Water Security Program
Waste & WASH Program
Jal Rakshak & Water Guardian Network
PJRB SPARC
Water Body Revival
Water bodies are nature’s gift for water security of communities.
Benefits of a Water Body
Water Conservation
Rain water that would normally run off the surface and into drains can be channelized and stored in water bodies.
Ground Water Recharge
Water bodies are an excellent source for ground water recharge. The water stored in the water bodies seeps into the ground and improves the ground water level. It is therefore also very important that we keep our water bodies clean. This will ensure that the ground water in the area does not get contaminated.
Improve Climatic Conditions
Lakes and water bodies affects the local climatic conditions in multiple ways. The air / surface water interface throughout the year results in a temperature difference. Thus, a water body acts as a heat sink. Surface water evaporation ratio determines the humidity rate during summer season – it largely influences the local water cycle and results in nonseasonal rain.
Supports Biodiversity
Water bodies have a huge potential to support extensive variety of biodiversity because a habitat with a perennial water source allows secure and healthy propagation and a flourishing fauna. During dry seasons, surface water from the Pond / water bodies provides moisture to the soil surface and supports the local flora and fauna.
Source of Livelihood
A water body can be a source of income generation for the local community. Fish cultivation and tourism around the water body can be developed for sustainable livelihood.
Felt Need to Revive Water Bodies
However, the unfortunate reality is that most water bodies today are in very bad state all over the country. In most cases, they have become dumping place for household and industrial wastewater. In many places, they are also filled with garbage.
As a result of this, the water bodies are dying. And this makes the water crisis faced by the communities worse.
Therefore, Water body revival is critical for water security of communities and the country.
Most water bodies fall in one of the following three categories:
1. Seasonal Water body – Only Rain Water
Rain is the only source of water in the water body – rarity among water bodies these days. It is important to ensure that this continues. Household waste water should not be allowed to enter the water body. It is also important that garbage is not thrown in the water body.
Desilting of the water body can be undertaken if required to increase the percolation of the water into the ground to
2. Dry Water Body
A water body could be dry because of two reasons:
The catchment around the water body is blocked. Therefore, no rain water flows into the water body. To revive such a water body we should build channels from the catchment to allow the rain water to flow in to the water body.
The water body is filled with mud or other waste material. For revival of such a water body, we first need to excavate the filled material from the water body. We should also ensure that the water channels from the catchment to the water body are not blocked. If the water channels are blocked, we should also build channels from the catchment to allow the rain water to flow in to the water body.
3. Water Body Filled With Household / Industrial Dirty Water
In the absence of a proper sewerage system, majority of water bodies in villages and in unauthorised settlements in cities have become the recipient of household wastewater. This contaminates the water body and make it dirty.
There is an urgent need to clean these water bodies and revive them to discharge the natural function that they were meant to perform in the first place – store house of water and ground water recharge.
In most cases, it may not be possible to stop the inflow of the household wastewater in such water bodies. In such cases, the water body revival plan must incorporate some system of cleaning the incoming water before it enters the water body.
If you know of any water body that needs to be revived, do share the details of the water body with us.