‘India’s monsoon faces climate change. Earth needs a ‘soft path for water’ now’

Peter Gleick is an environmental scientist, a MacArthur Fellow and a global authority on water. Speaking to Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke, he discusses ways to save water resources from climate impacts:
What is the core of your research?
My work examines the intersection between our global water challenges and other challenges, including climate change, ecosystem impacts and the failure to provide safe water for all humans. I focus on trying to identify the nature of our water problems and their solutions.

A PERFECT STORM? The monsoon (as tracked by IMD, above)is an integral part of refreshing India’s water reservoirs and enabling its agriculture to thrive. But scientists are increasingly concerned now about monsoons made erratic with climate change. (Photo courtesy: iStock & Map: IMD, GOI)

You’ve pioneered research on climate change altering California’s water availability — will climate change impact India’s monsoon as well?
Absolutely. We can already see climate change around the world and some of its most significant impacts will be on water resources. Rising temperatures will increase the demand for water worldwide while extreme events, like floods and droughts, are already becoming more severe. The fundamental aspects of the way the climate appears — including the timing and severity of the monsoon — will be affected by climate change. We are also seeing climate change impacts on snow and ice around the world, including in the Himalayas, which affects water availability.

Why do you write water will increasingly shape conflicts worldwide?
Part of my research examines how water challenges will impact peace and security. One of the things we do at the Pacific Institute, which I am the co-founder and Senior Fellow at, is present the Water Conflict Chronology, an open-source database of water conflicts going back thousands of years in history. Water has been a trigger, a weapon and a casualty of conflict. The number of water conflicts now appears to be increasing. Historically, these were mostly between nations but in recent years, we are seeing ‘subnational conflicts’, like the tension over the Kaveri in India or between ethnic groups in Africa over access to water and grazing lands. The rise in these conflicts is very worrying.

You’ve conceptualised the ‘soft path for water’ and ‘peak water’ — how can these ideas help avert such crises now?
I formulated the idea of the ‘soft path for water’ as an alternative approach — this requires us to rethink how we use water, develop ways to use it more efficiently and find new sources like treated wastewater for reuse and stormwater capture. These do not require taking more water out of the natural environment but provide new water sources for us. The soft path also outlines how we must protect water for natural ecosystems — in the 20th century, we followed the ‘hard path for water’, building physical infrastructure and overlooking water for ecosystems. The soft path requires us to do this now. ‘Peak water’ means we are running up against limits in the water available to us — in the US, for instance, we consume the entire flow of the Colorado river. Over-drafting ground water is also a very serious problem in India, California and the Middle East. Reaching peak limits on our ability to take water out of the natural environment means we must rethink how to manage our water resources and adopt the soft path.

THEY ALSO NEED A DROP: From the Malabar gliding frog (above) to the crimson marsh glider (top), several animals and birds depend on timely monsoons to proliferate. They are also crucial parts of ecosystems which help cloud formation and the cycle of rain. Photo courtesy: iStock

Can you share examples of successful water management transitions?
To be sustainable, such transitions must be made locally and democratically by the communities that are most affected by water challenges. There are several inspiring stories — Singapore has moved extensively to water conservation, wastewater treatment and reuse and smart irrigation practices which are allowing much more food to be grown with much less water. In California, farmers and households are figuring out how to use water more efficiently. Importantly, all planning and infrastructure now must take into account the climate changes that are coming. In the past, we assumed we were building for a climate we knew. But this is changing rapidly and altering water resources. Planning must take this into account — or it will be part of the problem, not the solution.

Why do you link water with enabling human development itself?
I believe the greatest failure of the 20th century has been ‘water poverty’ or failing to meet the basic needs for everyone to have safe water and sanitation, without which they cannot flourish. Doing this is not a technological mystery. It is also not an economic challenge — the amount of money required to provide safe water and sanitation to everyone is tiny compared to the economic costs of not doing so, in terms of ill-health, women and children having to walk for hours searching for water and growing water-related conflicts. We do know how to provide safe water and sanitation to all — yet, we fail to do so. But solving this one problem can solve so many of our other problems. Water deserves much more attention than the world community has given it — and that must change.