As India looks to expand irrigation of farmland, the country plans to spend US$1 billion (62.4 billion rupees) by 2017 improving the water quality of some 10,000 canals, lakes, and rivers, according to the news source Bloomberg. Currently, about 15% of India’s 524,000 waterbodies designated for irrigation are not operational. Further, to take advantage of India’s monsoons, which account for 70% of the country’s annual rainfall, the government has devised plans to build groundwater replenishment and rainwater harvesting systems across 1 million km2 (386,100 mi2). Read more.