The generation of a database and the implementation of a web enabled Water Resources Information System popularly known as India-WRIS was initiated through a Memorandum of Understanding signed on December 3rd, 2008 between the Central Water Commission (CWC), Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (now Ministry of Jal Shakti) and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Department of Space. This project was funded by the Central Water Commission.

Under the National Hydrology Project, a central sector scheme approved by the Cabinet on April 6th, 2016 with the objective to improve the state of information on water resources, India WRIS has been fundamentally revised and improved, new modules and functionalities have been added and technologies have been updated.

India-WRIS provides a single window solution for all water resources data and information in a standardized national GIS framework. It allows users to Search, Access, Visualize, Understand and Analyse comprehensive and contextual water data for the assessment, monitoring, planning and development of water resources in the context of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).

Why was India-WRIS conceived? India has 16% of the World’s population, 2.4% of the World’s land area and 4% of the World’s fresh water resources. On an average, every year India receives 4,000 billion cubic meters (BCM, 1 BCM = 1 cubic km) of water by mostly rainfall and some snowfall. However, there are considerable spatial and temporal variations in the distribution of rainfall and hence in the availability of water in the country. It is estimated that out of the 4000 BCM of water, 1869 BCM are “available water resources”. Out of this quantity only 1123 BCM (690 BCM from surface water resources and 433 BCM from ground water) can be put to use (”usable water resources”). The water demand in the year 2000 was 634 BCM and demand is expected to be 1093 BCM by the year 2025. Therefore, efforts need to be made to increase the utilizable quantity and manage demand by conservation, improving efficiencies and increasing supply sources. We are facing many challenges in the water sector. India WRIS is an important element to address these challenges, bringing all relevant water data on one nation-wide platform, making information available to users and creating the basis for a better management of our water resources.

The National Water Policy (2002) and (2012) recognizes that the development and the management of water resources need to be governed by national perspectives and aims to develop and conserve the scarce water resources in an integrated and environmentally sound way. The policy emphasizes the need for effective and economical management of our water resources by intensifying research efforts in the use of remote sensing technologies and developing an information system. The National Water Policy 2002, para 2 on Information System states:

• A well-developed information system, for water related data in its entirety, at the national/ state level, is a prime requisite for resource planning. A standardized national information system should be established with a network of data banks and databases, integrating and strengthening the existing central and state agencies and improving the quality of data and the processing capabilities.
• Standards for coding, classification, processing of data and methods / procedures for its collection should be adopted. Advances in information technology must be introduced to create a modern information system promoting free exchange of data among various agencies. Special efforts should be made to develop and continuously upgrade technological capability to collect process and disseminate reliable data in the desired time frame.
• Apart from the data regarding water availability and actual water use, the system should also include comprehensive and reliable projections of future demands of water for diverse purposes.

The National Water Policy 2012 in its section 14 stipulates:

• All hydrological data, other than those classified on national security consideration, should be in the public domain. However, a periodic review for further declassification of data may be carried out. A National Water Informatics Center should be established to collect, collate and process hydrologic data regularly from all over the country, conduct the preliminary processing, and maintain in open and transparent manner on a GIS platform.
• In view of the likely climate change, much more data about snow and glaciers, evaporation, tidal hydrology and hydraulics, river geometry changes, erosion, sedimentation, etc. needs to be collected. A programme of such data collection needs to be developed and implemented.
• All water related data, like rainfall, snowfall, geo-morphological, climatic, geological, surface water, ground water, water quality, ecological, water extraction and use, irrigated area, glaciers, etc., should be integrated with well-defined procedures and formats to ensure online updating and transfer of data to facilitate development of database for informed decision making in the management of water.

The vision of a pan-India Water Resources Information System is also in line with the Hydro-Meteorological Data Dissemination Policy, formulated by the Ministry of Jal Shakti in November 2018, which has the objective to make non-sensitive data collected through the use of public funds available for legitimate use, enabling better decision making and meeting society’s needs.

The vision of a pan-India Water Resources Information System is also consistent with the Hydro-Meteorological Data Dissemination Policy, formulated by the Ministry of Jal Shakti in November 2018, which has the objective to make non-sensitive data collected through the use of public funds available for legitimate use, enabling better decision making and meeting society’s needs.

India WRIS is managed by the National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC), a unit of the Ministry of Jal Shakti which has been created upon Cabinet approval by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (now Jal Shakti) vide notification of March 28th, 2018 to be a repository of nation-wide water resources data, providing a ‘Single Window’ source of updated data on water resources & allied themes. NWIC’s mandate also is to provide value added products and services to all stake holders for its management and sustainable development.

India-WRIS Wiki is a collaborative knowledge sharing web interface for sharing updated information regarding the various aspects of the water resources of the nation. Apart from the spatial layers, information is also available in textual and image format. India - WRIS Wiki provides a platform to link non-spatial information with spatial layers.

The data has been collected from various sources like the Annual Reports of CWC, Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) reports, Project Progress reports etc. Each group of data is compiled on separate pages that are interlink with references as well as modification history. India - WRIS Wiki has a number of tools like keyword based Search, Track Changes, Interactive GIS Maps (India-WRIS, Bhuvan, Bing, OSM), Image Visualization, Help, Sitemap, Print etc. The advanced users and CWC Officials can also contribute to the content of the WRIS - Wiki by logging in.

• India's Water Wealth
• Major & Medium Irrigation Projects | Hydro Electric Projects| Multi Purpose Projects| Inter State Projects| Irrigation and Power Complexes
• Headworks (Dam, Barrage,Weir, Anicut, Lift)
• Basins
• State
• Rivers in India( Map visualization with Integration of Bhuvan, Bing, OSM Services)New.jpg
• Inland Waterways
• Inter Basin Water Transfer Links
• CGWB Ground Water Resources
• CWC Hydro-Meteorological Sites
• Flood Management | CWC National Flood Forecasting Network
• Legal Instruments on river in India
• Water TourismNew.jpg
• Inter State Disputes in India
• Large Dams in India