Investigation into sustainable water use in India using combined large-scale earth system-based modelling and census-based statistical data

Sustainable water use and water scarcity are major concerns in developing countries such as India. Rapidly growing population along with increasing economic and technological development in India have resulted in increased water use leading to severe water scarcity. The present study aims to quantify and assess sustainable water use and water scarcity in India. A data-intensive approach is employed at a State spatial resolution and monthly temporal scales during the period 1991–1999. The Water Stress Index (WSI), which is defined as the ratio of total water use to available water, is used as a measure of blue water scarcity. The total available water includes surface water and groundwater while the total water uses include irrigation, industrial, domestic and environmental uses. A Community Land Model (CLM 4.0) developed by the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), is used to quantify the total available water in India. Water uses in India are reconstructed using a census-based statistical database while the environmental water demand is modelled following the hydrology-based approach, which allocates environmental flows as a proportion of the available water, with seasonally defined environmental flow thresholds. Further, the excess water component, defined as the amount of water remaining after meeting the demands at each time step, is incorporated into the modelling framework by adding it to the available water pool. The study estimates that 60% of the population in India faces severe water stress during the analysis period, and is more predominant in the States of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Moreover, non-renewable groundwater abstraction, which is defined as the amount of groundwater abstraction more than the groundwater recharge, is also quantified. This study identifies severe groundwater depletion in the north-western parts of India, consistent with the current estimates from GRACE satellite observations.