Changing climate has significant impact on water - direct or indirect - leading to serious social and economic issues in highly vulnerable countries such as India. Millions of poor are struggling to live with low adaptive capacity, fast diminishing reliable water resources, large-scale wetland degradation and unsustainable water management.

Water resources are fast depleting and deteriorating. Fall in surface water availability due to changing rainfall pattern increases dependency on groundwater. Groundwater level has been receding at an alarming rate in many parts of India, as a result of over-extraction and changing seasonality and intensity of rainfall.