The Water Challenge

But there is more to it than that. Even when there is a general awareness of a looming problem, we often manage to shut it out or go into denial and continue with business as usual. The Auroville water story may be an example of this. We’ve all heard, or think we have heard, that there may be an imminent crisis concerning water availability in our area because of over-extraction. Yet we blithely continue to plan for a city of 50,000 people, to construct new settlements and projects, and to use huge amounts to irrigate the Matrimandir gardens as if there is nothing to worry about. In fact, a study done in 2004 estimated that Aurovilians use at least 180 litres per person per day and, in one community, it is over 300 litres per person per day. Toby, of Water Service, says that the daily average consumption is closer to 250 litres per day. Compare this to India, where the per capita water usage is estimated to be around 135 litres per day, or even the U.K., where the per capita consumption is only 150 litres per day.

In fact, the situation in and around Auroville has been classified as “critical” by the Central Ground Water Board in relation to the exhaustion of groundwater resources.

Our blinkeredness regarding the urgency of the water situation is shared by the larger India. A recent joint Danish and American study says there will be no drinking water in India by 2040 if consumption of water continues at the current pace. Yet Tamil Nadu, for example, where in certain areas water-tables are falling catastrophically and the groundwater situation is considered among the worst in the country, continues providing free electricity to farmers to irrigate or, rather, over-irrigate their fields with precious groundwater (and 90% of water use in India is for irrigation.) Over-extraction of groundwater is a natural consequence.

Like climate change, the challenge is huge. The United Nations warns that water use worldwide is growing at twice the rate of population growth. Unless this trend is reversed, two-thirds of the global population will face water “stress” by 2025. And India is one of the countries that will be most critically affected.

Finding ways of sustainably managing water in Auroville and in the bioregion is the greatest challenge that Auroville is facing on the physical plane. Why? Because we are not just dealing with vast numbers of people, or with a very precious resource, or with the complexities of hydro-geology. We are also dealing with mindsets that, after centuries of subsistence living, have come to equate progress and freedom with the abundant use of natural resources.

The bioregion, the world, needs an example that another way is possible. Auroville needs to provide a living example of how diverse individuals can transcend their possessiveness about their “personal” water supply and come together to collectively manage limited water resources in a sustainable and, yes, joyous way.

Are we ready?

In this special 10-page issue we examine some of the issues that influence how well Auroville and the larger bioregion will be able to rise to the water challenge.