Bali’s Water Crisis: Is Tourism Drying Up the Rice Fields?

For centuries, Bali’s rice farmers relied on a shared water system that treated the resource as a gift. Now, that tradition is disappearing. I Putu Partayasa, a 52-year-old farmer known as Parta, squats at the edge of his rice terrace and pushes his fingers into the soil. They come up dry. His field has water, but his neighbor’s does not. “We have a big problem in the dry season,” he says. “Fifteen years ago, we have water every day. But today it’s getting less.” Parta is lucky. His plot sits high enough in the irrigation system to still receive its share. But he fears he knows where the rest of the water is going. “Companies take our water,” he says, “and bring it to the tourism places.” He gestures at the terraces below—a patchwork of green and brown that was once entirely green. “The forest is getting smaller. The springs are drying.”