The news of how one herder was shot dead by another in Tsogttsetsii soum, Umnugovi aimag during a dispute on whose livestock had claim to a water source shocked Mongolians into the awareness that scarcity of water could make a killer of a peaceful man. This was in 2019, and in April the next year, Tsetsii Movement,
This concern over scarcity of water marked the first Gobi Water – Green Development Research and Innovation Forum held in Dalanzadgad, Umnugovi aimag on September 10. As researchers and members of the aimag parliament talked at the Forum about how depletion of water resources in the Gobi has led to drying up of wells for livestock and a drop in the underground water level for human use, I found in my later interaction with ordinary people that they were glad to get a chance to articulate their concerns and suggest solutions. It is now for those who take decisions and make policy to take note of these.