Throughout history water has been considered a natural resource critical to human survival, human

history can generally be considered to be water-centered. Easy availability of water for drinking,
farming, and transportation was an important requirement for survival. Human survival and welfare
generally depended onregular availability and control of water. Proper water control meant that the
ravagtes due to droughts and subsequent famines could be significantly reduced.

Because of the critical importance of water availability to ensure a good agricultural harvest in a
semiarid country, an eminent Indian statesman discussed the importance of rainfall for the
economic and social well-being of the nation. First, land taxes were based on the amounts of rainfall
received each year, since rainfalls were considered to be proxies for agricultural production, and
hence the incomes of the farmers. Second, good information on rainfall was essential to farmers for
planting crops, and thus maximizing agricultural production on which national security and well-
being depended.

The fact that water control and management received such emphasis in countries as far away as
India or Egypt approximately three to five millennia ago clearly indicates that the importance of this
resource in the development process of the arid and semiarid regions was clearly recognized from
very ancient times in different parts of the world.

The total global water use has steadily increased throughout recorded history.

The rate of increase in total global water use accelerated remarkably in the twentieth century
compared to earlier periods, particularly after 1940. Suffice it to note at present the fact that the
total water-use growth rate has been significantly higher than the population growth rate in the
present, if the recent decades are considered, total global water use has grown at almost three
times faster than the population growth rate. The growth rate of water use from each sector are
different, the examples are the agriculture water usage rate is reduced each year because of
efficiency, but the usage rate of industrial sector are increasing.

These figures are global averages. This means that there are often significant differences in water-
use patterns between different countries, depending on their respective levels of economic
development, prevailing p hysical and climatic conditions, social norms, environmental
requirements , and other relevant factors.
This figure shows the overall macro picture of the extent of water available that has been exploited
in the various continents over time during the present century.

As demands for all types of traditional water use (domestic, industrial, and agricultural) increase, the
signs of conflict between various beneficiaries are becoming increasingly evident in most parts of the
world.

As all tifferent modes of water use have continued to increase, many countries have started to face
crisis, although the magnitude, intensity, and extent of the crisis could vary from one country to
another, or event within the same country, and also overtime.

First, it is an unfortunate fact that the amount of freshwater that is available to any country on a
long term basis is nearly constant for all practical purposes. Because of technical and economic
considerations, only a certain percentage of the total water available can be used at any specific
time. For economic reasons, water availability cannot be increased by desalination to any significant
extent. Currently desalination can be a feasible option only under certain specific conditions and in
very limited locations.

Second, water is an essential requirement for all human activities, ranging from drinking to
agricultural production, and industrial development to all forms of large scale energy generation.

This increase in per capita water requirements is an important consideration for estimating future
water needs by the planners of developing countries, whose water demands are accelerationg at a
very rapid and alarming rate.

Third, throughout the world, for the most part all easily exploitable sources of water have already
been, or are currently being, developed. This means that the costs of developing new water sources
in the future are likely to be significantly higher in real terms than what have been observed in the
past.
Fourth, as human activities have increased, so have the effluent discharges to the environment,
which have contaminated many currently used sources of surface and groundwater. Groundwater is
extensively used as an important souce of domestic water supply. Increased contamination could
mean that some of the groundwater sources may no longer be appropriate for all types of municipal
uses.

Fifth, during the past two decades, the various environmental and social impacts of water
development projects have gradually become increasingly important issues. Of all types of major
infrastructure development projects, oppositions to large water development projects have been
generally more intensive and more widespread globally compared to other types of projects.

These five reasons and others associated with them mean that it would be an extremely difficult task
to alleviate the water crisis of the future in many parts of the world in any significant manner within
any reasonable timeframe, the really complex issues are likely to be in environmental, social,
political, and institutional arenas.

Interest in the environmental impacts of economic development has become an increasingly

important consideration since the late 1960s. Interest in the environmental aspects of water
development has also fluctuated with time during the past three decades, this interest has
paralleled the general overall interest on environmental issues.

The term of sustainable development or sustainability first became popular in the early 1980s. it
should be noted that the term sustainability has been used technically for several decades for
harvesting reproducible natural resources, such as maximum sustainable yield of fisheries. If
sustainable water development is considered, it has been known for more than a century that
irrigation without appropriate drainage would result in waterlogging and salinity, which would, in
turn, progressively reduce agricultural yields over a period of time.

While many issues need to be considered simultaneously within the context of sustainable water
development, the following three factores are worth considering from a policy viewpoint.

1. Short versus long term considerations.

There are some fundamental dichotomies on the time framework for sustainability for
practical application. If the goal of society is long term sustainable irrigation development, a
main consideration has to be how to reconcile the short term expectations of the main users
with the long term needs of the society. Both conceptually and practically, it has not been
easy to make these diverging needs converge.
2. Externalities
It occur when private costs or benefits do not equal social costs or benefits. If people
perceive opportunities which could reduce their costs and/or increase potential benefits,
they often take actions which could be beneficial to them but unlikely to serve the common
good.
3. Risks and uncertainties.
A major issue confronting the sustainable water resource development is the risks and
uncertainties inherently associated with such complex systems. For example, with the
increasing population, there is no question that resources such as land and water have to be
used intensively in order to maximize agricultural production. The fundamental question is
up to what level can agricultural production system be intensified without sacrificing
sustainability? What early warnings could indicate the beginning of transitions from
sustainable to unsustainable?
These types of fundamental issues need to be resolved successfully, before the concepts of
sustainable water resource development can be holistically conceived and then implemented. If
sustainable water development is to become a reality, national and international organizations will
have to address many real and complex questions, which they have not done so far in any
measurable and meaningful fashion.