Sustainable Urban Water Management Strategies

India is suffering a very significant water crisis with economic growth, livelihoods, human well-being, as well as ecological sustainability at stake. The macro-water availability and numbers are unsettling; India is home to ~17% of world’s population but has only 4% of the world’s freshwater resources. Evidence also suggests that, 11 out of 20 largest cities in India face an extreme risk of water stress and the per capita water supply is considerably lower than the per capita demand. A closer look at cropping patterns in the Indian states also reveals a frightening inefficiency and suboptimal planning that is causing most water-related problems, including depletion of the groundwater tables at an alarming rate. The bigger issue here is that the scarcity of water resources has many cascading effects including desertification, risk to biodiversity, industry, energy sector and risk of exceeding the carrying capacity of urban hubs. With a country generating 140 BCM of wastewater annually, mismanagement of wastewater which also contaminates groundwater, lack of liquid waste management, poor sanitation conditions and poor hygiene habits has contributed to a major portion of population suffering from water-borne diseases (Strategy for New India @ 75 (NITI Aayog 2018), p. 102, https://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Strategy_for_New_India.pdf). Water scarcity can seem difficult to full grasp, given the dichotomous ways in which water is affecting habitations. To tackle the complex water challenge facing India, it is imperative to take a holistic view of water, starting with the hydrological system, the interactions of this system with climate change on the one hand, and with human factors across agriculture, industrial and energy production activity on the other. Thus, this chapter identifies the issues and challenges in managing water sustainably, explores the various Government initiatives on water management and recommends a holistic strategy for water demand management.