Seeking calm water: exploring policy options for India's water future

This paper seeks to identify some promising policy options which could be part of a strategic and holistic effort to address India's future water challenges. Significant increases in agricultural water productivity would be a major factor in reducing the need for developing new water sources. Crop d...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Amarasinghe, Upali A., Shah, Tushaar, McCornick, Peter G.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40686
_version_ 1855525554639339520
author Amarasinghe, Upali A.
Shah, Tushaar
McCornick, Peter G.
author_browse Amarasinghe, Upali A.
McCornick, Peter G.
Shah, Tushaar
author_facet Amarasinghe, Upali A.
Shah, Tushaar
McCornick, Peter G.
author_sort Amarasinghe, Upali A.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This paper seeks to identify some promising policy options which could be part of a strategic and holistic effort to address India's future water challenges. Significant increases in agricultural water productivity would be a major factor in reducing the need for developing new water sources. Crop diversification, appropriately targeted to account for the present agricultural systems and available water resources, will increase productivity. Furthermore, much more emphasis needs to be placed on effective management of the groundwater resources through renewed efforts to enhance artificial recharge and conservation. Also, efforts should be revived to improve the existing surface irrigation systems. In particular, systems could be reconfigured to provide a more reliable water supply and allow effective community level management, where appropriate. Finally, while some of the increasing demands from domestic and industrial users will be met by the development of groundwater and reallocation of water from the agricultural sector, this will not be sufficient. Given that such conditions are emerging in states with high economic growth and relatively water scarce basins, this will require the further development of water resources. In some cases, these conditions along with the demand for reliable water for high value crops, will be part of the justification for inter-basin transfers.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace40686
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2008
publishDateRange 2008
publishDateSort 2008
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace406862023-09-23T17:51:47Z Seeking calm water: exploring policy options for India's water future Amarasinghe, Upali A. Shah, Tushaar McCornick, Peter G. river basins water scarcity artificial recharge groundwater irrigation water productivity crops diversification cereals This paper seeks to identify some promising policy options which could be part of a strategic and holistic effort to address India's future water challenges. Significant increases in agricultural water productivity would be a major factor in reducing the need for developing new water sources. Crop diversification, appropriately targeted to account for the present agricultural systems and available water resources, will increase productivity. Furthermore, much more emphasis needs to be placed on effective management of the groundwater resources through renewed efforts to enhance artificial recharge and conservation. Also, efforts should be revived to improve the existing surface irrigation systems. In particular, systems could be reconfigured to provide a more reliable water supply and allow effective community level management, where appropriate. Finally, while some of the increasing demands from domestic and industrial users will be met by the development of groundwater and reallocation of water from the agricultural sector, this will not be sufficient. Given that such conditions are emerging in states with high economic growth and relatively water scarce basins, this will require the further development of water resources. In some cases, these conditions along with the demand for reliable water for high value crops, will be part of the justification for inter-basin transfers. 2008 2014-06-13T14:48:12Z 2014-06-13T14:48:12Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40686 en Limited Access Amarasinghe, Upali A.; Shah, Tushaar; McCornick, Peter G. 2008. Seeking calm water: exploring policy options for India's water future. Natural Resources Forum, 32:305-315.
spellingShingle river basins
water scarcity
artificial recharge
groundwater irrigation
water productivity
crops
diversification
cereals
Amarasinghe, Upali A.
Shah, Tushaar
McCornick, Peter G.
Seeking calm water: exploring policy options for India's water future
title Seeking calm water: exploring policy options for India's water future
title_full Seeking calm water: exploring policy options for India's water future
title_fullStr Seeking calm water: exploring policy options for India's water future
title_full_unstemmed Seeking calm water: exploring policy options for India's water future
title_short Seeking calm water: exploring policy options for India's water future
title_sort seeking calm water exploring policy options for india s water future
topic river basins
water scarcity
artificial recharge
groundwater irrigation
water productivity
crops
diversification
cereals
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40686
work_keys_str_mv AT amarasingheupalia seekingcalmwaterexploringpolicyoptionsforindiaswaterfuture
AT shahtushaar seekingcalmwaterexploringpolicyoptionsforindiaswaterfuture
AT mccornickpeterg seekingcalmwaterexploringpolicyoptionsforindiaswaterfuture