THE NEW WATER VISION

THE NEW WATER VISION

The 3 pillars of the water vision for the next century are: Adequacy, Equity and Purity.

These pillars can only be supported if their foundation is Ecology and not Technology.

Sustainability in every aspect of life can only be achieved if basic ecological processes – the life supporting systems – on the earth are kept viable and functioning. Biodiversity is the outward manifestation of basic ecological processes. This has been recognized by all leading scientists of the world and has been enunciated in many international declarations.
The present mindset of the bureaucrats and technocrats only emphasizes preventive actions and not curative ones. It lacks true understanding of ecological processes. It thus piously believes that viability of ecological processes will be ensured if environmental safeguards dictated by the concerned Ministry and by pollution abatement laws are guaranteed . Unfortunately in the present water management system even these minimum things are not carried out. The mindset is you can safely ignore peoples’ health, welfare and quality of life

Let us therefore, see what positive things can be incorporated in the Water Vision to ensure the viability of basic ecological processes and life supporting systems.

Of paramount importance are the Sources of Water: Springs, Streams, Rivers and the Underground Water Table. It is necessary to understand their ecology to keep them functioning. A river basin should be divided into 3 zones 1) The Conservation Zone 2) The Storage Zone and 3) The Utilization Zone.

The first covers the source region where the stream flows through a wild landscape of steep gradient , the second where the stream coalesce to form a large flow and the third where it forms a floodplain and meanders towards the sea .

Measures that can be suggested to protect basic ecological processes and biodiversity are:

The Conservation Zone: The accent here should be on restoration and maintenance natural habitats. At least 10 percent area of each catchment should be reserved for natural regeneration ( no plantation) Forests , bank vegetation, in-stream habitats , shallow pools , rock crevices , rapids , eddy formations etc. should be restored and maintained . These measures will rejuvenate mountain springs, control erosion and ensure adequate flows to the next zone.
Man’s activities should be constant with conservation goals : No shifting cultivation , stall-feeding of domestic animals , nurseries of a variety of indigenous cultivars and seedlings , agroforestry , horticulture that is not energy intensive , tourism that does not indulge in overuse of resources .

Reservoirs which submerge some part of this zone should be well managed through bank protection, protection to tributary streams and their habitats and catchment area development consistent with conservation goals.
These measures will ensure gains in biodiversity as this zone is breeding ground of many wild animals, birds and fish. Viability of indigenous genetic stock will thus be ensured.
Some work in this direction has been carried out in the catchment areas of some dams in Maharashtra.
At present catchment area in hills are mostly neglected. The drinking water needs of hill residents can be met by excavating ponds on rejuvenated streams and keeping them inviolate. Some wise communities have demonstrated this simple measure in the hills of Maharashtra.
The Storage Zone: The goal should be to service the minimum water needs of far-flung areas at low costs.
Many storages have already been built in this zone. The accent in future should be on more equitable distribution of water. The objective of reaching to far-flung areas can be more economically achieved by keeping the area’s streams flowing and their in-stream and bank habitats healthy. If conservation zone is managed well, it will ensure adequate flows in streams which in turn will recharge the hyporheic zone helping the underground water table. This will be far more economical than building fresh storages. Livelihood security is ensured by lowering costs all around, not by enhancing output at high costs.

As agriculture becomes more important from this zone, it is necessary to say something about agriculture that is viable in the tropics. In a tropical country with fragile soils, the Green revolution Technology with high inputs of water, fertilizers and insecticides is not appropriate. It is costly and efforts to maximize output through this method have been successful over a limited land area and that too at great cost. The resulting prices are not affordable to the common man. The method to increase output should be cost effective and resources saving. Our country has thousands of mini-catchments with their own micro-climates. We have cultivars suited to these micro-climates. If we revive them, they will provide for basic necessities of local communities and indeed be free from insecticide poisons! Moreover the low cost will make them affordable. This will also obviate the necessity of keeping centralized stocks and transporting them over great distances.

We need an inexpensive water delivery system for this zone, which can only be provided by flowing streams providing adequate spring flow for wells. Water intensive crops need not be prescribed here. This strategy will conserve our biodiversity of crops and genetic resources directly useful to man. The streams will have to be kept free from sewage and other waste dumping. Keeping land reserved for waste disposal in each village should form an integral part of water management. This disposal should be kept as decentralized as possible so as not to generate large flows.

Dam sites in this zone are ideal sites to conserve biodiversity. Each dam site can be used to restore indigenous forest, indigenous and endemic varieties of medicinal plants and can be a demonstration site where wetland creation, stream bank management can be demonstrated. Such experiments have been carried out at some dam sites in Maharashtra.

The Utilization Zone: This zone will have great concentrations of human population and their activities such as agriculture, business and industry.
Surface flows through canals in this zone are wasteful and harmful to the quality of water. Delivery of water should be through pipes. In this extremely stressed zone, river basins also call for careful, coordinated management. River banks should be kept free of encroachments and lined with buffer zones and greenways. Base flow in rivers has to be ensured by controlling lift irrigation. For disposal of waste, retention and detention basins should be provided to settle heavy and particulate matter and filter many other debris. Bank, in-stream vegetation and habitats should be maintained to avoid excessive eutrophication.

Reservoirs in this zone call for intensive, imaginative and multiple-use management. If properly managed they will greatly contribute to biodiversity conservation and be points of aesthetic interest. Experiments in this direction have been carried out on certain reservoirs in Maharashtra.

All these measures are labor intensive and have great employment potential. Moreover they will strengthen the natural base of economic development, lower the costs of satisfying basic needs and check inflation. The focus should be to restore nature and satisfy basic needs at very low costs from the restored abundance of nature. Once this is achieved, surplus can remain in the hands of many to satisfy intermediate wants for which the market caters. It will ensure adequate demand for manufactured goods. Otherwise even with high growth rate deflation will result due to lack of demand as is happening in China. The high cost water management today has increased prices all around, accentuated income disparities and made necessities costlier. The present mindset needs to be changed to ensure a low cost equitable water management.


PRAKASH GOLE