WATER RESOURCES

You already know that three-fourth of the earth’s surface is covered with water, but only a small proportion of it accounts for freshwater that can be put to use. This freshwater is mainly obtained from surface run off and ground water that is continually being renewed and recharged through the hydrological cycle. All water moves within the hydrological cycle ensuring that water is a renewable resource. You might wonder that if three-fourth of the world is covered with water and water is a renewable resource, then how is it that countries and regions around the globe suffer from water scarcity? Why is it predicted that by , nearly two billion people will live in absolute water scarcity? W W W W WATER ATER ATER ATER ATER S S S S SCARCITY CARCITY CARCITY CARCITY CARCITY AND AND AND AND AND THE THE THE THE THE N N N N NEED EED EED EED EED FOR FOR FOR FOR FOR W W W W WATER ATER ATER ATER ATER CCCCCONSERVATION ONSERVATION ONSERVATION ONSERVATION ONSERVATION AND AND AND AND AND M M M M MANAGEMENT ANAGEMENT ANAGEMENT ANAGEMENT ANAGEMENT Given the abundance and renewability of water, it is difficult to imagine that we may suffer from water scarcity. The moment we speak of water shortages, we immediately associate it with regions having low rainfall or those that are drought prone. We instantaneously visualise the deserts of Rajasthan and women balancing many ‘matkas’ (earthen pots) used for collecting and storing water and travelling long distances to get water. True, the availability of water resources varies over space and time, mainly due to the variations in seasonal and annual precipitation, but water scarcity in Reprint -