Nagpur city gets water from three sources namely Gorewada Tank, Kanhan River and Pench Canal. As the city grew and the need for water increased, Gorewada Tank source became inadequate, surface water source from River Kanhan which is 14km away was not possible. In 1976, the irrigation department, Govt. of Maharashtra executed a storage dam across River Pench and pickup dam at Navegaon. In 1982 Pench - I scheme, In 1994 Pench - II scheme and in 2003 Pench - III scheme were commissioned respectively.

Objective of Pench -IV scheme, being executed by SEW, is firstly to conserve the water loss through canal, secondly to meet the water requirement of Nagpur City for the year 2015 and thirdly to have better reliability of Nagpur Water Supply Sources by reducing dependency on rapidly deteriorating canal and avoid crisis caused due to possible breach of canal.