India will meet only half its water requirements in 20 years

India will be able to meet only half its water demand by 2030, with every third person having access to less than 50% of his or her daily water requirement if water management continues in its current pattern.

India’s projected demand is expected to touch 1.5 trillion cubic metres while supply might stay at the current level of 740 billion cubic metres, warns a report by the 2030 Water Resources Group, titled ‘Charting our Water Future’, which was released in Washington DC on Monday.

The report warns that by 2030, the global water demand will overshoot current supply by 40%, assuming average economic growth and no water efficiency gains. But the report adds that meeting this projected demand-supply gap globally and in India is possible and achievable with a little effort.

The report, which studied India, China, South Africa and Brazil, points out that the first two are centres for agricultural demand and India is likely to see the biggest “water gap” of 50%, followed by China at 25%, where both populations and incomes will grow.
Agriculture, which claims 71% of global water resources, is identified as a prime driver of this gap that may intensify the tradeoff between food security and water security. Industrial use of water, which accounts for 16% today, is projected to grow 22% by 2030 with China alone accounting for 40% percent of this additional demand. The good news is that water demand for domestic consumption will go down.

For a predominantly agrarian India, the demand-supply water gap will be triggered by rising domestic demand for staples from a growing middle-class, translating into a severe water deficit, especially in populous basins of the Ganges, Krishna and the Indian portion of the Indus.

Researchers, however, say that simple agricultural measures like irrigated and rain-fed crop production can close 80% of the gap while the remaining 20% can be delivered through rehabilitation of irrigation districts and completion of earlier projects such as canals, etc.

Based on the rather limited data available, the report researchers discovered that compared to traditional supply methods and the option of moving to less water intensive economic activities, efficiency measures would not only lead to net increase in water availability but also net cost savings.

The report was prepared by McKinsey and Company Inc, and funded by the Barilla Group, The Coca-Cola Company, International Finance Corporation, Nestle SA, New Holland Agriculture, SABMiller plc, Standard Chartered Bank, and Syngenta AG.