Know Your Water
And it rains.
Some of the surface water would run off into swales and boomerangs. The soil is arrested. The overflows would then be captured by the recharge wells. The remaining water would slowly infiltrate into earth, trickles into the shallow aquifer. The open wells swell. Some of this water is used for domestic consumption and some for irrigation. The harvested water and arrested soil improves soil moisture. Wild zones flourish. The trees further bring water to soil. Microclimate changes. Cycles realign. A beautiful rhythm of the sky and earth is in place.
In this changing climate, water is plentiful, scarce, volatile and precious at the same time. It’s time we managed our demand with great care and attention. We all exist on a spectrum with investors, governments, corporates, markets and citizens. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the larger narrative of the volatility of water. But there is a shared seed of thought and knowledge. That seed can be planted at home.
For this World Water Day we’d like to share that seed, a simple design tool. It’s called Zone Analysis.
When a design element (say, water) has several different uses, its highest frequency of use and its low energy requirement tells us how to increase efficiency.
For example, take water for your area. And ask the following questions.
What is the best and easiest way to source water?
What is most energy efficient and has the lowest footprint?
What is closest to my zone 0 (home, place of highest use and frequency)
Now,
Draw a few concentric circles and place the most energy efficient and best source in the center. It may not be practical for every context but let’s write it down anyway.
Let’s have the next best source placed in the next circle. Repeat the questions till you get to the end.
Colour the circle that has the source from which you get your water now. This determines where you stand
Colour the center. This determines what you could aim for.
The analysis that we drew out is for our context. It might be completely different for yours. This takes some practice but it can be useful. And one can do this for food, transport, shelter, waste, energy and so on.
Water does not negotiate, they say. It’s high time we plan for it within our contexts. In one of recent site visits, we learn that the community on that field revers visible water. Perhaps they do not have an access to the knowledge of invisible water and in the many beautiful ways it manifests life. Had they known (And now they will :)) the reverence would extend to the aquifers, the springs, the earthworks, the wells and the trees. And with that comes managing demand, judicious usage and thinking in relationships.