INTRODUCTION

Water resources are natural resources of water that

are potentially useful as a source of water supply.
97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only
three percent is fresh water; slightly over two thirds of
this is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps The
remaining unfrozen freshwater is found mainly as
groundwater, with only a small fraction present above
ground or in the air. Natural sources of fresh
water include surface water, under river
flow, groundwater and frozen water. Artificial sources
of fresh water can include treated
wastewater (reclaimed water) and desalinated
seawater..
Just 3% of the Earth's water is freshwater, with
significantly more than two-thirds of it frozen in polar
ice caps and glaciers. The leftover unfrozen freshwater
is mostly contained as groundwater, with nothing more
than a limited amount found above ground or in the
atmosphere.
While clean water is a natural renewable resource, the
world's supply of groundwater is increasingly
diminishing, with scarcity mostly happening in South
America, Asia, and North America, though it is still
uncertain how much natural regeneration balances this
use and whether habitats are endangered.
IMPORTANCE

According to many, the availability of water resources is the

most serious problem at a global level. Today over 4 billion
people live in scarce water conditions for at least one month
a year, and just under 2 billion are forced to contend with
drought six months a year. And where water is available,
often it is not usable because it is polluted or wasted.

water resources is very important for maintaining an

adequate food supply and a productive environment for the
all living organisms. As human populations and economies
grow, global freshwater demand has been increasing
rapidly. In addition to threatening the human food supply,
water shortages severely reduce biodiversity in both aquatic
and terrestrial ecosystems.1 The negative effects of global
population increase, climate change impacts, and lifestyle
changes are exerting growing pressures upon our vital water
resources leading to widespread water stress in many
countries. As a result, there is growing realisation of the
urgent need to conserve water. Water is essential to life
because it heavily influences public health and living
standard. However, water is unequally distributed
throughout the world. Water is a very important required
substance in order to sustain vital activities of human such
as nutrition, respiration, circulation, excretion and
reproduction. In addition water is also a life space as well as
being one of the basic substances in the formation of life
environment.
Water resources in the world are found in air, sea, land,
rivers, lakes and oceans. While the water in the air moves
between the earth and the atmosphere as a result of the
hydrological cycle, the water on the land is in the form of
underground waters. 2 Three-quarters of our world is
covered with water and the human body is mostly made up
of water. Water has a vital importance for all living things
and some of the main functions in the human body can be
summarized as follows; it is a biological solvent that
provides both the transport and dissolution of vitamins and
minerals in the body; it is important in regulating body
temperature; facilitates the work of the kidneys and other
organs, protects and acts as a cushion;
In addition to all these, water has an important place
in performing many vital activities such as circulation,
excretion and reproduction, 80-90% of our blood and 75%
of our muscles are made up of water. Water is an
indispensable element of life and we feel uncomfortable when
we are dehydrated even for a short time. When we lose very
important blessings like the water we have, we begin to
realize how water is a precious substance.
OBJECTIVE
Depending on the region and state of current water
conditions, policy and implementation, water resource
management objectives can vary.

However, often Water Resources Management

objectives can include promoting conditions for
environmentally sustainable, economically efficient and
equitably allocated use of water resources. They also
include to increase the benefits and reduce the risk
related to existing hydraulic infrastructure.

• Stakeholders are given a voice in water planning

and management, with particular attention to
securing the involvement of women and the poor;
• Policies and priorities consider water resources
implications, including the two-way relationship
between macroeconomic policies and water
development, management, and use;
• Water-related decisions made at local and basin
levels are along the lines of, or at least do not
conflict with, the achievement of broader national
objectives; and
• Water planning and strategies are incorporated
into broader social, economic, and environmental
goals.
 • .

METHODOLOGY

Water in the world exists in all forms—solid, liquid

and vapour. The hydrological cycle more or less fixes
the water supply to the world.
However, the water available to human beings in the
fresh form—from lakes, rivers and ground—is limited
to about 0.3 per cent of total water supply. Much of
this water is too expensive to get or is not accessible,
being in remote areas or because of heavy pollution.
According to one estimate, only about 0.003 per cent
of earth’s total water supply is available for human
consumption. However, this amount ought to be
enough for the human population even if it reaches 8
billion or so.
The problem with water availability is its uneven
distribution. Furthermore, the rainfall on which water
replenishment depends is uneven and, in many places,
erratic. Climatic differences cause different evaporation
rates.
The major problems relating to water resources are:
(i) Rising demand for water for irrigation,
and industrial use besides domestic use;
 • Highly skewed distribution of water on earth; and
• (iii) Growing pollution of water supplies.
In recent times, it has been said that the next major
war will be not over oil but over water. The need of
the day is to manage water resources.
By increasing supply:
Through storage in dams; diverting water from excess
areas to scarcity areas through link waterways;
artificially recharging ground water; desalinating sea
water; towing icebergs from the Antarctic to water
scarcity regions; controlling pollution and reclaiming
polluted water through recycling; and cloud seeding.
By reducing degradation:
Devising methods for controlling/reducing
evaporation losses in irrigation; using better drainage
in irrigated agriculture to reduce soil salinization
By reducing waste and use:
Reducing overall population growth; limiting growth
of population in areas of water shortage; devising
more efficient industrial processes with less use of
water; controlling wastage.
Some of these methods bring their own problems.
Dams have been criticised for changing the
morphology of river beds, banks, estuary and
coastlines through altered sediment load, and
reduction in riverine and floodplain habitat diversity
by preventing floods. Besides, huge dams cause large-
scale displacement of people with its attendant
problems. Water diversion is not only expensive; it can
have serious ecological impact.
Even on a small scale it has been known to cause soil
salinity and water logging if adequate drainage is not
provided. As for towing icebergs, besides the
concerns of economic viability and technological
feasibility, anchoring such a large cold mass in
semitropical areas could cause weather anomalies and
have an adverse impact on the marine life of that
region. Cloud seeding is not a bad idea, but it works
only if there are some clouds in the region; therefore,
in dry areas where water is needed most, cloud
seeding will not work,
Furthermore, this too could cause ecological side
effects such as changes in precipitation patterns. Also,
there may be territorial disputes over who has rights
to the water in the clouds. In the end, reducing waste
and careful use are the best ways to conserve this
precious resource.
 OBSERVATION
Global water resources are being rapidly exploited through
unprecedented population growth and widespread
unsustainable management practices. The current pace,
magnitude and spatial reach of humankinds impact on
water resources is now a very real concern for future
development and peace. In simple terms this means that
water resources are being polluted and over-exploited on
scales never witnessed before. Currently, millions of people
still live without access to safe drinking water, mainly in
sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Agricultural irrigation remains
by far the largest consumer of freshwater resources,
accounting for about 70% of freshwater use, with this
number expected to increase by a further 20% by 2050.
In response to the widespread recognition of impending
water scarcity, in January 2015, the World Economic Forum
declared the water crisis as one of the highest global risks.
However, despite this growing concern, a water crisis can
be viewed as management crisis, that can be mitigated
through the application of best-practices and sound water
management policy.
Considering the significant risks of letting a potential water
crisis unfold unabated, the new Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), approved in September 2015, set specific
targets for water (SDGs). This ambitious SDG aims to
ensure the availability and sustainable management of
water and sanitation for all.
ANALYSIS

Based on the data for meteorology, hydrology, soil, planting,

vegetation, and socio-economic development of the irrigation
region in the middle reaches of the Heine River basin, Northwest
China, the model of balance of water supply and demand in the
region was established, and the security of water resource was
assessed, from which the results that the effects of unified
management of water resources in the Heine River basin
between Gansu Province and Inner Mongolia on regional
hydrology are significant with a decrease in water supply
diverted from Heine River and an increase in groundwater
extracted. In addition, it was found that the groundwater level
has been steadily decreasing due to over pumping and decrease
in recharges. In present year (2003), the volume of potential
groundwater in the irrigation districts is far small because of the
groundwater overdraft; even in the particular regions, there is no
availability of groundwater resources for use. By 2003, water
supply is not sufficient to meet the water demand in the different
irrigation districts, the sustainable development and utilization of
water resources are not secured, and the water supply crisis
occurs in Pingchuan irrigation district. Achieving water security
for the sustainable development of society, agriculture, economy,
industry, and livelihoods while maintaining or improving the
abilities of the management and planning of water resources,
determining of the reasonable percentage between water supply
and groundwater utilization and water saving in agricultural
irrigation are taken into account.
CONCLUSION

Rapidly increasing economic and population growth in urban

areas has generated corresponding increases in demand for
augmentation of water supplies. Irrigation, by far the largest
water use, remains a mainstay of some local and state
economies. Perhaps the most rapidly escalating call for water
is motivated by concern for environmental and recreational
values, values not protected by law or public advocacy in the
early evolution of western water allocation. These increasing
and shifting patterns of demand are being exerted on a
resource already fully appropriated in most of the region

Our water resources, irregularly distributed in space and time,

are under pressure due to major population change and
increased demand. Access to reliable data on the availability,
quality and quantity of water, and its variability, form the
necessary foundation for sound management of water resources.
The different options for augmentation expand the boundaries of
the water resource in a conventional sense, helping to match
demand and supply. All components of the hydrological cycle,
and the influence of human activities on it, need to be
understood and quantified to efficiently and develop and
protect our water resources.