Department of Civil Engineering, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Orissa
Online published on 28 August, 2013.
The per-capita availability of water is gradually decreasing in the State due to increasing population resulting in increase in demand for food production and other competitive sectors like mining and industry etc. The problem will be further compounded considering the climate change which may accelerate the water problems of Orissa further.
State Water Policy of Orissa which came into force in March 2007 has spelled out the allocation priorities where it has given ecology as the second priority after the drinking water. This is a major shift in the policy statement in comparison to the State Water Policy of 1994. As water has got highly competitive demand the policy has emphasized on multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder approach by which this can be addressed in right prospective.
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) encompasses multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder approach for water resources management. IWRM seeks to change water management practices from the traditional top-down and uncoordinated approach where each sector looks after itself, to holistic, integrated and cross-sectoral management, recognizing that water is critically important for all human (and environmental) activities, and that beneficiaries need to be included in its management, through proper involvement at all levels of decision making.
The State Water Plan of 2004 roughly estimates 30% of Mean Annual Runoff (MAR) meant for environmental flows through out the year for the ecosystems, including the two Ramsar sites of the State. The state of knowledge of these requirements, and approaches to address them through environmental flow methods, is nearly nonexistence. Moreover, that 30% need to be translated into specific, seasonally defined requirements for specific locations. Thus, this paper highlights on the importance of estimating environmental flow requirements of all 11 major rivers of Orissa by which this can be properly considered in IWRM.
