The Water Challenge: AV and the bioregion

Auroville Today: Recently, David Stein, the planner who drew up the Greenbelt Plan for Auroville, said unless something dramatic is done in ten years the whole bioregion will turn saline. Do you share his prognosis?

Giulio: I don’t know if David is right about the time frame, but the situation is very serious.

Tom: As far as I know, most of the wells of the villages along this coast are saline, and they are having to pump their water from wells inland. In the west of Auroville, and in villages like Rayapettai and Ottai, many wells that are tapping into the third aquifer have water that is above the level that is considered drinkable. This is not because of seawater intrusion but because of minerals dissolved in the water. So, effectively, we have already lost one aquifer and are over-pumping the rest.

What are the solutions?

Giulio: Firstly, we have to understand what is under our feet, the geology of this area. The basement of our geological strata here is granite. On top of that, layers of sediment have been laid down over millions of years. We don’t have much variety of sediments. We have a mixture of limestone, sandstone and some clays, and that is it.

Tom: If we look at the Auroville plateau, at the surface it is 80 – 90% Cuddalore sandstone, which allows water percolation. If you go to the west you are on Manaveli clay, which can be quite impervious. When you go below the sandstone or clay you get limestone. This has another potential for water. But if you go deeper, you hit the black stuff which is Ottai clay, and there is no usable water here.

Giulio: In our area the sediments are relatively young, which means they still contain something organic that is decomposing. That is why we have, for example, the smell of hydrogen sulphide in the water of some of our deeper wells. There is also a lot of calcium in our wells.

In other regions like Europe, limestone strata can stretch for hundreds of kilometers, which means that there is plentiful water underground. But here the situation is totally different. Our aquifers are limited in size and we have pockets, which are probably not interconnected, where water can collect.

What are the implications of this for water management in the region?

Tom: It means there is not one single solution for our water future in Auroville and the bioregion. For when you speak of water, Auroville cannot be separated from the bioregion. We have to deal with the entire bioregion.

Giulio: Water management has to be based on the geology. Where the surface layer is clay, which is relatively impermeable, you should hold and store the water on the surface. This is why the ‘erys’ system of surface tanks was built on clay hundreds of years ago in this area. The problem, however, of storing water on the surface is evaporation and the possibility of pollution due to human activities.

Where the surface layer is porous, it makes sense to infiltrate the water. Where we have permeable areas we have to find the natural pockets, basins, underground and recharge them so that water can be stored there. To do this, we have to know how much can be stored in a particular pocket, and how much water can be extracted. If we extract too much water, the formation will collapse and we will lose that storage capacity.

So we cannot focus on just one approach to harvesting water but we have to look at all the parameters.

The bioregion is large with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants. Do you have enough data to be able to plan a water management system for the entire bioregion?

Tom: In the time of Harvest we had this kind of information and it was updated every month. Unfortunately, there is now a gap of seven or eight years in the records because Harvest closed down and this work was discontinued. We still have a strong database, but now we have to update it. We have to recheck wells and I would like to drill a few test wells in strategic areas to get a very precise confirmation of the lithography.

Today we have fantastic tools of information. When you drill you can collect samples and identify the nature of the rock you are passing through, and with GPS you can know the exact altitude of the wellhead, and from that you know the altitude of the geology below. Another fantastic tool is GIS which allows you to correlate all the information acquired using GPS. This allows you to start modelling the interface between two formations, and it can tell you where the favourable underground pockets are.

Giulio: My feeling is that first we should find a way of effectively managing our water resources here in Auroville and then this model can be exported into the bioregion, taking into account the local parameters.

What is the present water management situation in Auroville?

Tom: What we have today is local, makeshift solutions. One major attempt to manage distribution on a larger scale is the ‘elephant’ water tower. Another experiment is what happens in Auromodele. There water is pumped, stored, distributed, individually metered, and everybody pays their bill at the end of the month. It works, but in terms of developing a collective water consciousness in the community, it is not so interesting.

But we also have a situation where a number of previously individual water systems are now turning into neighbourhood systems where, unlike the ‘elephant’ distribution model which some people resent because they feel they have no say, people manage their own water situation.

Is this the direction we should increasingly be taking?

Giulio: In the long-term there has to be some degree of centralization. The water resources beneath our feet are not distributed equally, so the people in water-scarce locations have to be linked to water sources in other locations. But you cannot build such a system overnight, so let’s start with interlinking communities, neighbourhoods.

So how do you approach setting up an effective water management system for Auroville?

Giulio: Firstly, we have to have all the relevant data, records. Once these are analysed and modeled, they can be translated into a map. Once you have a map you can plan. You can know which wells need to be used or dug, how much storage is necessary and you can plan an efficient distribution and water catchment system. Ultimately, whether you need a fully centralised or decentralised system should only be determined by the data, not on the basis of politics or of somebody’s ability to pay for their water.

Once such a water management system is working effectively, meaning that the overall water balance is positive, that the recharge is greater than what you are taking out, you can use this as a model for the larger bioregion, adjusting it for local parameters.

To create a positive balance means that the amount of water that is extracted may have to be limited?

Tom: Probably, and this is what many countries are doing when they are in critical water shortage zones. For example, the farmers are given an annual quota, and if they exceed the quota their wells are sealed.

Giulio: You need drastic measures in situations like this, which are not so different from ours. But to be able to implement this, you need two things. Firstly, a team of technically skilled people who know what should be done and, secondly, a team of political people who are ready to implement what the technical people are saying. These two things have to go together. Otherwise, nothing will happen.

In other words, this is a governance as well as a technical issue?

Tom: Exactly. But I think the experience gained in neighbourhood systems will pave the way for this kind of thing. Before then, I am afraid we will still have to experience many conflicts around water in Auroville because of people’s ignorance and wrong attitudes. The problem is that people have grown used to certain resources, like water, being readily available and so they exploit them unconsciously and resist any attempt to manage them. People do not realise that in perhaps ten years water in this area may be very expensive in terms of energy or money; that we are enjoying the golden days now.

For example, our third aquifer, the Vanur aquifer, is now severely damaged. Independent studies show there is already some seawater intrusion, and if we keep over-pumping it, salinity will increase and could spread throughout the aquifer. This is why we tell people not to drill any longer into this aquifer, but it still happens that Aurovilians disregard this and drill deeper to access it. In terms of the present water situation, this is criminal. It is threatening the entire system because once this aquifer is salinated, it cannot be reversed. We are talking of a supply that nature laid down patiently over millions of years that we and others in the bioregion are destroying in a matter of twenty years.

Giulio: People cannot be allowed to spoil the whole system just because they are lazy or do not care. Once you have a model that predicts how much water you will use in a year, and you realize that you will be strongly in minus, then people have to make sacrifices because it is a matter of survival.

Tom: On a more positive note, I think the neighbourhood systems will gradually concentrate people’s attention and develop their consciousness, regarding water. I saw this happen recently in an Auroville community. They had been experiencing many water problems but discovered it was their fault: their whole water system was a mess. Now they have started to regulate themselves. So something is changing regarding Aurovilians’ consciousness about water.

But what about changing the water consciousness and behaviour of people who live in the larger bioregion?

Giulio: We need to put all our energies into finding ways of providing enough water for people’s needs. At the same time, we have to start a campaign to change people’s attitudes to water in the larger bioregion. The combination of these gives you a water management system. If we do not go for both of these things the system will fail, that is for sure.

Tom: What is important now is helping people open their minds so that they understand the present situation. If we come with our models and try to impose them, this will not work. But it is also clear that we have a limited amount of water here and we cannot go on wasting it. This is why we must invest in the bioregion in terms of education, projects, and helping people use water in a conscious way.

But it seems that the local people did have good water management systems in the past. Is that knowledge completely lost?

Tom: They had very good water management systems, but these broke down under British rule. In the last 50 years tube well technology has also changed everything in terms of water management in bioregion.

Giulio: That old water management knowledge is not completely lost and the tanks are still there, although they are in a bad shape. Your local farmer knows a lot of things but not the scientific explanations, so now it’s just a matter of combining what they know with some scientific knowledge. This information can be presented in simple modules. The first module would deal with where the water is coming from; this is meteorology. The second module is how the water is stored; geology. Thirdly, how is it going to be used so that the entire ecosystem remains balanced? This is management.

Tom: At the same time, we may also discover that our neighbours will show us the direction we need to take. They have a history of famine and drought, so maybe they will show us how to handle the present challenge. This would be most welcome.

Giulio: When we talk about education it is not one-way but an exchange of experience. We have much to learn from them, too.

Tom: Tamil people are very touched by theatre forms, poetry, because their culture is like that. Therefore, it is important to present information within a frame that is appealing to them. Also, you have to relate it to their lives. For example, if you talk about wastewater systems, you could take them to the closest drain where water is flowing and show them a thin film on the wall. Then you explain this is bacteria feeding on the wastewater and we want to cultivate it so we can clean the water. This is a very practical approach.

Actually, you are not just talking about giving information. You are talking about changing mindsets.

Giulio: Exactly, this is the most important thing. But this can only happen if people realise why you are telling them these things. They must not feel that you are talking down to them, but that we are all in this together; that it is not ‘us’ and ‘them’. And it shouldn’t be forgotten that Aurovilians also have a lot to learn in this respect.

Tom: We had some experience working with the villages some years ago when we set up Water Users Associations in the local villages. We were running programmes of tank rehabilitation for the Government, and it was our condition that the people constitute themselves into these Associations. We opened bank accounts for them and they were the signatories of the rehabilitation proposals sent to the Government. In other words, they were repairing their own tanks: we were only giving engineering and technical support. This is crucial. The local population has to take back the responsibility for managing its water resources.

These Associations are now defunct. However, they are still registered and can be revived. Now we need to provide some new kind of motivation for them to come together because tank rehabilitation is no longer on the agenda of the government agencies.

What resources do you need to take up this work of education and of improving water management in Auroville and the bioregion?

Tom: We know what has to be done. What we miss today is the means. We need an office, equipment, and a team of 6-8 good, qualified people. We need hydrogeologists, engineers, social workers. They will go out into the field and lead the work while the office team analyse the data and come up with models.

How long would this take to set up, and what will it cost?

Tom: It would take two or three months to set up, then one and a half years to do the initial data collection and integration. This phase would cost about one and a half crores.

Giulio: So in a maximum of two years we can know where to have surface water collection, and where to percolate or recharge. But the work of acquiring office space, equipment and trained personnel has to start immediately. The task is immense – we need to act socially, technically, politically – and time is very short.

Do we have the time?

Giulio: Yes, if we are focussed. But we cannot do it on our own. We also have to network with professionals like the people from Pondycan who know how to mount a campaign and involve the media and the people.

Tom: We already have good contacts from our village work in the past. The main thing is to move as fast as possible and tell people to do whatever they can. Don’t wait for us to help you, help yourself. If you wait for us, we’re finished. We are at that level now.

Giulio: Education is the lever of the whole process. We have to make educating people about better water management the top priority now, both in Auroville and in the bioregion.

Is Auroville doing enough to promote this work at present?

Tom: No. In fact, just the opposite. We had a wonderful tool in Harvest, but it has been allowed to be destroyed.

Why is Auroville not doing more?

Tom: It is partly unconsciousness of the scale of the problem. Also, maybe people think desalination will be our saviour. But by the time the Auroville desalination plant would come into production probably the whole of the coastal area would be saline. Moreover, the plant could create huge social issues if the water is not shared equitably with our neighbours.

This is why I think we have to put our energy elsewhere. One idea is to pump freshwater from Kaliveli swamp when there is excess during the monsoon rains back to the plateau and down recharge wells. This would replenish the aquifers. For an investment of 2 – 3 crores it would be worth it. These are the types of innovative solutions we need to consider now.

Giulio: We have to do things with our hearts but also with our minds. Goodwill is not enough; we also need skills, competence. So let’s combine the two things and go ahead.