WATER RESOURCES

Presented by
VIJAY
JRF
Gandhi Institute of Technology.
Introduction

• Water resources are sources of water that are useful

or potentially useful.
• Uses of water include agricultural, industrial,
household, recreational and environmental activities.
• Virtually all of these human uses require fresh water.
 A graphical distribution of the locations of
water on Earth

A graphical distribution of the locations of water on Earth.

 Fresh Water
• Fresh water is a renewable resource, yet the world's
supply of clean, fresh water is steadily decreasing.
• Water demand already exceeds supply in many parts
of the world and as the world population continues to
rise, so too does the water demand.
 How people use
water
resource?

Household use: Personal use: Recreational use:

ways ways
ways

Wash the garden. To drink water,

when you’re Play in the beach.
Turning off the driving bicycle. Go to the pool.
fire.
Take a shower Fishing
Wash dirty
dishes Surf

Wash the car.

Uses of water
 Uses of Fresh
Water
Types

Household:
Industrial: The 15% The 15% of Recreational: Environme
Agricultural: The Recreational
of water is use for water is use ntal water
69% of water is water has a
industrial things. The for has a small
use for small use.
major use of household. use.
irrigation. Recreational
industrial is power Household Environme
Irrigation in use is mostly
plants. Oil refineries uses are: ntal water
some areas is needed for
which is use with a is use
necessary for Drinking reservoirs.
chemical process. mostly for:
crops grow. This type of
Manufacturing plants Bathing
which use water as a use of water is Artificial
Aquaculture: is a
solvent. Water specific for wetlands
small agricultural
growing. places and good
Industrial water is Cooking Artificial
times.
lower than agricultural lakes
Sanitation
water. This is to
Gardening create a
wildlife
habitat.
Water Resources-Use and Overutilization
• The water Cycle through evaporation and precipitation, maintains
hydrological systems
• All aquatic ecosystems are used by a large number for their daily
needs such as washing irrigation, cooking etc.
• One of the greatest challenges today is the management of these
water resources.
• Due to increasing population there is an enormous supply for the
available freshwater resources.
• India is likely to face water crisis by 2025.
• With growth of human population larger amounts of water will be
required to fulfill basic needs Today in many areas this need cannot
be met.
• Overutilization of water occurs at various levels:
• Most people use more water than required to carry out basic
activities such as brushing, bathing, washing and cleaning etc.
• Farmers also sometimes use double the water required for
irrigation.
• There are many ways in which the farmer can increase the yield by
using less water for irrigation.
 Sources of
fresh water
•Sources of Fresh Water
•Surface Water is water in a river, lake or fresh water wetland.
•Surface water is naturally replenished by precipitation
•naturally lost through discharge to the oceans, evaporation, and sub-surface
seepage.
•Sub-Surface water or groundwater
•One of our most valuable resources is the water beneath our feet.
• groundwater is fresh water located in the pore space of soil and rocks.
• It is also water that is flowing within aquifers below the water table.
•Sometimes it is useful to make a distinction between sub-surface water that is
closely associated with surface water and deep sub-surface water in an aquifer
(sometimes called "fossil water").
An aquifer is an underground formation of permeable rock or loose material which can
produce useful quantities of water when tapped by a well. Aquifers come in all sizes.
They may be small, only a few hectares in area, or very large, underlying thousands of
square kilometers of the earth's surface. They may be only a few meters thick, or they
may measure hundreds of meters from top to bottom.
How Much Do We Depend On Groundwater?

According to United States Geological Survey (USGS) figures, groundwater

provides an estimated:

22% of all freshwater withdrawals

37% of agricultural use (mostly for irrigation)

37% of the public water supply withdrawals

51% of all drinking water for the total population

99% of drinking water for the rural population

 FLOODS
FLOODS ARE NATURAL PHENOMENA.
FLOODS ARE WATER RELATED DISASTER

A flood occurs when the Geomorphic Equilibrium in

the river system is disturbed because of intrinsic or
extrinsic factors or when a system crosses the
geomorphic threshold.
(a) Flooding in a river due to aggradation of river bed
(intrinsic threshold);
(b) Flooding in a river due to heavy rainfall (extrinsic
threshold)
 TYPES OF FLOODS

Types of floods
•Flash floods
•River floods
•Coastal Floods
•Urban Flood
According to their duration flood can be
divided into different categories:
•Slow-Onset Floods: Slow Onset Floods
usually last for a relatively longer period, it
may last for one or more peeks, or even
months.
•Rapid-Onset Floods: Rapid1Onset Floods
last for a relatively shorter period, they
usually last for one or two days only.
•Flash Floods: Flash Floods may occur within
minutes or a fe1w hours after heavy
rainfall, tropical storm, failure of dams or
levees or releases of ice dams. And it causes
the greatest damages to society.
Contd….
Storm Surge, Eg: bursting of landslide
Tsunami, Glacial Melt, blockades in the catchment
Natural areaof the Bhagirathi River in
Landslide, Riverine, August 1978 (Gupta and Dave,
Estuarine & Marine Flood 1982).

Floods

Breach of Eg: In the year 2009,Almatti

and Naryanpur dams on the
Dam/ Barrage/ Krishna River in Karnataka.
Man made Embankment This water along with rain
water reached Andhra Pradesh
Release from Reservoir, near the Srisailam dam. It
causes a hevy floods in
Urban Flood andhrapradesh

7/4/2015 Floods- Disaster Managment 19

Causes for flood
VEGETATION COVER
This varies seasonally. The type and
amount will affect interception and
stemflow/throughfall. Overland flow is
reduced. Lag time will be increased.
ROCK TYPE
Impermeable rocks prevent groundwater
flow and encourage through flow and
overland flow. These rocks will decrease
lag time. Permeable rock will have the
opposite effect.

CLIMATE
The distribution of rainfall over the
LAKES & RESERVOIRS
year and the temperatures will
These will store floodwater and
affect the lag times.
FACTORS thus reduce lag time and control
river response to heavy rainfall.
SLOPES
Steep slopes will encourage
overland flow and gentle
slope will slow run off down.

LAND USE SOIL TYPE & DEPTH

Impermeable surfaces Deep soils store more
created by urbanisation will water, pipes in the soil
RAINFALL INTENSITY & DURATION
reduce infiltration and encourage through flow.
Intense rain will increase overland
encourage overland flow. Soils with small pore
flow and reduce lag times. Gentle
Different types of crops spaces will reduce
rain over a longer time will allow
affect interception rates e.g. infiltration and increase
more infiltration.
cereals 7-15%. overland flow.
FLOODS IMPACTS

• Human Loss
• Property Loss
• Affects the Major Roads
• Disruption of Air / Train / Bus services
• Spread of Water-borne Communicable Diseases
• Communication Breakdown
• Electricity Supply Cut off
• Economic and Social Disruption
• Increase in Air / Water Pollution

7/4/2015 Floods- Disaster Managment 22

Analysis over years
 Drought

• Rains are very unpredictable. This leads to periods

where there is serious scarcity of water.
• Drought prone areas are faced with irregular periods
of famine as farmers have no income.
• Drought prone areas Development Programs:
• Under this scheme, people are given wages in bad
years for activities like building roads, minor
irrigation works and plantation programs.
• It is a major problem in arid and semi arid regions.
• Drought affects home, agriculture, industry, leads to
malnutrition problems in children due to food
shortages
• Major factor responsible for drought is
deforestation.
• Due to denuded forest cover the rainwater rushes
down the river and is lost.
• Forest cover permits the water to remain in the
same area and gradually seep into the ground.
• This charges the underground stores of water in
natural aquifers. Which later can be use during the
period of no monsoons.
 Causes of drought
Natural / Physical causes:
- Weather: increased amount of
anticyclone weather (hot + dry)
means air holds less moisture so
you get less rain
- Global warming: weather
patterns change (e.g. Sahel is
becoming hotter + drier)
- Hotter weather = more
evaporation than precipitation
- El Nino: random weather event
that reverses normal weather
patterns (e.g. Australia has years
of drought + then years of flood)
Human causes:
- Overpopulation: too many people
living in an area using too much
water
- Overcultivation: planting too
many crops which use up too
much water
- Overextraction: removing too
much water from wells so they
dry up
- Deforestation: cutting down trees
which otherwise store water +
hold soil together
- Politics: fighting over water, or
companies being greedy + taking
too much water to then sell on
 Conflicts over Water

Scarcity of water has increased conflicts over water

among various states and countries. Some water
conflicts are:
1. Indus water dispute.
2. Ganga water dispute.
3. Cavery water dispute.
4. Yamuna water dispute.
Conflicts over water
• Multiple conflicts between countries.
• Around 20 major cities in India face chronic or interrupted
water shortages.
• Around 100 countries all around the world share the waters of
13 large rivers and lakes.
• The upstream countries could stare the downstream countries
leading to political instability. Eg. Ethiopia (Upstream) and
Egypt (Downstream) are highly dependent on the river Nile
for their water supply.
• International accords that look at fair distribution of water will
become critical to the world peace
• India and Bangladesh already have a pact for fair usage of
water of Ganges River.
 DAMS – Introduction

• There are more than 45000 dams all around the

world, which play an important role in in
communities and economies that harness these
water resources for economic development.
• 30-40% of the irrigated land worldwide relies on
dams.
 Benefits of Dams

Navigation
Water Supply

Recreation
Irrigation
Flood Control
Waste Impoundment

Power Supply
Dams Problems
• Fragmentation and physical transformation of rivers
• Impacts on riverine ecosystems
• Social consequences of large dams due to
displacement of people.
• Water logging and salinization of surrounding land.
• Dislodging animal population.
• Disruption of fishing and waterway traffic.
EFFECT ON ENVIRONMENT
• Greenhouse gas emissions

The reservoirs of power plants in tropical regions may produce

substantial amounts of methane, carbon di oxide. This is due to plant
material in flooded areas decaying in an anaerobic environment, and
forming methane, a very potent greenhouse gas.

• Soil Erosion
One of the first problems with dams is the erosion of land. Dams hold
back the sediment load normally found in a river flow, depriving the
downstream of this. In order to make up for the sediments, the
downstream water erodes its channels and banks. This lowering of the
riverbed threatens vegetation and river wildlife. One of the reasons
dams are built is to prevent flooding. However, most ecosystems which
experience flooding are adapted to this and many animal species
depend on the floods for various lifecycle stages, such as reproduction
and hatching. Annual floods also deposit nutrients and replenish
wetlands.
Contd-
Species Extinction

As fisheries become an increasingly important source of food supply, more

attention is being paid to the harmful effects of dams on many fish and
marine mammal populations. The vast majority of large dams do not
include proper bypass systems for these animals, interfering with their
lifecycles and sometimes even forcing species to extinction.

Changes to Earth's Rotation

NASA geophysicist Dr. Benjamin Fong Chao have found evidence that large
dams cause changes to the earth's rotation, because of the shift of water
weight from oceans to reservoirs. Because of the number of dams which
have been built, the Earth's daily rotation has apparently sped up by eight-
millionths of a second since the 1950s. Chao said it is the first time human
activity has been shown to have a measurable effect on the Earth's
rotation.