morgera, E., Kulovesi, K. and Gobena, A. 2009. Case studies on bioenergy policy and law: options for sustainability. Bulletin FAO Legislative Study 2009 No. 102 pp. vii + 395 pp.

Mukherji, A. and Shah, T. 2005. Groundwater socio-ecology and governance: a review of institutions and policies in selected countries.Hydrogeology Journal, 13(1): 328-345.

Palmer-Jones, R.W. 2001. Irrigation service markets in Bangladesh: private provision of local public goods and community regulation. In: Paper presented at symposium on managing common resources: what is the solution? Held at Lund University, Sweden, 10–11 September 2001. http://www.sasnet.lu.se/palmer_jones.pdf Qureshi, A.S. and Akhtar, M. 2003. Effect of electricity pricing policies on groundwater management in Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Water Resources, 7(2):1-9.

Sandoval, R. 2004. A participatory approach to integrated aquifer management: the case of Guanajuato State, Mexico. Hydrogeology Journal, 12(1): 6-13.

Scott, C.A. and Shah, T. 2004. Groundwater overdraft reduction through agricultural energy policy: Insights from India and Mexico,Water Resources Development, 20(2): 149-164.

Shah, T. 1993. Groundwater markets and irrigation development: Political economy and practical policy. Bombay, Oxford University Press.

Shah, T. 2003. Governing the groundwater economy: Comparative analysis of national institutions and policies in South Asia, China and Mexico. Water Perspectives, 1(1): 2-27.

Shah, T., Giordano M. and Wang, J. 2004a. Water institutions in a dynamic economy: What is China doing differently from India? Economic and Political Weekly, 39(31): 3452-3461.

Shah, T., Scott, C. and Buechler, S. 2004b. Water sector reforms in Mexico: Lessons for India's new water policy. Economic and Political Weekly, 39(11):361-370 van Steenbergen, F. and Shah, T. 2003. Rules rather than rights: self-regulation in intensively used groundwater systems. In: Llamas, M.R and Custodio, E. (eds) Intensive use of groundwater: Challenges and opportunities. The Netherlands, Balkema, pp. 241-256.

Wang, J. and Huang, J. 2002. Water institutional and management system at national and river basin level in China, Beijing. Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy (internal paper) Wang, J., Zhang, L. and Cai, S. 2004. Assessing the use of pre-paid electricity cards for the irrigation tube wells in Liaoning Province, China. IWMI Tata Water Policy Programme, Anand and Chinese Centre for Agricultural Policy, Beijing.

World Bank. 2007. Punjab groundwater policy - Mission Report. WB-SA-PK-Punjab GW Mission report. http://www.worldbank.org/gwmate. Accessed June 2007 Zekri, S. 2008. Using economic incentives and regulations to reduce seawater intrusion in the Batinah coastal area of Oman. Agricultural Water Management, 95(3): 243-252.

1. This IWMI-Tata Highlight is based on research carried out under the ESMAP Project of World Bank with additional support from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo. It is not externally peer-reviewed and the views expressed are of the author/s alone and not of IWMI or its funding partners.

2. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support received from Dr. Mohinder Gulati of World Bank.

“As the global economy grows, so will its thirst. This is not an issue of rich or poor, north or south. All regions are experiencing the problem of water stress. There is still enough water for all of usbut only so long as we keep it CLEAN, use it more WISELY and share it FAIRLY. Governments must engage and lead, and the private sector also has a role to play in this effort.�

Ban Ki-Moon Secretary-General, United Nations, New York

Are We Running Out of Water?

by Brian Richter of The Nature Conservancy and University of Virginia

Dry river Darcha in India Early in 2001, the Rio Grande River failed to reach the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. With that nefarious event the Rio Grande joined a growing list of oncemighty rivers that are running dry from overuse: the Colorado River in the U.S., the Yaqui in Mexico, the Indus in Pakistan, the Ganges in Bangladesh, the Yellow and Tarim in China, and the Murray in Australia, along with many other rivers large and small.

Not surprisingly, fisheries in these oncebountiful rivers have crashed. After all, fish do need water. We’ve tapped underground water sources pretty heavily as well. The water level in the Ogallala Aquifer in the

Midwestern U.S. has dropped more than 150 feet in some places, leaving many farmers’ wells bone dry. As water is sucked out of aquifers, the overlying soil and rock can compact or collapse into the dewatered void, causing tall buildings to teeter in Mexico City, automobiles to tumble into sinkholes in Florida, or swallowing tourists on the fringes of the shriveling Dead Sea in Israel and Jordan.

With so many rivers, lakes and aquifers going dry, we have to ask: Are we running out of water?

Big Picture The glass-half-full answer is no……. at least not at the planetary level. Today there is just as much water on the planet as there was when the first signs of life appeared.

Every year, about 110,000 billion cubic meters of water falls on the land surface of our planet as rain or snow. That annual endowment of water would cover all land to nearly a meter deep if it was spread evenly.

More than half of all of that water evaporates quickly or gets taken up by trees, shrubs, and grass.

More than a third flows out to the coasts, where it helps to maintain the delicate saltand freshwater balance of estuaries, without which much of our seafood industry would collapse.

Of all the water falling on land, we’re consuming less than 10% to grow our crops, supply our homes, keep our industries running, and generate electricity.

Every bit of the water that falls on land or in the ocean or is used for human endeavors is eventually evaporated back up into the sky as water vapor, replenishing our planet’s never-ending freshwater cycle. No water is actually ‘lost’ in that global cycle.

So what’s the problem? Surely we can’t be in trouble if we’re depleting less than 10% of the Earth’s naturally renewable water, and the water cycle keeps bringing that water back year after year?

Here’s the catch: the water that falls from the sky isn’t evenly distributed around the globe, and our needs for that water aren’t the same everywhere.

So why can’t we just move water from places of abundance to places of shortage? Why can’t we take the fresh water flowing to the Arctic Circle and redirect it to the parched cities of the American Southwest?

Such plans have been on the drawing boards of big water dreamers for decades. In truth, the only thing that has stopped these initiatives is the fact that far less costly alternatives usually exist for meeting our water needs in the near term. We only have to look to the South-North Water Transfer Project in China for a bellwether of what may come. The Chinese will invest $62 billion to build a pipe-and-canal system to move water over hundreds of kilometers from the Yangtze River to parched cities and farms in the north. As the New York Times reported last year, “It would be like channeling water from the Mississippi River to meet the drinking needs of Boston, New York and Washington.”

But here’s another catch: Even if we could move water over great distances in a cost-effective manner, it takes a tremendous amount of energy to do so. Nearly 20% of all electricity used in California – whose statewide plumbing system is reminiscent of a Rube Goldberg design – is spent moving water around. The energy required to move water – and its associated carbon emissions — is not inconsequential in the efforts to arrest climate change. Until we have abundant clean energy sources to power such re-plumbing of the planet’s water

sources, we should not be investing in them. And yet one more important consideration: We should be careful about ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul.’ As we dry up a river or lake to harvest or export its water, the health of fish populations and natural freshwater ecosystems plummet.

In virtually all of the large rivers that have begun to go dry, fisheries have been decimated, leading to severe hardship for local people that depend upon that food source for their subsistence and livelihoods.

This map portrays the number of months each year in which the depletion of water for human uses is greater than 20% of the naturally-renewable water supply in rivers, lakes and aquifers (based on averages from 1996-2005). More than half of the more than 400 water basins analyzed are experiencing water scarcity during some part of the year. From Hoekstra et al. 2012 Taking Stock of the World’s Local Water Accounts Nearly half of all the water that falls on land ends up in a river, lake, or aquifer before being used or flowing out to sea.

Last year, I published a journal paper with colleagues at The Nature Conservancy that suggested that depletion of a freshwater source by more than 20% will likely have harmful ecological and social consequences.

The conclusion that should be drawn from all of this: we need to take stock of our local water sources and manage them wisely. As my water colleagues like to say, that “All politics — and water — are local.”

We can think of these freshwater sources as individual water accounts.

Some examples: the Colorado River basin, the Great Lakes basin, and the Ogallala Aquifer.

But unlike money accounts, it is untenable to move large volumes of water from account to account. Therefore, it only makes sense to pay close attention to the balance in our local water accounts.

When managing these water accounts, it is quite helpful to think of

them in much the same way as you think about your personal bank account: over the course of the year, you make some deposits and you take out some withdrawals. If you continuously take out more than you deposit, you’re headed for trouble.

The bankruptcy of our unsustainable water use can be measured in the drying of rivers and the drawing down of aquifers. In many river basins and aquifers we are taking out more than is deposited by rain or snow.

Until recently, we have not had a decent balance sheet or map to tell us how our water accounts were doing.

The map above is a good first measure of how much water is being depleted from our global water stocks.

This recently published map is a fruit of the labors of an Ethiopian PhD student named Mesfin Mekonnen and his mentor, Arjen Hoekstra at the University of Twente in The Netherlands. (disclosure: I was a small-bit co-author on the paper that included this map). To produce this map, Mekonnen and Hoekstra calculated how much of the water in each freshwater source was being depleted by agriculture, industry, and domestic uses.

They then compared the volume of water being depleted with the amount of water flowing into rivers, lakes, and aquifers each year. For any month of the year in which the cumulative water depletion exceeds 20% of the water falling from the sky, they flagged as being “moderately water scarce.” The map shows how many months are determined to be water scarce in each of more than 400 river basins globally.

An important conclusion from this study: in nearly half of the water basins evaluated, more than 40% of the renewable water supply is already being depleted.

As with any map depicting global conditions, this one surely has its inaccuracies.

Better data are available in many locales, which can reveal a more accurate reading of the status of local rivers, lakes and aquifers.

But with this study, Mekonnen and Hoekstra have finally given us an initial answer to what may be the most pressing question of our time: How much water is left?

Posted by Brian Richter of The Nature Conservancy and University of Virginia in Water Currents – a magazine of National Geographics

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What is Ground Water?

How does water get into the ground?

When rain falls to the ground, the water does not stop moving. Some of it flows along the land surface to streams or lakes, some is used by plants, some evaporates and returns to the atmosphere, and some seeps into the ground. Water seeps into the ground much like a glass of water poured onto a pile of sand.

As water seeps into the ground, some of it clings to particles of soil or to roots of plants just below the land surface. This moisture provides plants with the water they need to grow. Water not used by plants moves deeper into the ground.

The water moves downward through empty spaces or cracks in the soil, sand, or rocks until it reaches a layer of rock through which water cannot easily move. The water then fills the empty spaces and cracks above that layer. The top of the water in the soil, sand, or rocks is called the water table and the water that fills the empty spaces and cracks is called ground water.

Water seeping down from the land surface adds to the ground water and is called recharge water. Ground water is recharged from rain water and snowmelt or from water that leaks through the bottom of some lakes and rivers.

Ground water also can be recharged when water-supply systems (pipelines and canals) leak and when crops are irrigated with more water than the plants can use.

At least some ground water can be

found almost everywhere. The water table may be deep, such as under a hillside, or shallow such as under a valley. The water table may rise or fall depending on several factors. Heavy rains or melting snow may increase recharge and cause the water table to rise. An extended period of dry weather may decrease recharge and cause the water table to fall.

What is an aquifer?

Aquifer is the name given to underground soil or rock through which ground water can easily move. The amount of ground water that can flow through soil or rock depends on the size of the spaces in the soil or rock and how well the spaces are connected. The amount of spaces is the porosity.

Permeability is a measure of how well the spaces are connected.

Aquifers typically consist of gravel, sand, sandstone, or fractured rock such as limestone. These types of materials are permeable because they have large connected spaces that allow water to flow through. The spaces in a gravel aquifer are called pores. The spaces in a fractured rock aquifer are called fractures.

If a material contains pores that are not connected, ground water cannot move from one space to another. These materials are said to be impermeable.

Materials such as clay or shale have many small pores, but the pores are not well connected. Therefore, clay or shale usually restrict the flow of ground water.

The next illustration shows how the connections between the pores or fractures control how water moves through an aquifer.

Who uses ground water?

More than 50 percent of the people in the United States, including almost every- one who lives in rural areas, use ground water for drinking and other household uses. Ground water is also used in some way by about 75 percent of cities and by many factories. The largest use of ground water is to irrigate crops.

How do you get water out of the ground?

Ground water can be obtained by drilling or digging wells. A well is usually a pipe in the ground that fills with ground water. This water can then be brought to the land surface by a pump. Shallow wells may go dry if the water table falls below the bottom of the well, as illustrated at right.

Water leaving an aquifer is called discharge water. Water that is pumped from a well is discharge water. Ground water might also discharge naturally as springs or into swamps, lakes, or rivers.

Some wells, called artesian wells, do not need a pump. These wells are drilled into an artesian aquifer, which is sandwiched between two impermeable layers. Water enters an artesian aquifer in a permeable recharge zone, which can be miles away from the well. When a well is drilled into an artesian aquifer, pressure pushes water in the well above the top of the aquifer. If the pressure is high enough, water can flow from an artesian well.

Can we run out of ground water?

We can run out of ground water if more water is discharged than recharged. For example, during periods of dry weather, recharge to the aquifers decreases. If too much ground water is pumped during these times, the water table can fall and wells may go dry.

Ground water can become unusable if it becomes polluted and is no longer safe to drink. In areas where the material above the aquifer is permeable, pollutants can seep into ground water. Ground water can be polluted by seepage through landfills, from septic tanks, from leaky underground fuel tanks, and sometimes from fertilizers or pesticides used on farms as shown at right.

However, with careful use and by reducing sources of pollution, ground water can continue to be an important natural resource in the future.

Courtesy : U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Division Chief, Office of Ground Water, Dr. Reston VA 20192 http://water.usgs.gov/ogw/index.html

DO YOU KNOW? In India, during most years—  about 1/3 of the water we use comes from surface water and  about 2/3 of the water we use comes from groundwater.

Water India Ground water Surface water

Did you know that groundwater can take a human lifetime just to traverse one kilometer?

Groundwater Quiz 1. Where does groundwater come from?

A. Rainfall and melting snow B. Underground rivers 2. How many people in INDIA get their drinking water from groundwater?

A. About 30 Percent B. About 70 Percent 3. How fast does groundwater move?

A. It flows like a river or stream.

B. A few inches per year to a few feet per minute.

4. What can you do to help protect groundwater?

A. Recycle used waste oil.

B. Don't use more lawn chemicals than necessary.

C. Dispose off hazardous and household chemicals properly.

D. All of the above.

5. Where does groundwater flow when it comes out of the ground?

A. Lakes, rivers, and streams.

B. Groundwater stays underground and does not come to the surface.

6. How often should you test a private water well?

A. At least once a year.

B. At least once every five years.

C. Someone else will test it for me.

7. What can make groundwater unsafe to drink?

A. Leaky landfills.

B. Leaking underground storage tanks.

C. Failing septic systems.

D. All of the above.

8. Can you drill a well anywhere and get good groundwater for drinking?

A. Yes, groundwater is about the same everywhere.

B. No, the quality can be very different from place to place.

9. Why should I be concerned about groundwater protection?

A. It might be the source of your drinking water.

B. It could cost lots of money to clean up the groundwater.

C. Groundwater can make me sick if it is contaminated.

D. All of the above.

ANSWERS 1A 2B Every day people living in India use million litres of groundwater. You might have your own well right in your yard near your home, or you might get your water from a municipal supply

or from water utility. A municipality/water utility pumps the groundwater out and pipes it to your home. Where does your drinking water come from?

3B Many people actually think that ground water runs in underground rivers. This is not true.

Ground water is water that fills all the space in the soil like a sponge.

Each type of soil--clay, loam, silt, sand, or rock has different amounts of space between the grains. Sometimes water can move fast through the soil like in sand, other times it is slowed down by thick soils like clay. Fast ground water movement may be a mile per day. Slow ground water might move less than one millimeter per day. What kind of soil is near your house?

4D There are lots of things you can do to protect ground water. Any of the actions listed here will help.

A. Recycle used waste oil. Yes, you can recycle used engine oil at many petrol pumps. If your parents go to an oil change station, have them ask if the oil is recycled there.

B. Don't use too many lawn chemicals. Make sure your parents read the directions and use lawn chemicals only as needed. They can harm the groundwater if too much is applied.

C. Dispose off hazardous and household chemicals properly. They can really make you sick if they get into the groundwater.

5A 6A Safe today doesn’ t mean safe tomorrow! Contaminants can be moving slowly underground, just like groundwater, and get into the drinking water supply. Testing once per year might keep you from getting sick!

7D There are lots of things that can make groundwater unsafe to drink.

A. Leaky landfills.

Yes, imagine the goop from the dump mixing with groundwater and then gets into your glass of water?

B. Underground storage tanks.

Yes, but only if a petrol pump or other business has a leaky tank underground. Then petrol/gas can get into the groundwater and maybe into your drinking water.

C. Septic systems.

Yes, if they aren’ t working right they can contaminate your drinking water if you have a private well.

8B Ground water is different everywhere you go. There are different minerals and rock all across the country, which can affect the ground water. Also, people use the land differently and sometimes their actions contaminate the water supply. Some of these contaminants include: gasoline, fertilizer, road salt, paint thinner, industrial waste, and sometimes even cow dung!

9D There are lots of reasons you should be concerned about ground water protection.

A. It might be where your drinking water comes from.

Majority of Indians get their water from ground water. The rest get it from the Reservoirs/ rivers.

B. It could cost lots of money to clean up the ground water.

It can cost thousands to crores of Rupees to clean up ground water from contamination.

That’s a lot of pizzas for you!!

C. Ground water can make me sick if it is contaminated.

You can get sick from drinking water if there is bacteria, natural contaminants, or human made chemicals in it.

Water Facts of Life Ride the Water Cycle With These Fun Facts  There is the same amount of water on Earth as there was when the Earth was formed. The water from your faucet could contain molecules that dinosaurs drank.  Water is composed of two elements, Hydrogen and Oxygen. 2 Hydrogen + 1 Oxygen = H2O.  Nearly 97% of the world’s water is salty or otherwise undrinkable. Another 2% is locked in ice caps and glaciers. That leaves just 1% for all of humanity’s needs — all its agricultural, residential, manufacturing, community, and personal needs.  Water regulates the Earth’s temperature. It also regulates the temperature of the human body, carries nutrients and oxygen to cells, cushions joints, protects organs and tissues, and removes wastes.  75% of the human brain is water and 75% of a living tree is water.  A person can live about a month without food, but only about a week without water.  Water is part of a deeply interconnected system. What we pour on the ground ends up in our water, and what we spew into the sky ends up in our water.  Water expands by 9% when it freezes. Frozen water (ice) is lighter than water, which is why ice floats in water.

If the Earth Were a Globe 72 centimeters in Diameter: 

All of the water on the planet would fill less than one cup.



Only 0.03% of one cup is in rivers and fresh water lakes.



Slightly more than one drop of water would fill all the rivers and lakes.

Water Conservation Pledge I pledge to conserve water and to Use water wisely.I pledge to take shorter showers, to use a broom to sweep , to use less water while bathing , to turn off the tap while brushing teeth, and to use water carefully in the garden. I pledge to remind my parents to use water wisely if they are wasting it. When I become an adult, I pledge to continue my water-saving habits because I know that water is life and India does not have enough water to waste.

Signature

WATER MANAGEMENT FORUM

Save water every day Nation is facing severe water challenges.

Water supplies for many cities, farms and businesses are being significantly reduced due to dry conditions, and growing pressure on the state’s water storage and delivery system.

Climate change is compounding the problem.

“When I brush my teeth, I turn the water off.”

Save 32 litres a day

I’m doing what I can to save Nation’s water.

With water shortages a reality in many parts of the state, your efforts to save water can make a difference. Rethinking the way you use water– both indoors and outdoors – will help stretch our limited supplies and ensure water is there when we need it.

You can help, too.”

Since water is a limited resource and it is important to each of us every day, water conservation is essential. By following these water conservation tips in the home you can help conserve water every day, whether there’s a drought or not.

Water availability in India per person dropped by 15 per cent to 1545 cubic litres in a decade according to 2011 census.

India has 18 per cent of world's population & 4 per cent of globe's water. @ 80 per cent of this is used for farming, 10 per cent by factories.

Inside Home KITCHEN • Wash vegetables in container, not under running water.  Turn the tap on only while rinsing utensils LAUNDRY ROOM

.

Tips on Leaks Lots of water can be lost by little leaks.

A small drip can waste 280 liters of water in a day and more than 4,000 liters a day can pour through a steady leak of one-sixteenth inch in size. Fix leaky faucets and toilets right away. When hot water is dripping, energy is also being wasted. Since a leak can be a major water waster, always fix any leak as soon as possible.

PIPE LEAKS Detect leaking pipeline especially at joints and rectify.

FAUCET LEAKS Most leaks, besides toilet leaks, are in the faucets, and most are mainly due to worn washers. Listen for running water when plumbing fixtures are closed and water using appliances are off. Check your tap a couple of times a year to see if all the faucets are working properly

TOILET LEAKS Put food coloring in your toilet tank and wait for 20 minutes. If it seeps into the toilet bowl, you have a leak. Many toilet leaks can be fixed with simple tools.

• Use washing machine for full loads only.

BATHROOM • Turn water off when brushing teeth and soaping hands.

• Take shorter showers.

(Showers kept under 5 minutes can save you about 60 liters per shower) • If you take a bath, fill bathtub less than halfway.

(You can save 40—60 liters per bath) • Install a high efficiency flush toilet • Install aerators on bathroom faucets

Outside Home

LANDSCAPE

•

Irrigate your yard in the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler.

• Check your sprinkler system frequently and adjust sprinklers so only your lawn is watered and not the house, side walk,or street. Install precise landscaping irrigation, use rotating nozzles to save water and eliminate wasteful runoff.

• Choose water-efficient irrigation system such as drip irrigation for your trees, shrubs, and flowers.

• Water deeply but less frequently to create healthier and stronger landscapes.

• Plant drought-resistant trees and plants.

इन छोटे छोटे क़दम उठाकर बचाया जा सकता है पानी वोश

या शेव करते

•

नलको बंध रखे

सफाई करते समय कम से कम

पानीका उपयोग करे । पौछा लगाते

CLEANUP

कम से कम पानी का

Use broom to clean driveways, sidewalks, patios and walkways.

• Wash cars/ vehicles with a bucket, sponge, and hose with self-closing nozzle.

. साबुन लगाते समय शावारको बंध रखे. कम

शावारसे दस से

बचाया जा सकता है फल और

करनेसे पानी यह

बगैर

धोनेके बजाय

बचत हो सकती है

करे

का उपयोग न करे l कोई

जल

लेकर साफ़

न हो

ACTIVITIES • Install a pool/spa cover to reduce evaporation and filter backwash.

• If draining a pool is necessary, find a use for the water.

• Check your pool and pool plumbing for leaks.

जल से बढती

तथा

,

। अतएव जल

आज

करके

करके आगे काम तथा भू-जल

होने से जल

बन गई है । सुधार

तरफ आने से रोका जाए और

मांग बढती जा

जल संचयन

लेने

है । इसके

जाए तथा

के जल का

मौसम के दौरान

है

पर यह

है

भू-जल जल को

जल का अपवाह तथा

जल का

जाए ।

जल

के

आप

 -यह जांच

कर सकते है ?

आपके घर

 -आपको िजतनी  -पानी के

पानी का हो उतने

को

 -नहाने के

न

मशीन का तथा

होने पर

।

।

िजससे

जल

खपत न हो ।

को धोते समय नलो का खुला न छोड़े ।

 -जल को सफाई

।

।

तथा

जल को

 -

जल का उपयोग

करने के बाद बंद

 -मंजन करते समय नल को बंद

 -ऐसी

न हो ।

न बहाएं

इसे

जैसे -

अथवा बगीचे को सींचने अथवा

लाए । तथा

 -

को धोने

उपयोग

गए जल को

तथा

के

को सींचने

जा सकता है । बोतल

 -पानी

अंततः बचे हु ए जल को

 -पानी के हौज को खुला न  -

,

अथवा

अपतु इसका

। कूड़ा न

।

को सींचने

उपयोग

।

Water Conservation Basics Series Part I Think About It...

What would a day be like without water ?

How have you personally used water today?

How do you think your use of water compares to people's use 100 years ago?

Is there enough water to last forever?

Learn About It...

We need water.

Water makes up about 65% of our bodies; we cannot live more than about a week without drinking water. And we need water to grow our food and make products that we use every day.

We use a lot of water every day.

Is there a never ending supply?

Well, yes...and no.

Water does fall from the sky, but it is not “new” water, just recycled water. The amount of water on Earth never increases or decreases. We have a fixed supply.

Heated by the sun, water on the ground in oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, and other areas evaporates; water vapor is also released from plants through transpiration. All this water vapor rises into the air, cools, and condenses into tiny droplets that gather and form clouds or fog. Finally, when the clouds meet cool air over land, precipitation in the form of rain, hail, sleet, or snow is triggered, and water returns to the land or sea. Thus, the water you use is the same water used by dinosaurs, pilgrims, and your great grand-parents.

Our supply of water meets our needs most of the time. But, in times of drought we don't have enough water. And the demand for water is growing—every day—while our supply is decreasing as the population grows and as we find more ways to use these precious resources.

So how can we be sure we have enough for the future?

(To be continued..)

How Much Water needed to produce?

Slice of Bread:

40 Litres Bag of Potato Chips: 185 Litres

Cup of Tea:

35 Litres

Apple:

70 Litres

Tomato:

1 3 Litres Glass of Apple Juice: 190 Litres

Potato:

Cup of Coffee:

25 Litres Glass of Milk:

140 Litres

Egg:

200 Litres

135 Litres

SYSTEM OF ROOT INTENSIFICATION (SRI) TECHNOLOGY ON PADDY WHY SRI ?

• Poor farmer can double productivity in his land • 50% less water requirement • Can grow any type of paddy seed variety • Can grow in all three seasons • Can grow SRI-paddy in all lands (except Water-logged plots)

SRI Technology uses   • • • •

SRI Principles  Early Transplanting (two-leaf stage)-Rice seedlings lose much of their growth potential  Wider spacing of plants leads to greater root growth and accompanying tillerings  Soil aeration (thru 2-3 weeding) and organic matter create beneficial conditions for plant root growth

Less external inputs Less seed (2 kg/ac) Fewer plants per unit area (25 x 25 cm) Less chemical fertilizer More organic manures Less pesticides

TRADITIONAL PADDY

PADDY BY SRI

Nursery bed size: 4000 sq feet per acre Seed rate : 30-40 kg per acre Total man days : 4 per acre

(

T r a d it io n a l 

C o m S R I

p a r is o n

o f

S R I

&

t r a d it io n a l

Comparative cost analysis

Nursery bed size: 400 sq feet per 2 kg seeds Seed rate : 2-3 kg per acre Total man days : 1 per acre

T i l l e r i n g )S

R I

SRI Item Ploughing Seed kg Nursery Preparation Main Field Levelling Transplantation Fertilizer Manure/Compost Weeding Harvesting & Thrashing Total Cost Paddy Yield kg/Acre(Rs. 10 /kg) Net Income

Traditional

Quantity 2

2800

Traditional

Price Rs. 1,500 400 150 300 1,470 1,200 500 800 1,500 7,820 28,000 20,180

Quantity 10

1500

Price Rs. 1,500 2,000 500 300 1,050 2,000 300 1,000 1,500 10,150 15,000 4,850

SRI( By weeder)

1st weeding after two weeks of transplanting

26 person-days/acre

2nd weeding on 4 weeks

Total-16 person-days/acre 3rd after 6 weeks

Best Management Practices (BMP) series

Watershed Management on Participatory Basis in Villages of Bhilwara district of Rajasthan

ABOUT BHILWARA DISTRICT Bhilwara District is located in Rajasthan. It is bounded in the north by Ajmer District, in the north-west, west and south west by Udaipur and Rajasamand district. In the south and south south-east by Chittorgarh district. In the east and north east by Bundi and Tonk districts. Agriculture is the main occupation of majority of the population of Bhilwara District. More than 80 percent of the workers are engaged in agricultural activity. Maize, Wheat, Barley(jo), Til, Urad, Moong, Jeera,Gram, Groundnut, Rai, Mustard & Cotton are major crops of Bhilwara District.

THEME AND PURPOSE Uncertain monsoons cause difficulty for agriculture, if water is not stored sufficiently for hedging. This project was conceptualized for improving the livelihood of villagers and eco restoration of the area through participatory watershed management in Bhilwara district, Rajasthan.

The purpose of the project was:  To ensure water harvesting and conservation  To ensure water security and thus support agriculture and economic activity, improving livelihood of the villagers  To restore ecological balance

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION The watershed project focuses on efficient water use, agri marketing and crop diversification. Pasture land was developed for fodder and fuel wood.

Water User Associations and Self Help Groups (SHGs) were formed so as to ensure participation of the beneficiaries right from the beginning. 36 Self Help Groups were linked to banks. 1,100 households benefitted through improved agricultural practices.

For the purpose of capacity building, watershed training programs were conducted and market linkages to farmers were provided through existing networks of ITC’s e-choupals.

RESOURCES The cost of the project was estimated as Rs. 6 crore. This was shared between the State Government, the Industry and the community in ratio of 40: 40: 20 (Govt., Industry and Community).

PROJECT OUTCOME AND CURRENT STATUS 508 hectares of catchment land and 185 hectares of pasture land got developed. 3 lakh meters of water was harvested through 33 harvesting structures. Employment opportunities were generated for 90,000 people in the last three years resulting in total income of Rs. 8 lakh. 1,700 hectares of land was treated under watershed.

REPLICABILITY OF THE PROJECT The model is replicable in comparable conditions. Location specific and tailor made solutions have to be identified and translated into specific projects.

Source: CII Water Institute

The health of small streams is critical to the health of the entire river network and downstream communities.

P

NATIONAL POSTER COMPETITION ON WATER CONSERVATION – 2013 FOR SCHOOL STUDENTS Water Management Forum has launched All India Poster Competition with a view to making children aware about need of conserving the precious resource of water and also involving their parents in the above noble cause. The competition is open for all students of India studying in standard V to Standard XII from 1st June 2013 to 31st July 2013. The winners will be awarded cash prizes.

All entries to be sent by post to the registered office of the Forum at:

Entry rules The Director, Water Management Forum, Institution of Engineers The participants shall (I), Bhaikaka Bhavan, Opposite Law Garden, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad bear the expenses towards the material required for preparing the posters and no cost in this regard would be borne

by Water Management Forum or The institution of Engineers (India). There will be no restriction on type/size of paper, paints, crayons, water colour, etc.

The theme for the poster competition is Water Conservation.

All posters must contain the following details at the back of the poster – Name of student, class, Section, School, full school address, father/mother’s name, telephone number of school and parents along with STD code, signature of School Principal. Posters not signed by the school Principal or sent directly by student/parent to the Water Management Forum will not be accepted.

Winners shall be declared during August 2013 by the Jury.

Awards Three best posters shall be selected by the Jury three independent eminent persons appointed by the Forum. Winners shall be conferred upon an award, a certificate and cash prize. 1st Prize shall be Rs. 10,000/-; Second prize Rs. 5000/- and the third prize shall be Rs. 2000/- All other participants will be given a participation certificate.

INSTITUTION OF AWARDS :BEST CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS CONSERVATION OF WATER Preamble Water is one of the vital components of life. The rapid pace of irrigation growth, urbanization & industrialization has put enormous stress on water resources. Cumulative impact of increase in use of this precious natural resource has led to water scarcity in many regions of the country.

Nevertheless, the climate change has also resulted in change in hydrologic cycle in the country. Hence, it is necessary that this scarce resource is protected by effective and efficient management on sound scientific methodology for its sustainable development.

The award for best contribution towards water conservation is launched with an objective to encourage all stakeholder including the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Institutions, Individuals etc. for adopting innovative practices of ground water augmentation by rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge, promoting water use efficiency, recycling & re-use of water and creating awareness through people's participation in the targeted areas resulting into the sustainability of water resources development, adequate capacity building amongst the stakeholders etc.

2. Details of Awards There will be two categories for nomination.

1) Individuals 2) Institutions -- Number of awards & periodicity- One per year -- Details of award- a citation and a plaque.

3. Eligibility Criteria The awards are open for the stakeholders who have achieved excellence in water resources management. A selection Committee has been formed which shall be finalizing selection criteria.

Nominations shall be open from June end and AWARDS shall be conferred on winners during Congress in December 2013.

For further details log on to www.wmf-iei.org

NEWS AND VIEWS Vital drip: Using discarded saline bottles to irrigate fields Madhya Pradesh : Drip irrigation is a water-efficient means of irrigating fields in drought-prone areas. The infrastructure it requires often proves expensive for small farmers. Now Ramesh Parmar, a small farmer in Rotala village in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh, has devised a simple, inexpensive and effective way of drip irrigating crops.

The 33-year-old could Parmar substitutes saline bottles with earlier cultivate only 1.5 polythene packets to irrigate papaya bigha (1 bigha = 0.167 (Photo: Kundan Pandey) hectare) of the 60 bighas he owned due to severe water scarcity. With his new system, involving the use of a few saline bottles, a small water tank and a bucket, Parmar can conveniently irrigate his fields.

Parmar devised a simple drip irrigation system which used saline bottles bought from a scrap vendor. "I hung one saline bottle above every plant and arranged it such that water could reach the point where it was needed", he says. Parmar constructed a water tank with a tap, filled a bucket in the field using a plastic pipe, and manually filled the bottles.

"It is a bit difficult, as it needs more physical labour to fill the bottles manually. But this is the only available option for a small farmland", adds Parmar. This indigenous drip irrigation system has yielded remarkable results compared to other farms nearby.

"Last year, I sold bitter gourd worth Rs 25,000", says Parmar.

Parmar improvised his technique for papaya cultivation, using polythene bags as a cheaper and easily available alternative to saline bottles. "Papaya trees need more water, and the small saline bottle cannot provide enough. I struggled with the challenge of filling the bottle several times a day.�

His entire drip irrigation system, including the permanent water storage tank he constructed, cost a little more than Rs 2,000. "I bought six kilograms of used saline bottles, about 600 bottles, at Rs 20 a kg. I hung a rope across my farmland and suspended one

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bottle above each gourd plant. I also constructed a small cement tank to store water, which cost around Rs 2,000", says Parmar.

Source: Down To Earth , India Water Review Sanitation innovator named 2013 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate Dr. Peter Morgan has been named the 2013 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate for his work to protect the health and lives of millions of people through improved sanitation and water technologies.

Over the past four decades, Dr. Morgan has invented and advanced low-cost practical solutions to provide access to safe sanitation and clean water that are being used by millions of people worldwide. Dr. Morgan currently serves as Director of Aquamor, a notfor-profit company working in the rural water supply and sanitation sector in Zimbabwe. He has previously served as Chief Research Officer and acting Director of the Blair Research Laboratory and as Advisor to the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe. Throughout his career, Dr. Morgan has shared his designs and innovations freely and ensured that they can be implemented and improved by the local communities where they are used.

The Stockholm Water Prize is a global award founded in 1991 and presented annually by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to an individual, organisation or institution for outstanding water-related achievements. The Stockholm Water Prize Laureate receives USD 150,000 and a crystal sculpture specially designed and created by Orrefors. H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is patron of the prize.

Tamil Nadu announces plans to set up four desalination plants The Tamil Nadu Government has announced plans to set up another desalination plant at Nemmeli to augment supply of water in Greater Chennai area. The new plant will have a capacity of 150 million litre per day (MLD) and is expected to cost Rs. 1000 crore. It has also been decided to set up another desalination plant with a capacity of 200 MLD at Pattipulam in next four years. The plant can be expanded up to 400 MLD. Chennnai already receives 200 MLD of desalinated water from two existing desalination plants at Minjur and Nemmeli. Last week, the State Government had announced two desalination plants for Ramanathapuram and Tuticorin districts with a capacity of 100 MLD each.

India eyes regional pacts with neighbours on water, hydropower India has decided to arrive at sub-regional water sharing arrangements with Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan that would see the south Asian neighbours jointly develop transboundary rivers for water resources and hydropower.

India is keen to have in place tri-nation initiatives for common basin management of rivers also. While there is one alliance that is being sought between India, Nepal and Bangladesh, the other is between India, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

According to news reports, the three countries are expected to carry out technical and geographic exploration of the Ganga to increase and equally distribute the use of its waters.

The three will also explore technically and geographically feasible means for augmentation and equitable distribution of augmented supply of water and power.

EVENTS Workshop on Food Water Security, Manglore, 4,5,6 Feb 2013 Workshop on Save Water, Chandigarh, 15th Feb 2013 India Water Week, New Delhi, 8 – 13 April 2013 Workshop on Water Harvesting & its Impact on Water Management, Dehradun, 21ST April 2013 Workshop on Development of Water Infrastructure, Morbi, 9th May 2013 Workshop on Water Cooperation, Ranchi, 12th May 2013 National Poster Competition 2013 for School students: Water Conservation 1st June to 31st July 2013 Upcoming Events (Next Quarter) Exhibition on AquaTech at Ahmedabad Workshop on water harvesting at Bhubaneswar Workshop on water conservation at Lucknow Broadcast to 30,000 schools film on Save Water

‘Indigenous knowledge more helpful in water conservation” On the International Day for Biological Diversity, Rajendra Singh, known as the 'Waterman of India' said that the present education system needs to step out from the confines of textbooks and adopt indigenous knowledge systems for water conservation. Citing example of Rajasthan farmers, where he and his NGO Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) has brought water to over a thousand villages, Singh said "adopting indigenous practices was the key to success in Rajasthan.

Neither I nor any farmer had any professional knowledge about the water systems. We observed the Earth and took decisions on the basis of our observations and indigenous knowledge".

The Periyakulam lake came alive on Sunday as nearly thousand people showed up to help de-silt the 320-acre water body Sunday morning witnessed hectic activity of a different kind from residents of the city. People of various age groups, from a 10-year-old girl to a senior citizen, shrugged off weekend lethargy and participated in the shramdan to rejuvenate the Periyakulam.

Over a 1,000 people from different walks of life pitched in to make earthen mounds, part of the cleaning process of the Ukkadam big tank before the onset of the South West monsoon.

The shramdan is also an exercise in increasing awareness of the vast potential and storage capacity of the water body, which is largely dry at the moment. They hope more volunteers will show in the ensuing Sundays. With the work progressing briskly, they hope to have the lake de-silted in four weeks’ time.

World on course to run out of water, warns Ban Kimoon Ban Ki-moon has warned the world is on course to run out of freshwater unless greater efforts are made to improve water security.

Speaking on the UN’s International Day of Biological Diversity, Ban said there was a “mutually reinforcing” relationship between biodiversity and water that should be harnessed.

“We live in an increasingly water insecure world where demand often outstrips supply and where water quality often fails to meet minimum standards. Under current trends, future demands for water will not be met,” Ban said.

Water, food, energy and climate are all linked. Most forms of energy generation require water, variable weather is making agriculture harder while extreme weather events are hindering natural water storage.

Ban believes there is an opportunity to address these challenges as the Millennium Development Goals are replaced with a new set of objectives. “As the international community strives to accelerate its efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and define a post-2015 agenda, including a set of goals for sustainable development, water and biodiversity are important streams in the discussion.”

A Plan to Bring Sun-Powered Irrigation to Poor Farmers One of the finest applications of solar photovoltaic panels is in powering drip irrigation systems for farmers in hot, sunny, poor parts of the world. You don’t even need to store the electricity. The pumping is mainly needed when the sun is shining.

To gauge the remarkable benefits of such systems, start with this peer-reviewed study of solar irrigation projects in Africa’s dry zone led by Jennifer Burney of the University of California, San Diego, and Stanford: “Solar-powered drip irrigation enhances food security in the Sudano–Sahel.”

One of the challenges, as with many solar systems, is cost.

Now, Paul Polak, a veteran developer of simply designed products that can benefit the world’s poor (particularly farmers), is trying to raise $50,000 using Indiegogo to produce what he and some volunteer engineers say will be a 2,000-watt solar pumping system that is affordable for farmers who make $3 to $5 a day. (There are three weeks and around $35,000 to go.)

The initial focus is to establish something of a water hub in a village in India. As Polak explains, “When two or more of these pumps are in the same vicinity it creates a micro-market for excess water, creating opportunity for the poorer farmers.”

India, Netherlands ink agreement on water management India and Netherlands signed an MOU for technical cooperation in the field of spatial planning, water and mobility management, a government statement said. The agreement was signed by Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Minister for Infrastructure and Environment of the Netherlands. The MoU will enable greater cooperation in the areas of - spatial planning, urban and regional planning and development and architecture, water management in terms of water supply and sanitation and governance structures, transport management and transport systems and infrastructure, energyefficient and sustainable built forms, the Urban Development ministry said in a statement.

Water is Life – Conserve it, Respect it, Enjoy it.

WMF PUBLICATIONS 1. Traditional Water Management in Ancient India 2. Otto Otter for safe water 3. What everyone should know about Hydropower 4. Water Conservation: Students’ Resources WMF PAMPLHLETS 1. Ground Water poster 2. Water Harvesting for rural areas 3. Water Harvesting for urban areas 4. Save water in your daily use 5. Water Trivia 6. Pledge- save water 7. Nature’s Water Cycle 8. How much water does it take to grow your food VIDEO FILMS Save Water (English) Save Water (Hindi) Shorter versions also available CONTACT: The Director, Water Management Forum, Bhaikaka Bhavan, Near Ellisbridge Gymkhana, Ahmedabad 380015 watermanagementforum@ gmail.com