Groundwater Resources of Pakistan

Groundwater: Groundwater is the water found underground in the cracks

and spaces in soil, sand and rock. It is stored in and moves slowly through
geologic formations of soil, sand and rocks called aquifers.

Historical Perspective: 
The Almighty Allah has gifted Pakistan with abundant water resources with
water flowing down the Himalayas and Karrakurram heights from the world's
largest glaciers, a free and unique bounty of nature for this land of alluvial
plains. As a result of this natural resource, today we have the world's marvellous
and the largest contiguous irrigation system that currently irrigates over 16
million hectares of land, out of 34 million hectares of cultivable lands available.
This land lies within the plains formed by river Indus and its tributaries.
Britishers started the barrage irrigation system during 1930s. However, before
that the residents of Punjab, Sindh, and Frontier had constructed a number of
inundation canals to irrigate their lands. In the Punjab, 38 such canals had been
taken out of Sutlej, Indus, and Chenab rivers to irrigate areas around Bari Doab,
Multan, Muzaffargarh, and Dera Ghazi Khan. In Sindh, water level of the Indus
during summer had always been higher than the surrounding lands, thus, 16
inundation canals in this area had conveniently carried out the irrigation water
during past century. However, British Army Engineers undertook construction
and improvement of several irrigation canals in the sub-continent.
Subsequently, remodelling works on Bari Doab Canal; Sidhnai Canal, Lower
Sohag, Ramnagar Canal, Lower Jhelum Canal, Kabul Canal, and Lower Sawat
were completed by the end of l9th century. However, at the time of
independence country had 29 canals to provide regulated supply to an area of
about 11 million hectares, beside an area of about 3.2 million hectares irrigated
through inundation canals leading from Indus and its tributaries. These main
inundation canals included Upper Sutlej, Lower Sutlej, Shahpur, and Chenab in
Punjab; whereas, Rohri, Fuleli, Pinyari, and Kalri in Sindh. However, after the
construction of barrages these canals are no more inundation canals but get
regulated water supply and some of them have become perennial while few are
nonperennial.

We have entered into 21st century with world's largest and unified irrigation
system that consists of three major reservoirs (Chashma, Mangla, and Tarbela);
19 barrages (Ferozepur, Sulemanki, Islam, Balloki, Marala, Trimmu, Panjnad,
Kalabagh, Sukkur, Kotri, Taunsa, Guddu, Chashma, Mailsi, Balloki, Sidhnai,
Rasul, Qadirabad, and Marala); 12 link canals; 45 irrigation canals; and over
107,000 water courses and millions of farm channels & field ditches. The total
length of main canal system is estimated about 585000 Kilometer (36932 miles)
and that of watercourses & field channels exceeds 1.62 million Kilometers (over
1.02 million miles).

GROUNDWATER – HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT:

Before the introduction of widespread irrigation, the groundwater table in the
Indus Basin varied from about 40 feet in depth in Sindh and Bahawalpur areas
to about 100 feet in Rechna Doab (the area between Ravi and Chenab Rivers).
After the introduction of weir-controlled irrigation, the groundwater table
started rising due to poor irrigation management, lack of drainage facilities and
the resulting additional recharge from the canals, distributaries, minors, water
courses and irrigation fields. At some locations, the water table rose to the
ground surface or very close to the surface causing waterlogging and soil
salinity, reducing productivity.
In the late 1950s, the Government embarked upon a programme of Salinity
Control and Reclamation Projects (SCARPS) wherein large deep tube wells
were installed to control the groundwater table. Over a period of about 30 years,
some 13,500 tube wells were installed by the Government to lower the
groundwater table. Of these, about 9,800 tube wells were in the Punjab.
The projects initially proved to be quite effective in lowering the water table
but with time, the performance of the SCARP tube wells deteriorated. The
development of deep public tube wells under the SCARPS was soon followed
by private investment in shallow tube wells. Particularly in the eighties, the
development of private tube wells received a boost, when locally
manufactured inexpensive diesel engines became available. Most of these
shallow tube wells were individually owned.
Now more than 500,000 tube wells supply about 41.6 MAF of supplemental
irrigation water every year, mostly in periods of low surface water availability.
These tube wells compensated the loss of pumping capacity of the SCARP
Tube wells and helped in lowering the water table.

STATUS OF GROUNDWATER IN PAKISTAN:

The Indus Basin was formed by alluvial deposits carried by the Indus and its
tributaries. It is underlain by an unconfined aquifer covering about 15 million
acres in surface area. In the Punjab, about 79% of the area and in Sindh, about
28% of the area is underlain by fresh groundwater. This is mostly used as
supplemental irrigation water and pumped through tube wells. Some
groundwater is saline. Water from the saline tube wells is generally put into
drains and, where this is not possible, it is discharged into large canals for use
in irrigation, after diluting with the fresh canal water.
In the last 25- 30 years, ground water has become a major supplement to canal
supplies, especially in the Upper Indus Plain, where ground water quality is
good. Large scale tube well pumpage for irrigation started in the early sixties.
There are presently more than 500,000 tube wells in the Indus Basin Irrigation
System (IBIS) and the annual pumpage in all canal command areas has been
estimated to be over 50 BCM. According to a study, the total groundwater
potential in Pakistan is of the order of 55 MAF.
Major part of the groundwater abstraction for irrigation is within the canal
commands or in the flood plains of the rivers. However, the amount of
abstraction varies throughout the area, reflecting inadequacy/unreliability of
surface water supplies and groundwater quality distribution.
The quality of groundwater ranges from fresh (salinity less than 1000 mg/l
TDS) near the major rivers to highly saline farther away, with salinity more than
3000 mg/l TDS. The general distribution of fresh and saline groundwater in the
country is well known and mapped, as it influences the options for irrigation
and drinking water supplies.

Punjab:
About 79% of the Punjab province has access to fresh groundwater. Some 9.78
million acres are underlain with groundwater of less than 1000 mg/l TDS, 3
million acres with salinity ranging from 1000 to 3000 mg/l TDS and 3.26
million acres with salinity more than 3000 mg/l TDS.
Saline waters are mostly encountered in the central Doab areas. The Cholistan
area in southern Punjab is well known for highly brackish waters, which can not
be used for drinking purposes. Groundwater with high fluoride content is found
in the Salt Range, Kasur and Mianwali. There are also reports of high fluoride
content, ranging from 65 to 12 mg/l in groundwater in the Bahawalpur area.
Samplings of groundwater in Jhelum, Gujrat and Sargodha districts have shown
concentrations of arsenic well above the WHO guideline value of 50 g/l. The
main source of groundwater in the Punjab lies in the four hydrogeological
zones, namely Potohar plateau & Salt Range, Piedmont areas, Alluvial plains
and Cholistan desert. Indus River and its tributaries drain the
province. In Punjab a lot of work has been carried out on seepage from the
irrigation system and the resulting recharge to the groundwater. The
groundwater potential is based on rainfall recharge, groundwater recharge and
recharge from irrigation system. The rainfall recharge of 9.90 MAF (15% from
380
mm/year) in different SCARP areas was worked out during the period 1987-97
(PPSGWP, 1998). The recharge from return flow, irrigation application, and
sub-surface inflows was assessed 7.08 MAF (22.5% of 31.5 MAF). Canal
seepage varies from 2 to 8 cfs/msf depending on the size of canal and drainage
characteristics. A delivery of 24 large canals for the irrigation year 1990-91 was
with an average of 54 MAF. The recharge from these canals was estimated
21.70 MAF (40% of 54 MAF). The recharge from rivers was 3.5 MAF and
return flows from domestic and industrial use were assessed as 0.57 MAF
(22.5% of 2.52 MAF). The total available groundwater resource of the Punjab
Province was estimated 42.75 MAF.

Sindh:
Around 28% of the Sindh province has access to fresh groundwater suitable for
irrigation i.e. the water has less than 1000 mg/l TDS. Close to the edges of the
irrigated lands, fresh groundwater can be found at 20 - 25 m depth. Large areas
in the province are underlain with groundwater of poor quality. Indiscriminate
pumping has resulted in contamination of the aquifer at many places where the
salinity of tubewell water has increased. The areas with non-potable, highly
brackish water include Thar, Nara and Kohistan. In Tharparkar and Umarkot,
the situation is further complicated by the occurrence of high fluoride in the
groundwater. The most important feature is the Indus River, the sole source of
surface water for the Province. The groundwater lies in the three
hydrogeological zones namely Eastern (Thar) desert, Western mountain and
Indus valleys. Useable groundwater in the Province is mainly found in the Indus
Plain, which is recharged from the meandering river and from the irrigation
network that has been developed in the area. The other source of recharge -
rainfall, is quite scanty and its contribution to the resource is limited. Rainfall
recharge was 1.96 MAF (2% of 265 mm per year) as worked out by ACE and
Halcrow (2001). The recharge from return flows (22.5% of 38.2 MAF),
irrigation returns (22.5% of 3.5 MAF) was assessed 8.58 MAF and 0.79 MAF
respectively. In the Sindh, canal water losses have been taken as 15 % of the
total average canal supply of 45 MAF for the period 1988-2000. The recharges
from these canals was estimated 6.76 MAF. The recharge from the rivers was
assessed 0.3 MAF. The total available resource of the Sindh Province was
assessed to be 18 MAF.

KPK:
The Kyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) lies in the four broad geological units namely,
metamorphic
and igneous rocks of the northern mountains, Mesozoic rocks of the
southeastern part, Tertiary rocks of the southeastern part and upper Tertiary.
The main groundwater resources in the Province are the alluvial plains and
many valleys, which are intermountain basins of tectonic origin. The rainfall
recharge was estimated 0.7 MAF (7% of rainfall over a sub-catchment). The
average flows for the period 1988-2000 was 6.68 MAF. In this Province,
recharges from the canal system were worked out 1.0 MAF (15% of 6.7 MAF).
The groundwater recharges include returns from irrigation application, other
return flows, sub-surface inflows and recharge from rivers. The recharge from
the return irrigation flows was assessed 1 MAF (15% of 6.5 MAF) and other
return flows (15% of 0.88 MAF) were worked out to be 0.13 MAF. The total
groundwater resource of the KPK was assessed as 3.11 MAF.

Balochistan:
The regions of the Province, which are underlain by unconsolidated sediments
formed by the deposition of mountainous outwash from the surrounding
highlands, have been divided into 12 distinct Basins, flood plains and valleys
fills. The Province lies in the five hydrological zones namely, Mountain ranges,
Piedmont plains, Valley floor, plains and rolling sand plains. The groundwater,
in substantial quantities, occurs in unconsolidated aquifers in almost all basins
and sub-basins. The groundwater resources in six basins of the province namely
Hamune, Lora, Kachhi Plain, Nari, Pishin and Zhob have been assessed. The
effective rainfall coefficient of 20% to the annual rainfall for the mountain areas
is used to estimate rainfall of 1.21 MAF. In Balochistan canal supplies are
small in total and restricted to the east of the Province, adjacent to Sindh
Province. For the period 1988-2000 the average canal flow was 1.94 MAF and
recharge from these canals was assessed as 0.29 MAF (15% of 1.94 MAF).
Most of irrigated area of this Province lies in a saline groundwater zone. Other
components of groundwater recharge include return flows from irrigation
application, other return flows, sub-surface inflows and recharge from rivers.
The recharge from return flows of irrigation application was estimated 0.37
(22.5% of 1.62 MAF) and other return flow was 0.08 MAF (20% of 0.45 MAF).
The total groundwater resource of Balochistan province was assessed as 2.13
MAF,
Groundwater Quality:
Total annual groundwater potential in Pakistan is estimated at 67.9 billion m3.
The annual groundwater pumpage has increased from 4 billion m3 in 1959 to
around 62 billion m3 in 2000-01 and then it is stagnant till 2005-06. About 79
percent area in Punjab and 28 percent area in Sindh have fresh groundwater
suitable for agriculture. Since most of the easily exploitable surface water
resources have already been tapped, the future demand of water for agriculture,
people and nature will have to be met largely through water conservation and
further exploitation of already over mined groundwater resources.
Quality of groundwater varies widely, ranging from <1000 ppm to >3000 ppm.
Around 5.75 mha are underlain with groundwater having salinity <1000 ppm,
1.84 mha with salinity ranging from 1000 to 3000 ppm and 4.28 mha with
salinity >3000 ppm. In addition to TDS, there are quality concerns in terms of
sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and residual sodium carbonate (RSC). The
groundwater quality for agricultural uses is classified into:
(a) saline waters having TDS >1500 ppm, SAR <15, RSC <2.5 milli-equivalent;
(b) sodic waters having TDS <1000 ppm, SAR >15, RSC >2.5 milli-equivalent;
(c) saline-sodic waters having TDS >1000 ppm, SAR >15, RSC >2.5 milli-
equivalent.
Although, investments in drainage have been significant in Pakistan during the
last two decades, waterlogging still affects large tracts of land. Soil salinity and
sodicity also constrain farmers and affect agricultural production. These
problems are further exacerbated by the use of poor quality groundwater. In
fresh groundwater areas, excessive pumping by private tube wells leads to
mining of the aquifer and redistribution of the groundwater quality. Recharge to
the freshwater zone due to the additional supplies from Tarbela has contributed
significantly in maintaining groundwater quality. However, recharge to the
brackish groundwater zone created serious quality concerns for the disposal of
the saline effluents despite creating a top layer of potable water for the
concerned population. This problem was mainly due to the approach followed
for drainage of area under the SCARPs in brackish groundwater zone, where
saline groundwater was pumped from deeper depths.
Mining of groundwater, which is presently occurring in many areas, will cause
intrusion of saline groundwater into the fresh groundwater areas. In addition,
seepage of water from farmland will add dissolved fertilisers, pesticides and
insecticides to groundwater. This will further increase pollution of groundwater
and deteriorate its quality. The use of polluted groundwater for drinking may
cause serious health hazard and its use for irrigated agriculture may adversely
affect production potential of irrigated lands due to aggravation of the problem
of salinity, sodicity and specific ions effect on crops and plants. It is essential to
minimise groundwater pollution to improve its quality as far as possible
through regulation of groundwater extraction and/or increasing the recharge in
areas where mining of groundwater is taking place.

GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT:
Because of the absence of groundwater management in the private sector,
anyone can install a tube well anywhere in his land and can extract whatever
amount of water he wants any time without consideration of the detrimental
effect of his action on the resource. If the pumping is equal to recharge rate for a
sufficient period of time, the water table depth will stabilize somewhere below
the ground surface. In cases where the pumping of groundwater is in excess to
the potential recharge rate, the mining of the aquifer will result in the
accelerated depletion of the groundwater resource with an unsustainable
lowering of the water table. Also, the uneven groundwater development and
pumping through private tube wells has started showing stress on the aquifer in
the form of excessive draw-down and deterioration of groundwater quality. This
requires serious attention and 7 the urgent adoption of measures for proper
groundwater management. A groundwater regulatory framework should be
introduced and implemented for the sustainability of groundwater use. Recharge
of groundwater should be increased by increasing canal diversions, rainwater
harvesting and check dams. In Pakistan, the irrigation system was designed for
very low cropping intensities, but with population pressure, the design capacity
is unable to cope with the actual cropping intensities. The difference between
crop water requirements and canal supplies is met through exploitation of
groundwater. The water table data of the last 15 years indicates that in 43 canal
commands the water table is depleting. Continuous over-draft in excess of the
average annual recharge has been resulting in the knocking out of shallow
pumping wells. More pumping in relatively dry years, like nowadays, is causing
excessive draw down in certain areas. As a result, at the present time, about 5%
area of Punjab Province and 15% of Balochistan contains groundwater which is
out of the reach of the poor farmers. This is likely to increase to 20% in Punjab
and 30% in Balochistan in the next 25 years, with the present growth of
groundwater withdrawals and unsystematic pumping of fresh groundwater due
to abnormal lowering of the water table and an increase in areas adjoining saline
zones. In an effort to manage the increasing demand for water, low water delta
crops should be preferred on high delta crops and more efficient irrigation
methods should be used. In addition, there is a large area of the Indus Basin
which has marginal and saline groundwater. This water can be used for saline
agro-forestry and alternative agricultural crops.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. Groundwater has become a major source of water supply in Pakistan.
2. Excessive use of groundwater is causing secondary salinization.
3. The situation has worsened in a number of sub-basins in Balochistan due to
groundwater mining.
4. Continuous over-draft has resulted in excessive groundwater abstraction, so
that 5% area of Punjab Province and 15% of Balochistan contain groundwater
out of reach of poor farmers.
5. Up-coning of deep saline water has started in some parts of Pakistan.
6. There is a need to realistically estimate and manage the demand for water.
7. The flat-rate energy charge has encouraged farmers to exploit more and more
groundwater, which has resulted in an unsustainable situation.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. A groundwater regulatory framework should be introduced and implemented
for the sustainability of groundwater use.
2. There is need to manage the demand of water.
3. Low water delta crops should be preferred to high delta crops.
4. Efficient irrigation methods should be used to irrigate crops.
5. Recharge of groundwater should be increased by increasing canal diversions,
rainwater harvesting and checking dams.
6. Saline water can be used for saline agro-forestry or for alternative agricultural
crops.
7. Energy charges should be proportional to the use of energy for tube wells.
8. Research on groundwater recharge is urgently required.
Refrences:
1) waterinfo.net.pk/sites/.../Water%20Resources%20of%20Pakistan.pdf

2) waterinfo.net.pk/.../Groundwater%20Management%20in%20Pakistan.pd...

3) www.sciencevision.org.pk/.../Vol7No3&4_2_Water_Resources_Situatio...

4) www.watertech.cn/english/amin.pdf