3. •
Water conservation
encompasses the policies,
strategies and activities to
manage fresh water as a
sustainable resource to
protect the water
environment and to meet
current and future human
demand. Population, household
size and growth and affluence
all affect how much water is
used. Factors such as climate
change will increase pressures
on natural water resources
especially in manufacturing
and agricultural irrigation
4. •
Rainwater harvesting is a
technology used for collecting and
storing rainwater from rooftops,
the land surface or rock
catchments using simple
techniques such as jars and pots as
well as more complex techniques
such as underground check dams.
The techniques usually found in
Asia and Africa arise from
practices employed by ancient
civilizations within these regions
and still serve as a major source of
drinking water supply in rural
areas. Commonly used systems are
constructed of three principal
components; namely, the
catchment area, the collection
device, and the conveyance system.
5. •
Watershed management is the study
of the relevant characteristics of a
watershed aimed at the sustainable
distribution of its resources and the
process of creating and implementing
plans, programs, and projects to
sustain and enhance watershed
functions that affect the plant,
animal, and human communities within
a watershed boundary. Features of a
watershed that agencies seek to
manage include water supply, water
quality, drainage, stormwater runoff,
water rights, and the overall planning
and utilization of watersheds.
Landowners, land use agencies,
stormwater management experts,
environmental specialists, water use
surveyors and communities all play an
integral part in the management of a
watershed.
6. •
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•
•
•
•
•
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Reuse of graywater for flushing toilets
or watering gardens
Recycling of wastewater through
purification at a water treatment plant.
See also Wastewater - Reuse
Rainwater harvesting
High-efficiency clothes washers
Weather-based irrigation controllers
Garden hose nozzles that shut off water
when it is not being used, instead of
letting a hose run.
using low flow taps in wash basins
Swimming pool covers that reduce
evaporation and can warm pool water to
reduce water, energy and chemical costs.
Automatic faucet is a water conservation
faucet that eliminates water waste at
the faucet. It automates the use of
faucets without the use of hands.
7.
8. •
The population of India exceeds 1.1 billion
people and is growing annually at an astonishing
1.4%.The economy is experiencing even greater
growth rates, with roughly 8% increases in
gross domestic product (GDP) annually in the
past several years.The nation’s use of water
has naturally intensified in step with the jumps
in population and economic growth. India’s
annual groundwater extraction rate is the
highest on earth: an estimated 200 billion cubic
meters per year.The country boasts
approximately nineteen million groundwater
extraction structures, over four times the
amount in China, Pakistan, Mexico, and the
United States combined.4The expanding
economy and population make sustainable
access to water one of the critical issues
dictating the nation’s future.Much of India’s
heavy reliance on groundwater is attributable
to the country’s unique climate and how it
affects India’s largely agrarian economy. The
Indian climate is marked by the erratic rain
patterns of the monsoon.The summer monsoon,
which lasts a period of 100–125 days, accounts
for 80% of yearly rainfallA possible solution to
over-use of groundwater in India
9. India’s heavy dependence on groundwater has led the
country into a water crisis because it is currently
extracting its groundwater at an unsustainable rate.18
Groundwater depletion is perhaps most evident in the
dry regions of the country. A joint study by the Central
Groundwater Board (CGWB) and the states shows that
approximately 14.7% of the groundwater units of the
country are “over exploited,” meaning the current
groundwater extraction levels exceed recharge
levels.Additionally, approximately 3.9% of the units are
“critical,” i.e., currently extracted at 90–100% of their
capacity. These figures only account for current levels
of use, and the number of overexploited regions is
expected to continue rising each year.Furthermore,
these national-level depletion rates do not fully
represent the plight of the arid regions. States that
have a considerable number of overexploited units
include Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.
According to a study done in 2004, in Gujarat, 31 of the
184 talukas were withdrawing greater amounts than the
annual recharge levels could support, with twelve
talukas drafting 90% of the sustainable
level.Additionally, more than 15% of the units were at
critical or overexploited levels in Andhra Pradesh.
10. To properly comprehend and evaluate current reform movements, an
understanding of the background legal framework is necessary. The following is a
brief summary of the Indian groundwater system, as it developed under the common
law.
India’s water law is not, nor has it ever been, treated as its own discrete policy
area with one self-contained water code or a single line of water-related case law.
Rather, laws pertaining to water are scattered amid numerous constitutional
provisions, irrigation acts, land use acts, judicial opinions, and various other state and
central government laws. In stark contrast to other former colonial countries, India
has not strayed far from the British legal system in many of its core legal doctrines.
Hence, the groundwater property structure has remained relatively unchanged since
colonial times. India inherited much of its water law system from Common English
Law. The Indian Easements Act, 1882, which is still in effect today, officially
incorporated the British groundwater legal structure into Indian law. The Act
deems groundwater to be an easement connected to the land and grants landowners
an unrestricted right to use the groundwater below the land. Specifically, every
landowner has the right to “collect and dispose within his own limits of all water
under the land which does not pass in a defined channe.”The Act solidified the
notion that surface water is state property, while groundwater is the property of the
landowner. The common law system incorporated by the Act views groundwater as
chattel connected to the land, and allows the landowner ownership rights based on the
ad coleum principle Unlike with surface waters and underground streams in defined
channels, which are governed by the riparian doctrine of reasonable use, landowners
have the right to extract percolating groundwater in any amount they desire with no
risk of liability from adjacent landowners for overuse. Under the common law,
there is no limit to the amount of groundwater a particular landowner may extract.
As preemnent Indian water scholar Chhatrapati Singh put it
11. If the Model Bill and the state bills were enforced exactly as
they were written, they would likely do a great deal to
improve sustainable use of groundwater resources. The
permitting and registration systems would give the
government a clear window into types of groundwater uses
and levels of extractions—all of which would be helpful in
keeping groundwater use at safe levels. But the statutes are
simply not being enforced. Among the state acts, the MWRRA
shows greater promise because it approaches water
regulation on the river basin level, rather than attempting to
regulate surface water under one authority and groundwater
under another authority.This holistic method recognizes the
interrelated properties of the water cycle and makes an
attempt to take all relevant water bodies into account to
enhance sustainable use. Other state statutes, some recently
enacted and some still in the proposition stage, follow the
lead of the MWRRA in this regard. Hopefully successful
implementation of these provisions is close on the
horizon.Concerning pollution and its effect on sustainability,
the Model Bill and the vast majority of the state acts are
silent about pollution because the EPA has set up an
independent institutional framework under the purview of the
central government to legislate on such matters. Thus, the
pollution problems of millions of wells dispersed across the
country are placed under the authority of the central
government.
12.
13. Community organizing is a process where people who
live in proximity to each other come together into an
organization that acts in their shared self-interest.
Unlike those who promote more-consensual community
building, community organizers generally assume that
social change necessarily involves conflict and social
struggle in order to generate collective power for the
powerless. A core goal of community organizing is to
generate durable power for an organization
representing the community, allowing it to influence
key decision-makers on a range of issues over time. In
the ideal, for example, this can get community
organizing groups a place at the table before important
decisions are made. Community organizers work with
and develop new local leaders, facilitating coalitions
and assisting in the development of campaigns
ONE EXAMPLE OF MOVEMENT BASED ON WATER
STRUGGLES IN INDIA WAS THE NARMADA
BACHAO ANDOLAN (NBA)
14. Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is a social
movement consisting of adivasis, farmers,
environmentalists, and human rights activists
against a number of large dams being built
across the Narmada river. The river flows
through the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, and
Madhya Pradesh in India. Sardar Sarovar Dam in
Gujarat is one of the biggest dams on the river
and was one of the first focal points of the
movement. Friends of River Narmada is the
unofficial website of the NBA.
Their mode of campaign includes hunger strikes
and garnering support from film and art
personalities (notably Bollywood actor Aamir
Khan). Narmada Bachao Andolan, with its leading
spokespersons Medha Patkar and Baba Amte,
received the Right Livelihood Award in 1991.
15. Within the focus of Narmada Bachao Andolan towards the
stoppage of the Sardar Sarovar dam, Patkar advised addition
of World Bank to their propaganda. Using the right to
fasting, she undertook a 22-day fast that almost took her
life. In 1991, Patkar's actions led to an unprecedented
independent review by the World Bank. The Morse
Commission, appointed in June 1991 at the recommendation of
World Bank President Barber Conable, conducted its first
independent review of a World Bank project. This
independent review stated that "performance under these
projects has fallen short of what is called for under Bank
policies and guidelines and the policies of the Government of
India." This resulted in the Indian Government pulling out of
its loan agreement with the World Bank. In response, Patkar
said "It is very clear and obvious that they used this as a
face-saving device," suggesting that if this were not to
happen, the World Bank eventually would have withdrawn the
loan. The World Bank's participation in these projects was
cancelled in 1995.
She undertook a similar fast in 1993 and resisted evacuation
from the dam site. In 1994, the Bachao Andolan office was
attacked reportedly by a couple of political parties, where
Patkar and other activists were physically assaulted and
verbally abused. In protest, a few NBA activists and she
began a fast; 20 days later, they were arrested and forcibly
fed intravenously.
16. Amongst the major celebrities who
have shown their support for
Narmada Bachao Andolan are Booker
Prize winner Arundhati Roy and Aamir
Khan.
1994 saw the launch of Narmada: A
Valley Rises, by filmmaker Ali Kazimi.
It documents the five-week
Sangharsh Yatra of 1991. The film
went on to win several awards and is
considered by many to be a classic on
the issue. In 1996, veteran
documentary filmmaker, Anand
Patwardhan, made an award-winning
documentary: A Narmada Diary.
17. The Narmada dam's benefits include provision
of drinking water, power generation and
irrigation facilities. However, the campaign led
by the NBA activists has held up the project's
completion, and the NBA supporters have
attacked on local people who accepted
compensation for moving.Others have argued
that the Narmada Dam protesters are little
more than environmental extremists who use
pseudoscientific agitprop to scuttle the
development of the region and that the dam
will provide agricultural benefits to millions of
poor in India. There had also been instances
when the NBA activists turned violent and
attacked rehabilitation officer from Narmada
Valley Development Authority (NVDA) and
caused damage to the contractor's machinery.
The NBA has been accused of lying under oath
in court about land ownership in areas
affected by the dam. The Supreme Court has
mulled perjury charges against the group.
