Farmers in hot, arid regions are turning to low-cost solar pumps to irrigate their fields, eliminating the need for expensive fossil fuels and boosting crop production. But by allowing them to pump throughout the day, the new technology is drying up aquifers around the globe.

Solar pumps are spreading rapidly among rural communities in many water-starved regions across India, Africa, and elsewhere. These devices can tap underground water all day long at no charge, without government scrutiny.

For now, they can be great news for farmers, with the potential to transform agriculture and improve food security. The pumps can supply water throughout the daylight hours, extending their croplands into deserts, ending their reliance on unpredictable rains, and sometimes replacing existing costly-to-operate diesel or grid-powered pumps.

But this solar-powered hydrological revolution is emptying already-stressed underground water reserves—also known as groundwaters or aquifers. The very success of solar pumps is “threatening the viability of many aquifers already at risk of running dry,” Soumya Balasubramanya, an economist at the World Bank with extensive experience of water policy, warned in January.

An innovation that initially looked capable of reducing fossil-fuel consumption while also helping farmers prosper is rapidly turning into an environmental time bomb.

  • schmorpEnglish
    12•8 months ago

    Our local aquifer didn’t need the introduction of solar pumps. They manage with fuel powered pumps and corn, all along the stream. In August the water is gone.

    The farms without accessible water just drill a deep well, 120m or thereabouts, and now you have magical water - and the problem gets worse!

    The solar just makes it more accessible, so even the remotest areas can participate in the destruction.

    At same time there is only very little collection of rainwater from any roof and/or water storage for use in the dry season, and not much education about drought resistant plants. I think that’s where efforts need to point towards: share knowledge of different people all over the world as to how to farm with less water and how to farm in respect of the existing aquifer.

    • @[email protected]
      4•8 months ago

      share knowledge of different people all over the world

      I feel despite the internet we are pretty bad at that in general in all kinds of professions and other parts of life that could benefit from it.

      • schmorpEnglish
        6•8 months ago

        It’s getting better. We have become pretty good at sharing cat pictures. I guess it’s just time to direct our focus more efficiently. This instance is just one of many tiny efforts in that direction.