What is water management?
Water management refers to the control and movement of water resources to reduce any damage to life and property and helps in maximizing the balance of water use. Good water management involves the proper installation and maintenance of dams and levees that help in the prevention of flooding and any damage caused due to the same.
Effective water management also involves drainage management that includes water budgeting and analysis of both surface and sub-surface systems. Other factors that influence the sufficient and free flow of water are ground water withdrawal rates and budgeted allocation of water for different purposes in appropriate quantities.
What is sustainable water management?
Sustainable water management refers to the process of using water in a method that meets the current demand for water without affecting the needs of future generations ecologically, socially and economically. Effective sustainable water management requires water to be over looked from judicial boundaries for its immediate supply of operations and managing water collaboratively as well as seeking resilient regional solutions that reduce risks to a large extent.
Sustainable water management helps a nation become self sufficient for its water needs which ensures that there is enough water to meet various functions on all levels; domestic, commercial as well as industrial.
Achieving sustainable water management require a holistic approach in creating the right technical, environmental, social and economic situation for the issues to be addressed.
On a global scale, having the right type of sustainable water systems will be able to provide every individual easy and affordable access to their required quantity of water in an economic manner.
Water resources can be effectively planned and wastewater systems can be installed to manage the complete operations and proper infrastructure of water resource demands in every locality.
Reasons for sustainable water conservation:
- Effective water management minimizes the effects of droughts and water shortages by reducing the amount of water used. Even though the world is facing a water crisis with a depletion in fresh water sources, the water supply stays constant. This causes immense pressure on the water bodies and sustainable water management can be a solution to all these problems.
- Sustainable water management also helps in resolving political conflicts as excess water demand increases water costs which may causes political unrest for releasing dam water from one state to flow into another.
- It also ensures that water is available for recreational purposes where freshwater is used for lawns, plantations, gardens as well as luxury options of swimming pools, spas and other such activities. Employing sustainable water management now can help preserve these activities for future generations.
Advantages of sustainable water management:
• Optimizing economic, environmental and social benefits
• Reduces water related costs
• Setting goals for selecting projects through a transparent and inclusive process
• Helps in eliminating water wastes
• Realizing consistency across a range of alternatives that balance utility as well as the pre set goals.
• Maintains water management infrastructure for efficient operations
• Enhancing the long term technical and financial capacity of the water management.
• Sustainable for the long-term maintenance of the environment
• Provides irrigation control based on weather that saves water usage and helps in cost cutting for farmers.
• Technological development in water management field.