Priorities for water resources planning

Water resource projects are constructed to develop or manage the available water resources for different purposes. According to the National Water Policy (2002), the water allocation priorities for planning and operation of water resource systems should broadly be as follows:

1.      Domestic consumption This includes water requirements primarily for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing of clothes and utensils and flushing of toilets.

2.      Irrigation Water required for growing crops in a systematic and scientific manner in areas even with deficit rainfall.

3.      Hydropower This is the generation of electricity by harnessing the power of flowing water.

4.      Ecology / environment restoration Water required for maintaining the environmental health of a region.

5.      Industries The industries require water for various purposes and that by thermal power stations is quite high.

6.      Navigation Navigation possibility in rivers may be enhanced by increasing the flow, thereby increasing the depth of water required to allow larger vessels to pass.

7.      Other uses Like entertainment of scenic natural view.

This course on Water Resources Engineering broadly discusses the facilities to be constructed / augmented to meet the demand for the above uses. Many a times, one project may serve more than one purpose of the above mentioned uses.