Coastal reservoirs can help meet water requirements: Expert

Mangaluru: Experts at the three-day workshop on ‘Coastal reservoirs as a sustainable strategy for water scarcity’ that got under way at National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, on Monday stressed the need to focus on coastal reservoir technology to meet water requirements of India.
They also pointed to the need for countries to properly manage their river basins using sustainable and integrated management approaches
M Sivakumar, associate professor, civil and environmental engineering, University of Wollongong, Australia, said population surge; urban, agricultural and industrial demands and impact of climate change have put pressure on water. Coastal reservoir is a technology to store fresh water in a coastal environment before it enters the sea and have already been set up in countries such as China, Singapore, The Netherlands and Australia.
Stressing on the need to develop revolutionary way for scientific usage of water, T G Seetharam, director, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, said storage in coastal reservoirs can help meet the water demands of the country and such structures (see box) will also help solve water disputes to a larger extent. Cost of coastal reservoirs will be much lower compared to alternative water diversion schemes, Seetharam said.
Coastal reservoirs will not pose any harm to the river basins nor will it lead to the alteration of river course, Seetharam said, adding there will not be any disturbance to forest cover. The question of submergence of land will not arise in this case; he said, adding there will not be any worry related to reservoir-triggered seismicity. Desalination plants that are expensive, are not environmentally sustainable and not meant for countries like India, he said.
Shu-Qing Yang, associate professor from the School of Civil, Mining, and Environmental Engineering of the University of Wollongong highlighted success stories related to coastal reservoirs across the world. Citing the example of coastal reservoir in Shanghai in China, the researcher said nearly 24 million people are benefitting from this structure and this cost effective solution will be pivotal to interests of countries such as India.
How it works
Coastal reservoir as a freshwater reservoir is located within the ocean, with an impermeable barrier separating the two water bodies. The reservoir may be located close to or within a river mouth, and may be constructed as a solid dam, a soft dam or any combination thereof. The water within the reservoir can be utilised for various domestic, industrial or agricultural purposes.