From Invisible to Visible

For a little over a month, I’ve been diving deep into data sheets and topographic maps, digital elevation models (DEMs), NASA data, and having conversations with brilliant experts in the water sector throughout Southern India. Our conversations have reminded me of the complexity of this issue from the social, cultural, ecological, and political aspects. Stories of outdated or non-existent datasets, privatized information, and corruption at all scales make this topic a challenging one to “solve” but that isn’t really my purpose here. In the next six months, it is my goal to support the people who are doing the work and do all I can to use my skillsets to make their continued work more sustainable. I’ve loved every minute I’ve been able to talk to people about their work. The rich passions that come through when you sit down with chai in hand to share your hearts for a potential reality are truly inspiring and keep me trudging forward in this deepening stream of data and stories.

On my quest for “accurate” data, I scoured hundreds of maps and spreadsheets and 300+ page government and private documents (which took me a few days ;) that share a story of Bengaluru’s water that is hard to quantify in a single blog post, though I will do my best if you can endure. My first introduction to the city’s relationship with water was in the book by Harini Nagendra (my advisor) called Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future which chronicles beautifully the complex human/natural system connection that created what we once referred to as the “garden city” of Bengaluru. Tanks and wells spread across the landscape catching monsoon water and holding it for the dry season led to the landscape being transformed into the semi-arid landscape we know from the 1900s. The edges were speckled with giant trees described to be “big enough to shade entire villages” and an undulating landscape that held and soaked giving life to this landscape and the people and animals who inhabited it. Recently in a conversation with H.S. Sudhira of Gubbi labs, he shared a timeline resource that helped your visually-obsessed friend (me) understand the complexity of this rich history. (Explore it here.)

This history is one that I think sets Bengaluru apart from the singularly negative perception that humans have only destroyed the natural environment. Granted, we have done a TON of damage. But I think these stories of positive change deserve a moment in the spotlight. Terraforming the landscape created a system of small habitats for human and non-human inhabitants that once lived a bit more harmoniously than today. Our relationship has definitely shifted to one of extraction and abuse since our days of digging water-holding tanks and planting trees. Though I’m still finding such hopeful stories here of citizen action, the collaboration of NGOs and Academics, and of course the innovative groundswell of the local startup culture.

Often I think back to my conversation with local water expert S. Vishwanath of Biome Solutions who helped me better understand the systems that make Bengaluru a space for innovation in the water space with his stories about groundwater management and rainwater harvesting. He and his wife Chitra have worked in the water sector for years combining their knowledge of ecology, architecture, water, and infrastructure to become the two most sought-after and referred people on the subject of water and sensitive development. Check out their work and talks here or google them and prepare for an onslaught.

Over the past five weeks, I’ve spent many hours at the computer, zooming in and out on digital elevation maps (DEMs), satellite imagery, old maps, new maps, and everything in between to wrap my head around the seasonal, ephemeral system of surface water that defines this semi-arid landscape. I’ve spent time at the water’s edge of Agara lake and Buragunte lake pondering how I might be able to communicate on their behalf their importance to the people who are developing the peri-urban region. One afternoon, under a tree at Buragunte Lake I thought to myself how powerless these animals and plant systems must feel, being subject to our human desire for a golf course or apartment tower. The lakes that have been drained, streams buried, and rivers diverted across this landscape signify the lack of reverence for these systems that truly give us life. Without fresh water, there is no life. And yet, somehow we think that the abuse is excusable. We dump our trash, sewage, and construction waste into streams now made of concrete and expect it to come back clean enough to drink. Channels that once fed these lakes have been destroyed or diverted solely because they snake through someone’s private land and there are no policies or comprehensive data to protect their flow.

Last month, I met with the founders of Green Lantern and Tankerwala, and discussed the role of decentralized water treatment and private tanker water in the water resiliency landscape. Read their beautiful story here. They shared with me a few stories of water access and the renewed sense of the importance of the condition of their water when they had their child a few years ago. I hope to be able to continue to learn more about the role of private water tankers in this quest for building a more water-resilient peri-urban landscape. Also, one rainy afternoon, I met Simar Kohli, founder of Lifetide and co-founder of EcoSTP shared her story of incorporating biomimicry into the solution of wastewater treatment. She has also spent years working with students across India engaging with them about water quality testing and telling stories of water from far and wide through Lifetide.

The most elusive system of water has been groundwater. This invisible life force serves a majority of the peri-urban communities and thus the lack of recharge and the introduction of pollutants into these surface water body systems drastically impacts the quality of water they can extract. Some wells have even run dry leaving villagers without the most important resource for their survival. My plans for this month are to do some interviews with folks throughout the landscape most affected by groundwater depletion and a few hydrogeologists to understand HOW we might be able to change the way we design the surface to make a positive impact in this space.

Stay tuned for more information on how all of this is connected and the role of development in creating a more resilient and hopefully regenerative system of water management for future generations not only in Bengaluru but across semi-arid landscapes globally.