LAUSR

Since time immemorial, water, like energy, has been an enabler of development of civilizations, societies and communities in all parts of the world. Early human settlements emerged around water availability and flourished through domestication of plants and animals that required adequate supply of water for intensive biological growth. As a result, human population increased exponentially and along with this changed our water consumption behaviour as largely manifested in our more water-intensive diets, higher sanitation needs and even water-based recreational sports. The underlying assumption was always that water is not a limiting factor for growth or development. So much so that we started believing “water is life” and it will always be there in sufficient quantities, leading to our mindless creation of billions of human lives on earth. However, when population has reached a level that challenges the adequacy of freshwater availability around us, we are forced to question the validity of our early assumptions of plentiful supplies and more so in the wake of a lack of understanding of future ambiguities posed by the climate change phenomenon. Similar was the case of our worldview and handling of finite coal and petroleum resources. For centuries we used them indiscriminately for development and luxurious living without any inkling that finite is always finite unless we do something about it. Both knowingly and unknowingly we were also feeding the climate change monster that has come to haunt us now. Fortunately, events of early 1970’s, aka Oil-shock, brought us to face difficult realities of finiteness of things around us and we did start counting calories by the name of carbon-footprint, improving our energy efficiency by both design and choice, exploring and using renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, hydel, geothermal, tidal waves, etc. Though we haven’t reached the point where these new sources have completely replaced coal and petroleum, at least a beginning has been made in our collective consciousness and we are much less alarmed about the global energy situation. What made it all possible was probably our belief in science and its application in finding solutions to the problems of humankind. In many places, the solar power generation is competing with the traditional thermal sources even on economic fronts, besides being environment-friendly. In addition to renewable bio-diesel, rapid developments in energy storage devices such as batteries are challenging the petroleum based transportation system around the world. Hydrogen-powered vehicles are on the verge of becoming new realities. Wind and bioenergy are also being looked upon as new cleaner sources to satisfy our hunger for energy. Our scientific awakening to face the above energy challenge serves as a powerful guiding light when it comes to the case of freshwater crunch that we are experiencing and struggling with. We have to start counting our water, being more efficient with its use, and more importantly exploring technologies that make it possible to harvest freshwater from oceans, wastewater, ambient humidity, and other unknown sources that may be present around us, just like we did for energy. Water is a complex multidimensional, natural resource that connects people, places and policies as shown in Figure 1. This complexity is also due to competing demands on water and also it serves many sectors of economy, cultures and even religious sentiments of people. It is not that we are starting from scratch, we have several bright sprouts already visible around us. To begin with we need to (a) improve our current understanding and uses of hydrologic cycle by water accounting for various activities using Big Data from satellite observations, (b) exploit extreme flood events through advanced scientific designs of water storage facilities which can mitigate variability of freshwater availability and supply throughout a hydrologic cycle, (c) invest more on making water conservation technologies such as drip and sprinkler irrigation affordable for smallholders, and (d) research and develop water conversion technologies such as desalinization of brackish and seawater, in-situ wastewater treatment, and water harvesting from ambient humidity. There might be some more sources of freshwater that have not been explored yet and are waiting for us. Remember, a couple of decades back, harnessing solar energy seemed like the most expensive thing to do in the world. Probably, what the sun did to our awakening, the sea will do the same again. Last but not least, the greatest service that we can do for our planet’s sustainability is by promoting virtues of efficient, enlightened living and faith in science, and leaving IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE