Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

`Efficient use of existing sources, a solution'

By T. Ramakrishnan

CHENNAI DEC. 9. It may be tempting to solve water problems by making available more water. But, ``sometimes, the solution is not more water but a more careful and efficient use of water'', says Lawrence J. MacDonnell, an American expert.

Responding to a query on the Indian Government's proposed project of interlinking rivers, Dr. MacDonnell, who has specialised in marketing, transferring and sharing of water, told The Hindu that his country had implemented projects based on inter-basin transfer. ``We have done it with some care about harmful effects on the area of origin (of rivers).''

In the United States, people in the areas of origin of rivers did not like the idea of water transfer. ``This has always been a source of great controversy. So, what we do is to provide special benefits to such areas to offset the harm, caused by withdrawal of water. Still, it is not the same. Water, as you know, is irreplaceable.''

On the debate over big versus small dams, Dr. MacDonnell, one of the founders of the Colorado Watershed Network and Assembly (organisations comprising different stakeholders of the Colorado river basin), said going by his country's experience, some large dams were very valid. ``But, there are diminishing returns. It may not always be the best solution to the water problem.'' In the U.S., environmentalists believed that large dams, constructed between 1940 and 1960, had created ``unacceptable damage'' to the environment. Now with increasing importance of environmental concerns, new laws, which required protection of rivers and streams, were framed.

Dr. MacDonnell, now working for a legal consultancy firm at Boulder in the State of Colorado, described as a ``big challenge'' competing use of water by different sectors.

Giving details of the trends in western parts of the U.S., he said that as cities now required more water they were entering into negotiations with farmers to lease water rights. Apart from getting water from agriculturists, the urban centres were investing in agriculture to make it more efficient. ``The amount of water which has been saved moves to urban areas. Or, in some cases, water is used to protect the environment.''

Asked whether farmers were receptive to giving up their rights, he replied in the affirmative. ``Water rights are the most valuable thing irrigators own, more valuable than land. If they are able to sell the rights, they can pay off all their debts.''

He referred to the example of Greater Los Angeles and San Diego getting water rights on a lease basis for 70 years from Imperial Valley in southern California.

He said tradable water rights could be an option to solve problems in an urban centre such as Chennai. But he did not know whether there were clear rights, which were capable of being traded in the context of the city. In the U.S., such an option had worked.

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