Water Resources

– Sources and
Sustainability

MODULE 3 LECTURE 2
Sustainable water use

• Sustainable water use refers to the management of water

resources in a way that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.
• Principles of Sustainable Water Use
• Efficiency: Maximizing water use with minimal waste.
• Equity: Ensuring that all sectors (domestic, agriculture, industry) have
fair access to water resources.
• Environmental Protection: Maintaining healthy ecosystems that depend on
water, such as wetlands, rivers, and aquifers.
• Resilience: Ensuring that water resources can withstand and recover from
stresses such as droughts, floods, and pollution.
Importance of Sustainable Water Use

• Resource Scarcity: With growing water demand, especially

in arid and semi-arid regions, sustainable management
ensures continued access to freshwater.
• Climate Change: Unpredictable weather patterns increase
the need for adaptive water management.
• Public Health: Clean water is essential for health, and
sustainable practices help maintain water quality.
Key Strategies for Sustainable Water
Use
• Water Efficiency Improvements: Implementing technologies and
practices that reduce water consumption.
• Wastewater Treatment and Reuse: Recycling and reusing water for non-
potable uses (irrigation, industrial cooling).
• Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM): A holistic approach
that considers all water users (urban, rural, agricultural) and
integrates environmental, economic, and social aspects.
• Rainwater Harvesting: Collecting and storing rainwater for later use,
especially in water-scarce areas.
• Pollution Control: Reducing pollution through improved waste
management and treatment facilities.
 Strategies for water conservation and
sustainable water use in various sectors
 Watershed Management
• To control damaging runoff and degradation and thereby conservation of
soil and water.
• To manage and utilize the runoff water for useful purpose.

• To protect, conserve and improve the land of watershed for more

efficient and sustained production.
• To protect and enhance the water resource originating in the watershed.

• To check soil erosion and to reduce the effect of sediment yield on the
watershed.
• To rehabilitate the deteriorating lands.

• To moderate the floods peaks at down stream areas.

• To increase infiltration of rainwater.

Watershed Management Practices
• Vegetative measures ( Agronomical • Engineering measures ( Structural
measures) practices)
• Strip cropping • Contour bunding

• Pasture cropping • Terracing

• Grass land farming • Construction of earthern embankment

• Construction of check dams
• wood lands
• Construction of farm ponds
• Establishment of permanent grass and
vegetation • Construction of diversion
• Gully controlling structure
• Providing vegetative and stone
barriers • Rock dam
• Construction of silt tanks
Agriculture

• Agriculture accounts for about 70% of global freshwater use, mainly for
irrigation

• Drip Irrigation: Delivers water directly to the plant roots, reducing

evaporation and runoff.
• Drought-Resistant Crops: Using crops that require less water.

• Efficient Water Management: Proper timing and quantity of irrigation based

on weather conditions and soil moisture
Industry

• Industry accounts for 20% of water use, often in manufacturing, cooling,

and cleaning processes

• Closed-Loop Systems: Reusing water within the system to minimize

consumption.
• Water Recycling: Treating and reusing wastewater for industrial processes
or cooling.
• ZLD - Zero liquid discharge
Urban Areas – Domestic use

• Accounts for 8% of water use

• Leak Detection and repair in water supply systems.

• Low-flow fixtures (e.g., low-flow faucets, showerheads, and toilets).

• Rainwater Harvesting: Collection of rainwater for domestic use, reducing

reliance on external sources.
• Greywater Recycling: Reusing water from sinks, showers, and washing machines
for non-potable purposes like irrigation.
• Smart Metering and Monitoring: Use of IoT and data analytics to detect leaks,
monitor usage patterns, and optimize water distribution.
Water Conflicts
Water Conflicts
• Competition for Limited Resources: When water is scarce or
unevenly distributed, competition between sectors (agriculture,
industry, domestic) increases.
• Transboundary Water Issues: Shared rivers and aquifers often
lead to conflicts between countries or regions over water
rights and usage.
• Pollution: Contamination of water sources can lead to disputes
over water quality and access.
• Climate Change: Changes in rainfall patterns and rising
temperatures exacerbate water scarcity, leading to conflicts
over access to available water resources.
Impact of Water Conflicts

• Social and Political Instability: Conflicts over

water can lead to regional tensions and even military
conflicts.
• Economic Consequences: Water scarcity can lead to
reduced agricultural yields, industrial output, and
power generation, impacting economies.
• Environmental Degradation: Over-extraction of water
can harm ecosystems, causing river drying, habitat
loss, and biodiversity reduction
Global Case Studies
Nile River Conflicts
ETHIOPIA - BACKGROUND EGYPT AND SUDAN - BACKGROUND
• Treaties regarding Nile River water • Both Egypt and Sudan are Lower Nile Basin
rights date back to the colonial period countries and receive relatively low rainfall
and continue to be referenced today in levels compared to Upper Nile Basin states,
legal matters. making them highly dependent on the Nile River
• In the colonial period of the early 20th for water supply.
century, historically significant
• According to the UN, Egypt has an annual water
treaties were signed between colonial
powers and Nile River riparian states, deficit of around seven billion cubic meters and
including the Treaty Between Great is projected to completely water-scarce by 2025.
Britain and Ethiopia, the Tripartite
• Egypt’s water scarcity resulted in protests in
Treaty, and the Agreement between Egypt
2007, known as the “Revolution of the Thirsty,”
and Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
after residents of the Nile Delta reported
• The treaties significantly undermined putrid water in their limited water supply.
Ethiopia’s rights to the Nile River,
despite the Blue Nile running through • As such, both countries continue to reference
Ethiopia’s sovereign land, and favored these colonial-era treaties in a bid to remain
Egypt and Sudan’s rights to the Nile’s water-secure despite environmental pressures.
water. However, Ethiopia refuses to recognize the
Nile River Conflicts
• Tensions in 1978 following Ethiopia’s proposal of dam construction on
the Blue Nile.
• Ethiopia’s proposal was met with significant Egyptian backlash that
ultimately led to the failure of the project.
• In 2010, Ethiopia announced its intention to build the largest and
most expensive hydroelectric dam in Africa. The proposal was
immediately met with Egyptian and Sudanese backlash, with Egypt
calling for African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) intervention
on the matter and then Egyptian Minister of Water and Environmental
Resources, Mohamed Nasr Eldin Allam, forming an agreement with the
Sudanese government to preserve “the historical rights of both
countries to the Nile’s water.”
• Although Sudan declared neutrality in the dispute in 2014,
Indus River Conflict

GEOGRAPHY

• Glaciers and tributaries originating in the high mountains of the Ngari

Prefecture in western Tibet, the Himalayas, Hindu Kush in Afghanistan and the
Karakoram feed the extensive Indus river system.
• Its floodplain, where most of Pakistan’s population live, is one of the largest
agricultural regions in Asia.
• Around 90% of Pakistan's food and 65% of its employment depend on farming and
animal husbandry, which are sustained by the Indus
Indus River Conflict
PAKISTAN CONTEXT INDIAN CONTEXT
• According to NASA, the Indus Basin • The position of the LOC meant that India
is the world’s second most over- gained control of upstream barrages,
stressed aquifer which regulated water flow into Pakistan.
• Over-extraction of its finite • As the boundary between India and
groundwater resources is a major Pakistan cut across many of the river’s
challenge in the Indus Basin tributaries, an upstream-downstream power
• Unlike India, Pakistan relies almost
structure emerged, which has been the
exclusively on the Indus, and source of tensions between the two
southern downstream areas are countries, particularly in response to
especially vulnerable to strains on dam projects in Indian-administered
territory
the basin’s water supply.
• Over the past two decades Pakistan has
launched multiple attempts to prevent
Indus River Conflict - CONFLICT RESOLUTION

• The Indus Water Treaty (IWT)- signed in 1960, and mediated by the World Bank

• Under the IWT, control over the three eastern tributaries of the Indus River—
Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas—is granted to India before they flow into Pakistan, and
the three western tributaries—Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab—to Pakistan
• Under the IWT, the Permanent Indus Commission was established, composed of
equal numbers of representatives from both India and Pakistan.
• All developments along the Indus must be reported to the other party. Any
differences in opinion with regards to interpreting the application of the
treaty is first referred to the Commission.
• Should a disagreement emerge, an independent third party may be approached. If
the difference in opinion is regarded as a dispute by the neutral party, a
court of arbitration can be established to resolve the issue
• IWT has generally been considered a success, surviving multiple interstate
The Colorado River
• United States and Mexico over water rights to the Colorado River.

• The Colorado River provides water to more than 40 million people across seven
southwestern states, 29 tribal nations and Mexico
• In Las Vegas, 90% of its water supply comes from the river. In Phoenix and was
it's 50% and in Los Angeles it's 25%.
• According to a 1922 agreement, each of these seven states have a legal right
to a certain amount of the river's water. But this compact was made under the
assumption that there was more water than there actually was.
• Scientists have been predicting for years that the Colorado River would
continue to deplete due to global warming and increased water demands
• Between January 2000 and April 2023, the amount of water stored in Lake Mead
and Lake Powell, the two largest reservoirs in the United States, declined by
33.5 million acre feet (41.3 billion cubic meters).
Interstate River disputes in India
• Krishna water dispute between states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh (old)
• Godavari water dispute between states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Goa
• Narmada water dispute between the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,
Gujarat and Maharashrtra
• Cauvery water dispute between the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu
and Union Territory of Pondicherry
• Mahadayi/Mandovi water dispute between the states of Goa, Karnataka and
Maharashtra
• [Link]
Enlist and explain the major water
conflicts around the world