Pakistan StudiesPresentation On:

Strategic Analysis of Water Resources in

Pakistan

Water Resources on Pakistan

Water is an essential element for survival of living things. It is vital factor for economic development for batter growth of agriculture and industry. Since independence our country constructed only two big dams i.e. Tarbela and Mangla.

IntroductionWater is one of the basic necessities of life. The usage of water can

be divided in three broad categories i.e. domestic consumption,

commercial/industrial use and usage for land irrigation.

Water is also important element of the world’s ecological system.

God has gifted Pakistan with abundant water resources, with rivers

flowing down the Himalayas and Karakoram heights from the

world’s largest glaciers and free and unique bounty for this land.Pakistan is basically an agrarian economy. Out of its total

geographical area of 79.61 million hectares, cultivated area is 22.05

million hectares. The total area under irrigation is 19.02 million

hectares (Agricultural Statistics of Pakistan 2005-06). Irrigated land

supplies more than 90 percent of agricultural production and most

of the country food. Agriculture sector is regarded as the backbone

of the Pakistan’s economy.

The water from these dams and reservoirs is not only used

for irrigation and supplying water for daily consumption,

but also used for hydroelectric power generation.

Water Resources of Pakistan There are two types of major resources of water in

Pakistan, natural and artificial. Natural resources include

rainfall, rivers, glaciers, ponds, lakes, streams, karez and

wells etc Whereas artificial resources consist of the surface

water from rainfall and rivers, which is in excess of the

requirements for irrigation and other uses, is stored in

dams and reservoirs.

Main Resources

* Rainfall.

* Glaciers.

* Rivers and Dams.

* Surface water resources.

* Ground water resources.

* Soon after the initiation of the SCARP

program.

* Future of water resources and needs.

* Rainfall

There are two major sources of rainfall in Pakistan i.e. the

Monsoons and the Western Disturbances. There is about 70

percent of the annual Monsoon rainfall from July to

September. Pakistan has both arid and semi-arid zones.

The entire Indus plain receives an average seasonal rainfall

of 212mm and 53mm in the Kharif and Rabi seasons

respectively.The rainfall varies as we move from the north and

northeast to the south of the country. It is only the canal

command areas in the KPK and the northern-most canal

commands of the Punjab Province that receive some

appreciable amount of rainfall during the summer as well

as in the winter season.

Pakistan has greatest mass and collection of

glaciers on the earth. In Karakoram Range, the total

length of glaciers is 160 km. About 37 percent of

the Karakoram area is under its glacier, Himalayas

has17 percent and European Alps has 22 percent.

* Glaciers There are more glaciers in Pakistan than any other

land except North and South Poles. The glacier area

of Pakistan is about 13,680 sq km and on the

average is 3 percent of mountainous region of upper

Indus Basin and accounts for most of the river

turnoff in summer.

* Rivers and Dams

Pakistan has been blessed with a number of rivers which

are tributaries to the Indus. The five main rivers which join

Indus from eastern side are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas

and Sutlej, beside three minor rivers are the Haro, Soan

and Siran. There are number of small rivers which join the River

Indus from the west side, in which biggest river is Kabul

and others are Kunar, Punj, and Kora. The Gomal Kurram,

Tai, Kohat Tank and several other small streams join the

Indus River from the right side.

The right of three eastern rivers (Beas, Sutlej, and Ravi)

was given to India under Irrigation Water Treaty 1960,

during this period; Indus Basin Project (IBP) was

implemented with international assistance of the World

Bank. IBP enabled Pakistan to acquire significant

capability of river flow through integrated system.

* Surface water resourcesIrrigated agriculture was, still is, and will remain in future

the backbone of Pakistan's economy. Nature has blessed

Pakistan with abundant surface and subsurface water

resources. These resources had been exploited and utilized

for agricultural, domestic, and industrial purposes in the

past and will continue to be explored in future. The river

Indus and its tributaries provide the surface water.

* Ground water resources

The Indus plains constitute about 34 million hectares (over 85

million acres) of cultivable land, which is under-lain predominantly

by sand alluvium to a considerable depth. Ground water is also

found in some rain-fed (Barani) lands, and intermountain valleys at

depths varying from 100 to 200 ft. During 1950s, large area in the

Indus basin became waterlogged and soil salinity increased adversely

affecting the agricultural productivity. It was the time when

government got involved and took initiatives in the ground water

development. During past four decades, about 15000 SCARP tube wells have been

installed by the Government in 57 projects covering a gross area of

about 7.7 million hectares affected land for putting it back into

production. The tube wells installed in the fresh ground water areas

have been pumping water directly into watercourses thus, they are

being used for irrigation in addition to canal water.

All of the 400000 private tube wells have been installed in fresh

ground water zones and are being used for irrigation purposes. About

80 per cent of these tube wells are located in Punjab and supply

around 40 per cent of total irrigation in the province.

* Soon after the initiation of the SCARP program Large-scale development of ground water was started by the private

tube wells. According to latest reports issued by the Government of

Pakistan, the number of private tube wells has increased from 27000

to over 400000 during period between 1964 and 1995. All of the

400000 private tube wells have been installed in fresh ground water

zones and are being used for irrigation purposes. About 80 per cent

of these tube wells are located in Punjab and supply around 40 per

cent of total irrigation in the province.

* Future of water resources and needs

One of the key issues to Pakistan is the growing population pressure,

which is responsible for driving its water resource development.

It has the world's fastest growing population that has surpassed the

140 million mark by now and is still increasing at an alarming rate of

around 2.8%, which needs to be checked, whereas the growth rate in

agriculture sector remains somehow lower than the demand due to

limiting irrigation water.Since no additional water is available, it is better to improve the

existing water system and land capabilities otherwise, Pakistan will

be facing acute shortages of food, fiber, and edible oils in near

future. It is time to recognize our responsibilities and start taking

steps in right direction. We must keep eye on the issues such as, poor

water application & water distribution, depletion of ground water

resources, reduction in storage capacities of existing system, and

wastage of summer river surpluses and slow agricultural growth.

Development potential and future strategies

* Improve surface storage capacity :

According to a report of working group on water resources for the 7th five year plan (1987), no new storage have been created after the completion of Tarbela due to rising controversies over the construction of such reservoirs. Thus, it has become necessary to focus on small size irrigation schemes (storage on rivers). There is a need to construct small dams on rivers Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, and their small tributaries. The potential sites for these small reservoirs/dams need to be surveyed.Another option is to manage the existing irrigation system in a better way and undertake new schemes wherever possible. The

development of the country depends on water resources expansion and

management.

The ground water table has already started declining in 14

out of 45 canal commands. Due to over-exploitation of this

resource, the sustainability of irrigated agriculture is facing

a new threat in some of the canal commands in Punjab.

This situation needs to be checked and addressed urgently.

Conjunctive use of ground water

Conjunctive use refers to the co-ordinate, combined,

creative exploitation, and judicious use of ground water for

sustained development. It deals with neither over

extraction nor under extraction of the source. This option

has technically and economically been considered as the

most viable strategy in the past studies.

Increase the efficiency of existing system

The unchecked growth of population has increased pressure on land

and water resources throughout the world thus, it has become

difficult to conserve our water supplies. Several reports have shown

that about 25 to 30% of the water is being lost in the conveyance

system of the different countries of the world. A considerable amount

of water is lost during its conveyance due to seepage in lengthy

canals; lining of the system channels could reduce these losess.

Irrigation water could be saved by lining the minor canals only.

However, due to financial constraints, it is not possible to line entire

canal system thus, the portions with high potential of seepage and

those located in the areas with high salt content could be lined, by

doing so, not only huge quantities of irrigation water could be saved

but also the risk of water logging and salinity could be reduced. This

would result in saving of huge investments that otherwise are

required for drainage projects.

Water Demand and Availability

The level of agricultural production is directly related to the

availability and effective use of water as a major input. The demand

for water is increasing rapidly, while there is no opportunities for

further development of water resources. In Pakistan half of the run

water (it is water falls on the country is collected in river, lakes and

dams) is drawn about as much gain from the underground spin

aquifer. By 2025 water demand would be 92 percent entire runoff. It

is estimated that 25 percent about has been destroyed due to salinity.

For irrigation purpose, only one third of water is used. . This has

made imperative to work out an efficient and equitable management

strategy about Indus Basin. There has been growing realization to

economize water. Through using best cultivation techniques for

proper water management.

The Irrigation System of Pakistan

The irrigation system of Pakistan is the largest integrated irrigation

network in the world, serving 42 million acres of cultivated land.

This system is fed by the water of the Indus River and its tributaries.

The salient features of the irrigation system are given below:

Salient Features of Irrigation System

of Pakistan

Structure No.

Major Storage Reservoirs 03

Small Dams (Apex. 3.00 MAF) 80

Barrages 19

Inter-River Link Canals 12

Independent Irrigation Canal

Commands

45

Conservation of Water Resources in Pakistan

Scarcity of water and drought has been compelled the

countries to adopt the conservation measures. In the scare

water situation, Islam do not permits unnecessary

utilization of water. Scrolling the pages of Islamic history,

we witness the struggle of Hazrat Hajira for water under

blazing sun in the burning desert and sprouting of water

spring from the rocky soil as a gift from Allah.

The efforts for search of water was so much liked by the

Almighty Allah that it has become a fundamental part of

Hajj till the Day of Judgment.

Moreover, cessation of water with stones to avoid its wastage and stocking

it for long time besides saying “Zam Zam “means “stop” was the first step

towards water storage, which led to concept for construction of dams. The construction of dams in Pakistan is imperative, as only two dams have been constructed after 1947, whereas, India and Turkey has constructed 24 and 65 dams respectively during the same period.The details of the prospective storage projects are given in below:

Name of Project Storage Capacity

(MAF)

Installed

Capacity

(MW)

Status

Live Gross

Basha Dam 6.4 7.30 4500 Engineering Design (Under

Preparation)

Kalabagh Dam 6.10 7.90 3600 Ready for Implementation

Skardu Dam - - 4000 Under Feasibility Study

Akhori Dam

Akhori Dam 3.60 7.00 600 -do-

Munda Dam 0.56 1.00 600 Engineering Design (Under

Preparation)

In order to overcome the challenge of water shortage and its losses, it has become

imperative to work on the lines of “Blue Revolution” which is threshold of the

strategy meant for making use of more effective techniques and obtaining optimum

results for reduction in water losses. The definition of “Blue Revolution” has been

coined as a system of drip irrigation that delivers water directly to the roots of

crops by cutting use of water by 30 to 70 percent and raising crop yield on the

average by 20 to 90 percent.

Water Conservation Strategy

To work out a sound and cogent water conservation strategy is the need of the time, as

demand for water continues to rise because of increasing use of water in agriculture and

industry for the purpose of economic development and due to rapid growth of population,

whereas there is limited supply of water. Water management is the biggest challenge of 21st

century confronted by the country, as irrigated agriculture is 24 percent of GDP, the

livelihood for the majority of country and input of agro based industry/exports. It has been

made known that a considerable amount of water is lost during its 14 conveyance for the

seepage in the lengthy canals. Proper lining of the canal system could reduce these losses.

Strategic Analysis:

1) New Dams require extensive benefit sharing-especially those

that are contentious

2) Climate change is forcing response in water sector-it has to be

both demand and supply side driven

3) Undertake research on development, management,

conservation, utilization and quality of water resources.

4) Develop and maintain National Water Resources Database

Design, develop and evaluate water conservation technologies.

5) Undertake contractual research and provide consultancy

services to the private and public sector.

6) Advise the government and submit policy recommendations

regarding quality, development, management, conservation and

utilization of water resources.

7) Develop and maintain national water resources database, for use

by the planning, implementing agencies and public.

8) Design, develop and evaluate water conservation technologies for

irrigation, drinking and industrial water.

9) Initiate national water quality monitoring program, in the urban

and rural areas of Pakistan and develop technologies for providing

safe drinking water to the public.

10) Conduct and coordinate research or desertification, drought and

flood mitigation.

Also implementation of the recommendations will

enable the country to meet the challenges, and

achieve the objectives of integrated, efficient,

environmentally and financially sustainable

development and management of limited water

resources. At the same time it will enable us to

utilize every drop of our water for our bright future.

ConclusionThe problems faced by the water sector in the

country are many, acute and serious. Therefore,

building of more reservoirs and an effective

management strategy are the needs of time.