Regional variations in water endowment are also great. Nearly 70 per cent of the freshwater resources in the state are concentrated in South and Central Gujarat. According to some official estimates, the total water requirement of the state for meeting the agricultural, domestic and industrial needs would be around 6.73 M ham by the year 2025. While the future supplies after fully exploiting all the utilisable surface water and groundwater potential would be only 3.216 M ham. This apart, the inter-regional differences in water supplies and demand situation are also likely to widen in future if the present trends continue.
Frequent droughts compound the problem of water shortages in the state.
Droughts are cyclic in the State. Nearly 35 per cent of the geographical area of the state is prone to droughts. In districts such as Kutch and Banaskantha, the frequency of occurrence of droughts is as high as 30 per cent. During droughts the problems of water shortage become acute with rampant incidence of drinking water scarcity and fodder shortages. Droughts bring hardships to the both rural and urban communities.