India is witnessing a huge water crisis in its history. Millions of livelihoods and lives are under threat. Around 600 million Indians face massive water stress, and around 2 lakh people die due to the water shortage in their respective areas. The distress will only get worse in upcoming years. Thus, there is an immediate need to keep the momentum on management of water and to understand the water resources and usage, making the water use sustainable and efficient. The NITI Aayog has designed a Composite Water Management Index to allow effective water management in the country due to the growing crisis.  

Overview of Composite Water Management Index 2.0

NITI Aayog conceptualized the first Composite Water Management Index in 2018 as a tool, implanting competitive and cooperative federalism among the states. The first edition of the report highlighted the water challenges in the country, encouraging effective water management in the country. The report’s first edition generated interest among the key stakeholders concerning the country’s ecosystem. The report also initiated discussions and provided actional guidance to states on how to better manage the water resources and where they are doing well. 

The Composite Water Management Index 2.0 is developed by the NITI Aayog in association with the Ministry of Rural Development and Jal Shakti. It is the second edition of the CWMI released by NITI Aayog released to keep the momentum on the management of water. It brought the analysis of the performance of all states towards improved water management across F.Y. 2015-2016, F.Y. 2016-2017, and F.Y. 2017-2018. It also resulted in the formation of Jal Shakti Abhiyan and Jal Shakti Ministry. 

Objectives of Composite Water Management Index (CWMI)

India is witnessing a huge water crisis; around 820 million people have per capita water availability lower than 1000m3., living in 12 river basins across India. The country’s demand will be twice the available supply by 2030. It implies the country a 6% loss in its GDP and water scarcity for millions of people. By 2050, the water requirement in the high use scenario may be a milder 1180 BCM. The current water availability in the country is 695 BCM, according to the report released by the National Commission for Integrated Water Resource Development. 

The Composite Water Management Index 2.0 is conceptualized to keep momentum on the management of water resulting in improvements in its water resources and conservation in the country. It envisions bringing required improvements in the management of water resources collaboratively and coherently. It will measure the efforts of Jal Shakti Ministry towards Jal Sanchay and the overall progress done by the states in incremental improvement in their performance accordingly. 

The outcome of the reports will be used to take necessary actions for improving the water outcomes. The Index also hopes to bring a competitive and cooperative federalism spirit to the country, ensuring sustainable and effective momentum on management of water resources.  

Themes of the report 

The Composite Water Management Index is divided into nine themes- 

• Source augmentation and restoration of water bodies 
• Policy and governance
• Participatory irrigation practices—Demand-side management
• Source augmentation (Groundwater)
• Rural Drinking Water
• Urban water supply & sanitation
• Major and Medium Irrigation Supply-side management
• Watershed development—Supply-side management
• Sustainable on-farm water use practices—Demand-side management

Key highlights of the report 

Keeping in mind the momentum on management of water, the reports of the states are-  

• Composite Water Management 2.0 ranks several years for the Financial Year  2017-18 instead of the base year 2016-17. 
• The state of Gujarat has topped the charts for the year 2017-18, followed by Andhra Pradesh, M.P., Goa, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. 
• In the Himalayan and North-Eastern States, Himachal Pradesh has got the first rank, followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura, and Assam. 

Puducherry has topped the charts or ranked first among the Union Territories. 

• 80% of states have witnessed significant growth in water management scores, with an average of +5.2 points. 
• 26.21 points improve the performance score of Haryana because of watershed development, restoration of water bodies, policy and governance, and on-farm water use. 
• The high-performing states have retained their positions. 
• Among the nine themes mentioned above, the states have mostly improved their policy and governance.
• Improved data practices have also played a vital role in the growth of the state’s index scores. 
• Incidents of states not reporting the water management data are reduced, resulting in improved data discipline.  

Conclusion 

The Composite Water Management Index provides an annual snapshot of the water sector status and water management performance of the states and U.T.s in India. It was designed by the NITI Aayog to keep the momentum on the management of water. It is the second edition of CWMI that resulted in the formation of Jal Shakti Abhiyan and Jal Shakti Ministry. The Index was formed to improve water management resources collaboratively and coherently in all States and U.T.s by focusing on the nine themes mentioned above.