World Water Development Report 2022
- March 22, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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World Water Development Report 2022
Subject: Geography
Section: Oceanography
Context:
The 2022 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (UN WWDR 2022) entitled ‘Groundwater: Making the invisible visible’ was released on March 21, 2022. It describes the challenges and opportunities associated with the development, management and governance of groundwater across the world.
Facts: The report is produced annually by the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) and released by UN-Water.
Important findings in the report:
- India is the largest groundwater-user globally, at an estimated 251 cubic kilometres per year, followed by China and Pakistan.
- India uses 89 per cent of the total groundwater abstracted per year for agriculture — also the highest in the world.
- As many as eight of the 10 countries with the highest shares of global groundwater withdrawal volume are in Asia and two in North America.
- These 10 countries account for 75 per cent of the total groundwater use. The other Asian countries in the list are Iran, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
- It is estimated that about 11 per cent (or 25 km³ / year) global groundwater depletion is embedded in international crop trade that contributes to large-scale depletion of aquifers overlaid by productive land.
- Wheat, maize, rice, sugarcane, cotton and fodder are the principal crops contributing to groundwater depletion. These crops are heavily traded, indicating highly unsustainable water footprints from intensive export.
- Five countries account for about 70 per cent of the unsustainable water footprint: China, India, Iran, Pakistan and US
Present status of groundwater:
- Further, as per groundwater assessment 2020 conducted jointly by Central Ground Water Board and State Governments, total annual groundwater extraction for all uses in the country is around 245 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM) which includes 218 BCM for agriculture use.
- This Department has issued guidelines on 24 Sep 2020 with pan-India applicability for regulation and control of ground water extraction in the country. Water being a State subject, the guidelines advocate for a participatory approach for sustainable ground water management in agriculture sector including working towards crop rotation, diversification & other initiatives to reduce over-dependence on groundwater.
- Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal) is being implemented in certain water stressed areas of the country, which includes activities like preparation of water security plan at Gram Panchayat level in participatory mode by involving communities to use available groundwater and surface water in an efficient manner.
- Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA & FW) is implementing Per Drop More Crop component of Pradhan MantriKrishiSinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) which is operational from 2015-16. The PMKSY – Per Drop More Crop mainly focuses on water use efficiency at farm level through micro irrigation (drip and sprinkler irrigation system) to reduce the extraction of groundwater.
- The Annual Ground Water Extraction for all uses is 249 BCM, out of which, 221 BCM (89%) utilized for irrigation purposes.
- Ground water levels in various parts of the Country are declining because of continuous withdrawal necessitated by increased demand of fresh water for various uses, vagaries of rainfall, increased population, industrialization & urbanization etc. Depleting water table in some areas may have some effect on irrigation activities, however, Government has initiated a number of measures for supply side and demand side management to improve the water table in water stressed areas.\
- Water being a State subject, initiatives on sustainable ground water management is primarily States’ responsibility. A number of States have done notable work in the field of water management/conservation. Of these, mention can be made of ‘Mukhyamantri Jal SwavlambanAbhiyan’ in Rajasthan, ‘JalyuktShibar’ in Maharashtra, ‘SujalamSufalamAbhiyan’ in Gujarat, ‘Mission Kakatiya’ in Telangana, ‘NeeruChettu’ in Andhra Pradesh, ‘Jal JeevanHariyali’ in Bihar among others
- Government of India has launched the Jal Shakti Abhiyan which is a time bound campaign with a mission mode approach intended to improve water availability including ground water conditions in the water stressed blocks. The five important water conservation interventions are- water conservation and rainwater harvesting, renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks, reuse, bore well recharge structures, watershed development and intensive afforestation.
Additional information:
Virtual Water Virtual water is the volume of water used to make a product, and is the sum of the water use in the various steps of the production chain. |