Draft National Water Policy

Water is a natural resource, fundamental to life, livelihood, food security and sustainable development. It is also a scarce resource. India has more than 17 per cent of the world’s population, but has only 4 per cent of world’s renewable water resources with 2.6 per cent of world’s land area.

There are further limits on utilisable quantities of water owing to uneven distribution over time and space. In addition, there are challenges of frequent floods and droughts in one or the other part of the country.

The draft water bill has proposed to give water an economic good status so that wastage and inefficient use could be stemmed.

It favours privatisation of water-delivery services, suggests pricing of water to recover operation costs and administration of water projects.

The first such policy was in 1987 followed by another in 2002.

Highlights

The objective of the National Water Policy is to take cognizance of the existing situation and to propose a framework for creation of an overarching system of laws and institutions and for a plan of action with a unified national perspective.

The present scenario of water resources and their management in India has given rise to several concerns, important amongst them are:

• Large parts of India have already become water stressed. Rapid growth in demand for water due to population growth, urbanisation and changing lifestyle pose serious challenges to water security.
• There is wide temporal and spatial variation in availability of water, which may increase substantially due to climate changes, causing more water crisis and incidences of water related disasters, i.e., floods, increased erosion and increased frequency of droughts, etc.
• Climate change may also increase the sea levels. This may lead to salinity intrusion in ground water aquifers / surface waters and increased coastal inundation in coastal regions.
• Access to safe drinking water still continues to be a problem in some areas. Skewed availability of water between different regions and different people in the same regions is inequitous and has the potential of causing social unrest.
• Groundwater, though part of hydrological cycle and a community resource, is still perceived as an individual property and is exploited inequitably and without any consideration to its sustainability leading to its over-exploitation in several areas.
• Water resources projects, though multi-disciplinary with multiple stakeholders, are being planned and implemented in a fragmented manner without giving due consideration to optimum utilization, environment sustainability and holistic benefit to the people.
• Inter-State, inter-regional disputes in sharing of water hamper the optimum utilisation of water through scientific planning on basin/sub-basin basis.
• The existing water resources infrastructure is not being maintained properly resulting in under-utilization of available resources.
• Natural water bodies and drainage channels are being encroached upon, and diverted for other purposes.
• Growing pollution of water sources is affecting the availability of safe water besides causing environmental and health hazards.
• Low public consciousness about the overall scarcity and economic value of water results in its wastage and inefficient use.
• The lack of adequate trained personnel for scientific planning, utilizing modern techniques and analytical capabilities incorporating information technology constrains good water management.
• A holistic and inter-disciplinary approach at water related problems is missing.
• The public agencies in charge of taking water related decisions tend to take these on their own without consultation with stakeholders.

Water Framework Law

Even while it is recognized that States have the right to frame suitable policies, laws and regulations on water; there is a felt need to evolve a broad over-arching national legal framework of general principles on water to lead the way for essential legislation on water governance in every State of the Union and devolution of necessary authority to the lower tiers of government to deal with the local water situation.

The Draft Bill has proposed a water framework which must recognize water not only as a scarce resource but also as a sustainer of life and ecology. The Draft Bill has called for managing water as a community resource, held by the state, under public trust doctrine to achieve food security, livelihood, and equitable and sustainable development for all. The Indian Easements Act, 1882 may have to be modified accordingly in as much as it appears to give proprietary rights to a land owner on groundwater under his/her land.

The Draft Bill has emphasised the need for comprehensive legislation for optimum development of inter-State rivers and river valleys to facilitate inter-State coordination ensuring scientific planning of land and water resources taking basin/sub-basin as unit with unified perspectives of water in all its forms (including precipitation, soil moisture, ground and surface water) and ensuring holistic and balanced development of both the catchment and the command areas.

Uses of Water

The Centre, the States and the local bodies (governance institutions) must ensure access to a minimum quantity of potable water for essential health and hygiene to all its citizens, available within easy reach of the household. Ecological needs of the river should be determined recognizing that the natural river flows are characterized by low or no flows, small floods (freshets), large floods, etc., and should accommodate developmental needs. A portion of river flows should be kept aside to meet ecological needs ensuring that the low and high flow releases are proportional to the natural flow regime, including base flow contribution in the low flow season through regulated ground water use.

After meeting the minimum quantity of water required for survival of human beings and ecosystem, water must be used as an economic good with higher priority towards basic livelihood support to the poor and ensuring national food security.

Adaptation To Climate Change

Climate change is likely to increase the variability of water resources affecting human health and livelihoods. Therefore, special impetus should be given towards mitigation at micro level by enhancing the capabilities of community to adopt climate resilient technological options.

• The adaptation strategies could include increasing water storage in its various forms, namely, soil moisture, ponds, ground water, small and large reservoirs, and their combination, which provides a mechanism for dealing with increased variability because of climate change.
• In view of likely impact of the climate change, there is a need to adopt compatible agricultural strategies, and cropping patterns. This may be achieved by involving the water users, sensitising them appropriately and building their capacities.

Enhancing Water Available For

As per present estimate, India receives on average annual precipitation of about 4000 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM), which is its basic water resource. Out of this, after considering the natural evaporation- transpiration, only about 1869 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM) is average annual natural flow through rivers and aquifers. Of this, only about 1123 BCM is utilizable through the present strategies, if large inter-basin transfers are not considered. Thus, the availability of water is limited but the demand of water is increasing rapidly due to growing population, rapid urbanization, rapid industrialization and economic development.

Therefore, availability of water for utilization needs to be augmented to meet increasing demands of water. Direct use of rainfall and avoidance of inadvertent evapo-transpiration are the new additional strategies for augmenting utilizable water resources.

There is a need to map the aquifers to know the quantum and quality of ground water resources (replenishable as well as non-replenishable) in the country. This may be periodically updated.

Declining ground water levels in over-exploited areas need to be arrested by introducing improved technologies of water use, incentivizing efficient water use and encouraging community based management of aquifers. In addition, where necessary, artificial recharging projects should be undertaken so that extraction is less than the recharge. This would allow the aquifers to provide base flows to the surface system, and maintain ecology.

Water Use Efficiency

The Draft National Water Policy (DNWP) has highlighted the importance of managing water resources properly to meet the future needs. It has suggested managing water through:

1. Evolving an agricultural system which economises on water use and maximises value from water
2. Bringing in maximum efficiency in use of water and avoiding wastages.

Water Pricing

The Daft Water Bill has touched upon a very sensitive issue related to water policy: Pricing of water.

• The Bill has suggested that over and above the pre-emptive uses for sustain life and eco-system, water be treated as an economic good.  It has recommended that water be priced to promote efficient use and maximizing value.
• There should be a mechanism in every State to establish a water tariff system and fix the criteria for water charges, preferably on volumetric basis, at sub-basin, river basin and State level after ascertaining the views of the beneficiary public, based on the principle that the water charges shall reflect the full recovery of the cost of administration, operation and maintenance of water resources projects taking into account the cross subsidy, if any.
• Recycle and reuse of water, after treatment to specified standards, should be encouraged through a properly planned tariff system, in which there is a cost for the quantity withdrawn, a refund for properly treated water returned for reuse, and heavy fines for returning polluted waters.
• Water Users Associations should be given statutory powers to collect and retain a portion of water charges, manage the volumetric quantum of water allotted to them and maintain the distribution system in their jurisdiction.
• Heavy under-pricing of electricity leads to wasteful use of both electricity and water. This needs to be reversed.
• All hydrological data, other than those classified as secret on national security consideration, should be in public domain.
• A National Water Informatics Center should be established to collect and collate hydrologic data (other than data classified as secret on national security consideration) regularly from all over the country, conduct the preliminary processing, and maintain in open and transparent manner on a GIS platform.
• All water related data, like rainfall, snowfall, geo-morphological, climatic, geological, surface water, ground water, ecological, water extraction and use, irrigated area, glaciers, etc., should be integrated with well defined procedures and formats to ensure online updation and transfer of data to facilitate development of database for informed decision making in the management of water.
• A Water Regulatory Authority should be established in each State. The Authority will fix and regulate the water tariff system in an autonomous manner.
• The Authority may also have functions other than tariff systems, such as regulating allocations, monitoring operations, reviewing performance and suggesting policy changes, etc.
• Water Regulatory Authority in a State may also assist in resolving intra-State water-related disputes.
• The Draft National Water Policy (DNWP) has also proposed to set up a permanent Water disputes Tribunal at the Centre.
• There is a need to remove the large disparity between stipulations for water supply in urban areas and in rural areas.
• Efforts should be made to provide improved water supply in rural areas with proper sewerage facilities.
• Rural areas with endemic ground water quality problems (such as fluoride or arsenic) may be supplied piped surface water.
• If ground water treatment is done through local systems, the problem of disposing the concentrates should be tackled adequately with due regards to environmental hazards.
• Another alternative is to improve the quality of ground water through dilution with good quality surface water, wherever feasible.
• Urban domestic water supplies should preferably be from surface water.