We Are Water Foundation

On the 7 of June, the conference entitled "Anantapur: transforming the desert into life" was held in the Roca Barcelona Gallery, organised by the We Are Water Foundation in collaboration with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation.

Xavier Torras, Director of the We Are Water Foundation, opened the conference and introduced the two speakers: T.K. Chalapathy, director of human resources and the department of development of the Rural Development Trust (RDT) (the counterpart of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation in India) and Gour Saraff, President of the Europe India Chamber of Commerce (EICC) in Spain and associate dean of the International Business School of Valencia. The chair was Jordi Folgado, managing director of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation (FVF), with which the We Are Water Foundation has collaborated for the past year on the construction of a reservoir in Ganjikunta.

Capture, store and distribute rainwater correctly

In his intervention, T.K. Chalapathy firstly explained the harsh climatic conditions of the zone of Andhra Pradesh, where the average rainfall is 425 mm and where the effects of global warming are being particularly noted. During the last decades, to this climatic situation has been added the loss of a large part of the forested land, with the subsequent erosion that has impoverished the soil and the underground aquifers.

"It is essential to protect the existing water and develop systems of capturing rainwater, which now only comes with the monsoons", stated Chalapathy, who went on to show the different stages of construction of the small reservoirs that the Vicente Ferrer Foundation is developing in the zone.

The director of the department of development of the FVF immediately went on to explain the importance of developing irrigation systems that minimise the loss of water by evaporation, another of the problems inherent in the zone of Andhra Pradesh, where the air temperature reaches high levels.

Jordi Folgado, underlined the achievements of the FVF which, over the last 40 years, has worked very hard to recover this semi-desert zone of India with a policy based on the creation of small reservoirs to collect rainwater and in a way that these improve the socioeconomic conditions of the farmers. "These reservoirs, as well as providing water for the crops", stated Folgado, "enable fish farms to be installed that make up an additional economic resource and an alternative source of food for the farmers".

The FVF also encourages the creation of organic crops to provide added value to the agricultural production of the zone and promote, above all, education in order to achieve the good use of water and the participation of the population in the development and implementation of suitable systems of capture, storage and distribution.

The importance of raising awareness

In his talk, Gour Saraff pointed out the seriousness of hydric problems in India, a country that historically developed its culture around the rivers (Hindustan means "the land after the River Indus")  and which today experiences the serious consequences of the decrease in  glacial ice from the Himalayas: "Global warming is causing a dramatic decrease in the ice that feeds the Ganges, the largest river in India, and its main tributaries. If things continue in this way, the flow of this sacred river will become a seasonal river system, depending on the monsoons, something that may bring in its wake a tremendous cultural and socioeconomic impact. We should realise that 80% of the water that is used from the rivers is for agriculture, and the demand will double in 2030. Another serious problem is that of the coastal zones, where the sea is flooding the aquifers".

The President of the EICC in Spain also highlighted other causes of the deterioration in drinking water resources: "There is a problem of overexploitation of phreatic waters due to the lack of awareness about the importance of preserving them. Paradoxically, in India, electricity is practically free, which is the reason behind why many farmers, unconsciously, use the extraction pumps excessively; this leads to a squandering of large quantities of water. Moreover, the changes in the diet of the population, who now eat more meat, leads to a need for more water to produce fodder and pastureland for the beasts that are the base of meat production. It is very important to raise awareness of the population and the governments regarding these situations".

In this respect, Saraff was critical of the performance of his government over recent years, although he pointed out signs of hopeful change and stressed the importance of placing an economic value on drinking water: "The government has realised that it must change its policy of creating large reservoirs, which only favour a small few, and promote the creation of more docks and small reservoirs to capture rainwater that can be managed by the small communities. This favours the recovery of the phreatic level and the regeneration of the forested area, which is absolutely essential for the recovery of the water cycle and also improving the quality of underground water, which is much deteriorated in many zones today. Additionally, it is very important that, at a socioeconomic level, value is given to drinking water, since it is very scarce and fundamental for the future and it is essential that it is not squandered. Without water there is no economy, there is no life, there is nothing".

Today in India there are around 300,000 of these small reservoirs and Saraff praised the work that the FVF is carrying out in this respect in the zone of Anantapur, with projects in which the We Are Water Foundation collaborates: "They are small projects with a big impact and constitute a model to follow in the zone. The joint work of raising awareness is that we all must do very important; and projects such as We Are Water are very important in this sense".

The We Are Water Foundation

The We Are Water Foundation, promoted by the Roca company, aims to raise awareness amongst the population about the need to alleviate the negative effects related to the lack of hydric resources in the world, encouraging a new culture of water and through the undertaking of projects of cooperation and support to diverse organisations such as Education without Frontiers, the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, Intermon Oxfam and UNICEF.

The Vicente Ferrer Foundation

The Vicente Ferrer Foundation (FVF) is a Development NGO committed to the process of transformation of the poorest zones of Andhra Pradesh, in southeast India, and of some of the most excluded communities of the planet, the Dalits or Untouchables, the tribal groups and the backward castes.

Its work currently reaches 2,313 towns, benefiting more than two and a half million people thanks to the integral development programme, which involves six sectors of work: ecology, health, education, housing, women and disabled people.