http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/02/120214-artificial-glaciers-water-crops-in-indian-highlands/
This article is about the village of Skara, located on the edge of India’s Tibetan plateau’s technique of conserving water through the use of artificial glaciers. The livelihood of villagers in Skara mainly depends on their barley crops, which they consume and sell to surrounding areas. The water used to irrigate the crops traditionally has come from glacial melt water in the Himalayas. However, due to climate changes in recent years, water shortages have become increasingly more frequent and a serious threat to the farmers of Skara. In the late 1980s, an engineer from Skara, Chewang Norphel, developed an irrigation system of artificial glaciers to preserve the water. The water is diverted from rivers into valleys that are sealed off by rocks, where it pools and then freezes. This process is repeated until a decently sized glacier is formed. Currently, Skara uses ten artificial glaciers to sustain its farming.
I think one of the most interesting and important things to recognize about the case of Skara is that the solution came from an engineer native to the village instead of engineers from another country. Norphel’s solution was culturally sensitive and required specialized knowledge of the region and agricultural practices to work, the significance of which we discussed in relation to the article we read about the role of community in conservation. The article also emphasizes that the irrigation system was designed over the course of years and mainly sought to employ basic scientific principles that work within nature rather than sophisticated technology that works to overcome nature or in spite of nature.
I think a political ecology analysis is well suited to this topic. For the villagers in Skara, their agricultural practices are their livelihood. Instead of changing their agricultural practices or livelihood, the villagers adapted to the changes in their environment that preserved their traditional way of life. The article also points out that this solution is better and more cost effective for the environment than other alternatives such as dams or reservoirs, which could evaporate or become contaminated, so the solution is also good for the health and economy of the village. The article delves into a political ecology analysis a bit when it points out that while the artificial glaciers are an effective and innovative short-term solution, they are probably not sustainable long term as highland glaciers continue disappearing. While the artificial glaciers have been successful for Skara on several counts, the villagers will probably need to look to new innovative solutions in the future in order to continue their agricultural way of life.
The engineering solution sounds like it was effective in minimizing water loss for the community. This exemplifies the need for engineering to take into account the cultural, economical, and social needs of the locals. By utilizing the ideas of a native engineer, this made it even easier to consider unique local constraints.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I thought the comments regarding the political ecology analysis are very pertinent and astute. The issue of global warming spans all disciplines including economics, politics, and the environment. It is important to consider long and short term effects when developing solutions to the glacier melting dilemma. This will hopefully prevent someone from overlooking certain aspects of the problem, like the impact on agricultural practices for locals.
As global warming is a problem which will effect future generations to come and all nations, I think it would be prudent to identify solutions to combat glacier melting itself and find an alternate water supply in Skara. The solutions could come from engineers within the community, but I would encourage discourse between nations on strategies for preserving glaciers. Do you think a global initiative would help Skara develop a plan to preserve their glaciers, or would it be ineffective and give too much power to outside nations?
This sounds like both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, I think it is great that Skara managed to find a local solution to their problem, but I'm concerned about the longevity of the fix, as well as where they get their water from (isn't diverting other water going to cause problems for others in the region?).
ReplyDeleteI do think, however, that it is important for this to be a local initiative. If they want to dialogue with other nations and create a global initiative, but I think they need to maintain their power and their right to decide, or as we discussed in class, the right to say no to other developers. A global initiative would be beneficial if it were the main players going abroad for advice, not direction.
A fascinating article. Good post and excellent comments.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting solution to the problem. It is refreshing to hear about technology actually being used to promote and preserve traditional practices instead of entirely supplanting them. Do you think that this sort of artificial ice formation could be used as a solution to other problems, such as ice loss in the arctic? Inuit communities might be able to adapt the technology used by the Skara to create local initiatives to preserve their environment.
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