WATER SAVING SOLUTIONS IN A WIDER CONTEXT

The trees in the SERC project are being planted with a specific water saving technology called Groasis. It includes usage of the Waterboxx, a technology particularly effective in arid areas. Water usage is reduced by 90% compared with traditional irrigation.

It is worth reflecting on the role of water more widely, and how improved water management can contribute to a better world.

The need of ensuring more effective water usage is inevitably on the rise in many parts of the world. Today, an estimated 3.5 billion people are lacking access to fresh water resources. As especially potable water is becoming expensive and hard to come by, there are far-reaching consequences at local, national and international level. Additionally, food chains and human health come under pressure due to the widespread use of pesticides, antibiotics, plastics and other materials that put people, plants and animals at risk.

Oman and other countries in the Middle East are marked by an arid climate and limited access to ground and surface water. In the past, however, the people and local communities in Oman were masters at managing water, as signified by the Iflag – advanced water management solutions that were tailored to suit varying local conditions The Iflag incorporated both state-of-the-art technical solutions and well developed social models for how to share the effort as well as the outputs in ways that were both efficient and fair.

Modern societies, in the Middle East as well as in many other parts of the world, have entered as stage of mass-consumption, where those lessons of the past are all but forgotten. Meanwhile, new challenges are on the arise due to climate change. Some areas are struck by severe draught, others by flooding, soil erosion is worsening, and dust storms and other extreme weather events plague entire regions.

Against this backdrop, it is inevitable that current strategies and behaviors need to change. Fortunately, new solutions are at hand, in part thanks to the arrival of new technologies and innovations. In the case of greening, important aspect have to do with usage of endemic plants which are specially adapted to an arid climate, the development of best practices for soil management techniques and the adoption of intelligent water applications well suited to local conditions, as is the case in the SERC project. Drawing lessons and inspiration from the ingenuity and collaborative effort of past generations can help build inspiration.