A drought (or drouth [archaic]) is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply.

Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on theecosystem and agriculture of the affected region. Although droughts can persist for several years, even a short, intense drought can cause significant damage[1] and harm the localeconomy.[2] Periods of drought can have significant environmental, agricultural, health, economic and social consequences. Drought can also reduce water quality, because lower water flows reduce dilution of pollutants and increase contamination of remaining water sources. Common consequences of drought include: Diminished crop growth or yield productions and carrying capacity forlivestock Dust bowls, themselves a sign of erosion, which further erode thelandscape Dust storms, when drought hits an area suffering from desertification and erosion Famine due to lack of water for irrigation Habitat damage, affecting both terrestrial and aquatic wildlife[4] Malnutrition, dehydration and related diseases Mass migration, resulting in internal displacement and internationalrefugees Reduced electricity production due to reduced water flow through hydroelectric dams[5] Shortages of water for industrial users[6][7] Snake migration and increases in snakebites[8] Social unrest War over natural resources, including water and food Wildfires, such as Australian bushfires, are more common during times of drought

Drought is a period or condition of unusually dry weather within a geographic area where rainfall is normally present. During a drought there is a lack of precipitation. Droughts occur in all climatic zones. However, its characteristics vary significantly from one region to another. Drought usually results in a water shortage that seriously interferes with human activity. Water-supply reservoirs empty, wells dry up, and crop damage ensues. Its seriousness depends on the degree of the water shortage, size of area affected, and the duration and warmth of the dry period. In many underdeveloped countries, such as India, people place a great demand on water supply. During a drought period there is a lack of water, and thus many of the poor die.

Most precipitation depends on water vapor carried by winds from an ocean or other source of moisture. If these moisture-carrying winds are replaced by winds from a dry region, or if they are modified by downward motion, as in the center of an anticyclone, the weather is abnormally dry and often persistently cloudless. If the drought period is short, it is known as a dry spell. A dry spell is usually more than 14 days without precipitation, whereas a severe drought may last for years.

Flood is overflow of the huge amount of water onto the normally dry land. Flood occurs when the overflowing water submerges land and causes deluge. It is a cruel and violent expression of water.

Floods are often deadly, damaging and devastating. They kill lots of people, damage houses and crops, and cause extensive destruction. In broader terms, floodsare of two types; Natural floods and

Catastrophicfloods. Natural floods are the floods that are caused naturally by the overflow of the huge volume of water, from rivers, lakes, oceans, or by heavy rains or downpours,hurricanes, cyclones, or tsunamis, etc. Natural floods could be Riverine floods caused by rivers; Estuarine floods caused by a combination of sea tidal surges and storm-force winds; or Coastal floods caused by cyclones,hurricanes and tsunamis. These are one of the most common natural disasters.

Catastrophic floods are the floods that are caused by some significant and unexpected events, for instance dam breakages.

Heavy rainfalls are one of the major causes of floods. The level of water in rivers or lakes rises due to heavy rainfalls. When the level of water rises above the rive banks or dams, the water starts overflowing, which causes floods. The water overflows to the areas adjoining to the rivers, lakes or dams, causing floods or deluge. The flood water causes havoc and great destruction in the areas where it flows. Floods occur more in the regions that get heavy rainfalls. Floods are also caused due to heavy snow melting. Global temperature is rising due to global warming. The risingtemperature makes the snow caps melt faster. Continuous and fast melting snow raises the level of oceanic water, which consequently raises the level of water in rivers, and when the level of water in rivers rises above the rive banks, it causes floods. Generally, floods occur more in the low-lying areas or the areas below the sea level. One of the main reasons is that rivers flow slowly in these areas. The volume of water increases in the low-lying areas. When the level of water rises in these regions, it causes floods.

Floods also occur more in the coastal regions. Floods, in the coastal regions, are caused due to high tides, storms, cyclones, hurricanes, or tsunamis. When the level of water rises above the sea level, it causes floods in coastal areas or coastal lowlands.

There are also several human causes of floods. Deforestation is one of the major causes of floods. Trees are being cleared fast from large areas. As result, soil is easily eroded, and the eroded soil gets settled at the bottom of rivers and seas, which raises the level of water in rivers and seas, which consequently causes floods.

Sometimes floods are caused due to poor dams that can not hold great volume of water and they give up causingfloods in adjoining areas. Hence, there are always different causes of floods. However, human causes of floods can be avoided. Humans should let the nature go its own way.

Water conflict is a term describing a conflict between countries, states, or groups over an access to water resources

Causes
Water conflicts occur because the demand for water resources and potable water extend far beyond the amount of water actually available. Elements of a water crisis may put pressures on affected parties to obtain more of a shared water resource, causing diplomatic tension or outright conflict. 1.1 billion people are without adequate drinking water; the potential for water disputes is correspondingly large. Besides life, water is necessary for proper sanitation , commercial services, and the production of commercial goods. Thus numerous types of parties can become implicated in a water dispute. For example, corporate entities may pollute water resources shared

by a community, or governments may argue over who gets access to a riverused as an international or inter-state boundary. The broad spectrum of water disputes makes them difficult to address. Locale, local and international law, commercial interests, environmental concerns, and human rights questions make water disputes complicated to solve

Dams can offer huge benefits in terms of electrical power generation and irrigation. Many massive dams worldwide are a tribute to the achievements ofcivil engineering and electrical engineering. These great feats of civil engineering are not without problems, however, and there are potential disadvantages as well as benefits to take into account.

Some Problems with Dam Building

Risk of failure when a dam fails it can be catastrophic. As recently as recently as 2004 the Big Bay Dam in Mississippi broke destroying nearly fifty homes. It is a major concern in civil engineering to see that dams are safe from hazards such as landslides and earthquakes. Environmental dams may destroy wild life habitats, drain wetlands, and cause river pollution by reducing the river flow to a level where the river can no longer selfcleanse. Farm land can be ruined by salt produced by the irrigation process. Cost dams are very expensive to build and may not provide sufficiently economical electrical power generation, water supply, or irrigation.

Some Benefits of Building a Dam

Hydroelectric power - electrical power generation is a major benefit which may be cheaper and environmentally safer than energy derived from fossil fuels or other electrical engineering sources. Irrigation regions with poor or unpredictable rainfall can be turned into fertile farmland. Water supply providing dependable water supply for urban or industrial use. Flood control holding back and channeling potentially dangerous water flow.

Famous Dams Worldwide

The Aswan Dam in Egypt, completed in 1970, has a reservoir capacity of nearly 6 trillion cubic feet. The Hoover Dam in Arizona and Nevada, completed in 1936, generates enough electricity to serve over a million people. The Three Gorges Dam in China (predicted completion 2009) will be the worlds largest hydroelectric dam and will also provide flood control and irrigation.
Benefits Of Large Dams
Water is essential for sustenance of all forms of life on earth. It is not evenly distributed all over the world and even its availability at the same locations is not uniform over the year. While the parts of the world, which are scarce in water, are prone to drought, other parts of the world, which are abundant in water, face a challenging job of optimally managing the available water resources. No doubt the rivers are a great gift of nature and have been playing a significant role in evolution of various civilizations, nonetheless on many occasions, rivers, at the time of floods, have been playing havoc with the life and property of the people. Management of river waters has been, therefore, one of the most prime issues under consideration. Optimal management of river water resources demands that specific plans should be evolved for various river basins which are found to be technically feasible and economically viable after carrying out extensive surveys. Since the advent of civilization, man has been constructing dams and reservoirs for storing surplus river waters available during wet periods and for utilization of the same during lean periods. The dams and reservoirs world over have been playing dual role of harnessing the river waters for accelerating socio-economic growth and mitigating the miseries of a large population of the world suffering from the vagaries of floods and droughts. Dams and reservoirs contribute significantly in fulfilling the following basic human needs: -

WATER FOR DRINKING AND INDUSTRIAL USE IRRIGATION FLOOD CONTROL HYDRO POWER GENERATION INLAND NAVIGATION RECREATION

Water for drinking and industrial use:

Due to large variations in hydrological cycle, dams and reservoirs are required to be constructed to store water during periods of surplus water availability and conserve the same for utilization during lean periods when the water availability is scarce. Properly designed and well-constructed dams play a great role in optimally meeting the drinking water requirements of the people. Water stored in reservoirs is also used vastly for meeting industrial needs. Regulated flow of water from reservoirs help in diluting harmful dissolved substances in river waters during lean periods by supplementing low inflows and thus in maintaining and preserving quality of water within safe limits.

Irrigation:
Dams and reservoirs are constructed to store surplus waters during wet periods,

which can be used for irrigating arid lands. One of the major benefits of dams and reservoirs is that water flows can be regulated as per agricultural requirements of the various regions over the year. Dams and reservoirs render unforgettable services to the mankind for meeting irrigation requirements on a gigantic scale. It is estimated that 80% of additional food production by the year 2025 would be available from the irrigation made possible by dams and reservoirs. Dams and reservoirs are most needed for meeting irrigation requirements of developing countries, large parts of which are arid zones. There is a need for construction of more reservoir based projects despite widespread measures developed to conserve water through other improvements in irrigation technology.

Flood Control:
Floods in the rivers have been many a time playing havoc with the life and property of the people. Dams and reservoirs can be effectively used to control floods by regulating river water flows downstream the dam. The dams are designed, constructed and operated as per a specific plan for routing floods through the basin without any damage to life and property of the people. The water conserved by means of dams and reservoirs at the time of floods can be utilized for meeting irrigation and drinking water requirements and hydro power generation.

Hydro power generation:

Energy plays a key role for socio-economic development of a country. Hydro power provides a cheap, clean and renewable source of energy. Hydro power is the most advanced and economically viable resource of renewable energy. Reservoir based hydroelectric projects provide much needed peaking power to the grid. Unlike thermal power stations, hydro power stations have fewer technical constraints and the hydro machines are capable of quick start and taking instantaneous load variations. While large hydro potentials can be exploited through mega hydroelectric projects for meeting power needs on regional or national basis, small hydro potentials can be exploited through mini/micro hydel projects for meeting local power needs of small areas. Besides hydro power generation, multi purpose hydroelectric projects have the benefit of meeting irrigation and drinking water requirements and controlling floods etc.

Inland navigation:
Enhanced inland navigation is a result of comprehensive basin planning and development, utilizing dams, locks and reservoirs that are regulated to play a vital role in realizing large economic benefits of national importance.

Recreation:
The reservoir made possible by constructing a dam presents a beautiful view of a lake. In the areas where natural surface water is scarce or non-existent, the

reservoirs are a great source of recreation. Alongwith other objectives, recreational benefits such as boating, swimming, fishing etc linked with lakes are also given due consideration at the planning stage to achieve all the benefits of an ideal multipurpose project.

While dams provide a yeoman service to the mankind, the following impacts of the construction of dams are required to be handled carefully: -

Resettlement and Rehabilitation Environment and forests Sedimentary issues Socio economic issues Safety aspects

The above problems related to the construction of dams may be resolved successfully in case the approach of management is objective, dynamic, progressive and responsive to the needs of the hour.

Dams can have devastating effects on rivers, freshwater ecosystems, and the people who depend on them.
Dams are built to irrigate crops, generate energy from hydropower, improve navigation, control floods, and supply water. But when they arent built or operated appropriately, they can ravage rivers and destroy livelihoods.

Very few of the worlds rivers now run uninterrupted from their source to the sea.
The worlds rivers are at risk. Fragmentation of rivers affects the migration of fish, disrupts the transport of sediments, cuts off floodplains from life-giving floods, and threatens many endangered species. Environmental problemsextend throughout the river basin.

Dams can destroy livelihoods

The devastation of freshwater ecosystems directly affects the livelihoods of millions of people who live upstream and downstream of dams, especially in developing countries. And this is in addition to the large numbers of people that are relocated to make way for the reservoirs.

and their costs often outweigh their benefits

Dams are expensive and the projected financial costs are often inaccurate. The benefits are often overestimated, driven by the incentives of politicians, developers, contractors, consultants, and banks to implement new projects. And since, most of

the world's dams are now being built in developing countries, it is even more important that a project makes economic sense.

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