Almost three quarters of the earth is covered with water. The earth is, therefore, aptly called a blue planet. After air, water is the next primary need for human beings. Since the beginning of civilization, human settlements have, therefore, invariably been near rivers. A grown up human body contains about 50 litres of water. Besides being universal solvent, water has high specific heat. Water plays a very important role in deciding the climatic pattern of a region. Water sustains all kinds of life on planet earth. While water is beneficent in several ways, it has also caused havoc in the form of floods since the beginning of civilization. Prosperity, health and material well-being of any country is very much linked to its ability to store water and make it available suitably for use by its people. This paper discusses some salient aspects related to water resource development.