Last reviewed 4 Nov 2026 · 3 min read
1. Water availability
- About 97% of Earth's water is saline (oceans); only about 2.5–3% is fresh, and most of that is locked in ice caps and glaciers. Less than 1% is easily usable (lakes, rivers, groundwater).
- India has about 18% of the world's population but only about 4% of its freshwater.
- India's per-capita water availability has been falling; a country is called water-stressed below about 1,700 m³ per person per year and water-scarce below 1,000 m³.
2. Uses
| Use | Share in India (approx.) |
|---|---|
| Irrigation | About 80% — the largest user |
| Domestic | Drinking, cooking, sanitation |
| Industry and power | Cooling, processing |
3. Surface water and groundwater
| Surface water | Groundwater | |
|---|---|---|
| Sources | Rivers, lakes, reservoirs | Aquifers — tapped by wells and tube wells |
| Advantages | Large volumes, renewable each monsoon | Available near the user, naturally filtered, less evaporation |
| Problems | Pollution, uneven distribution, inter-state disputes | Over-extraction, falling water tables, fluoride and arsenic contamination |
Over-exploitation of groundwater
- India is the largest user of groundwater in the world.
- Effects: falling water tables, dry wells, higher pumping costs, land subsidence, seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers, poorer water quality.
- Areas such as Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have many over-exploited blocks (assessed by the Central Ground Water Board).