Water management in Pakistan's Indus Basin: challenges and opportunities

Abstract

The Indus River System is a major source of life in Pakistan. A vast array of Pakistan's agricultural and domestic consumption needs are critically dependent on the Indus River System. The Indus River contributes towards 25% of the country's gross domestic product, providing water for almost 90% of the food production in Pakistan. Linked to the water security issues, Pakistan is potentially at risk of facing a severe food shortage in the near future. The World Bank report of 2020–2021 estimates that the water shortage will increase to 32% by 2025, which will result in a food shortage of almost 70 million tons. Water shortage could also result in confrontation between the provinces as river sharing has always been a source of problem for Pakistan. According to recent estimates, siltation and climate change will reduce the water storage capacity by 2025 to almost 30%. As for the per capita water storage capacity in Pakistan, it is about 150 m3, which is quite meagre in comparison with that in other countries. Irrigated agriculture will soon be adversely affected due to the reduced surface water supplies and the consequent increase in groundwater abstraction. To make matters worse, over the past decades, a great deal of distrust has developed among the provinces of Pakistan regarding the water distribution issue, and the successive federal governments have failed to formulate a cohesive inter-provincial National Water Policy. Along with the shortages and increasing demand for water, administrative corruption also plagues the water sector and is quite common. The beneficiaries of this water reallocation system are not only the rural elite, for example the large and politically influential landlords, but also the small and medium capitalist farmers. If not properly addressed, these complications of decreasing water resources could result in serious political and economic hostility among the provinces. If it wants to harness its potential to increase storage capacity, Pakistan must improve its water-use efficiency and manage its groundwater and surface water resources in a sustainable way. Strengthening the institutions and removing mistrust among the provinces are the key elements for maintaining a sustainable irrigated agriculture in the Indus Basin.

Non-monotonic changes in Asian Water Towers’ streamflow at increasing warming levels

“…Take the Indus for example, the upper Indus provides a quarter of the total water supply for the downstream countries (mainly Pakistan and India) 27 . Insufficient surface water supplies already incurred severe depletion of the aquifers over the region 28 . A 2.5% decrease in river flows for the Indus by the 2030 s will lead to a 2.6% increase in population with insufficient water resources (Supplementary Fig.…”

Content Analysis of the Problems and Challenges of Agricultural Water Use: A Case Study of Lake Urmia Basin at Miandoab, Iran

“…Also, Sivakumar (2011), Tzanakakis et al (2020), and Luo et al (2020) illustrated that critical issues in the use of water resources included the over-abstraction of groundwater, farmers’ low water use efficiencies, lack of modern systems of control and monitoring of water consumption, and inadequate cooperation among farmers and other stakeholders. Also, Janjua et al (2021), Colella et al (2021), and Dhakal et al (2021) have pointed out that strengthening the institutions and removing mistrust among the farmers are the key elements for encouraging farmers to participate in water consumption management. Roestamy and Fulazzaky (2021) stated that the challenges of managing the optimum use of water resources to fulfill the needs of various stakeholders related to technical issues, institutional frameworks, and regulatory instruments were rooted in the participation of stakeholders.…”

Pakistan’s water resource management: Ensuring water security for sustainable development

“…It is highlighted that Pakistan is the fifth populous country in the world with an annual increase rate of 1.75%. At present, the population of Pakistan is estimated at approximately 225 million, which is likely to reach 250 million by 2025 (Yaqoob et al, 2021), where urban population alone is likely to increase by 52% by 2025 (Janjua et al, 2021). Due to this exponential increase in population, the water demand for agriculture and non-agriculture usage like; industrial and domestic will also increase by 8% in 2025 (Parry, 2016).…”

“…Pakistan's 70% of the land is drained by the IRS accounting for almost 566,000 km 2, which is spread to all four provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Punjab, Sindh, and Baluchistan originating from Gilgit -Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) except Kabul River which enters in KPK Province at Khyber Pass (Winston et al, 2013). The stretch of IRS is approximately 2,900 km with an elevation of 18,000 ft from the Himalayas to the lower riparian areas of Sindh Province leading it to the Arabian Sea (Janjua et al, 2021). The IRS is among the leading irrigation system in the world.…”