Water Economics and Governance

By Prof. Manoj Kumar Tiwari | IIT Kharagpur

Learners enrolled: 1496

Freshwater is fundamental to life, livelihood, and sustainable development. The issues related to the management of freshwater, are highly sensitive due to conflicts between financial, environmental, social and political viewpoints, and often needs multi-level governance involving various stakeholders.

This course aims to discuss the integrities of economics principles and governance for sustainable water management. The course will largely cover topics including the basics concept of sustainable water uses, water rights, valuing and pricing water with various pricing models, methods of economic evaluation of water projects, water governance in India including water policies and water acts, water disputes management, and global water diplomacy. The purpose of this course is to instil in students the comprehensive knowledge and understanding on the governance of water in India and economics involved in water management.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: UG students of Civil Engineering / Environmental Engineering (Elective)

PG students doing specializations in Environmental Engineering / Water Engineering / Agricultural Engineering (Core/Elective).

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Jal Boards of various cities Companies working in water management sector, such as JUSCO, CH2MHill, Veolia Water, Phonix, WABAG etc.

Summary

Course Status :	Completed
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Civil Engineering
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	26 Jul 2021
End Date :	15 Oct 2021
Enrollment Ends :	09 Aug 2021
Exam Date :	23 Oct 2021 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Introduction: General outline; Water availability and uses: national and international scenario; Challenges in water management.

Week 2: Water Rights: Need of water rights; Water and sanitation in international law; Right to Water; Entitlements and criteria.

Week 3: Water Sustainability: Concept of sustainable water uses; The Dublin statement; Sustainable water management with economical, engineering, ecological and social viewpoints; Stakeholders’ participation.

Week 4: Valuing Water: The use and non-use values of water; Valuation methods; Non-revenue waters (NRW) and unaccounted for water (UFW); Metering water uses; Water management through economic instruments.

Week 5: Water Pricing - Approach and Models: Significance of water pricing; Average and marginal cost pricing; Shortrun marginal cost pricing; Water pricing models - flat rate, uniform rate, increasing block tariff and seasonal rate models.

Week 6: Conflicts in Water Pricing: Conflicts on subsidy verses sustainability, efficiency verses fairness in supply, development decisions verses capacity restrictions; Water pricing practices in India and abroad; relevant case studies.

Week 7: Economics of Water Projects: Economics of sectoral water allocation; Capital budgeting in water projects; Costs concepts of capital budgeting; Financial evaluation of water projects.

Week 8: Economic Evaluation Methods: Methods of project evaluation; Payback Period; Discounted Payback Period; Net Present Value; Internal Rate of Return; Average Rate of Return; Benefit-Cost Ratio.

Week 9: Water Governance: Elements and dimensions of water governance; Building blocks; Effective water governance schemes; Benchmarking water governance; Indicators of good governance.

Week 10: Water Governance in India: National water policies and water acts; Water regulatory authorities; Power and roles of central and state regulatory authorities; Legal and regulatory framework for hydro projects; Institutional arrangement and administrative controls of water service; Interstate water management initiatives; Stakeholders’ participation; NGOs and social movements

Week 11: Water Disputes Management: Interstate and intrastate water disputes resolutions practices; Judiciary involvements; Tribunals for water disputes resolutions; Treaties and bilateral agreements; Environmental issues and disputes related to water resources projects; relevant case studies.

Week 12: Global Water Diplomacy: International freshwater agreements; Global water treaties and transboundary water agreements between the countries on international water resources; Multi-national water disputes and their resolution mechanisms; relevant case studies.

Books and references

1. Handbook of Water Economics : Principles and Practice (2003) by Colin H. Green; Publisher - Willy

2. Handbook of Water Economics (2015)by Ariel Dinar and Kurt Schwabe (editors); Publisher - Edward Elgar

3. Water and the Laws in India (2009) by Ramaswamy R. Iyer; Publisher - SAGE Publications

4. Water Law Poverty and Development, Water Sector Reforms in India by Philippe Cullet; Publisher - Oxford (2009)

5. Water Resource Economics: Towards a Sustainable Use of Water for Irrigation in India (2015) by M.G. Chandrakanth; Publisher - Springer

6. Water Governance: An Evaluation of Alternative Architectures (2013), by A. Gunawansa and L. Bhullar (editors) Publisher - Edward Elgar (2013)

7. Water Resources and Economics: A journal from Elsevier

Instructor bio

Prof. Manoj Kumar Tiwari

IIT Kharagpur

Dr. Manaj Kumar Tiwari [Ph.D. (IIT Kanpur)] is a civil engg. graduate with specialization in environmental engg. and holds expertise in water and wastewater treatment, water distribution systems, water pricing, and contaminant fate and transport. He is a recipient of prestigious Fulbright Fellowship. Dr. Tiwari has co- authored several papers in apex international journals, and has presented his research in various top ranked conferences across the globe. Dr. Tiwari has over 8 years of teaching experience with both UG as well as PG level course. He has designed several new courses at IIT Kharagpur for Masters programme in Water Engineering and Management. He has delivered several invited lectures at various organizations, and has also conducted short-term course under Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) with participants ranging from Faculties and Ph.D. students from NITs to field professionals working in government organizations as well as private companies.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: 23 October 2021 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcments will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.

Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kharagpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team