Section 4 in Jammu and Kashmir Water Resources (Regulation And Management) Act, 2010
4. State Water Policy and Plan
(1)The Government shall, from time to time, prepare the State Water Policy and Plan for the development, management, planning, utilization and monitoring of water resources in the State keeping in view the following objectives:(a)the availability of water;(b)the demand of water for diverse purposes such as domestic, agriculture, power, industry etc.;(c)the obligations of the State under any agreement, treaty, judgment or order of any court or tribunal or statutory obligations under any law for the time being in force in the State;(d)the ecological system and environmental concerns;(e)the conservation and management of available water resources in most economical and sustainable manner;(f)the drought and flood management on scientific basis;(g)the planning and management of irrigation and multipurpose projects involving varied socio-economic aspects such as environmental sustainability, resettlement and rehabilitation of project affected people and livestock etc.;(h)ensuring sustainable and conjunctive use of surface and ground water;(i)the development and improvement of ground water and prevention of its over exploitation;(j)promoting efficiency in water utilization for various sectoral purposes;(k)promotion, conservation and augmentation of traditional water resources;(l)use of scientific and innovative techniques for prevention and reduction of pollution of surface and ground water resources and improvement in quality of water;(m)training and capacity building of personnel involved in the management and development of water resource;(n)extension and improvement in irrigation facilities and focus on efficiency in utilization of water for crop production to increase production and productivity in agriculture sector;(o)promotion of crops which require less water as against the water intensive crops;(p)the development of information system to collect, process and provide data regarding the availability of water, actual use of water for different purposes, the future demands of water for diverse purposes, hydraulic data with emphasis on the use of modern technology including remote sensing techniques;(q)the establishment of a network of data banks and data bases using modern computer technology and exchange of data among the various agencies;(r)the development of an effective institutional mechanism for coordinating the management of water resources on a hydrological unit basis with a multi sectoral and multi disciplinary approach;(s)the measures aimed at maximizing retention and minimizing loss of water by watershed management through extensive soil conservation, catchment area treatment, preservation of forests and wet lands, increasing the forest cover, construction of check dams and other ground water recharge measures;(t)non-conventional measures such as artificial recharge of ground water and traditional water conservation practices like rain water harvesting including promotion of roof top rainwater harvesting;(u)encouragement of re-cycling and reuse of water;(v)prioritisation of water allocation broadly in the following order but subject to modification if so warranted by area/situation specific considerations:(i)drinking water including washing and bathing;(ii)irrigation;(iii)generation of electricity;(iv)ecology; and(v)agro Industries and non-agricultural industries;(w)planning and development of water resources as multipurpose projects with provision for drinking water as an integral component, irrigation, flood control, navigation, hydroelectric power generation, pisciculture and recreation, wherever possible;(x)integrated and multi-disciplinary approach to planning, formulation, clearance, implementation and monitoring of water projects and schemes;(y)emphasis on drinking water as the first charge on any available water resource;(z)establishment of a network of water quality testing laboratories at the district level to ensure the water quality and regular monitoring in terms of parameters laid down by Government of India from time to time so as to ensure that the health of the people is not affected adversely;(za)generation of public awareness about the standards of water quality and the likely impact on health of people due to possible contamination;(zb)prevention of encroachment on existing water bodies and deterioration of water quality in such water bodies due to pollution;(zc)treatment of effluents, solid/gaseous wastes which are discharged into the natural streams, water bodies and have the potential of contaminating the ground water through seepage, leaching to acceptable standards before these are released from the industries, institutions, residential and commercial areas;(zd)planning of irrigation projects taking into account the irrigability of the land, cost effective irrigation options possible from all available sources of water and appropriate irrigation techniques for optimizing water use efficiency;(ze)preparation of basin master plan to assess the water needs for various uses and also to assess the potential resources so as to prioritise the water resource development;(zf)ensuring close linkage between water-use and land-use policies and obviating disparities in availability of water between head-reach and tail end farms and between large and small farms by adopting distribution system and supply of water to families on a volumetric basis subject to certain ceilings and rational pricing;(zg)adoption of command area development approach to ensure that irrigation potential created is fully utilized and the gap between potential created and potential utilized is removed;(zh)fixation and revision of water rates to cover at least the operation and maintenance charges linked to the quality of service provided;(zi)usage charges of water made available for drinking purposes (domestic, commercial, institutional) or for irrigation to farmers on volumetric basis with a view to discourage excessive and wasteful use of water;(zj)involvement of users, farmers and voluntary organizations in various aspects of planning, design, development and management of water resource schemes (both for drinking water and irrigation);(zk)involvement of user associations, local bodies and other voluntary agencies in operation, maintenance and management of schemes or parts of schemes with a view to eventually transfer these to the user groups and local bodies;(zl)empowerment of such user groups and local bodies to collect water charges and delegation of specific functions, necessary for effective management of the schemes;(zm)division of the State into water zones to ensure proper planning and development of water resources;(zn)optimum efficiency and utilization of hydro-potential for constructing hydroelectric projects with a view to ensuring generation of maximum power, revenue and local employment;(zo)promotion of water conservation consciousness through education, awareness building, regulation, incentives and disincentives;(zp)private sector participation in planning and development of water resources projects particularly power projects, which may help in generating financial resources and improving efficiency;(zq)framing of uniform guidelines for resettlement and rehabilitation of project-affected persons and setting up of a grievance redressal mechanism with active participation of affected persons;(zr)periodical assessment of the ground water potential on scientific basis to estimate the availability of water and the economic viability of extraction;(zs)regulating the exploitation of ground water resources to ensure that it does not exceed recharging limits;(zt)preparation of a master plan for flood prone areas with a view to control floods and provide protection;(zu)establishment of an extensive network for flood forecasting for giving timely warning to the people likely to be affected;(zv)promotion of watershed management through extensive soil conservation, catchment area treatment, preservation of forests, increasing the forest area and the construction of check dams to increase infiltration rate and to reduce the intensity of floods;(zw)imposition of complete ban on encroachment on water bodies, wetlands, water courses, and reclamation of such water bodies, wetlands and water courses;(zx)promotion of suitable cost effective measures to minimize the erosion of land by streams;(zy)encouragement of measures like soil moisture conservation, water harvesting, works aimed at increasing the ground water potential by recharging and transfer of surface water from the surplus areas for reducing the problems and severeness related to drought;(zz)development of grazing fields and encouragement of afforestation to improve drought management;(zza)setting up of a proper organisational arrangement at the State level consisting of specialists in investigation, design, construction, hydrology, geology etc. for ensuring safety of storage dams and other water related structures;(zzb)monitoring of water resource projects to identify bottlenecks and to adopt timely remedial measures;(zzc)evolution of a system for evaluating the socioeconomic and environmental impact of projects;(zzd)periodical audit of the working systems to check the sustainable losses taking place between storage, distribution and usage points;(zze)encouragement of research particularly in the fields of hydro-meteorology, assessment of water resources, snow and lake hydrology, ground water hydrology and recharge, water-harvesting, evaporation and seepage losses, economic designs for water resources projects, crops and cropping systems, sedimentation of reservoirs, safety and longevity of water-related structures, river morphology and hydraulics, soils and material research, better water management practices and improvements in operational technology, recycling and re-use, seismology and seismic design of structures and the use of remote sensing technology in development and management.
