Dr Mehta addresses international webinar organised by Western Sydney University, Australia India Water Centre and International Association of Hydrogeologists Experts from India and Australia deliberate on water sustainability in Indian cities and water security in rural Australia Water experts from India and Australia came together at the Australia India Water Centre’s (AIWC) Water Talks international webinar series to deliberate on emerging challenges of water sustainability in India’s medium-sized cities, including water pollution, urban flooding and groundwater stress, as well as contamination risks in domestic rainwater tanks in rural Australia. Opening the webinar, Prof. Basant Maheshwari, Director, Australia India Water Centre and Western Sydney University, said that water security cannot be viewed as a problem of a single river, pipeline or water-supply project. The entire water system needs to be understood as an interconnected whole, with continuous efforts to improve and protect it. He said the Water Talks series aims to provide a common platform for researchers, experts, policymakers and citizens from India, Australia and other countries to exchange experiences, emerging challenges and solutions related to water. Delivering the first keynote address Dr Anil Mehta, Principal, Vidya Bhawan Polytechnic College, Udaipur, Member of the Expert Appraisal Committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, and associated with the Global Water Partnership and environmental conservation initiatives, said that water sustainability, security and self-reliance cannot be achieved through engineering alone. He said that more than 415 medium-sized cities in India, generally with populations between one lakh and ten lakh, are at the crossroads of rapid urbanisation, changing land use, degradation of catchments and hills, increasing pressure on groundwater, extreme rainfall, urban flooding, prolonged dry periods and declining water quality. Dr Mehta pointed out that many cities are simultaneously experiencing two apparently opposite problems—intense rainfall and sudden flooding on the one hand, and prolonged rainfall deficits, falling groundwater levels and water scarcity on the other. These should not be treated merely as separate flood and drought problems, he said, but as different manifestations of a disturbed, disrupted and increasingly stressed water cycle “When natural catchments, hills, rivers, streams and groundwater recharge areas are degraded, and urbanisation obstructs natural drainage and water pathways, rainwater can rapidly run off instead of infiltrating into the ground, contributing to flooding. At the same time, groundwater recharge declines, reducing water availability during dry periods,” Dr Mehta said. "We need to move from merely controlling water to restoring the entire water cycle,”he emphasised. Taking Udaipur as a case study, Dr Mehta said the city cannot be understood merely within the limits of its municipal boundary. The Aravalli hills, catchments, streams, rivers, lakes, wells, stepwells and the city itself form one interconnected water system. “The municipal boundary is a political and administrative boundary; it is not the boundary of water or the watershed,” he said. Therefore, urban water management needs to be planned according to catchments and river basins rather than administrative boundaries. He suggested that even urban planning and ward-level boundaries should increasingly be decided and informed by micro-watersheds. Dr Mehta said it was not sufficient to describe Udaipur merely as the City of Lakes.” It is a living socio-ecological-cultural-spiritual and archaeological water landscape, in which water has shaped the city’s ecology, settlement pattern, economy, social life and cultural identity. “If we want to protect the lakes, we must also protect their catchments, rivers and streams, natural water-flow paths, groundwater recharge zones and surrounding land use,” he said. In the context of climate change, Dr Mehta stressed that flood-control or water-supply projects alone cannot provide lasting solutions if the functioning of the natural water system is ignored. Dr Mehta also highlighted the emerging challenge of invisible water pollution. He said water pollution is no longer confined to sewage, solid waste and visibly polluted water. Pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, hormones, personal-care products and industrial chemicals are emerging as new contaminants of concern. He noted that studies undertaken in the Udaipur water system detected 41 emerging contaminants, of which 30 were quantitatively identified. These included 19 active pharmaceutical ingredients, two personal-care products, six steroid hormones and three industrial contaminants. Such contaminants can have implications for endocrine systems and reproductive health, he noted. Therefore, the first stage of protecting water quality should not begin only at the treatment plant. It must begin with protecting the source and the catchment,” Dr Mehta said. Speaking about urban rivers, Dr Mehta said many cities have traditionally treated rivers merely as drains or conduits for carrying away wastewater. A healthy river, however, performs multiple ecological functions, including flood regulation, interaction with groundwater, natural purification, biodiversity support, microclimate regulation and sustaining social and cultural life. “When we reduce a river to a drain, engineering may become simpler, but ecology becomes more complicated,” he said. He called for rivers to be viewed not merely as drainage infrastructure but as living natural lifelines and ecological heritage. Referring to the Ayad (Ahar) River in Udaipur, Dr Mehta said its experience demonstrates the importance of appropriately combining nature and engineering. Engineering interventions, he noted, can be used to strengthen natural ecological processes rather than replace them. Dr Mehta emphasised the crucial role of communities in water and river conservation. Citizens can observe, monitor, raise questions, create awareness and become active partners in conservation. At the same time, he cautioned that communities cannot substitute for government institutions. “The right model is community stewardship supported by capable institutions,” he said. Citizen participation needs to be complemented by institutional systems capable of ensuring planning, regulation, infrastructure, financing, monitoring and long-term conservation. Dr Mehta also addressed the ecological, social, cultural and spiritual-ethical dimensions of water. He said that in Indian traditions, water has historically been regarded not merely as something to be consumed, but as being deeply connected with life, culture and social responsibility. “Science tells us how the water system functions. Engineering gives us tools for intervention. Ecology tells us what needs to be protected. But ethics determines how responsibly and with what restraint society uses water,” he said. He stressed the need to reconnect values such as reverence, respect, restraint, reciprocity and responsibility with contemporary water management. He elaborated HARIT approach ( Holistic Actions for Revitalization of Indegenous Traditions ) Drawing from Udaipur’s experience, Dr Mehta proposed a simple five-part framework for long-term water sustainability: Catchment – City – Community – Culture – Continuity. Dr Ian Wright , while presenting his research and experience from rural Australia, highlighted water-quality challenges associated with domestic rainwater tanks. He explained that contaminants do not necessarily remain only dissolved in tank water; they can also accumulate in sediments at the bottom of tanks. Consequently, samples taken only from household taps may not always provide a complete picture of contamination. He highlighted concerns regarding contaminants including lead, arsenic and PFAS at some locations. According to Dr Wright, understanding contamination requires asking not only “What is in the water?” but also “How did the contaminant get into the water?”The entire pathway through which contaminants travel needs to be understood. The webinar was attended by Dr Arun Sawant, former Vice-Chancellor, University of Rajasthan; Dr Peter Dillon, former Chief Scientist, CSIRO, Australia; Prof A.K. Sinha, President, International Association of Hydrogeologists, India Chapter and former Vice-Chancellor, Chhatrapati Shivaji University, Mumbai; Prof Pushpa Tappad of Mysore; and Prof Devanand Maski of Raichur, among other experts. The webinar was coordinated by Edrina Choudhary of Western Sydney University . The participants agreed that water sustainability and self-reliance cannot be reduced to engineering, infrastructure or water-supply systems alone. Science, engineering, ecology, urban planning, communities, institutions, culture and ethics must be brought together within an integrated framework. The central message emerging from the India-Australia dialogue was that the future of water management lies not simply in creating more projects, but in developing long-term water stewardship—from catchment to city, from source to tap, and from wastewater back to recharge and the catchment.