A F FOR W P - NIAS Repository

Bangalore, India

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIES

A FRAMEWORK FORINDIA’S WATER POLICY

R4-09

T. N. Narasimhan

Vinod K. Gaur

A Framework for India’s Water Policy

NIAS Report

T. N. NarasimhanUniversity of California at Berkeley, USA, and

Distinguished Academic Visitor,National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India

and

Vinod K. GaurIndian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore,

CSIR Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation, Bangalore, India andAssociate, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIESBangalore, India

November 2009

© National Institute of Advanced Studies 2009

Published by

National Institute of Advanced StudiesIndian Institute of Science CampusBangalore - 560 012Tel: 2218 5000, Fax: 2218 5028E-mail: [email protected]

NIAS Report R4-09

ISBN 978-81-87663-85-0

Typeset & Printed by

Aditi EnterprisesBangalore - 560 023Ph.: 080-2310 7302E-mail: [email protected]

1



context of the hydrological cycle, andperspectives of legal and cultural traditions thatfacilitate a just adaptation of society to a sharingof common resource vital for the survival of allliving things. Comprehending the nature of waterand civilized living within these constraintsrequires a harmonious coming together of allbranches of human knowledge from the sciencesto the humanities. The following couplets fromthe Rg Veda and the Thirukkural exquisitelyportray a deep appreciation of humanity’s sacredrelationship with water.

(RgVeda, VII 49.2)

Those heavenly waters, or those that flow whendug, or even those that are self-born, flowingtowards the ocean, purifying, may those waters,Goddess, protect me here.

(Thirkkural, 2.10)

Without water, the living earth cannot be; if so foranyone, without rain order cannot be.

Abstract

As India plans for an expanded economic future,its expectations are jeopardized for want of aunifying national water policy. Formulating sucha policy is a daunting task. In a technologicalworld, sustained equitable water management tomeet diverse needs of all segments of societydemands a coming together of the best availablescientific knowledge, avowed human values ofdemocracy and social justice, and a will to adaptgovernance to complex interactions betweenineluctable earth processes and human society.Therefore, a rational policy on water hasnecessarily to start with an overarching frameworkthat recognizes the attributes of the remarkablenatural phenomenon we call water, the physicallimits of India’s water endowments governed bythese attributes, and the imperatives of civilizedadaptation of India’s citizens to the constraintsimposed by immutable laws of nature that governits dynamic. Such a framework will ideally laydown certain broad principles that will guide thecrafting of laws, statutes, regulations, andconventions despite the spatial and temporalvariability in water occurrence around the country.This paper presents such a unifying frameworkby placing India’s water endowments in the

2


sharing of water among all segments of Indiansociety against the backdrop of its finite space-time availability. The desired framework mustunify the country, despite the fact that availabilityof water, and local traditions of sharing water mayvary from region to region.

If water were an infinite resource, it could befreely exploited for benefit and profit usingavailable technologies, aided by policies thatprovide incentives for exploitation. Efficientextraction would then be limited only by thescope of reigning policy to nourish exploitation.In reality, however, water is both vital for life anda finite resource. Its unfettered exploitationcannot therefore be a legitimate activity for anyindividual or social group. Rather, these twinconstraints mandate implementation of policiesdesigned to enforce optimal use of water tobenefit al l segments of society. Whilstnecessarily bounded by the natural regime ofthe water cycle on earth, and its total availabilityover the Indian landmass, optimal managementcan profit greatly from creative approaches thatfuse objective scientif ic knowledge withconstructive human sensibilities, and inclusivesocietal perceptions. This is the humanchallenge in formulating India’s water policy.An overarching framework for India’swater policy thus rests on the following threequintessential elements:

i) Hydrological Cycle, the dictating naturalphenomenon,

Introduction1

This work is a contribution towards an articulationof a rational water policy for India. It is based onthe following premises:

Sustainable management of its waterendowments is paramount for India’scontinued existence as a viable society

Presently, water management in India is notsatisfactory. As used here, managementincludes water quantity, water quality, andwater pollution

Sustainable water management can beaccomplished based on principles derivedfrom a fusion of scientific knowledge andhuman values

Science cannot make policy, even as policycannot work without underpinnings ofobjective scientific knowledge

For safeguarding the well-being of presentand future generations, science, technology,social sciences, jurisprudence, and thehumanities must constructively cometogether to design policy for sustainablewater management

The purpose of this work is to provide a rational,overarching framework to facilitate formulation ofa national water policy to guide an equitable

1 An outline of this work was presented before a group of scholars knowledgeable about water on August 10, 2009 at a DiscussionGroup sponsored by the Indian Academy of Sciences and hosted by the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore.Illuminating discussions ensued. A list of participants is given in the Appendix

3


ii) India’s water setting, the reality thatdemands adaptation to nature, and

iii) The science-society interface, the humanchallenge.

This paper begins with a brief exposition of thesethree elements in a connected perspective,followed by a discussion of what may be done tohelp establish a framework to facilitate formulationof India’s water policy. The paper concludes withan outline of science components essential for asustained operation of such a unifying waterpolicy.

The existence of water on its surface has madeplanet earth the extraordinary entity it is in thecosmos. For close to four billion years, life onearth has ceaselessly evolved to adapt to earth’schanging regimes of water. Human aspirations forunlimited prosperity have to be moderated by thisknowledge, and society must show wisdom tosensibly adapt to ambient water regime. Failureto accept this challenge timely will likely lead tounacceptable stresses on India’s society.

The Three Elements

Hydrological Cycle, the dictating naturalphenomenon

Modern science and ancient Hindu thought alikehave recognized the pre-eminent place of waterin the evolution of earth and life. According tothe Rg Veda (X. 129.3, Max Müller, 1889), in thebeginning there was water without light (salilamapraketam), out of which evolved an uncreatedand a self-developing world. Emerging knowledge

in modern science shows that water, in the formof the hydrological cycle, plays an unparalleledrole in the geological as well as biologicalevolution of the earth.

In its essence, the hydrological cycle (Figure 1)is simple to understand, within grasp of anelementary school child. Yet, it inspires the mostadvanced scientific research. Central tocomprehending hydrological cycle is the conceptof time scale. In the atmosphere, waterevaporated from land may pour down asconvective rainfall in a matter of hours. At theother extreme, rainwater may descendponderously in the earth’s deep for tens of millionsof years before returning to the atmosphere involcanic eruptions. Remarkably, all time scaleshave relevance in continually sculpting land andinfluencing evolving life forms.

Structurally, the hydrological cycle may be thoughtto be made up of four interacting components(Figure 2); the atmosphere, surface water, soilwater, and groundwater. The main characteristicsof these components are briefly discussed below.

The Atmosphere

Although a cycle has no beginning or end, froma human perspective we may consideratmosphere to be the starting point of the watercycle. It is the source of rain and snow, as alsothe reservoir of water evaporated and transpiredby plants (exhaled during photosynthesis). Of allthe water existing on earth, atmosphere storesonly about 0.001% on average at any given time.In comparison, the total annual rain falling on

4


attributes. Thus, a change in climate reorders thehydrological cycle, thereby influencingphysiographic variations and biological diversity.Aside from variability, climate is unpredictable. Inour own times, we are witnessing unprecedentedrate of global temperature rise with implicationsfor sea level rise and changing precipitationpatterns. Spectacular advances in the physicalsciences and computing technology now make itpossible to understand and explain climatepatterns semi-quantitatively on various timescales, but the goal of precise quantitative climateprediction remains elusive.

Over the past quarter of a century, two importantdiscoveries have come to light in climate science.First, tree-ring studies on submerged tree stumps

Figure 1: The hydrological cycle. Water circulationoccurs at many time scales. All time scales are relevantin the geological-biological evolution of the earth

earth (over land and the oceans) is some 40 timeslarger. Thus, water resides on an average forabout 9 days (residence time) in the atmosphere,before being renewed.

The physical state of the atmosphere at any giventime, and its variation in time, constitute the earth’sclimate. It is driven by a balance between solarradiant energy received by the earth, and thatreflected and radiated back to space. Any changein the earth’s solar heating caused by periodicallyvarying sun-earth relationship, or in its radiativeoutput caused by changing transparency of theatmosphere by greenhouse gases, forces theclimate to shift to a new equilibrium, establishingnew regimes of temperature, pressure,precipitation, evaporation and other atmospheric

Figure 2: Four inter-connected components of hydro-logical cycle: atmosphere, surface water, soil water, andgroundwater

5


in lakes have established that between 800 and1,500 A.D., the Americas experienced twomegadroughts, each lasting for more than acentury (Stine, 1994). Second, ice-coresrecovered from the Antarctic and Greenland haveshown that during the past 650,000 years, theearth’s climate has alternated between glacial andwarmer periods approximately every 100,000years, and that around 12,000 years ago, climatictemperatures changed by as much as 10 degreesover a period of a decade or two (Severinghaus,1998). Evidence in support of other similarepisodes is accumulating.

Surface Water

Water that flows over the land surface headingfor the ocean, or that is stored in ponds, lakes,wetlands and other water bodies constitutessurface water, accounting for about 0.009% ofthe total water on earth. It is the principal agentof erosion, transporting sediments and nutrientsto land lying along a river’s path. Surface waterthus constitutes the base that underlies aquaticecosystems. Water entering into a stream fromrainfall may take days to centuries beforereturning to the atmosphere.

Fundamental to an understanding of thesurface water regime is the concept of adrainage basin (Figure 3). Every location onthe earth’s land surface belongs to onewatershed or another. A striking feature ofdrainage basins is their hierarchical structure.The drainage basin of a major river is anassemblage of thousands of interconnectedwatersheds of various sizes. The surficial

drainage pattern of a stream represents optimalenergy usage, and ref lects the mostmechanically efficient pathways by which thestream may transport sediments downstream.Therefore, the stream mechanically resists anyforce that seeks to change its ambient drainagepattern, and in the process settles to a newequilibrium with the changed stresses. Throughmillions of years, communities of living beingshave continually evolved to adapt to changesin drainage patterns. When the exist ingdrainage pattern of a basin is disrupted, eitherby natural forces (volcanic erupt ion,earthquake) or man-made systems (dams,diversion of streams), the streams adjustthemselves to changed condit ions byestabl ishing a new equi l ibr ium. Suchadjustments are potentially stressful and oftenfatal to existing flora and fauna.

Figure 3: The notion of a drainage basin defined by abounding water divide is fundamental to comprehend-ing surface water

6


Groundwater

Groundwater is water that occurs below the watertable completely saturating the pore spaces ofits reservoir. Compared with the other threecomponents, groundwater is the largest reservoir,accounting for about 0.5% of all water on earth,and is amenable to extraction through wells.The residence time of water in groundwater mayvary from months to millions of years.Groundwater is not readily accessible to physicalobservation. For this reason, it has historicallybeen considered a mystical or occultphenomenon. However, scientific understandingof groundwater systems has steadily advancedover the past two centuries removing its shroudof mystery and making it amenable to rational,quantitative management.

The notion of groundwater circulation and theassociated concept of a groundwater basin areof seminal importance to its optimal management.Groundwater circulation in a deep sedimentarybasin is schematically shown in Figure 4. Thissituation may represent, for example, its passagefrom the Himalayan foothills down towards the riverGanga. On a large scale, the land slopes fromthe Himalayas to the Ganga plains. But locally,there are high-grounds and valleys. Water fallingon high-ground moves vertically down by gravityto recharge groundwater. Within the groundwaterreservoir, water initially moves laterally, and thenvertically upwards to emerge at the land surfacein discharge areas and return to the atmospherevia evaporation or transpiration. Below localtopographical highs, groundwater travels a shortdistance from recharge areas before discharging

Soil Water

Among the four components of the hydrologicalcycle, soil water is the least understood. Soilwater occurs between the land surface and thewater table. Its chief characteristic is that it isbound tightly with the soil grains and cannot beextracted by wells. However, plants have evolvedover time to extract soil water by osmosis. In thesoil zone, water essentially moves upwards (tosustain evaporation) or downwards, to rechargegroundwater. Approximately 0.005% of the earth’swater resides in the soil zone. Water entering thesoil zone may reside there over a period of monthsto centuries before returning to the atmosphere.

Until a few decades ago, the soil zone was ofprimary interest to agricultural scientistsinterested in increasing crop productivity bymanaging water in this zone. However, with therecognition that anthropogenic contaminantsdischarged on the land surface pass through thesoil zone in their downward passage togroundwater, the soil zone attracts much greaterattention now from environmental and ecologicalspecialists as well as those in agriculture.

Because of the existence of capillary forces inthe soil zone, soil water is difficult to manage. Yet,it is an important part of the hydrological cyclemediating critical exchanges between surfacewater and groundwater. Water flow in the soil zoneis a complex physical process governed bycompetition between upward-directedevaporative forces, and downward-directedgravity. The rate of groundwater recharge is thussubject to these constraints.

7


in nearby depressions. These are shallowgroundwater systems. But, at higher elevations,groundwater may move down to great depths,and travel great distances before discharging,to constitute deep groundwater systems. Artesianbasins are good examples of such deep systems.Thus, a groundwater basin is an assemblage ofmany subsystems, shallow and deep, and thisconceptual framework constitutes the foundationof groundwater hydrology.

The groundwater flow system also governs thechemistry of rocks through which groundwatermoves. In areas of recharge, groundwater tendsto be rich in oxygen, mildly acidic and corrosive,and therefore being capable of dissolving manychemical elements. In recharge areas,groundwater tends to be aerobic or oxidizing. Asthe oxidizing aerobic water moves away fromrecharge areas towards areas of discharge, itreacts with rocks and minerals along the way,involving consumption of oxygen. It progressivelybecomes less acidic (or, more alkaline) and moreanaerobic or reducing. Under these conditions,chemical elements tend to get precipitated,enriching groundwater in the most solublechemical compounds.

Along the path of groundwater, the compositionof minerals and rocks at any position is thusgoverned by the acidity and the oxidationstate of local groundwater, profoundly affectingthe distribution of soils, microbial communities,and ecosystems in the overlying drainagebasin.

Clearly, for deep flow systems to exist, geologicalformations must have void spaces to allow watermovement to great depths. In areas underlain byhard rocks such as igneous and metamorphicrocks of peninsular India, water can circulate onlyin weathered and disintegrated rocks close to theland surface and in fractures that tend to closewith depth. As shown in Figure 5, groundwatercirculation in these areas tend to be typicallyshallow, closely conditioned by topography.

Figure 4: The concept of a groundwater basin comprisingshallow, intermediate, and deep flow systemsconstitutes the foundation of groundwater hydrology.

Figure 5: In hard rocks, groundwater circulation isshallow, subject to local topographical control

8


The connected water System

A fact of major importance that emerges from theforegoing is that surface water, soilwater, andgroundwater are all inextricably linked, andconstitute a single resource, replenished everyyear by the excess of rainfall overevapotranspiration (Figure 6).

Additionally, the surface and sub-surface watersystems are linked to the atmosphere, at variousscales in space and time. In upland areas andfoothills, streams recharge groundwater. Theyalso dump coarse sand and gravel materialsalong the foothills, making these sites ideallysuited for artificial recharge. Downstream in theflood plains, the reverse happens andgroundwater discharge sustains base flow instreams. Thus, surface water and groundwaterare intimately linked. From a human perspective,they, along with the intervening soil water,constitute a single unified resource.

Erosional and Nutrient Cycles

Closely linked to, and functioning within thehydrological cycle are erosional and nutrient cycles.Rainwater falling at higher elevations expends itspotential energy by breaking down rocks,transporting the sediments downstream, anddepositing them at lower elevations. Over geologicaltime, sediments deposited at lower elevations sinkdeep, are metamorphosed, and eventually thrownup into mountains through orogenic (mountain-building) processes. As it happens, plants andanimals along a river course have evolved to adaptto the texture and the chemical composition ofsediments. Consequently, alteration of the physicalor chemical nature of sediments along a rivercourse seriously impacts habitats of existing floraand fauna.

Chemical elements, notably carbon, nitrogen,phosphorus, and sulfur, are nutrients in as muchas they constitute the building blocks of biomass.Just as water, the total quantity of these elementsin the earth is finite. Because water is an universalsolvent, nutrients too get circulated throughthe hydrological cycle. For example, it has beenestimated that carbon in the atmosphere getsrecycled every three years.

In combination with the hydrological cycle,erosional and nutrient cycles together constitutethe earth’s vital cycles.

A Global Water Budget

Worldwide hydrological knowledge suggests thatof the total rain falling on the earth, there is an

Figure 6: Linkages among components of the hydrologicalcycle. Over highlands and foot hills, streams rechargegroundwater. In lowlands and flood plains perennialstreams are sustained by groundwater discharge

9


(summer) and the north-east (winter) monsoons(Figure 7). Average annual precipitation iswidely variable from about 300 mm in the stateof Rajasthan to over 3,000 mm in Meghalaya,Arunachal Prdeah, and Kerala, with a nationalaverage of 1,170 mm (Ministry of WaterResources, 1999). Characteristically, monsoonrains occur intensely over short periods of time,resulting in rapid surface water runoff.

For a broad comprehension of the nation’swater resource environment, it is convenientto divide India into three hydrological provinces:the Himalayan mountain belt, the adjacentIndus-Ganga-Brahmaputra plains, and peninsularIndia (Figure 8). The distinctive hydrologicalfeatures of each of these zones are asfollows.

The Himalayan Mountain Belt

This arcuate, rugged mountain belt, extendingfrom Kashmir to Mizoram, comprisesmetamorphosed sedimentary formations andigneous rocks vulnerable to erosion by the rapidlyflowing streams. Annual rainfall increases fromless than 1,000 mm in the west to over 3,000 mmin the east. The Himalayan Belt constitutes thesource of sediments that fi l l the Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin, and are eventually destinedfor the Bay of Bengal. The Himalayan foothillshost the transitional belt of Terai-Bhabhar withits own very distinct ecosystems.

The Himalayan Belt makes up about18% ofIndia’s land area, and supports about 6% of itspopulation.

excess of evaporation over precipitation over theoceans. The reverse is the case over thecontinents. It is assumed that the evaporationexcess over the oceans is balanced by the netprecipitation over land. On a global, continentalscale, it has been estimated that annual returnof water to the atmosphere through evaporationand transpiration constitutes about 65% of rainfall(Brutsaert, 2005). Referred to as consumptiveuse, this water is unavailable for human use. Ofthe 35% of the total rainfall staying on land, areasonable estimate assigns about 25% tosurface water, and the rest as groundwaterrecharge. These figures provide a broad estimateof annual water availability.

It is clear that all water needed for human usemust be obtained by diverting surface water flowsor groundwater flows. All water, including thosein major reservoirs that can sustain societythrough drought years, are derived from rain.However, only a portion of the 35% left over afterevapotranspiration can be practically diverted forhuman use due to technological limitations as wellas the imperatives to avoid destruction ofecosystems.

India’s Water Setting: the reality thatdemands adaptation to nature

India occupies an area of 3.28 million sq. kms.,extending from 8°N latitude in the tropics to themore temperate climatic zones at about 30°N. Itsvaried physiography and geology, in consort withthe hydrological cycle endows India with a uniqueand complex water setting. India’s water input fromthe atmosphere is governed by the south-west

10


Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra Plains

Bounded on the north by the Himalayas andon the south by the peninsular plateau, theIndus-Ganga-Brahmaputra plains stretchfrom the Rajasthan desert to the swamps ofthe Sunderbans at the head of Bay of Bengal.Annual rainfall varies from less than 100 mm. inwestern Rajasthan to over 2,000 mm. in WestBengal.

The gently sloping plains with fertile soils havebeen a cradle of irrigated agriculture and humanhabitation for millennia. Drill ing for oil inindependent India has revealed the existence ofproductive aquifers to considerable depths. Bothbecause of the perennial snow-fed streams that

nourish the Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra plains,and because of the porous sediments that aiddeep groundwater circulation, these plains arethe most richly endowed with water among thethree hydrological provinces.

The Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra plains occupyabout 32% of India’s area, and support 48% ofthe population.

Peninsular India

Extending from the Vindhya-Satpura mountainson the north to Kanya Kumari on the IndianOcean, Peninsular India is an easterly slopingplateau, with a steep escarpment and a narrowcoastal strip adjoining the Arabian Sea on the

Figure 7: India receives its annual input of water fromthe coupled systems of southwest (summer) and north-east (winter) monsoons

Figure 8: India’s three hydrological provinces, eachwith distinct characteristics: Himalayan mountain belt,Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra plains, and Peninsular India

11


west. The coastal strip, which confronts the pathof the south-west monsoon, receives annualprecipitation in excess of 2,000 mm. The easterlyslopes of the plateau lie in a rain-shadow regionreceiving noticeably less rainfall. Because oftropical to sub-tropical climate and lushvegetation, Peninsular India experiencesrelatively high evapotranspiration rates.Peninsular India is drained mostly by easterly-flowing rivers, except for the Narmada and Tapatiwhich flow west.

Peninsular India is geologically a very oldlandmass, mostly underlain by igneous andmetamorphic rocks, and old, compactedsedimentary rocks. Often referred to as hardrocks, these geological formations provide verylittle void space for water to permeate and bestored. Groundwater occurs in disintegrated,weathered rocks and in fissures that tend toclose with depth. Unlike the sedimentaryformations of the Ganga Plains, groundwatercirculat ion in hard rocks is shal low andcontrolled by local topography. Groundwaterstorage is limited and is vulnerable to seasonalclimatic changes. Sedimentary formationsranging in age from over 100 million years(Jurassic) to recent are known in interiorpatches, and along coastal strips of PeninsularIndia. Compared to the rest of Peninsular India,these formations offer enhanced groundwaterpotential.

The semi-arid climatic conditions of PeninsularIndia have historically motivated the harnessingof rainwater through ingenious water diversionstructures and storage reservoirs. Collectively,

these structures represent impressive works ofhydraulic engineering cumulated over centuries.Reportedly, the total number of such reservoirsin Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Naduexceeds 125,000 (Agarwal and Narain, 1997).Fed by local rainfall, and supported bygroundwater inflows, these tanks have historicallyserved their purpose. With widespread operationof deep-well pumps over the past decadesextracting much of groundwater that wouldotherwise have contributed to these reservoirs,there is reason to believe that the functionalenvironment of these water storage structuresmay have been severely altered.

Although water quality is not a major problem overmuch of Peninsular India, mention must be madeof large tracts of black-soil areas in Maharashtra,Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu thatdegrade water quality, often unsuitable fordrinking. Peninsular India occupies about 50%of India’s land area, and about 45% of thepopulation.

India’s water budget

Since all human water needs must be met fromwhatever falls as precipitation, and since annualrainfall renewability is finite and subject touncertainty, it is instructive to examine India’swater budget that compares average annual raininput with average annual water use. The primarygoal of this exercise is to examine if India’s waterdemands are well within annual renewability, or ifdemand exceeds renewable supply. In the lattercase, water conservation and managementbecome crucial.

12


Over the past few years, researchers have (Guptaand Deshpande 2004, Kumar and Sharma 2005,and Garg and Hassan, 2007) looked at India’swater budget using basic information provided bythe Ministry of Water Resources (1999). Themiddle column in Table 1 presents a water budgetbased on this approach. As seen, the totalaverage annual precipitation is 3,840 cubic kms.,of which 1,869 cubic kms. (48.7%) is stated to besurface runoff, and 432 cubic kms. (11.3%) asgroundwater recharge, constituting a total of2,301 cubic kms.(60%). By implication, theremaining 1,539 cubic kms. (40%) goes back tothe atmosphere as evapotranspiration. Of the2,301 cubic kms. remaining on land, Gupta andDeshpande (2004) estimate that 1,123 cubickms. (48.8%) can be diverted for human use. Theestimated present water use of 634 cubic kms. isnotably smaller than the utilizable 1,123 cubickms. Accordingly, Planning Commission (2007)has concluded that India’s water demand will notexceed supply for another few decades.

Narasimhan (2008a) pursued a differentreasoning to check the above water budget forconsistency. He found world-wide estimates ofevapotranspiration for different regions to varyfrom 60 to 90%, with an estimated 67.5% for India(Jain et. al, 2007). Assuming a value of 65%, hecalculated the amount lost to the atmosphere byevapotranspiration to be 2,500 cubic kms.,leaving 1,340 cubic kms. to account for surfacewater and groundwater. If we assume that afterallowing for ecological flows, 48.8% of this maybe diverted for human use, the water so utilizableamounts to 654 cubic kms. Comparing this withthe current use of 634 cubic kms., one may

conclude that India’s water supply and demandfigures are so close that the Planning Commission(2007)’s optimistic view of India’s water future maybe ill-founded and complacent. Even as this isbeing written, Rodell et al. (2009), and Kerr (2009)report substantial rates of non-renewablegroundwater depletion over a broad beltextending from Rajasthan and Punjab on the westto Bihar and West Bengal on the east.

Current status of water in India

Water and its availability are major causes ofconcern among all segments of India’s society.Linking of rivers, rain-harvesting, artificialrecharge, and desalinization are activelyadvanced as solutions to water problems. Viewedagainst the backdrop of the hydrological cycle,all these remedies have potential to alleviate waterproblems in limited ways. However, there are nosimple or easy solutions for the challenges thatconfront water management on a national scale.From a science perspective, the inevitableconclusion is that India’s economic future will bein jeopardy without a evidence-based waterpolicy. The reality of India’s water setting is thatwater availability is finite, subject to uncertaintyin time. Bound by these constraints, water has tobe shared among all segments of society, withthe needs of future generations in mind. Underthe circumstances, demand has to adapt toconstraints imposed on the resource by Nature.

Water and Society, the human challenge

Given our present understanding of thespecificities and finiteness of the global and

13


regional water regimes, it is perhaps incontestablethat a workable water policy has to be guided bythe best available science knowledge. However,since science cannot make water policy on its own,the only way for it to contribute effectively to policyformulation is by developing a harmonious blendof Knowledge and Values. If so, can one identifycommonalities to make this happen? A surprisinglypositive answer to this question emerges from thehistory of Roman Law.

Jus Civile and Jus Gentium

Until the sixth century A.D. in Europe, law wasprimarily concerned with private property. Duringthat century Roman jurists who codified law atthe direction of Emperor Justinian of Byzantium,made a bold departure from tradition. Inspiredby Greek philosophy of reason, they dividedproperty into private property and public property

(res communes). The latter was regarded asbelonging to people and governed by jus gentium(law of all peoples) whilst private property wasgoverned by jus civile (Narasimhan, 2008b).Applying jus gentium to contemporaryunderstanding of nature, they decreed that water,air, the sea, and the sea coast belonged to allpeople. This view has, over the centuries, beenreferred to as the doctrine of public trust, andhas endured to form the basis for water andnatural resources law in Spain, France, Holland,and Britain. It became part of the AmericanConstitution through the Northwest Ordinance of1787. More recently, it has been written into SouthAfrica’s Constitution. In the spirit of jus gentium,the Water Framework Directive of the EuropeanUnion requires all its 27 member nations toformulate water policy to conform to a singleunifying philosophy (European Commission,2000).

Estimates based on Ministry ofWater Resources1

Estimates based onworld-wide

comparison2

Annual Rainfall 3,840 3,840Evapotranspiration 3840 - (1,869 + 432) = 2,500 (65%)

1,539 (40%) World-wide comparisonSurface run-off 1,869 (48.7%) Not used in estimateGroundwater 432 (11.3%) Not used in estimate

RechargeAvailable water 2,301 (60%) 1,340 (35%)Utilizable water 1,123 (48.8%) 654

Gupta and Deshpande, Curr. Sci., 2004 (48.8% of 1,340)Current water use 634 634

Remarks Current use (634) well below 1,123 Current use (634)close to 654

1 Ministry of Water resources, 2002; Planning Comm. 2007 2 Narasimhan, 2008a

Table 1: India’s Water Budget (All volumes in cubic kms.)

14


Legal Status of Water in India

Before addressing current legal status ofwater in India, two observations in Kautilya’sArthasa-stra. pertaining to water ownershipdeserve mention (Kangle, 1988, p. 172-174).First, privately owned irrigation tanks wererecognized, although irrigation was primarilylooked upon as a State activity. However,ownership of a tank was lost if it was not used forfive years, except in times of distress. Thisrevocable-ownership notion recalls to mind waterrights concept in the western states of the U. S.where water rights are constrained by continuoususe of water granted under the rights. Second,the concept utakabhanga governed levy on water.A water tax was levied even when the water worksbelonged to the owner of the field. It is interestingthat this concept implies State ownership of water.However, it is not clear if state represented themonarch or the people. If the latter, public trustwould be implied.

In India’s Constitution, water is a state subject(Iyer, 2007) with the Federal Government’s rolebeing limited to inter-state water issues. TheIndian constitution does not make any explicitstatement about a citizen’s right to this vitalresource. India’s Supreme Court has recognizedthis right as part of the right to life generally,and supported the public trust doctrine byinvoking Article 21 which assures life andpersonal liberty to all citizens. And the physicalnature of water and its specific attributes findno consideration in the formulation of India’swater policy. Currently there are many water lawsin India (Iyer, 2009), but, water issues are

essentially approached in response to emergingcrises, resolving rights and settling disputes.Sadly, no rational science-based framework isavailable to reconcile the ambitious goals ofeconomic prosperity, and competitive claims forthis increasingly scarce resource by differentsegments of society. Clearly, social adaptationto nature, and a national water policy thatfacilitates such an adaptation, would continueto remain elusive in the absence of such aunifying framework.

What may be Done

A consensus appears to exist among many thatIndia’s water situation has to be addressed withgreat urgency. Two views exist on how this maybe done. One advocates a campaign of activepublic awareness, arguing that the powers ingovernment will act only in response to publicpressure. The other view envisions aConstitutional recognition of water rights andwater science as a basis for formulating waterlaws, statutes, and regulations that will provide abasic structure to predicate judicious andequitable actions to the nation as a whole. Clearly,in critical situations drastic measures have to betaken. In this sense, there is merit in supportinga campaign of public awareness. Theshortcoming of this approach is that water is acomplex natural phenomenon with science as wellas human dimensions that need to be harmonizedtowards constructive management. It is notpossible to achieve the required harmony in apublic wareness campaign. Recognizing this, weadopt the second approach, the Constitutionalpath.

15


Although used locally, water unifies the entirenation. Water policy, therefore, has to include thegerm capable of yielding a consistent set ofalternative approaches to address issues at manyinterconnected levels. It cannot be left to anyparticular governance, local, regional, state, ornational. Even as watersheds in a drainage basinare interconnected at various hierarchical levels,so also water management would need to belinked at various levels of governance. Waterpolicy must reflect participation of an informedcitizenry that comprehends the imperatives of ajust sharing of a finite resource, and the obligationto safeguard its integrity. Democratic rights mustbe balanced by responsibility to the communityat large.

Accordingly, the profound role water plays in thesustenance of all living things by virtue of itsremarkable physical, chemical, and biologicalattributes merits articulation in India’s Constitutionthrough appropriate parliamentary action.Drawing inspiration from jus gentium, and notingthat public trust is part of the Constitution of manycountries, water may be recognized in India’sConstitution in a manner consistent with India’scultural and philosophical traditions. Narasimhan(2009) discusses how this difficult task may beapproached.

India’s self-governance rests on the Preamble tothe Constitution which embraces values of justice,liberty, equality, and fraternity. Authorized by thePreamble, the Constitution provides theframework for governance. In India’s tripartitesystem, the Legislature enacts laws, and indicatesto the executive and the judiciary how these laws

may be implemented and interpreted. Based onlegislative policy, the executive translates the lawsinto rules. In this scheme, laws and policies aresubject to judicial review to validate conformitywith the values of the Constitution.

In a union such as India, policies and rules haveto be formulated to guide water managementwithin different States (intra-state management)of the Union, and among different states (inter-state management), giving consideration toexisting and historical water use practices andlocal cultural traditions. Considering India’sbreadth and diversity, it is necessary that thelegal framework enables a uniform applicationof management principles throughout thecountry.

Historically, Constitutions of democracies such asthose of the United States and India have focusedattention on “rights” of the people. This focusreflects the peoples’ yearning to rid themselvesof oppressive rulers. Nevertheless, the close ofthe twentieth century has witnessed a shifting offocus from inter-human relationships to therelationship between humans and Nature. Ratherunexpectedly, Nature is found to demandresponsibility from humans. It is remarkable thatthis responsibility constitutes the essence ofpublic trust as conceived by Roman scholars morethan a millennium before us.

Establishing a constitutional mandate, based onwhich a body of the law could be developed, is atask to be undertaken by legal experts.Recognizing this, what follows is an explorationof what a constitutional mandate may look like,

16


and the important principles that may have tobe considered in developing the body of waterlaw.

Constitutional Mandate

Given,that the functioning of thehydrological cycle, the nutrient cycle,and the erosional cycle are subjectto immutable physical laws, as alsosolar energy that drives thehydrological cycle, and these liebeyond human control,

that these life-sustaining cyclesincessantly striving to attainequilibrium, are delicately interlinked,and respond in complex ways toforces that affect their state

that humans, with their extraordinarytechnological capabilities have nowbegun to disrupt these delicatelinkages on a large scale,destabilizing the habitats andenvironments of subsistent livingcommunities, including humans, and

that water is vital for the sustenanceof humans and all living things,

all waters within the nation’s boundaries aredeemed to be owned by the people, and theGovernment holds these waters in trust on theirbehalf, and is responsible for managing waterjudiciously and equitably for all citizens

Principles governing water policy

1. Atmospheric water, surface water, soil water,and groundwater constitute a singleinterconnected resource. Management ofsuch an interconnected resource is bestachieved with drainage basins andgroundwater basins as units of management.These basins may often cut acrossadministrative boundaries.

2. Water shall be put to beneficial use, withoutwaste. Water-use privilege is a usufruct,mandating that the resource itself may notbe damaged in the act of usage. Preservingthe integrity of the resource is a sacredobligation to safeguard this inheritance forfuture generations.

3. Government has a fiduciary responsibilityto protect, manage, allocate, and distributewater which it holds in trust for the people.

4. Every citizen has a right to safe and cleanwater for drinking and hygiene. In waterallocation, safe drinking water and water forhygiene shall have highest priority.

5. Allocation of water for industrial, agricultural,and other economic need shall be based onthoughtful prioritization, constrained bymaking adequate supplies of water availablefor maintaining the environmental health ofecological systems.

6. Because water resource systems areinherently subject to change with time,

17


wateruse privilege cannot be granted inperpetuity.

7. Historical water-use privileges of indigenouspeoples to maintain their traditional lifestylesshall be respected.

8. The rights of those citizens who are unableto speak for themselves in the legal andpolitical process must be protected.

9. Institutions necessary for continuedgeneration of scientific data to monitor andanalyze the evolving behaviour of criticalwater sub-systems shall be established andfunded, vested with the responsibility of datainterpretation.to enable timely detection ofadverse developments and unacceptableconsequences of human action.

10. The highly complex task of introducingmodernized law and institutions must bebased on coordinated short-term and long-term objectives to minimize undue disruptionof normal life.

Caveats

There are two reasons for the lack of a coherentnational water policy for India. The first is that atthe time of India’s independence, our scientificawareness of the water phenomenon was not asdeveloped as it is today. Water was taken forgranted as an abundant renewable resource.The second is the enormous complexityassociated with formulating a rational waterpolicy that may unify the nation as a whole.

A substantial literature exists on the difficultiesthat confront India’s water management (e.g.Iyer, 2007; Verghese, 1990). If only the task hadbeen easy, a water policy for India would alreadyexist.

Perhaps the most important factor that stands inthe way of a coherent national water policy isattitudinal: both of society and of government.Serious awareness of the critical role of water,the environment, ecosystems, and human habitathas emerged only over the past half a century.The technological west, home of many newdevelopments, finds itself mired in the variousunintended by-products of its marveloustechnological achievements: pollution, destructionof habitats, endangerment of species, and globalclimate change. Therefore, a lack of awarenessof India’s critical water situation among a largesegment of India’s citizens is not surprising.However, this serious want can be addressedthrough dedicated public education at all levels,from the lay person through children in schoolsto institutions of higher learning and research.

The attitude of the government towards wateras a resource merits consideration. Inpreindependence India, the ruling Britishgovernment functioned under the premise that theState owned water, and that it had the authority tomanage water as it deemed fit, without feelingobliged to involve the people in the process. Thisapproach was contrary to principles of public trustto which England was committed for its owngovernance. Clearly, the resources of a colonywere treated on a different footing from those ofthe rulers. A debate exists as to whether this mind-

18


set continues in independent India (Singh, 1985,1992). The central question to resolve is whether,in a democracy, the State’s ownership of water issynonymous with people’s ownership of it , orwhether the State and People are different.

According to the doctrine of public trust, peopleown water without formal title, and the State holdswater in trust for the people with fiduciaryresponsibilities. On the other hand, the Colonialmind-set was that the State, representing theCrown, had the authority to decide what was inthe best interest of its subjects. According toSankaran (2009), much of the discussions onsharing of Constitutional powers in India havedevoted attention to sharing of powers amonggovernmental organs, rather than sharing ofpower between the government and the peopleat large. If this indeed is so, the matter should beaddressed at a Constitutional level. There isincontrovertible scientific evidence that water ingeneral, and water in India in particular, has tobe managed for common benefit, withparticipation by an informed citizenry capable ofbalancing rights with responsibilities.

A related issue concerns the public availability ofwater data. Stream flow data in India are treatedas classified information (Garg and Hassan,2007). This is presumably because informationpertaining to water is treated as vital for nationalsecurity, and that releasing water information mayjeopardize national interests. The issue of dataaccess pertains more generally to geographicaldata, and was addressed in a special meeting ofthe Indian Academy of Sciences held in Bangalorein July, 1999 (Narasimha and Shetye, 1999)

Here, concerns about national security have tobe balanced against the rights of the citizen tohave access to basic information about resourcesvital for day-to-day sustenance, and the rights ofscholars to conduct research in an openatmosphere. Transparency in sharing informationis essential for an open society. This observationdoes not negate the need for secrecy on accountof national security under special circumstances.

Science Components

Since the focus of the present work is a comingtogether of science and policy, it is pertinent toreflect on the science related components thatare relevant to a rational water policy frameworkfor India.

Short-term and long-term goalsScience infrastructure, man-power,institutionsEducation, public, schools, higher educationLibraries and archives

India’s contemporary water situation is one ofcrisis management. A complex set ofcircumstances have led to uncontrolled water useabetted by unregulated development. Seriousdesire to achieve long-term sustainablemanagement is challenged by near-term crises.The greatest challenge to India’s best talents isto find an approach that may blend short-termremedies with desired long-term solutions.

Since independence, India has focused heavilyon technology and commerce towards bettermentof the human condition. There have been

19


admirable successes. Yet, as the technologicalwest has learned, successes have come atsubstantial cost, and even alarming impacts onthe nation’s water resources. Evolvingunderstanding of earth systems indicates animperative for directing serious attention todeveloping knowledge, skills, man-power, andinstitutions that will facilitate knowledge-basedmanagement of the nation’s precious waterresources.

For sustained management of earth systems,there are two fundamental needs. One is anetwork of dedicated monitoring systems. Theother is an infrastructure for storing, interpreting,and timely dissemination of data for publicinformation and research. It is important to notethat the user, from a farmer to the municipality orthe industry, has very little motivation for investingand maintaining monitoring systems. Thesesystems have to be established and maintainedby public funding. Ideally, they will also beresearch institutions of excellence. Time is nowfor India to provide incentives for its young peopleto devote serious attention to adapting to a finiteearth.

Ultimately, India’s sustainable and civilizedeconomic future rests on education in thebroadest sense. The success of democracy in afinite earth rests on the shoulder of theenlightened citizen, motivated to balance rightswith responsibilities. Education about water inparticular, and earth in general, has to becontinuing at levels from the lay public, throughschools and colleges to institutions of higherlearning. It is worth mentioning here that in many

states of the United States (e.g. Arizona,California, Colorado, and Montana) there areprivately endowed institutions dedicated to publicwater education through pamphlets, journals,excursions, and public lectures.

Finally, water information of various kinds (books,reports, pamphlets) need to be archived andpreserved for the future. Specialized libraries andarchives have an important role to play in India’swater future. One example is the Water ResourcesCenter Archives of the University of California,housed at the Berkeley campus. Established in1958 under a special Act of California Statelegislature, the mission of the Archives is tocollect, preserve and provide access to historicaland contemporary waterrelated materials thatsupport instructional and research programs, andthe needs of the people.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Instituteof Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore, and theIndian Academy of Sciences. T N Narasimhanwould like to thank the Director NIAS for aninvitation to visit India that made the work possible.Vinod Gaur acknowledges the academic andadministrative support received from the Directorsof the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, and the CSIRCentre for Mathematical Modelling and ComputerSimulation, Bangalore. We would like to thankRamaswamy R. Iyer, and B.G. Verghese for lookingthrough the manuscript. Roddam Nararasimha’scritical comments are greatly appreciated. Thanksare due to the participants at the Discussion Groupmeeting on August 10, 2009 at NIAS, Bangalore.

20


References

Agarwal, A. and Narain, S. 1997. Dying Wisdom:Rise, Fall, and Potential of India’s traditional waterharvesting systems. New Delhi: Centre forScience and Environment. p. 289

Brutsaert, W., 2005. Hydrology: An introduction,Cambridge University Press, New York

European Commission, 2000. Directive of theEuropean Parliament and of the Council 2000/60/EC establishing a framework for communityaction in the field of water policy. Official JournalC513, 23/10/2000, 62p. plus annexes

Garg N. K. and Hassan, Q., 2007. Alarmingscarcity of water in India; Curr. Sci. 93, 932-941

Gupta, S. K. and Deshpande, R. D., 2004. Waterfor India in 2050: first order assessment ofavailable options; Curr. Sci. 86, 1216-1224

Iyer, R. R., 2007. Towards Water Wisdom: Limits,justice, harmony, Sage Publications, New Delhi

Iyer, R. R. (Editor), 2009. Water and the Laws ofIndia, Sage Publications, New Delhi

Jain, S. K., Agarwal, P. K. and Singh, V. P., 2007.Hydrology and Water Resources of India,Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1258 p.

Kangle, R. P., 1988. The Kautilya Arthasa-stra,Part III, A Study, Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi, 302pages

Kerr, R. A., 2009. Northern India’s groundwateris going, going. Science, 325, 798

Kumar R., Singh, R. D., and Sharma, K. D.,2005. Water resources, of India; Curr. Sci. 89,794-811.

Ministry of Water Resources, Government ofIndia, 1999. Integrated water resourcesdevelopment a plan for action; Report of theNational Commission for integrated waterresources development plan, Vol 1, p. 515

Ministry of Water Resources, Government ofIndia, 2002. National Water Policy, April 1, NewDelhi

Mueller, F. M., 1889. Natural Religion, The GiffordLectures of the University of Glasgow, Longmans,Green and Co., London, 244-247

Narasimha, R. and Shetye, S. R., 2000. Publicaccess to Indian geographical data, SpecialSection, Curr. Sci., 79, 391-392, 450-503

Narasimhan, T. N., 2008a. A note on India’s waterbudget and evapotranspiration. Jour. EarthSystems Sci., 117, 237-240

Narasimhan, T. N., 2008b. Water, law, science.Jour. Hydrology, 349, 138

Narasimhan, T. N., 2009. Water law for India:Science and philosophy perspectives, in Waterand the Laws of India, Editor Ramaswamy R. Iyer,Sage Publications, New Delhi

21


Planning Commission, 2007. Report of the ExpertGroup on Ground Water Management andOwnership, Government of India, New Delhi,September 2007.

Rodell, M., Velicogna, I., and Famiglietti, J. S.,2009. Satellite-based estimates of groundwaterdepletion in India. Nature, dci10.1038/nature80238

Sankaran, K. 2009. Water in India—ConstitutionalPerspectives, in Water and the Laws of India,Editor Ramaswamy R. Iyer, Sage Publications,New Delhi

Severinghaus, J.P., Sowers, T., Brook, E.J., Alley,R.B., and Bender, M.L., 1998. Timing of abruptclimate change at the end of the Younger Dryas

interval from thermally fractionated gases in polarice. Nature, 391, 141-146

Singh, C., 1985. Law from Anarchy to Utopia NewDelhi: Oxford University Press, New Delhi

Singh, C. (Editor), 1992. Water Law in India, NewDelhi: Indian Water Law Institute

Stine, S., 1994. Extreme and persistent droughtin California and Patagonia during medieval time.Nature, 369, 546-549

Verghese, B.G.,1990. Waters of hope, Integratedwater resource development and regionalcooperation within the Himalayan Ganga-Brahmputr-Barak Basin, Oxford and IBHPublishing Co., New Delhi

22


APPENDIXNIAS-IAS* Discussion Group on “Framework for India’s Water Policy”

NIAS, Bangalore, August 10, 2009

List of Participants

No. Name Affiliation Field of knowledge

1 Ahuja, Dr Dilip. Natl. Inst. Of Adv. Studies, Bangalore Science and Technology policy

2 Badigar, Mr. Shrinivas Ashoka Trust for Res. in Ecol.and Env., B’lore Water institutions

3 Das, Mr. S. Dir. (Retd.) Central Groundwater Board Groundwater hydrology

4 Gaur, Prof. Vinod Ind. Inst. Astrophys. Earth Sciences; earthquakes

5 Goswami, Dr. Prashant C-MMACS, Bangalore Meteorology, Monsoons

6 Iyer, Prof. Ramaswamy R. Centre for Policy Res., New Delhi Water policy, law, water sharing

7 Jain, Prof. Sharad Civil Eng., IIT, Roorkee Hydrology, Water Resources

8 Kumar, Prof. Mohan Civil Eng., IISc, Bangalore Groundwater hydrology

9 Lingaraju, Dr. Y Global Acad. of Tech., Bangalore Remote sensing

10 Madhukar, Mr. Ashok Afro-Asian Dev. Consortium, New Delhi Development consultant

11 Mohan, Prof. Shanta NIAS, Bangalore Gender issues and governance

12 Narasimha, Prof. Roddam, JNCASR, Bangalore, Science, Society, Philosophy

13 Narasimhan, Prof. T. N. Univ. Calif., Berkeley Hydrogeology, public trust

14 Pani, Prof. Narendra Social sciences, NIAS, Bangalore Gandhian method and policy

15 Perumal, Dr. A. GWPSAS, Bangalore Groundwater, water resources

16 Prakash, Dr. V.S. Karnataka DMC, Bangalore Hydrology, water management

17 Ramakrishnan, Prof. T.V. Banares Hindu Univ., Indian Acad. Sci Science, Society, Philosophy9

18 Ramamurthy, Dr. Director designate, NIAS, Bangalore Science and Technology

19 Ramashesha, Mr. C. S. Member (Retd.) Central Groundwater Board Groundwater hydrology

20 Rao, Prof. K. Kesava Chemical Eng., IISc, Bangalore Water treatment

21 Sawker, Mr. R. H. Geol. Scociety of India, Banglore Groundwater hydrology

22 Sekhar, Prof. Muddu Civil Engineering, IISc Groundwater hydrology

23 Singh, Mr. Chiranjeev, IAS Adminstrator, Karnataka Govt. Water resources, electric power

24 Sitaram, Prof. Alladi Ind. Statistical Inst., Bangalore Mathematical statistics

25 Sreekantan, Prof. B.V. NIAS, Bangalore Science, Philosophy

26 Vaidyanadhan, Prof. R. Emeritus, Geology, Andhra University, Waltair Geomorphology, rivers

27 Vasavi, Prof. A. R. Social Sci., NIAS, Bangalore Agrarian anthropology

28 Venugopal, Prof. V. COAS, IISc., Bangalore Stochastic hydrology, rainfall

29 Verghese, Prof. B. G. Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi Journalism, water and society

30 Yagnik, Dr. K. S. CMMACS, Bangalore Fluid mechanics

* NIAS: National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore; IAS: Indian Academy of * Sciences, Bangalore

A F FOR W P - NIAS Repository

Documents