Water shortages in many Venezuelan cities are worsened by power cuts and the deterioration of public services, especially affecting the poorest neighborhoods. Most of their inhabitants fight every day to obtain water outside the cities with the serious risks it entails. Others have been implementing a water survival strategy for decades. This is featured in the short film La camisa sucia (The stained shirt), finalist of the We Art Water Film Festival 3.

In India, the enormous challenge of achieving the sustainable growth of a country that in a few years will be the most populated in the world, should be based on avoiding the ruin of small farmers, empowering them to fight drought, the degradation of the land, single-crop farming and social imbalance. The construction of small self-managed reservoirs brings life to the most impoverished farmers and is a development model to be followed in semiarid regions.

The We Are Water Foundation and Diamond Resorts take a step further towards global awareness of the importance of the good use of water and the respect for the environment. “Let’s Make a Deal” is a pioneering initiative that involves the entire human chain in hotels, guests and professionals, to advance together towards this goal.

Most of the water we use is not included in the water bill, it is hidden in every object or in food, in our trips and in our work. It is not the water that flows in the shower or out of the faucet in the bath or the kitchen, it is the water used in the supply chain of goods and services. The water footprint provides this information and informs us that we are trading with water without even realizing it. We therefore contribute to the “transfer” of millions of liters between countries and continents. It is a key factor in the equation of the planet’s sustainability.

The unstoppable exponential growth of cities will turn us into an eminently urban species in a few decades. For life on Earth to be sustainable cities also need to be so, and this will not be possible without the smart technologies integrated in circular economy. Their implementation is a great challenge for poor economies, which are most overwhelmed by urban growth and are not able to supply water and sanitation. This needs to be an international responsibility because what happens in these cities will be decisive for life on Earth.

Nature shows us that the solutions to the severe hydric and environmental challenges we face involve respecting and observing the water cycle and harmonizing with it. The first step to achieve this is to understand its importance in life, its vulnerability and to recognize how we are altering it. “The answer is in nature” is the theme of World Water Day this year; if we want nature to remain our teacher, then we must take care of it before it’s too late.  

The collection of rainwater is vital in the most arid regions of India. The severe drought and the uneven rainfall in these regions bring about a return of the ancestral rainfall collection techniques. Thanks to their regenerating effect on aquifers, they have become a key element in the fight against desertification and in the empowerment of the poorest farmers. The rains in September and October have proved that the small reservoirs and tanks such as the ones in Gajikunta and Girigetla are the basis of the life of all farmers in their surroundings.

Tourism is a promising economic driver for many emerging countries and one of the key distribution elements of wealth in the world. But it is a great consumer of water and it has a special impact on the environment. The sector is directly menaced by climate change and should advance with proper management towards a sustainable model that serves as a reference.