Water Resilience in the Indian Context: Definitions, Policies, Approaches and Gaps

India has been facing multiple water-related challenges owing to a large population. Increase in water crisis, water resources-related pollution, mismanagement of existing resources, and an imbalance in water policies due to various gaps and lacuna at both State and Central level of governance. Water resilience is emerging as a research field that addresses multiple water management issues responding to emerging challenges, such as global climate and environmental changes. The study focuses on secondary data and literature studies from Web of Science and Scopus databases to examine the concepts of resilience as defined by literature, dimensions with planning and governance and its implications in the existing Indian water policy framework. The methodology incorporated the systematic Delphi technique in formulating the governance gaps in the research area. The highlighted gaps are further ranked using statistical methods. According to the findings, the most critical gap is the lack of integrated strategic policy planning encompassing all water-related disruptions. As its identified gaps are interconnected and aggravate each other, a comprehensive approach is required. The study suggests potential research areas that strengthen water resilience governance. There is a need to increase resilience, signifying the sheer urgency in embellishing resilience to the increasing demands and effective management of existing water resources.

Building Climate Change Adaptation Scenarios with Stakeholders for Water Management: A Hybrid Approach Adapted to the South Indian Water Crisis

Climate change threatens the sustainability of agriculture and natural resources. Adaptive solutions must be designed locally with stakeholders. We developed the Approach for Building Adaptation Scenarios with Stakeholders (ABASS), which aims to identify adaptation policies and corresponding scenarios of natural resource management in the context of climate change. Its originality is the combination of different existing participatory methods, organized in three phases. In step 1, experts identify local environmental problems on a map and build the assumption tree of local climate change effects. In step 2, experts identify stakeholders. Step 3 leads to the construction of adaptation scenarios with stakeholders in two phases. First, in a participatory workshop gathering numerous stakeholders, the assumption tree is presented to help stakeholders identify potential policies that address the effects of climate change. Then, using the map produced in step 1, each group of stakeholders separately translates each potential policy into a detailed scenario. We applied ABASS to the context of groundwater overexploitation in South India. Two policies at the farm level emerged as consensual: (i) ponds to harvest runoff water and (ii) drip irrigation to conserve water; but their implementation highlights the differences of opinion among stakeholders.

Pigeon Pea Husk for Removal of Emerging Contaminants Trimethoprim and Atenolol from Water

The pace of industrialization and rapid population growth in countries such as India entail an increased input of industrial and sanitary organic micropollutants, the so‑called emerging contaminants (EC), into the environment. The emission of EC, such as pharmaceuticals, reaching Indian water bodies causes a detrimental effect on aquatic life and ultimately on human health. However, the financial burden of expanding sophisticated water treatment capacities renders complementary, cost‑efficient alternatives, such as adsorption, attractive. Here we show the merits of washed and milled pigeon pea husk (PPH) as low‑cost adsorbent for the removal of the EC trimethoprim (TMP) and atenolol (ATN) that are among the most detected pharmaceuticals in Indian waters. We found a linear increase in adsorption capacity of PPH for TMP and ATN at concentrations ranging from 10 to 200 μg/L and from 50 to 400 μg/L, respectively, reflecting the concentrations occurring in Indian water bodies. Investigation of adsorption kinetics using the external mass transfer model (EMTM) revealed that film diffusion resistance governed the adsorption process of TMP or ATN onto PPH. Moreover, analysis of the adsorption performance of PPH across an extensive range of pH and temperature illustrated that the highest adsorption loadings achieved concurred with actual conditions of Indian waters. We anticipate our work as starting point towards the development of a feasible adsorbent system aiming at low-cost water treatment.

Infrastructures as colonial beachheads: The Central Arizona Project and the taking of Navajo resources

Colonial difference is a story of national infrastructures. To understand how colonialism works across Indigenous lands, we need to appreciate the physical, legal, and political factors involved in the building and expanding of national infrastructures in different historical contexts; infrastructures that arrive in some places while denied in others. Using archival documents, this article accounts for the colonial politics necessary to bring Colorado River water into Phoenix and Tucson. It highlights how the following moments worked to enlarge Arizona’s population and power while denying Diné water claims: the 1922 Colorado Compact, Arizona’s 1960s campaign for the Central Arizona Project, and recent Indian water settlements between Arizona and Navajo Nation. The infrastructures that emerged from these events formed a coal–energy–water nexus reliant on Navajo coal while constructing Arizona’s water network. In sum, these projects served as colonial beachheads—temporal encroachments on Indigenous lands and livelihoods that augment material and political difference over time and exacerbate inequalities.