INDIA WATER FORUM 2011 Water Security and Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities Conference Proceedings 13–15 April 2011 The Energy and Resources Institute INDIA WATER FORUM 2011 Water Security and Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities The Energy and Resources Institute © The Energy and Resources Institute, 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of The Energy and Resources Institute. Published by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Darbari Seth Block, IHC Complex Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 India Tel.: +91 11 2468 2100 / 4150 4900 Fax: +91 11 2468 2144 / 2468 2145 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.teriin.org Printed in India CONTENT Message....................................................................................................................6 Climat Change and Water ..........................................................................................7 India Water Forum 2011: Context and structure of convention ................................11 Session I: Challenges and Opportunities for Global Water Security: An overview ...13 Session II: Water Vulnerabilities, Resilience and Adaptation ...................................17 Session-III: Regional Water Security, Resource Use & Allocation ...........................21 Session-IV: Climate Change Impacts on Natural Water Systems .............................25 Session-V: Water Quality and Health .......................................................................29 Session VI: Rural Water Supply & Sanitation ..........................................................35 Session-VII: Water and Food Security .....................................................................39 Session-VIII: Sustainable Cities, Water Supply & Distribution ................................43 Session-IX: Science and Technology Challenges for Water Security .......................49 Session-X: Policy, Governance and Regulatory Framework ....................................53 SPECIAL SESSIONS Stakeholder Dialogue on Water Use Efficiency in the Indian Corporate Sector ........58 Indo-German Roundtable on ‘Water, Climate Change, and Conflict in South Asia’ ..61 WAY FORWARD ...................................................................................................63 ANNEXURE Cultural Event..........................................................................................................70 Bionotes ..................................................................................................................72 Speech of Inaugural Session ...................................................................................93 Sponsor’s Profile ...................................................................................................101 INDIA WATER FORUM 2011 message am very happy to provide this brief input for the proceedings of the India Water Forum. This event is symbolic of TERI’s enhanced activities in the water sector. With an increase in population and I higher incomes, the demand for water in India is going up rapidly. Besides, the challenge of food security places an ever increasing demand on water for agriculture. At the same time the impacts of climate change have direct implications for the availability of water in this country as in other parts of the world. While water is clearly an issue of local relevance in different locations, the global dimensions of this vital resource would have an important bearing on policies that need to be adopted and innovations that need to be developed and disseminated to deal with challenges in the future. The India Water Forum which attracted some of the most accomplished professions in the field was a unique event in which an effort was made to come to grips with the nature and magnitude of challenges in the water sector in the world as a whole, but more particularly on the Indian subcontinent. These proceedings digest the rich material presented and discussed during the Forum, which TERI hopes to repeat on a regular basis, and it is hoped that by drawing in all the relevant stakeholders in the field, we may be able to mount effective efforts to deal with this problem worldwide and certainly within this subcontinent. – R K Pachauri ven as water sustains all life, for most part we tend to either take this precious gift of nature for Egranted or use it in profligate ways that are unsustainable. This has created serious water shortages and problems of water quality in many parts of the world, including India. There are even fears of water becoming a major source of societal conflict in times to come. It is, therefore, imperative to bring water onto the global and national agenda with a view to charting a sustainable path for the future. The India Water Forum represents an effort by TERI to create a broad-based platform for policy-makers, experts, scholars, practitioners, and the civil society to deliberate on water-related issues, generate public awareness, and also identify strategies for sustainable utilization and management of our water resources. I sincerely hope that this Conference will make a significant contribution in carrying this mission forward and extend a very warm welcome to all our guests and participants for a very productive dialogue. – Ashok Jaitly 6 INDIA WATER FORUM 2011 CLIMATE CHANGE AND WATER ith an economy closely tied to its natural- north-eastern India, and some parts of Gujarat and Kerala resource-base and climate-sensitive sectors such (–6% to –8% of the normal the 100 years). asW agriculture, water, and forestry, India faces a major Sea level rise has been observed to increase by 0.4–2 threat because of the projected changes in climate. mm/year along the Gulf of Kutch and the coast of West Crucial sectors in India like agriculture, water resources, Bengal. However, relative decrease along the Karnataka health, sanitation, and rural development are likely to coast has also been observed. be affected by climate change. India’s large population Changes in key climate variables, namely temperature, primarily depends on climate-sensitive sectors like precipitation, and humidity, may have significant long- agriculture and forestry for their livelihood. The majority term implications for the quality and quantity of water. of the vulnerable population of India is poorly equipped The most significant changes are likely to occur in to cope effectively with the adversities of climate change the glacier fed river systems, due to the melting of the due to low capabilities, weak institutional mechanisms, Himalayan glaciers. Changes are likely in the long-term and lack of access to adequate resources. lean-season water flows of large snow- and glacier-fed At the national level, increase of c. 0.4° C has been river systems of the Brahmaputra, the Ganga, and the observed in surface air temperatures over the past Indus. century. A warming trend has been observed along the A decline in total run-off for all river basins, except west coast, in central India, the interior peninsula, and Narmada and Tapti, is projected in India’s NATCOM I. north-eastern India. However, cooling trends have been A decline in run-off by more than two-thirds is projected observed in north-west India and parts of south India. for the Sabarmati and Luni basins. While the observed monsoon rainfall at the all-India Heavily populated regions such as coastal areas are level does not show any significant trend, regional exposed to climatic extremes and large falls in sown areas monsoon variations have been recorded. A trend of in arid and semi-arid zones, of which nearly two-thirds increasing monsoon seasonal rainfall has been found are drought-prone. Large areas in Rajasthan, Andhra along the west coast, northern Andhra Pradesh and north- Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra and comparatively western India (+10% to +12% of the normal over the 100 small areas in Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, years) while a trend of decreasing monsoon seasonal Tamil Nadu, Bihar, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh rainfall has been observed over eastern Madhya Pradesh, are frequented by drought. About 40 million hectares of 7 INDIA WATER FORUM 2011 land is flood-prone, including most of the river basins in development. At present, while none of the schemes is the north and the north-eastern belt affecting about 30 explicitly referred to as an Adaptation schemes, many million people on an average each year. contain elements (objectives and targets) that clearly A mean sea level rise of 15–38 cm is projected along relate to risks from climate variability. India’s coast by the mid- 21st century and of 46–59 cm The effort of the Indian government is to mainstream by 2100. India’s NATCOM I assessed the vulnerability the climate impacts into its sectoral policies. Several of coastal districts based on physical exposure to SLR, ongoing efforts address some of these vulnerability social exposure based on population affected, and concerns, although they are primarily driven by the economic impacts. In addition, a projected increase in objective of sustainable livelihoods and poverty the intensity of tropical cyclones by 15% poses a threat alleviation. to the heavily populated coastal zones in the country Outlined in the sections below are some of the (GoI, 2004). policies, programmes, and regulations implemented Government initiatives to help mitigate the effects of by the Government