WATER

RESOURCES

AMAZING FACTS OF
WATER RESOURCES
WATER RESOURCES: water is a natural
resources.
SOURCES OF WATER: Surface water,
Ground water, Atmospheric water and
Oceanic water.
MEAN ANNUAL FLOW: 1869 billion cubic
meters.
GROUND WATER: 433.9 billion cubic
meters.
IRRIGATION AREA: 8.47 crore hectares.
CANAL IRRIGATION: 39.9 per cent area.
HYDRO ELECTRIC POWER: 84000 MW.

FACTOR RESPONSIBLE FOR

DEPLETION OF WATER
RESOURCES
The availability
of water per
person is decreasing.
The use of water in increasing
due to increasing population.
Water resources are being used
in industrial sector at a fast
rate.
Water is used for irrigation to
increase the agriculture
productivity.

FACTORS THAT DETERMINE ITS

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
AVALIABILITY OF SURFACE WATER
RESOURCES
There are four major surface water:
These are RIVERS, LAKES, PONDS &
TANKS.
In the country, there are about
10,360 rivers and their tributaries
longer than 1.6 Km each.
The mean annual flow in all he river
basins in India is estimated to be
1,869 cubic km.

FACTORS FOR DISTRIBUTION

RAINFALL: Water flow in a river depends on
size of its catchment area or river or river
basin and rainfall within its catchment
area.
VARIABILITY: Precipitation in India has very
high spatial variation, and it is mainly
concentrated in monsoon season.
RIVERS: Some of the rivers in the country like
Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Indus
have huge catchment areas. Given that
precipitation is relatively high in the
catchment areas of the Ganga, the
Brahmaputra and the Barak rivers, these
rivers although account for only about one
third of the total area in the country,

SOCIAL CONFLICTS AND

DISPUTES OF WATER
RESOURCES
The sharing of water of rivers of
Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh
is a contesting issue.
Since long, the dispute is going on
between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka
over the waters of Kaveri river.
The sharing of water Narmada Basin
is a dispute between the state of

 METHODS: It in involves
prevention of runoff and
storage and recharge of
ground water through
various methods like
percolation tanks, recharge
wells, etc.
AIMS: However, in broad
sense watershed
management includes
conservation, regeneration
and judicious use of all
resources natural (like
land, water, plants and
animals) and human with in
a watershed.
PROGRAMMES: (i) Haryali, is
a watershed development

CHALLENGES ARE EXPECTED

TO BE FACED IN FUTURE
Demographic transition
Technological advancement
Geographical shift of
population
Degradation of environment

LOW COST TECHNIQUES TO

RECHARGE THE GROUND WATER
Roof water
harvesting
Refilling of
dug wells
Recharging
of hand
pumps
Construction
of
percolation
pits

Groundwater flow

RAINWATER HARVESTING
It is a
technique of
increasing the
recharge of
groundwater
by capturing
and storing
rainwater
locally in

RAINWATER
HARVESTING

OBJECTIVE OF RAINWATER HARVESTING

Soil conservation.
Conservation of water.
Conservation of arable lands.
Development of horticulture.
Development of forestry and
silvi culture.
Conservation of environment.
Increase in agriculture outputs.
To check environmental
degradation.

AIMS OF RAINWATER
HARVESTING

Meets the ever

increasing demands
for water.
Reduce the run off
which chokes drains.
Avoid the flooding of
roads.
Augment the
groundwater storage
and raise the water
table.
Reduce groundwater
pollution.
Improve the quality of
groundwater.

USE OF GROUNDWATER
RESOURCES
IN
INDIA
States with high use: The
groundwater utilization
is very high in the state
of Punjab, Haryana,
Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu.
States with low use: There
are states like
Chhattisgarh, Orissa,
Kerala, etc., which
utilize only a small
proportion of their
groundwater potentials.
States with moderate use:
State like Gujarat, Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura
and Maharashtra are
utilizing their ground
water resources at a

WHY IRRIGATION IS
NECESSARY IN INDIA?
Irrigation is needed because of spatio
temporal variability in rainfall in the
country.
The large tracts of the country are
deficient in rainfall and are drought
prone.
North western India and Deccan
plateau constitute such areas.
Winter and summer seasons are more or
less dry in most parts of the country.
Hence, it is difficult to practice
agriculture without assured irrigation
during dry seasons. Even in the areas of

IRRIGATION IN INDIA

INDIAS NATIONAL WATER

POLICY,2002
The national water policy,2002 stipulates
water allocation priorities broadly in the
following order: DRINKING WATER,
IRRIGATION, HYDRO POWER, NAVIGATION,
INDUSTRIAL, and others uses. The policy
stipulates progressive new approaches to
water management.
Irrigation and multi purpose projects
should invariably include drinking water
component, wherever there is no alternative
sources of drinking water.
Providing drinking water to all human
beings and animals should be the first
priority.
Measures should be taken to limit and

QUESTIONS BASED
ON DATA

S.N
o

Name of Basin ground water

resources

Total
Level of
replenish able Groundwat
utilization
er
(%)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.

Brahmai with Baitarni

Brahmaputra
Chambal composite
Kaveri
Ganga
Godavari
Indus
Krishna
Kuchchh and saurashtra including
river Luni
Chennai and south Tamil Nadu
Mahanadi
Meghna (Barak & Other)
Narmada
North east composite
Pennar
Subarnrekha
Tapi
Western Ghat

4.05
26.55
7.19
12.3
170.99
40.65
26.49
26.41
11.23
18.22
16.46
8.52
10.83
18.84
4.93
1.82
8.27
17.69

8.45
3.37
40.09
55.33
33.52
19.53
77.71
30.39
51.14
57.68
6.95
3.95
21.74
17.2
36.6
9.57
33.04
22.88

431.42

31.97

(I) Which river Basin has the highest total

replenishable groundwater resources?
Ans. Ganga river.
(II) In which river basin is the level of
groundwater utilization the highest?
Ans. Chennai and Tamil Nadu.
(III) Which river basin has the lowest total
replenishable groundwater resources?
Ans. Subarnarekha.
(IV) In which river basin is the level of
groundwater utilization the lowest?
Ans. Brahmaputra.

STATE

PERCENTAGE OF AREA
IRRIGATED BY WELLS

Gujarat
Rajasthan

AND TUBEWELLS
86.6
77.2

Madhya Pradesh

66.5

Maharashtra

65

Uttar Pradesh

58.21

West Bengal

57.6

Tamil Nadu

54.7

(I) Which state has the highest

irrigated area by wells and tube
wells?
Ans. Gujarat.
Reason: Absence of canals.

(II) Which state has low irrigated area

by wells and tube wells?
Ans. Tamil Nadu.
Reason: canal irrigation is more.

EVERY DROP OF
WATER IS PRECIOUS
CONSERVE IT