Fighting water woes, combating climate change…more than 3 decades now!

Three things are happening quite fast. Firstly, global water crisis is increasing due to climate change and other reasons. Secondly, growing cities are outpacing the water recharging abilities of their geographies. Thirdly, more and more youth are asserting their leadership roles in environmentalism that calls for conservation of water commons and related ecosystems. As we reached out to thousands of young people while developing the #Youth4WaterIndia campaign to connect more youths to water and nature conservation, we realised that the youth of the country have different levels of understanding about water. Some of them believe cleaning shorelines of the oceans and our rivers can help us tide through the water crisis, while some others feel that wastewater recycling can help us do that. There are some who have started to believe that taps bring us water and putting pressure on governments can keep us water secured for a long time. Then there are a few who believe restoration of ecosystems can actually help us secure our water for the present and future. One concern, however, is visible among all sections of the youth. Almost all of them feel climate change is a major threat to our water resources and we need to do something about it.
While at the campaign we are trying to better understand the perceptions of youth on water crisis, we are also exploring ways to facilitate actions by youth to ensure water security through appropriate local actions that also build climate resilience. And while doing so, we realised that the youth need to understand their water commons better, as an interconnected entity with other components of ecology, and dive deeper to find real solutions. For the cities, they need to find out the role of wetlands and forests – both from inside the city boundaries and far off watersheds – in ensuring water supply and security. Ecosystems are often a backbenchers’ discussion in the cities as grey infrastructure are prioritised to make them look modern and smart. This needs to change.

Growing urban water crisis

Between 1950 and 2020, city population throughout the globe increased from 0.8 billion to 4.4 billion. In the next three decades, by 2050, it is projected that almost 6.7 billion people will be living in cities. That’s 68.5 per cent of global population. As the cities grow, they will require water security for sustaining needs of their populations as well as ecosystems. With growing population, new socio-economic, infrastructural and ecological challenges will emerge. For any city, water scarcity is a key hurdle in achieving inclusive urban growth. Water scarcity is not only when demand exceeds supply but also when inequality and quality issues impact the water supply as well as ecological systems. Presently, many cities in the world are facing water crisis and in the coming three decades, as industrial and domestic water demand increases by 50 to 80 per cent, things are going to get tough for urban planners. Further, climate change, by affecting the spatial distribution and timing of water availability, will exacerbate water crisis in the cities, adding to water insecurity especially of the urban poor living in informal settlements.
A research study published in Nature Communications shows that the “global urban population facing water scarcity is projected to increase from 933 million (one third of global urban population) in 2016 to 1.693–2.373 billion people (one third to nearly half of global urban population) in 2050, with India projected to be most severely affected in terms of growth in water-scarce urban population (increase of 153–422 million people).” The Composite Water Management Index by India’s NITI Aayog said, in 2019, “that 5 of the world’s 20 largest cities under water stress are in India, with Delhi being second on the list. Additionally, 8 million children below the age of 14 in urban India are at risk due to poor water supply.” This same document asserts that water supply infrastructure in the major metropolitan cities of the country, which was never designed to cater to such large population sizes, will be unable to serve the urban population.
This is a global concern as well. The number of large cities exposed to water scarcity is projected to increase from 193 to 193–284, including 10–20 megacities. This is a matter of huge concern and certainly and calls for better vision for our cities. Cities are known for their ‘centralised’ approach to water supply. This is a typical character of city water governance and is linked to the engineering and infrastructure approach that cities have adopted. The above paper, published in Nature Communications, points out that “urban water scarcity has typically been addressed via engineering and infrastructure. Reservoirs are commonly used to store water during periods of excess availability and continuously supply water to cities to avoid water shortages during dry periods.” These have been costly solutions and often come with huge ecological costs not only inside the city limits but in far off places from where the cities draw their water. City planners therefore need to think beyond their geographies to tackle their water scarcity. This is an argument I have been relentlessly making in this column for years.

Nature brings water

A third of 105 of the world’s largest cities (including Jakarta, Indonesia; New York, United States; Mumbai, India; Quito, Ecuador; and Melbourne) derive their water from forest protected areas. Healthy forests, mangroves and other natural systems have a direct impact on water quantity by maintaining water flow, absorbing rainfall and replenishing watersheds.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Forest and Water Programme argues that approximately 75 per cent of the world’s accessible freshwater for agricultural, domestic, urban, industrial and environmental uses comes from forests. Forests and trees are essential to maintaining resilient production systems, communities and ecosystems. They are vital to our water supply, providing high quality water resources; they intercept atmospheric moisture, contribute to cloud formation, reduce erosion and recharge groundwater. However, changes in climate and land-use are contributing to altered groundwater and base flows locally, and precipitation regionally. With approximately 80 per cent of the world population facing water insecurity, the management of forests for water is becoming increasingly important. The relationship between forest and water resources needs to be addressed through integrated management and policies, supported by scientific understanding. And cities need to care for forests, more than anyone else.

Two-pronged strategy for water security

Ironically, the city governments which depend on these forests and watersheds from far off places to provide water supply to an ever-growing urban population, hardly care about these forests and water ecosystems. I understand the municipalities are gasping for funds. A recent report by the Reserve Bank of India shows that the own revenue of Indian municipal corporations was less than 1 per cent of GDP, smaller than Brazil’s (7 per cent) and South Africa’s (6 per cent), and that they are heavily dependent on state and central funds. That should not be an excuse, rather can be an opportunity for better collaborative efforts to manage watersheds and river basins that bring water to them. Working with state and central governments and other stakeholders – most importantly local forest protecting communities in the watersheds – should be the first strategy for making cities water-secured and in return recharge the ecosystems back at the origin to benefit the rural communities. The second strategy should be to look into water commons within their own geographical limits. The cities are losing their wetlands fast due to grey infrastructure. They need forests and waterbodies for meeting water needs and adapting to climate change impacts such as heatwave and flash floods. No time should be lost to restore these commons. And most importantly, the youth should be involved in these efforts. We are trying to do that in the #Youth4WaterIndia campaign. Such efforts should be promoted and expanded this year and in future years if we are serious about meeting our climate and SDG goals.