Data Usage for Development,
Management of Water Resources
Ashwin B. Pandya
Abstract Challenges in water development and management are many and well
known. With population growth, urbanization and industrialization, the challenges
in water management are getting more complex. Likely impacts of climate change
would, undoubtedly, add to these complexities. Unlike other resources, water
management poses additional challenge of randomness of occurrence and distribution in space and time. For a geographical and meteorologically diverse country
like India, many issues and concerns cannot be handled properly unless efforts are
backed by sound data and conclusions drawn there from. Generally, at the planning
level, the resource availability of data is of prime concern. However, for efficient
management in real time, it is necessary to harness the usage data at the same level
of frequency and accuracy as the resource data. Collection and processing of data
also assumes prime importance for resource allocation amongst competing political
and administrative entities and is the key parameter upon which the entire adjudication process relies. However, this underlying importance is not appreciated by
the planning and economic communities in general, and accordingly, the field is
rather neglected. The neglect leads to gaps in the data and knowledge base. Multiple
jurisdictions and domains delineated by the federal structure of the constitution and
governance of the country affect a unified data strategy. Lack of such strategy will
lead to wrong priorities in planning and deployment. The chapter describes data
requirements, provisions enabling collection and processing and status of availability. New technologies and approaches available for handling constraints generated out of multiple jurisdictions and conflict of interests are also highlighted.
Keywords Develop and management of water resources Á Water data scope Á Data
management strategies Á Challenges of maintenance of national water data Á
Data-based judgements
A. B. Pandya (&)
International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), New Delhi, India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
G. Chadha and A. B. Pandya (eds.), Water Governance and Management in India,
Water Resources Development and Management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1472-9_6
131
Management of Water Resources
Ashwin B. Pandya
Abstract Challenges in water development and management are many and well
known. With population growth, urbanization and industrialization, the challenges
in water management are getting more complex. Likely impacts of climate change
would, undoubtedly, add to these complexities. Unlike other resources, water
management poses additional challenge of randomness of occurrence and distribution in space and time. For a geographical and meteorologically diverse country
like India, many issues and concerns cannot be handled properly unless efforts are
backed by sound data and conclusions drawn there from. Generally, at the planning
level, the resource availability of data is of prime concern. However, for efficient
management in real time, it is necessary to harness the usage data at the same level
of frequency and accuracy as the resource data. Collection and processing of data
also assumes prime importance for resource allocation amongst competing political
and administrative entities and is the key parameter upon which the entire adjudication process relies. However, this underlying importance is not appreciated by
the planning and economic communities in general, and accordingly, the field is
rather neglected. The neglect leads to gaps in the data and knowledge base. Multiple
jurisdictions and domains delineated by the federal structure of the constitution and
governance of the country affect a unified data strategy. Lack of such strategy will
lead to wrong priorities in planning and deployment. The chapter describes data
requirements, provisions enabling collection and processing and status of availability. New technologies and approaches available for handling constraints generated out of multiple jurisdictions and conflict of interests are also highlighted.
Keywords Develop and management of water resources Á Water data scope Á Data
management strategies Á Challenges of maintenance of national water data Á
Data-based judgements
A. B. Pandya (&)
International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), New Delhi, India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
G. Chadha and A. B. Pandya (eds.), Water Governance and Management in India,
Water Resources Development and Management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1472-9_6
131