ABSTRACT
Water-related development primarily results in abstraction from rivers utilising dams and diversion structures such as weirs and barrages for providing irrigation to dry lands, generate hydropower, protect fertile lands and property from flood inundation and effecting drainage in critically waterlogged areas. Water Resources development projects primarily provide economic benefits of irrigation, hydropower generation and flood control with ancillary benefits of drinking water and industrial supply. Water resources projects provide a dependable source of drinking water. With rapid urbanisation in South Asia, the demand for drinking water has grown exponentially leading to requirement of more and more impounding through reservoirs. The water resource projects could release the stored water in lean period which results in an incremental environmental flow. Significant lowering of Ground Water Table (GWT) and increase in salinity also occurs downstream. Water logging and increase in salinity in the command area due to mismatch of crop water demand and supplementation.
