Rural Water Systems For Multiple Uses And Livelihood Security

Rural Water Systems for Multiple Uses and Livelihood Security covers the technological, institutional, and policy choices for building rural water supply systems that are sustainable from physical, economic, and ecological points-of-view in developing countries. While there is abundant theoretical discourse on designing village water supply schemes as multiple use systems, there is too little understanding of the type of water needs in rural households, how they vary across socio-economic and climatic settings, the extent to which these needs are met by the existing single use water supply schemes, and what mechanisms exist to take care of unmet demands. The case studies presented in the book from different agro ecological regions quantify these benefits under different agro ecological settings, also examining the economic and environmental trade-offs in maximizing benefits. This book demonstrates how various physical and socio-economic processes alter the hydrology of tanks in rural settings, thereby affecting their performance, also including quantitative criteria that can be used to select tanks suitable for rehabilitation. Covers interdisciplinary topics deftly interwoven in the rural context of varying geo-climatic and socioeconomic situations of people in developing areas Presents methodologies for quantifying the multiple water use benefits from wetlands and case studies from different agro ecologies using these methodologies to help frame appropriate policies Provides analysis of the climatic and socioeconomic factors responsible for changes in hydrology of multiple use wetlands in order to help target multiple use water bodies for rehabilitation Includes implementable models for converting single use water supply systems into multiple use systems

This book highlights the multi-pronged strategy for achieving sustainable rural domestic water supply in India. It deepens the understanding of groundwater (predominant source of water supply) behaviour in response to natural processes in different geological settings, analyses the factors influencing the performance of water supply schemes; identifies the conditions under which groundwater-based drinking water sources become sustainable, suggests measures for improving the sustainability of drinking water wells in hard rock regions (covering 2/3rd of India’s geographical area), presents a decision-making framework for planning rural water supply schemes in the country for ensuring long-term sustainability, and suggests physical strategies and policy measures for achieving them. The analyses for development and validation of various models that explain groundwater system behaviour and performance of rural water supply schemes are undertaken for different geological settings in Maharashtra, as the state represents a microcosm of the various hydrological, topographical, and geohydrological conditions encountered in the country. The final analysis for proposing nation-wide strategies considers the various hydrological, geological, geohydrological, and topographical and climatic settings and groundwater contamination and pollution in the country.

This volume provides a theoretical basis for the argument that available research that analyzes the impacts of climate on hydrology, water resources, and water systems, without factoring in the effect of climate variability, are inadequate and often misleading. Also, the book empirically shows that the impacts of climate variability on hydrology and water resources, and irrigation, water supply & sanitation systems are far more pronounced than the likely impacts of future change in climate. The book discusses technological, institutional and policy alternatives for reducing these impacts on various competitive use sectors, especially, irrigation, and water supply and sanitation through case studies of river basins in different hydrological setting. To set the context, the volume first presents the long term trends in precipitation and temperature in different regions of India, and compares them against inter-annual, inter-seasonal and intra-day variations in climatic parameters, to show how their differential impacts on water resources.

While urban settlements are the drivers of the global economy and centres of learning, culture, and innovation and nations rely on competitive dynamic regions for their economic, social, and environmental objectives, urban centres and regions face a myriad of challenges that impact the ways in which people live and work, create wealth, and interact and connect with places. Rapid urbanisation is resulting in urban sprawl, rising emissions, urban poverty and high unemployment rates, housing affordability issues, lack of urban investment, low urban financial and governance capacities, rising inequality and urban crimes, environmental degradation, increasing vulnerability to natural disasters and so forth. At the regional level, low employment, low wage growth, scarce financial resources, climate change, waste and pollution, and rising urban peri-urban competition etc. are impacting the ability of regions to meet socio-economic development goals while protecting biodiversity. The response to these challenges has typically been the application of inadequate or piecemeal solutions, often as a result of fragmented decision-making and competing priorities, with numerous economic, environmental, and social consequences. In response, there is a growing movement towards viewing cities and regions as complex and sociotechnical in nature with people and communities interacting with one another and with objects, such as roads, buildings, transport links etc., within a range of urban and regional settings or contexts. This comprehensive MRW will provide readers with expert interdisciplinary knowledge on how urban centres and regions in locations of varying climates, lifestyles, income levels, and stages development are creating synergies and reducing trade-offs in the development of resilient, resource-efficient, environmentally friendly, liveable, socially equitable, integrated, and technology-enabled centres and regions.

Water Productivity and Food Security: Global Trends and Regional Patterns, Volume Three reviews the need for water productivity improvements in agriculture, addressing three distinct questions pertaining to agricultural water productivity improvement in developing countries, including what are the regions where water is a limiting factor for raising agricultural outputs and water productivity improvements, what are the technological measures in irrigation that can raise agricultural water productivity and result in water saving at various scales, and what opportunities exist in the developing economies of South Asia and Africa for raising water productivity and improving water economy at basin scale. This book provides a framework to characterize river basins based on water availability, water supplies, water uses and water demands to ascertain the need and measures available for improving crop water productivity that would be effective at various scales, i.e., plant-level, plot-level, irrigation system level and basin level. This is an essential reference for anyone interested in water management and agriculture. Presents clear explanations of the physical and technical measures that can be adopted to improve productivity of water in agricultural production under different basin conditions Offers physical strategies for improving water productivity in agriculture in different agroecological regions, along with the institutional and policy measures that affect them Includes methodologies for assessing the food security challenges of individual nations using empirical analysis and global datasets

This book aims to bring forth and address the major issues confronting the irrigation sector of India and also to suggest policy pointers to sustain it. As the policy and reform canvas is large for a huge and diverse country, this book has particular focus on the most important and immediate issues and future options. The chapters not only focus on new research, in-depth analysis and technical details, but also provide a balanced review of the state of irrigation sector and comprehensive presentation of major issues, challenges and future options. With the presentation of in-depth analysis and synthesis of available knowledge, the work can act as a handbook for major irrigation water issues, actual policy changes, and potential reform that could turnaround the sector. Given the temporal and spatial data analysis of the irrigation sector, this book will be effective and useful as a research and teaching tool to students and researchers both in India and globally. Besides its professional audience within the academic, research and policy community, the non-technical format of the book will appeal to a general audience in the media, policy, and donor circles

This is a Festschrift in honour of Professor Asit K. Biswas, for his manifold contributions to water resources policy and management and his extensive efforts over six decades to generate, synthetize, apply, and disseminate knowledge at national and global levels. Global Water Resources: Festschrift in Honour of Asit K. Biswas includes invited contributions on global water issues from 23 globally renowned leaders in the public and private sectors, as well as academia, who have made significant contributions to the field of water resources policy, management, development and governance. The vision and expertise of this distinguished group of experts provides a unique focus on unfolding water issues and their bearing on world development This book will be of great value to scholars, students, and policymakers interested in water resource governance, sustainable development, and climate change. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Water Resources Development.