Despite the centrality of water to India’s economy and the growing signs of vulnerability, we tend to swing between crisis- driven hysteria and mass apathy. A change in mindset is needed. Recognize that water is both blue and green—and grey and black: Water flows through nature, not just rivers and lakes but also soils and forests. As ‘blue water’ supplies—rivers, lakes and aquifers—deplete, there is a need to explore cost-effective and long-term alternatives, especially the water stored as soil moisture and flowing in the atmospheric rivers. This ‘green water’ is a hidden reservoir and forms the backbone of rainfed agriculture. Greenwater represents the most abundant reservoir of freshwater on earth. Yet, when one thinks of water, we only think of blue water, i.e. groundwater and surface water. Recognizing and integrating the hidden resource of green water in water management will be key to a more effective and sustainable strategy.
Water is also ‘grey’ and ‘black’, mostly discarded as waste from kitchens, baths, sinks and toilets. Left untreated, human waste and other pathogens pollute water sources and impose a severe public health burden. But they are not a waste of resources and instead hold great potential to be reused many times over, along with multiple and wider economic benefits. For this, mindsets must shift from disgust and dismissal of grey and black water to recovery and reuse.
Understand the nexus between water, energy, land and food: Water use and reuse are contingent on how we understand the nexus between water, energy and land use. Energy is central to water supply.
Farmers hedge against poor quality power supply by keeping their pumps running to extract groundwater for irrigation even when it is not required.This results in lower water productivity, lower incomes and farmer dissatisfaction, which then further compound on the political economy of low electricity tariffs, poor finances of utilities and continuing poor electricity service. Energy subsidies further distort incentives and encourage over-pumping of groundwater. Energy used to pump water in urban areas will also increase.
Water is also critical for energy supply. Thermal and hydro power are threatened in many regions by stressed water resources. Even low-carbon development objectives including solar irrigation, nuclear, green hydrogen, concentrated solar power and pumped hydro storage depend on and need water-efficient technologies.
The importance of natural forest cover is seldom recognized. Water flow, rainfall and soil moisture are all impacted by forest cover and land-use decisions.Thus, water governance must also account for changes in land-use—not just for food supplies but also for forest cover that regulates water available downstream for energy, industry and households. And now where progress is tied to digital advancement and tech infrastructure, the already complex governance of water gets more complicated with rising demand from data centres. These risks to water availability and water access get compounded with climate change-induced uncertainties. This has been inadequately studied in India, especially in areas with severe water stress. Water governance must meet sectoral needs while addressing cross-sectoral efficiencies and economy wide trade-offs.
Invest in water for greater and long-term economic dynamism: For long, we have adopted an extractive approach to water, treating it as a renewable resource but ignoring the intricacies of the hydrological cycle and water services to ecosystems. Worse, protecting water resources has been dismissed as a luxury that a poor economy can ill-afford.
We must contest such false dichotomies and recognize that at each stage in the water cycle in India—from the Himalayas, where the great rivers originate, to the sea—there is an environmental function that is performed that, in turn, has economic purpose: from quenching the thirst of farms and cities to ensuring that sea water does not destroy aquifers and salinate farms and deltas.
This is especially relevant as we consider that all sectors in India will grow, but not at the same rate. Productivity rates will differ as would employment coefficients, economic benefits and social welfare.This makes addressing the water deficit more complex and results in inter-sectoral and inter-state competition for water in both quantity and quality. Shifting demand patterns across sectors must create new opportunities for efficiency improvements. Thus, investing in water conservation, treatment and reuse is an investment in the economy, rather than a drain on resources.
As industrialization gathers pace, pressure on groundwater resources from industry and urbanization is on the rise. Consider these facts: industry consumes 26 per cent of groundwater in China versus only 2 per cent in India. Cities, too, are thirsty places consuming more than 60 per cent of the world’s freshwater resources despite covering less than 1 per cent of the Earth’s land surface.With India’s urban population projected to rapidly grow, the competition for blue water will intensify, placing further strains on existing water infrastructure and ecosystems. It is no longer an environment versus economy debate; rather it’s about environmental sustainability being a need for the economy. It is not about investing in water versus in other sectors but about recognizing water as a driver of the economy across sectors. With good stewardship, we can maximize economic value creation while also maintaining the integrity of the hydrological system.
This excerpt from ‘Water, Nature, Progress’ by Parameswaran Iyer, Arunabha Ghosh, and Richard Daman has been published with permission from HarperCollins India.