CONCEPT – NEW NATIONAL WATER POLICY (NWP) 2020

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 CONCEPT – NEW NATIONAL WATER POLICY (NWP) 2020

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• Background: A scarce natural resource, water is fundamental to life, livelihood, food security and sustainable development. India has more than 18 % of the world’s population, but has only 4% of world’s renewable water resources and 2.4% of world’s land area. 

1. There are further limits on utilizable quantities of water owing to uneven distribution over time and space. In addition, there are challenges of frequent floods and droughts in one or the other part of the country. 
2. With a growing population and rising needs of a fast developing nation as well as the given indications of the impact of climate change, availability of utilizable water will be under further strain in future with the possibility of deepening water conflicts among different user groups. 
3. Low consciousness about the scarcity of water and its life sustaining and economic value results in its mismanagement, wastage, and inefficient use, as also pollution and reduction of flows below minimum ecological needs. 
4. In addition, there are inequities in distribution and lack of a unified perspective in planning, management and use of water resources. The objective of the National Water Policy is to take cognizance of the existing situation, to propose a framework for creation of a system of laws and institutions and for a plan of action with a unified national perspective. 

• How to implement NWP 2012: The NWP currently in force was drafted in 2012 and is the third such policy since 1987. It brought a new "Integrated Water Resources Management approach" that took the “river basin/ sub-basin” as a unit for planning, development and management of water resources.

1. National Water Board should prepare a plan of action based on the National Water Policy, as approved by the National Water Resources Council, and to regularly monitor its implementation. 
2. The State Water Policies may need to be drafted/revised in accordance with this policy keeping in mind the basic concerns and principles as also a unified national perspective. 

• NWP 2012 - Problems with water management in India today:

1. Large parts of India have already become water stressed. Rapid growth in demand for water due to population growth, urbanization and changing lifestyle pose serious challenges to water security.
2. Mismanagement of water resources has led to a critical situation in many parts.
3. There is wide temporal and spatial variation in availability of water, which may increase substantially due to a combination of climate change, causing deepening of water crisis and incidences of water related disasters, i.e., floods, increased erosion and increased frequency of droughts, etc.
4. Access to safe water for drinking and other domestic needs still continues to be a problem. Skewed availability of water between different regions and different people in the same region and also the intermittent and unreliable water supply system has the potential of causing social unrest. 
5. Groundwater, though part of hydrological cycle and a community resource, is still perceived as an individual property and is exploited inequitably and without any consideration to its sustainability.
6. Water resources projects, though multi-disciplinary with multiple stakeholders, are being planned and implemented in a fragmented manner without giving due consideration to optimum utilization, environment sustainability and holistic benefit to the people.
7. Natural water bodies and drainage channels are being encroached upon, and diverted for other purposes. 
8. Groundwater recharge zones are often blocked. Growing pollution of water sources, especially through industrial effluents, is affecting the availability of safe water besides causing environmental and health hazards. 
9. Characteristics of catchment areas of streams, rivers and recharge zones of aquifers are changing as a consequence of land use and land cover changes, affecting water resource availability and quality.

• NWP 2012 - Uses of water: 

1. Water is required for domestic, agricultural, hydro-power, thermal power, navigation, recreation, etc. 
2. Utilisation in all these diverse uses of water should be optimized and an awareness of water as a scarce resource should be fostered.
3. The Centre, the States and the local bodies (governance institutions) must ensure access to a minimum quantity of potable water for essential health and hygiene to all, within easy reach.
4. Ecological needs of the river should be determined, through scientific study, recognizing that the natural river flows are characterized by low or no flows, small floods (freshets), large floods, etc., and should accommodate developmental needs.
5. A portion of river flows should be kept aside to meet ecological needs ensuring that the low and high flow releases are proportional to the natural flow regime, including base flow contribution in the low flow season through regulated ground water use.
6. In the water rich eastern and north eastern regions of India, the water use infrastructure is weak and needs to be strengthened in the interest of food security.  
7. Community should be sensitized and encouraged to adapt first to utilization of water as per local availability of waters, before providing water through long distance transfer. Community based water management should be institutionalized and strengthened. 

• NWP 2012 Water Pricing:

1. It must ensure its efficient use and reward conservation.
2. Equitable access to water for all and its fair pricing, for drinking and other uses such as sanitation, agricultural and industrial, should be arrived at through independent statutory Water Regulatory Authority, set up by each State.
3. To meet equity, efficiency and economic principles, the water charges should preferably / as a rule be determined on volumetric basis. Such charges should be reviewed periodically.
4. Recycle and reuse of water, after treatment to specified standards, should also be incentivized through a properly planned tariff system.
5. The principle of differential pricing may be retained for the pre-emptive uses of water for drinking and sanitation; and high priority allocation for ensuring food security and supporting livelihood for the poor. 
6. Available water, after meeting the above needs, should increasingly be subjected to allocation and pricing on economic principles so that water is not wasted in unnecessary uses and could be utilized more gainfully.
7. Water Users Associations (WUAs) should be given statutory powers to collect and retain a portion of water charges, manage the volumetric quantum of water allotted to them and maintain the distribution system in their jurisdiction. 
8. WUAs should be given the freedom to fix rates subject to floor rates determined by WRAs. 
9. The over-drawal of groundwater should be minimized by regulating the use of electricity for its extraction. Separate electric feeders for pumping ground water for agricultural use should be considered.

• A new committee for NWP: The Union Water Resources Ministry has formed a committee to draft a new National Water Policy (NWP), chaired by Mihir Shah, a former Planning Commission member and a water expert. The committee has 10 principal members. Report is expected before July 2020. 
• Why do it: In September 2019, Minister Gajendra Shekhawat had indicated that updating the NWP 2012 and bringing changes in water governance structure and regulatory framework is in the works. A National Bureau of Water Use Efficiency is also planned.
• Minimum levels: It proposed that a portion of river flows ought to be kept aside to meet ecological needs. That led to the 2018 norms requiring minimum water levels to be maintained in the Ganga all through the year and hydropower projects, therefore, to refrain from hoarding water beyond a point. That policy also stressed for a minimum quantity of potable water for essential health and hygiene to all its citizens to be made available within easy reach of households.
• Inter-basin transfers: These are not just for increasing production but also for meeting basic human need and achieving equity and social justice. Inter-basin transfers of water should be considered on the basis of merits of each case (considering the environmental, economic and social impacts).
• Criticism of 2012 policy: 

1. Paradigm shift in approach from service provider of water to facilitator of service
2. Policy did not deter use among those who can afford to pay for water.
3. Policy does not follow polluter pay principle, rather it gave incentives for effluent treatment.
4. Policy was criticized for terming Water as an economic good.
5. It did not focus on the reduction of water pollution.
6. The policy didn't lay out objective for commercial use of water, especially ground water.

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