water resources and irrigation scenario

1. Water resources and
irrigation scenario of India
Harithalekshmi V
1st year PhD.
Dept. Agrometeorology
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2. Content
• Introduction
• Water resources , types and capacity
• Irrigation – current scenario, sources and
types
• Conclusion
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3. Water Availability in Indian Scenario
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4. Sector wise water use
69%
23%
8%
Agriculture Industry Domestic use
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5. Precipitation – the major source of water
• Total annual precipitation available is – 4000 cubic kilometer
• Shows large spacial and temporal variability in rainfall
• Indian agriculture is a gamble of monsoon
Temporal variation in rainfall over India
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6. Spatial variation of rainfall over India
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7. Water Resources of India
Surface water resource Ground water resource
•Rivers
•Lakes , ponds and tanks
•Lagoons and back water
•Aquifers
•Well
•Tube well
•The availability from surface water and replenishable groundwater is 1,869 km3
•Out of this, only 60 per cent can be put to beneficial uses
•The total utilizable water resource in the country is only 1,122 km3
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8. Ground water resources
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• Total replenishable groundwater – 432 cubic kilometer
• Utilization is high in river basins lying in N-W India and parts of
south India
• The states having highest ground water utilization are Punjab,
Haryana, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu
• Haryana – 51.3 %
• Punjab – 76.1%
Percentage of net irrigated
area covered by tube wells
and well

9. Surface water resource
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10. Rivers
• 10,360 rivers and their tributaries longer than 1.6 km each
• The mean annual flow in all the river basins - 1,869 cubic km
• Only about 690 cubic km (32 per cent) of the available surface water
can be utilized
• Himalayan rivers – year round flow
• Peninsular rivers – Originate mostly from Western Ghats
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11. Himalayan river basins which account
for only about one-third of the total
area in the country, have 60 per cent
of the total surface water resources
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12. Interlinking of rivers
(Mo Water resources, 1980)
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13. Lagoons and Backwater
Lagoons Backwater
•Shallow water body that is
separated from a larger water
body through sand bars
•Eg : Chilka lake
•Backwaters are formed in part
of a river where the current of
the river has slowed down due
to a blockage in the rive
•Eg: Vembanad lake
India has a vast coastline and the coast is very indented in some states, due to
this, a number of lagoons and lakes have formed
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14. Irrigation and its need
• Agriculture accounts for most of the surface and groundwater
utilisation,
- 89 per cent of the surface water
- 92 per cent of the groundwater
• Risk associated with un even distribution of rainfall can be
mitigated
• Makes multiple cropping possible
• High yielding varieties have high water demands
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15. Surface Water Ground water
from surface flows or water storage
reservoirs
from the groundwater aquifers
Through small dams and canal
networks, run-off from river lift
irrigation schemes and small tanks and
ponds
Through wells and tube wells a
Gravity-fed Need electrical power
Source of irrigation
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16. Irrigation scenario in India
• The world over, the irrigation sector is the largest user of water—almost 80
per cent of the water in the world is taken up by irrigation
• In India, the irrigation sector uses 85 per cent of its available water resources
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17. Irrigation statistics of India (2021)
• Net irrigated area of India – 68.64 Mha (2021 )
• Gross irrigated area of India – 96.46 Mha (2021 )
• State with highest net irrigated area – Uttar Pradesh ( 14.33 Mha)
• Total micro irrigation in India – 12.90M ha
- Drip – 6.11 Mha and Sprinkler – 6.79 mha
• State with highest area under micro irrigation – Andhra Pradesh (1.9 Mha)
• State with highest area under drip irrigation – Andhra Pradesh (1.38 Mha)
• State with highest area under sprinkler irrigation – Karnataka (1.14 Mha)
• State with highest area under micro irrigation when compared to total
irrigated area – Sikkim ( 73%)
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18. Irrigation Sector Terminology
Planning commission have classified irrigation in India in 3 types
Class Cultivable command area (ha)
Major irrigation Greater than 10,000
Medium irrigation 2000 – 10,000
Minor irrigation
a. Surface irrigation
b. Groundwater irrigation
< 2000
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19. Major and Medium Irrigation
In terms of investment by the government, major and medium
irrigation sector accounts for 57 per cent of investment in the irrigation
sector which serves only 35 per cent of the total area irrigated
Issues concerning
•Ageing of infrastructure
•Increased siltation of large dams
Age of major dams in India
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20. Minor irrigation
Minor irrigation currently covers 52.62 million ha of land
Surface water irrigation
•The average command area of the surface water schemes is about 10 ha
(Census, 2001)
•This adequately covers the range of schemes included in this category
from small ponds with a command area of 2 to 5 ha to large flow irrigation
systems with a capacity of 5200 ha and more
Ground water irrigation
•Groundwater now contributes to 60 per cent of the area irrigated in India
India also has the highest annual groundwater extraction in the world
•Crop yields per cubic meter of water being 1.2 to 3 times higher than surface
irrigation
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21. The irrigation systems in india
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22. 1.
2.
3.
Task force on National
Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)
Pradhan Manthri Krishi Sinchai
Yojana (PMKSY) -2015-2016
Neeranchal national watershed
Management programme
Government initiatives
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23. India’s water future
• The total water demand to increase from 680 in 2000 to 833 Bm3
by 2025, and to 900 Bm3 by 2050 (22% and 32%, respectively)
• That nine river basins, comprising 75% of the total population, will
be physically water-scarce by 2050
• The industrial and the domestic sectors to account for 54% and
85% of the additional demand by 2025 and 2050
• The groundwater withdrawal to increase from 303 Bm3 in 2000 to
365 and 423 Bm3 by 2025 and 2050, respectively
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24. Percapita availability of water
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25. Conclusion
• Water resources of a country ensures its wealth and prosperity.
Unsustainable management of water, uneven spatial and temporal
distribution of water, hydrological uncertailnity and growing water
demands may cause the deficiency of water
• Appropriate water management plans, water augmentation schemes,
innovative water use plans, innovative water supply systems are need
to be implemented to conserve the most vital resource of the world
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