URBAN WATER CRISIS

Posted 15 Apr 2024

4 min read

Why in the news?

Bengaluru is facing one of the worst water crises in recent years due to poor rainfall.

Urban Water Crisis

Water crisis refers to a situation where there is inadequate access to clean and safe water for various needs due to factors like pollution, overuse, and poor management.
Water resources becoming scarce because of drought conditions as aggravated by climate change has been referred to as ‘Day Zero’.
- Day Zero means water levels in dams supplying water to the city are critically low; it does not imply that there is no water in dams.
  - Cape Town in 2018 and Chennai in 2019 have experienced ‘Day Zero’.
Water crisis is a key hindrance in achieving sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) particularly SDG6 which calls for clean water and sanitation by 2030.

Reasons behind the Urban Water Crisis

Unplanned urbanization: The rapid erosion of green cover, encroachment of water bodies and overexploitation of natural resources have strained water availability in the city.
- Unplanned concretization prevents water from percolating into the soil and recharging the water table.
  - In Bengaluru, the number of lakes has decreased from 262 in 1961 to about 81 currently
Pollution of water bodies: For example, large water bodies like Bellandur Lake (Bengaluru) have become heavily polluted due to industrial effluents and untreated sewage flowing into them.
Over-extraction of groundwater: In the most populated cities, groundwater levels have drastically decreased over the past two decades which further exacerbates the problem of water crisis.
Poor water supply infrastructure: Many urban areas lack proper water supply infrastructure, including distribution networks, treatment plants, and storage facilities.
- Because of these, leakage happens which in turn results in high non-revenue water (i.e., water "lost" before it reaches the customer).
Climate change: Erratic monsoons and a rise in the frequency and intensity of floods and droughts could adversely affect the accessibility and availability of water.
Aquifer system: Groundwater resources in South India are not able to sustain for very long in the event of a prolonged dry spell.
- South India has a very different kind of aquifer system which is very rocky that don’t hold a lot of water.

Way Forward

Nature-Based Solutions: Promoting green-blue infrastructure and restoration of wetlands can help absorb excess water during floods and store water during droughts.
Community based solutions: The community play a critical role in efficiently managing water (preventing wastage, pollution and leakage), wastewater reuse, improving groundwater levels, etc.
- For example, Orange County in California (US) has employed a community education campaign to create acceptance of the recycled water.
- Community participation is also central to India’s Jal Jeevan Mission.
Regulatory measures: Regulatory policies should ensure the adoption of sustainable urban water management practices e.g., Rainwater harvesting (RWH), Grey-water recycling, and wastewater treatment.
- For, example, in Tamil Nadu RWH is compulsory in all new buildings.
Use of Technology: Technology could be helpful in leakages detection, water quality monitoring, and facilitate targeted remediation actions.
- For example, Clean Water AI is a device that uses a deep learning neural network to detect dangerous bacteria and harmful particles in water.
C2C learning in water governance: The potential of city-to-city (C2C) learning to address water issues is largely untapped. One option that cities have is to start networking and building learning alliances with other cities.
- For example, the LOTUS-HR program is a collaborative project between the Netherlands and India to treat sewage water in Delhi.
Leveraging the private sector: For example, Tata Steel had commissioned the creation of the Dimna Lake in Jamshedpur.
- Additionally, to reduce freshwater consumption, they conform to a water audit and have real-time, online monitoring.