This paper discusses about the rainwater harvesting system and its implementation in a typical Mine area of Orissa, India as part of the solution to avoid water crisis in the future. It first reviewed the scenario of water availability, its distribution and shortages in the study region. In India and in the study region, we are blessed with an ample supply of water during Monsoon. However, rainwater is not available during non-monsoon period.
Increasing water consumption by the industry, maintenance of dust due to crushing of rocks, plantations, vegetation and household users in the study region, had made existing water supply infrastructure strained. A study has been done to estimate the available runoff from the catchment area of a Mine in Orissa. ILWIS-GIS was used to delineate contours, drainage, land use and develop digital elevation model (DEM), flow accumulation, flow direction and aspect maps. Most suitable sites for water storage were obtained considering Best Management Practice (BMP) approach. Quantitative analysis was carried out using Rational method with runoff coefficient values to estimate the runoff volume available at different locations. The results indicate four sites suitable for water storages with some additional earthwork. Subsequently, for better accuracy and for and a robust approach, quantitative analysis was
carried out using SCS-CN method with suitable CN value so obtained from the land use and other parameters to estimate the runoff volume available at different locations. The results indicate four sites suitable for water storages with some additional earthwork. Different scenarios were generated to obtain different runoff volumes and corresponding water spread area in the region. The length, breadth and depth required for each area is calculated using
optimization approach to minimize the earthwork and maximize the plane surface
