Water scarcity and climatic change in India: the need for water demand and supply management

Against the discussion on the rationale and scope for water demand and supply management in India, this paper provides a brief overview of the status and effectiveness, as well as the technical, institutional and financial requirements of six demand management options (i.e. water pricing, water markets, water rights, energy regulations, water saving technologies, and user and community organizations) and one supply management option (involving the implementation of the National River Linking Project, NRLP). The paper then develops a framework that captures the analytics of water demand management in terms of both the impact pathways of and operational linkages among the options and their underlying institutions. Using this framework, the paper outlines a strategy for water demand management that can exploit well the inherent synergies among the options, and also align them well with the underlying institutional structure and its environment. Similarly, based on an analysis of the NRLP, the paper also indicates the strategy for implementing the NRLP and thereby promoting water supply management within the financial, institutional and political constraints. The paper concludes with the policy implications for water demand and supply management in India.