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Rainwater harvesting in India: some critical issues for basin planning and research

Author

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  • Kumar, M. Dinesh
  • Ghosh, Shantanu
  • Patel, Ankit
  • Singh, Om Prakash
  • Ravindranath, R.

Abstract

Often, as a frantic response to problems of water scarcity and consequent hardships faced by both urban and communities, India has invested heavily in rainwater harvesting. Unlike investment in large water resource systems, these efforts, by and large, lack hydrological planning and sound economic analysis: research on the impact of local water harvesting/groundwater recharge activities in India is very sparse. This paper identifies sex critical issues in rainwater harvesting efforts in water-scarce regions of India. First: there is no emphasis on potential local supplies and the demand they have to cater for: local supply potential is low in most water scarce regions, a fact compounded by poor reliability, and demand far exceeds the supply potential. Second: there are complexities in the economic evaluation of RWH, due to lack of scientific data on inflows, runoff collection and storage efficiency, beneficiaries, value of the incremental benefits generated and scale considerations. With higher degrees of basin development, the marginal benefit from water harvesting at the basin level reduces, while marginal cost increases. Third: in many basins, there is a strong ‘trade-off’ between maximizing hydrological benefits and improving cost effectiveness. Fourth: many water-scarce basins are characterized by wide disparity in demand between upper catchments and lower catchments, so that there is a trade-off in maximizing benefits of upstream water harvesting with optimizing basin-wide benefits. Fifth: in many water-scarce basins, local water harvesting merely divides the hydrological benefits rather than augmenting them. Finally, poor integration between surface water and groundwater systems, and lack of inclusion of natural recharge, ultimately leads to reduction in potential for artificial recharge in hard rock areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Kumar, M. Dinesh & Ghosh, Shantanu & Patel, Ankit & Singh, Om Prakash & Ravindranath, R., 2006. "Rainwater harvesting in India: some critical issues for basin planning and research," Land Use and Water Resources Research, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Centre for Land Use and Water Resources Research, vol. 6, pages 1-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:luawrr:47964
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.47964
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    Cited by:

    1. Glendenning, C.J. & Vervoort, R.W., 2010. "Hydrological impacts of rainwater harvesting (RWH) in a case study catchment: The Arvari River, Rajasthan, India. Part 1: Field-scale impacts," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 331-342, December.
    2. Glendenning, C.J. & van Ogtrop, F.F. & Mishra, A.K. & Vervoort, R.W., 2012. "Balancing watershed and local scale impacts of rain water harvesting in India—A review," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-13.
    3. Muthukumar Perumal & Selvam Sekar & Paula C. S. Carvalho, 2024. "Global Investigations of Seawater Intrusion (SWI) in Coastal Groundwaters in the Last Two Decades (2000–2020): A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-28, February.
    4. Mukherjee, Sacchidananda & Shah, Zankhana, 2008. "Large reservoirs: are they the last oasis for the survival of cities in India?," Conference Papers h041897, International Water Management Institute.
    5. Unknown, 2008. "Managing water in the face of growing scarcity, inequity and declining returns: exploring fresh approaches," IWMI Conference Proceedings 138985, International Water Management Institute.
    6. Kumar, M. Dinesh & van Dam, J. C., 2008. "Improving water productivity in agriculture in developing economies: in search of new avenues," IWMI Conference Proceedings 245276, International Water Management Institute.
    7. Robyn Horan & Pawan S. Wable & Veena Srinivasan & Helen E. Baron & Virginie J. D. Keller & Kaushal K. Garg & Nathan Rickards & Mike Simpson & Helen A. Houghton-Carr & H. Gwyn Rees, 2021. "Modelling Small-Scale Storage Interventions in Semi-Arid India at the Basin Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-28, May.
    8. Angela Thompson & R. Stotler & G. Macpherson & G. Liu, 2015. "Laboratory Study of Low-Flow Rates on Clogging Processes for Application to Small-Diameter Injection Wells," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(14), pages 5171-5184, November.
    9. Zankhana Shah & M. Kumar, 2008. "In the Midst of the Large Dam Controversy: Objectives, Criteria for Assessing Large Water Storages in the Developing World," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 22(12), pages 1799-1824, December.
    10. Sacchidananda Mukherjee & Zankhana Shah & M. Kumar, 2010. "Sustaining Urban Water Supplies in India: Increasing Role of Large Reservoirs," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(10), pages 2035-2055, August.
    11. Kumar, M. Dinesh & van Dam, J. C., 2009. "Improving water productivity in agriculture in India: beyond \u2018more crop per drop\u2019," IWMI Books, Reports H042639, International Water Management Institute.
    12. Kumar, M. Dinesh & van Dam, Jos C., 2009. "Improving water productivity in agriculture in India: beyond ‘more crop per drop’," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    13. Glendenning, C.J. & Vervoort, R.W., 2011. "Hydrological impacts of rainwater harvesting (RWH) in a case study catchment: The Arvari River, Rajasthan, India: Part 2. Catchment-scale impacts," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(4), pages 715-730, February.
    14. Shah, Zankhana & Kumar, M. Dinesh, 2008. "In the midst of the large dam controversy: objectives, criteria for assessing large water storages in the developing world," Conference Papers h041896, International Water Management Institute.
    15. Nagarajan Shanmugavel & Rema Rajendran, 2022. "Adoption of Rainwater Harvesting: a Dual-factor Approach by Integrating Theory of Planned Behaviour and Norm Activation Model," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 36(8), pages 2827-2845, June.
    16. M. Dinesh Kumar, 2016. "Distressed Elephants: Policy Initiatives for Sustainable Groundwater Management in India," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 5(1), pages 51-62, January.

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