International Conference on Sustainable Water Management

India is all set to host the International conference on Sustainable water management. It is the first ever international conference on Sustainable water management under the aegis of National Hydrology Project, Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. The conference is being organised by Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) on 10^th and 11^th December, 2018 at Indian School of Business (ISB).

About the conference:

• The conference aims to promote sustainable policies for water management.
• Both Indian and foreign experts and delegates from reputed organisations will be taking part in the event to deliver their experience and expertise in the use of state of art technology to the stakeholders for sustainable development of water resources.
• Stalls would be put up to show case their activities in the area of sustainable water resources management.
• The conference aims to foster the participation of and dialogue between various stakeholders, including governments, the scientific and academic communities
  • To promote sustainable policies for water management.
  • To create awareness of water-related problems.
  • Motivate commitment at the highest level for their solution.
  • Promote better management of water resources at local, regional, national and international levels.

Need for Sustainable water management:

Water is life and there’s no life without water. There is an urgent need to adopt sustainable water management practices because

• There is a growing pressure on water resources due to increasing population, economic growth, climate change, pollution, and other challenges. All this has major impacts on our social, economic, and environmental well-being.
• The increasing pressure has also resulted in over-exploitation of groundwater. This has resulted in widespread declines in groundwater levels.
• Rivers like Cauvery no longer reach the sea in most years due to the over-dependency of the basins.
• Recurring droughts due to changes in monsoonal patterns have further made the water resource scarce.
• The world has lost more than half of its wetlands.
• The increasing pollution, lack of waste management practices, population explosion has also resulted in the reduction of the water quality.
• Around 780 million people around the globe still lack access to clean water and thousands perish daily due to the lack of water.

The problems of water access stem from the failure to meet basic human needs, ineffective or inappropriate institutions and management, and inability to balance human needs with the needs of the natural world. The conference aims to arrest these failures by adoption of sustainable water management practices.