HOW PAKISTAN WASTES ITS WATER!

Syed Muhammad Abubakar, Dawn Newspaper

The year 2025 has been marked as the year when Pakistan — if it doesn’t mend
its ways soon — will turn from a “water-stressed” country to a “water-scarce”
country. Warnings about water running out have been issued separately by the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Pakistan Council of
Research in Water Resources (PCRWR). And as the alarm bells began to ring, the
chief justice of Pakistan launched a campaign to build the Diamer Bhasha and
Mohmand Dam. In his inaugural speech, Prime Minister Imran Khan, too, has
announced his backing for the plan.
Whether a single dam is the panacea to all of Pakistan’s water woes is, of course,
questionable.
Pakistan is now a severely water-stressed country. But while everyone is vocally
concerned about the scarcity of water and obsessed with constructing large dams,
we continue to squander the resource we already have
Consider the facts: per capita surface water availability of 5,260 cubic metres per
year in 1951 turned into around 1,000 cubic metres in 2016. This is likely to
further drop to about 860 cubic meters by 2025. The PCRWR describe that
Pakistan reached the “water stress line” in 1990 and crossed the “water scarcity
line” in 2005.
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The Indus river system receives an annual influx of about 134.8 million acre feet
(MAF) of water. The mean annual rainfall ranges from less than 100 millimetres
to over 750 millimetres. Surface water comprises glacial melt up to 41 percent,
snowmelt up to 22 percent and rainfall 27 percent.
In terms of groundwater, Pakistan is currently extracting 50 MAF from
underground aquifers — this has already crossed the sustainable limit of safe
yield. The 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) enabled Pakistan to enhance water
availability at canal headworks to about 104 MAF through construction of dams.
However, this has decreased due to increased siltation.
Pakistan’s water woes can largely be bifurcated into issues of quality and quantity.
The water coming into our systems over the past decades hasn’t changed much.
But demand has soared due to an exponential rise in population. Existing
reservoirs’ storage capacity cannot sustain this population boom while its
capacity has also been reduced over the years.
Meanwhile, the water reaching the end user has also decreased due to further
losses along the way. Our water management practices are highly inefficient —
one illustration is how freshwater is used for irrigation purposes. The kind of
crops we grow — rice and sugarcane, for example — and the way we irrigate
them isn’t sustainable, either.
Because many people’s livelihoods are tied to growing more rice and more
sugarcane, these crops will remain popular. Without any education or awareness
about how not to waste water or how to utilise efficient irrigation methods, the
wastage will continue.
While doomsday is just seven years away, it took over 70 years for Pakistan to
draw up its first-ever National Water Policy (NWP), approved in April this year.
The policy is still riddled with some significant gaps but at least, it lays out a few
principles that ought to be adhered to. But in some ways, it is merely a
compilation of suggestions. Water sustains life, society and the economy, and
therefore, the scope of the crisis involves many actors and solutions need to be
integrated. A major rethink is required at all levels.

HELL OR HIGH WATER

The Pakistan Economic Survey, 2017-2018 (prepared by the Ministry of Finance)
details the state of the economy over the past year. It announces that the
agriculture sector recorded a “remarkable” growth of 3.81 percent (as opposed to
its targeted growth of 3.5 percent). The high water-need crops of rice (8.65
percent growth) and sugarcane (7.45 percent) both surpassed their respective
production targets for 2017-18.
Prosperity brought by high water-need crops has meant that more farmers have
preferred planting more rice and sugarcane.

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The Pakistan Economic Survey, 2017-2018 notes that while rice was sown over
2,724 thousand hectares last year, it rose to 2,899 thousand hectares this year.
“[H]igher domestic prices and availability of inputs on subsidised rates, good
advisory along with increase in export,” according to the survey, contributed to
more land being used to grow rice. This 6.4 percent increase ultimately yielded a
production high of 7,442 thousand tonnes. Last year, 6,849 thousand tonnes of
rice were produced in Pakistan.
The survey also shows that sugarcane was cultivated on an area of 1,313
thousand hectares, an increase on last year’s area of 1,218 thousand hectares.
“[G]ood economic return encouraged the growers to bring more area under
cultivation and [so did] comparatively timely payments from sugar mills last
year,” explains the survey. This 7.8 percent rise in acreage translated into a 7.4
percent hike in production: from 75.482 million tonnes to 81.102 million tonnes.
There is a flip side, however.
More water is utilised in growing these water-intensive crops. For instance,
sugarcane requires 1,500-2,500mm of rainfall (or water from other sources) to
complete the growth cycle. In other words, to produce a kilo of sugarcane,
between 1,500 and 3,000 litres of water are utilised. Similarly, at 0.45 kilograms
per cubic metre, Pakistan’s rice water productivity is 55 percent lower than the
average water productivity of one kilogramme per cubic metre for rice in Asian
countries.
Because many people’s livelihoods are tied to growing more rice and more
sugarcane, these crops will remain popular. Without any education or awareness
about how not to waste water or how to utilise efficient irrigation methods, the
wastage will continue.

POLICY VERSUS REALITY

It follows, therefore, that a country tethering on the edge of water scarcity ought
to de-incentivise the growing of water-intensive crops. In practice, this means
convincing the farmers that they will not be hit by a financial loss were they to
switch to other crops.
The NWP acknowledges that irrigated agriculture is the backbone of the economy
and consumes around 95 percent of the water resources. Furthermore, around
one million tube wells in the country pump about 55 MAF of underground water
for irrigation, which is 20 percent more than what’s available from canals —
signalling how highly water-intensive the agriculture sector is. This is all
unsustainable.
On the other hand, while there is great water wastage in the rural sector,
providing potable water to the cities has become a challenge. One of the more
achievable targets set by the NWP is the access to clean and safe drinking water
and sanitation facilities for all. Towards that end, the policy has also urged the
promotion of greater urban water management and revision of urban water
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tariffs. It also encourages enhancing recovery and reducing system losses,
treatment of industrial effluents and provision of sustainable supply of water for
everyone.
But it is still the agricultural sector whose water utilisation needs to be under the
microscope. Till now, the policy seems divorced from the financial compulsions of
those whose livelihoods are associated with the agricultural sector.
Dr Pervaiz Amir, director of the Pakistan Water Partnership (PWP) believes that
policies are designed and implemented for the people and the civil society should
have been engaged in debates and discussions towards this end.
“Balochistan has already prepared its water policy whereas Punjab and Sindh are
working on theirs,” explains Dr Amir. “It is very important that the provincial
policies are congruent and must not be in conflict with the national water policy
of Pakistan.”
For him, the federal water ministry is weak and there is an urgent need to
strengthen Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda).
“Instead of reviving old horses, a better option is to establish a new institution
which has a diverse set of experts, not just engineers,” he adds.
The PWP chief points out that the policy fails to explain the most important
question of where the resources will come from. The China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC) is one option; the Chinese are already operating a plant to
provide potable water to their engineers working in water-scarce Gwadar. But
will such measures have broader utility?
“Through CPEC, investments are going to increase,” continues Dr Amir, “and the
question about how CPEC is going to integrate with water demands immediate
attention. We should know the supply and demand side.”
Tahir Rasheed, CEO of the South Punjab Forest Company (SPFC), also laments the
absence of stakeholder consultations in all provinces, including Kashmir and
Gilgit-Baltistan. He sees the need for the water policy to be linked with national,
regional and international commitments such as Pakistan’s Vision 2025 and
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Integrated watershed management should be promoted,” says Rasheed,
“including ecological conservation practices in uphill watersheds, by exploring the
possibility of joint watershed management of trans-boundary catchment areas
with neighbouring countries. The policy is also silent on reactivating centuries-old
traditional wisdom of water management and use of tools such as Rodh Koi
system, Sailaba, Karez systems, etc. It should also address the trans-boundary
water pollution aspect, on which even the Indus Waters Treaty is silent.”
Dr Tariq Banuri, the founding executive director of Sustainable Development
Policy Institute (SDPI), a senior climate expert and currently heading the Higher

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Education Commission (HEC) as its chairman, agrees that Pakistan is wasting its
water resources due to inefficient consumption patterns and negligible recycling.
When asked if the water policy will help address the indiscriminate wastage of
this precious resource, he said: “Our systems are inefficient. The National Water
Policy does spell a range of issues with respect to water but it doesn’t have details
that can help to operationalise it. Its strategic and operational steps are not
devised as yet. The environmental aspect of water in sustaining the environment
has not been recognised in the policy either.”
Banuri explains that population growth has played a major role in decreasing the
available amount of water per person and clearly shows that the lower riparian
will not be able to receive their due share.
“The existing water system is actually on first-come-first-serve basis and this is
not useful,” he says. “The water policy does recognise it but its details have not
been worked out as yet.”
Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, CEO of the Leadership for Environment and Development
(LEAD)-Pakistan and a senior water expert, termed water a provincial matter and
urged the need for a national-level framework that acts as a guiding tool for
provinces.
“The water policy is an enabling document,” comments Sheikh, “which will lead to
the establishment of national level water institutions, and unless the institutions
are endowed and empowered, we won’t be able to achieve desirable results.”
Ali urged the federal government to earnestly address the reservations of the
provinces concerning the water policy and also informed that the policy
framework will make an overdue start.
“The policy will require sectoral plans and unless they are developed for key
departments, things won’t go very far. First of all, there should be an overall
implementation plan and then sectoral implementation plans should be
developed for agriculture, climate, energy and other sectors,” sums up Ali.
While experts have termed the policy a step in the right direction, they have also
recommended some measures that will make it further inclusive and bridge
possible gaps. Now that the policy has been approved, the government must work
aggressively to implement it in letter and in spirit if it is serious to address the
water crisis that the entire nation is grappling with.

PERUSING THE POLICY

The National Water Policy (NWP) revolves around the concept of Integrated
Water Resources Management (IWRM) and has strategically prioritised some
principles, including conservation and efficiency of water resources, trying to deal
with erratic rainfall patterns, increase in water storage, seawater utilisation and
other key areas.

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Furthermore, the policy has prioritised various water uses with the foremost
attention to drinking and sanitation, followed by irrigation, including land
reclamation, livestock, fisheries and wildlife, hydropower, industry and mining,
environment, river systems, wetlands, aquatic life, forestry and recreation.
The NWP also urges the adoption of the principles of integrated planning along
with water resources planning, conservation measures to upgrade the existing
resources, development of water resources, detailed assessment of climatic
impacts on water resources, priority irrigation infrastructure for water-scarce
areas, special preference to projects planned for less developed regions and
compensation for the implementation of water-sector projects.
The policy emphasises on maintaining the environmental integrity of the river
basin, afforestation, ensuring environmental flows, adoption of a national wetland
management plan, development of water bodies and increased research to
address salinity.
Water conservation is given special focus along with construction of new dams
and emphasisis on subsurface dams, and also recharging the groundwater during
floods.
Most importantly, the policy has documented the impacts of climate change and
warns that unprecedented climate change can lead to extreme weather events
adversely affecting the water resources of the country. In this regard, the policy
calls for mitigating the climatic impacts and synchronising it with the National
Climate Change Policy of 2012.
To ensure adequate sharing of water resources with neighbouring countries, the
policy calls for working out a mechanism for sharing of trans-boundary aquifers
and joint watershed management, conducting studies to evaluate the impacts of
developments in the upper catchment (India) of western rivers in the lower
catchment (Pakistan) and ensuring environmental flows.
For the agriculture sector, the policy has called for pursuing the concept of “more
crop per drop [of water]” along with a national plan for implementation of
improved irrigation practices and legislating to ban flood irrigation across the
country. The policy also calls for reforms in the agriculture sector to conserve the
water resources. It also incentivises the use of marginal quality of groundwater
for salt-tolerant crops, using treated sewage for non-edible crops and taking
measures to enhance the water charges realistically to meet the operation and
maintenance cost and ensuring long-term sustainability.
For rain-fed agriculture, the policy advocates moisture conservation and
rainwater harvesting, solar pumping in shallow groundwater areas, constructing
rainwater harvesting ponds and mini dams in rain-fed areas, and promoting
water-efficient crops to promote sustainability.
The accelerated development of hydropower is treated as a high-priority
objective, according to the NWP. Furthermore, to recover the water that is lost
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while being supplied to agricultural fields, the policy proposes some of the targets
for 2018-2030, which include reduction of up to 33 percent in the lost 46 MAF
river flows (out of 134.8 MAF) through the lining of water courses and
construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam, along with other dams. The policy
proposes to increase at least 30 percent in the efficiency of water use through
various measures.
To effectively address the looming water crisis, increased allocations in the Public
Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the water sector shall be made. It
must be noted that in 2017-18, the federal PSDP allocated only 3.7 percent i.e.
36.75 billion rupees for the water sector — the lowest in two decades.
The NWP covers the capacity-building component comprehensively with a focus
on integrated management of water resources, capacity-building of all
water-related public-sector organisations and establishment of new institutions
at various levels.
The policy also proposes the adoption and strengthening of National Water
Council (NWC) with the Prime Minister of Pakistan as its chairman, and to have
representation of ministers and officials from various ministries, private-sector
experts and others.
The NWP also urges to upgrade and improve the capacity of Wapda to plan,
design and undertake feasibility studies and implement hydroelectric projects. It
is proposed in the NWP to establish groundwater authorities in each province
which will help to conserve groundwater.
The water policy calls effective water management in industrial uses followed by
strong emphasis on groundwater conservation, which includes its monitoring and
preparation of budgets, sustainable extraction and restricting over-extraction
along with other measures. The policy categorically mentions that the
Constitution of Pakistan has given the provinces the right over the rivers that fall
within their boundaries and also that every public or private entity has the right
to this resource. Active stakeholders’ consultation and participation at all levels
shall be sought and community participation to be promoted, according to the
policy. The NWP urges to build sustainable infrastructure and its subsequent
maintenance to conserve the water resources.
To manage water-related hazards, flood management is given due priority in the
water policy, including the preparation of flood protection plans, promoting
sustainable land use, floodplain mapping to restrict permanent settlements in
flood-risk areas, promoting disaster risk reduction, construction of additional
flood protection facilities, hill torrent management, community-based flood
disaster management initiatives, urban storm management, removing floodplain
encroachments, drought management, addressing waterlogging, salinity and sea
intrusion, water quality management, information management, public
awareness through media, inculcating the message of water conservation in
syllabi and research and development.
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The policy ensures that the cost for delivering water shall be recovered and
free-of-cost water shall be provided for environmental and ecological needs to
maintain the ecological balance. As the population of the country has grown
exponentially leading to increased water demand, the policy urges to create
appropriate action plans to manage these increases.

THE CASE FOR RAINWATER HARVESTING

Shanaz Ramzi, Dawn Newspaper
The warning signs are all there: Lahore’s
infrastructure was tested to the limits, and in
some cases even collapsed, as heavy rainfall
lashed the provincial capital of Punjab in the
last week of June. Much of the rainwater was
wasted as drainage systems in Lahore — or,
for that matter, other cities in the country —
seem virtually non-existent. No water could
be stored for use, neither for home use nor
for use for public services. Are we, as a nation, complicit in criminally wasting
water when there isn’t even enough for consumption?
According to a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in
another seven years, Pakistan is likely to run dry. Considering that water demand
is constantly on the rise owing to population increase, there is constant
degradation of water quality, rise in cost of supply and maintenance
infrastructure, and minimal groundwater recharging with depletion of water
levels.
There is little doubt that the issue of water scarcity needs to be dealt with on war
footing and one method to do so is to harvest rainwater. In fact, rainwater
harvesting (RWH) is now an established technique of collecting and storing
rainwater into natural reservoirs or tanks. And one of the most common ways to
do so is rooftop harvesting — a method that relies on citizens to be proactive and
not rely on the government for help.
In essence, whenever there are rains, the flow of rainwater is intercepted and
directed to a storage area. Studies show that 30 to 45 percent of water usage in
urban areas is for washing, gardening, vehicle washing, and in affluent areas up to
20 percent is used for flushing WCs, and this usage can easily be met through
RWH. Stored rainwater could be used to plant trees and for soil regeneration,
among other things.

All that needs to be done is to connect the drainage pipe from the roof to a drum
below — if the pipe drains out into a cemented portion of the house — where the
water can collect. The drum, in turn, should have a pipe connected to it that drains
the collected water into an aquifer pit dug in the garden or, if there is no garden,

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then into a tank made for the purpose in a concrete portion of the house, or
directly into a pit, if it drains into the garden.
According to architect and conservationist Yasmeen Lari, aquifer pits that are one
to two metres wide and two to three metres deep are sufficient to meet storage
requirements of houses with a 100-square-metre roof. To store potable water, the
base should have a layer of boulders five to 20 centimetres in size, with five to 10
millimetres of gravel and 1.5-2mm graded coarse sand on top. This will allow
filtration of rainwater. For smaller roofs, the pits could be filled with brick bats. A
fine mesh should be placed on top to avoid leaves, insects, sand and other
impurities from falling in.
If the tank is being used to store water for domestic consumption, a tap could be
installed, and the water could be used directly to water the garden or for washing
cars. For other domestic use, such as for flush systems, a separate pipe would
have to be installed. In cases where houses, or even buildings, are still under
construction, it is imperative that these tanks be built as part of the floor plan, as
they are the need of the hour.
Even with low rainfall, RWH can lead to saving substantial quantities of water that
can be used for drinking as well as for non-potable use such as domestic, indoor
plantation and agriculture as well as for aquifer replenishment.
Storing rainwater serves a dual purpose, as mentioned earlier, as it also helps
prevent flash floods. Usually in Pakistan, runoff from roofs adds to the runoffs
from pavements and hard surfaces. This means that streets and lanes get
inundated as do storm water nullahs (many of which tend to be blocked with
debris or trash). Even if they could be cleared, they would hardly be able to carry
the enormous quantity of water flowing from roofs, pavements and other hard
surfaces.
This means that the runoff from pavements must be harvested as well. In order to
avoid flooding, street water must not be allowed to enter the drainage system.
Instead, catchment areas should be created so that water is trapped in collection
devices, such as storage tanks, deep V-shaped trenches, disused pits and tube
wells.
Perhaps the notion of rainwater harvesting is uncharted territory in Pakistan. But,
in many countries, it is mandatory to collect rainwater, especially in all new
developments. Take Central American countries, for example, where by law
storage tanks have to be provided in all constructions to store a minimum of 400
litres of rainwater per square metre of roof area. Perhaps this is also the future
for Pakistan, where the destruction caused by flash floods affects stability of
structures and grinds life to a halt.

WATER CRISIS IN PAKISTAN & ITS SOLUTIONS

Abdul Ghani Chohan (Daily Observer)
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AMONG all the looming challenges that Pakistan is facing, water crisis is the most
critical problem of the country. According to the world resource institute, the
country is among the leading five that face extremely high water scarcity and low
access to safe drinking water and sanitation. The United Nations Organization has
categorized Pakistan amongst those few unfortunate countries where water
shortage destabilizes and jeopardises its existence in the next few decades. In
Pakistan, quarter to third of Pakistan’s population lacks access to safe drinking
water. Both the urban and rural areas suffer from water scarcity, water
contamination and water-borne diseases.

The serious crisis of water has remained unheeded and even the political parties
do not bother to make this issue in their manifestos. When the water crisis is
talked of, the managing and construction of dams get politicized. However,
beyond the construction of new dams, the already constructed dams are
mismanaged. The mega dams of Pakistan at Tarbela and Mangla are 40 years old
and their storage capacity is falling because of silting and sedimentation. They
store only 30 days of average water demand compared to 220 days for India.
There are numerous reasons that have given rise to water scarcity like lack of
proper management of existing dams, the antediluvian system of canals and
barrages, mismanagement of water resources and policy flaws.
According to the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, Pakistan may
run dry if the prevalent situation continues. Water is desperately needed for
agriculture in rural areas. Moreover, Pakistan’s water crisis is also glaringly
apparent in its urban areas. Besides the administrative flaws, Pakistan’s all-time
enemy is all adding salt to sorrows. India has violated Indus Water Treaty many
times by building dams on western rivers. Its projects such as Bughlier and
Kishenganga Dam on Chenab and Jhelum rivers may eat up substantial portion of
Pakistan’s share of water. In this regard, Pakistan has lost its case in international
court few days ago. Water crisis has badly affected the agriculture sector of
Pakistan. The agriculture sector, according to latest Economic Survey of Pakistan,
contributes 21 percent to total GDP of Pakistan.

Moreover, agriculture sector provides 47 percent employment to a total

population of Pakistan. Similarly, the majority of Pakistan’s export goods rely on
agriculture i.e. 70 percent of the export goods are agriculture products. This
means that agriculture is the backbone of country’s economy and agriculture
sector is dependent on water. Thus the water scarcity results in severe economic
distress to country’s economy. Historically, the agriculture sector has played a
very monumental role in making country’s economy stabilized. This became
possible due to uninterrupted water availability in the country. According to a
research study on water resources of Pakistan, approximately water having
economic values of $70 billion is being thrown into the sea every year due to
non-construction of water reservoirs. A water-starved country, which has the
foreign reserve of only $20 billion, can’t afford to throw water of mammoth
economic value.

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The politicians and analysts give credit to the policies of the then government.
Few economists and policy makers cite this in another way. Firstly the Indus
Water Treaty was materialized in 1967 between arch-rivals India and Pakistan
that facilitated water availability. Secondly, tube wells were initiated to overcome
water deficit. Pakistan is not only facing water scarcity but the safe drinking
water is also a dream in many urban areas. According to the recent report of
UNICEF, 53,000 Pakistani children die of many lethal diseases such as diarrhea
after drinking contaminated water each year. However, the worsening water
crisis needs to be resolved for economic stability and development. Far deeper
changes are required to mitigate the water deficiency.

For instance, Singapore follows the strategy of fours taps and Japan has invested
heavily in water-saving technology. Similarly, Pakistan has sufficient water
around the year that needs to be reserved rather it is left for spoilage and wastage.
Many developing countries are adopting a strategy of water-pricing that needs to
be implemented in the country for better and efficient use of water. According to
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the development of lesser
levelling technology and furrow bed irrigation has resulted in saving 30 per cent
of water and has led to increasing water productivity by 25 per cent in Punjab. Its
scope needs to be widened across Pakistan to achieve water availability. Besides
this according to Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources Pakistan has
lost water worth $90billion since 2010 due to floods. This can be attenuated by
constructing mega but undisputed dams so that the country may get the track of
development ,progress and prosperity.

HOW TO BEST DEAL WITH WATER SHORTAGE!

Hafsa Bashir (The Express Tribune)

Water resource is a necessity for sustaining life on earth. According to an IMF

report, Pakistan ranks third among countries most affected by water scarcity. At
present, per capita annual water availability is 1,017 cubic metres — perilously
close to the scarcity threshold of 1,000 cubic metres which was about 1,500
cubic metres back in 2009.

Last year, the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR)

warned that the country might run dry by 2025 if the authorities didn’t take
immediate action. It said the country touched the “water stress line” in 1990 and
crossed the “water scarcity line” in 2005.

Experts say that population growth and urbanisation are the main reasons
behind the crisis. The issue has also been exacerbated by climate change, poor
water management, and a lack of political will to deal with the crisis.

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Michael Kugelman, South Asia expert at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson
Center, in his interview to DW-TV said, “Pakistan is approaching the scarcity
threshold for water. What is even more disturbing is that groundwater supplies
— the last resort of water supply — are being rapidly depleted. And worst of all
is that the authorities have given no indication that they plan to do anything
about any of this increasing water shortage.”

The UN report also highlights that the most immediate threats to the masses
would be of increasing water shortage, and Neil Buhne, UN Humanitarian
Coordinator, Pakistan, said, “No person in Pakistan, whether from the north with
its more than 5,000 glaciers, or from the south with its ‘hyper deserts’, will be
immune to this.”

Recent flash floods as a result of heavy rainfall have been witnessed in different
areas of Pakistan for instance Lahore and Faisalabad. The DG ISPR had already
alerted the nation that future wars would be fought on the issue of water. These
wars would not only lead to civil wars but would also extend its arms to
international boundaries. Water shortage as well as incidence of flash floods
could be dealt by simple adoption of 3Rs of environment, ie Reduce, Recycle and
Reuse.

Reduce the water use at the point source that is at household level, eg, turning
off the tap when you brush your teeth, using limited amount of water for
flushing, and for washing as well as other related purposes.

Recycling at household level would also help in solving the problem. Instead of
using shower for taking bath, replace it with simple water bucket. For gardening
purpose, use simple rainwater barrels. Rainwater barrels are aboveground
water storage vessels. They capture rain runoff from a building’s roof using the
gutter and downspout system. Apart from it, rain garden could be constructed so
that it reuses water that would otherwise run off into the sewage systems.
Installation of grey water system would be helpful in diverting water from your
shower drain for flushing the toilet.

Reusing the water used for washing vegetables, pastas at normal temperature
could be used for several purposes like for gardening.

For the agriculture system, irrigation management practices may solve the
problem. According to the World Bank “irrigation management works to
upgrade and maintain irrigation systems, such as groundwater irrigation, that
are already in place and expands the areas of irrigation to increase the amount
of crops being produced”. According to the book Rainfed Agriculture: Unlocking
the Potential, 80% of the land farmed around the world is rain-fed and it
“contributes about 58% to the global food basket”. Along with the rain-fed

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management practice, some techniques are the use of supplemental irrigation
and water harvesting techniques, such as rain catchment systems and weirs or
sand dams. These techniques help provide much-needed water to areas where
rainfall is inconsistent.

Other measures may include formulation of a national action plan for combating
chronic water shortage, devising realistic water policy with population-based
distribution of water resource, construction of new dams, reducing water losses
from seepages, leaching and percolation by lining of canals, distributaries and
water channels along with restricted or controlled draining of underground
aquifers may solve the issue.

WATER STRESS, Maryam Sarim (The Express Tribune)

‘Water, water, everywhere, not a drop to drink’, a familiar saying takes its
origins from a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge written back in 1797. It later
got extended to become an English-language phrase referring to situations
where someone is surrounded by abundance, but is unable to share it.
Interestingly this centuries-old saying is coming to be true in recent times.
Today, a number of countries and cities around the world are being classified as
‘water stressed’, ‘water scarce’, or ‘water risk’. These different terms refer to
situations where the country is unable to meet water requirements of its
inhabitants. The global situation on this issue has reached such alarming levels
that the UN includes it in three of its Millennium Development Goals. Latest
figures by the UN report that one-fifth of the world’s population lives in
water-deprived conditions. Geologists, researchers and development bodies
globally are looking at creative ways to tackle water scarcity issues to ensure
sustainability in coming years.

Whilst climatic changes, lack of rainfall and drought are most quoted reasons for
water stress, other contributing factors include ballooning population and poor
management of water resources. Usage of water has been reported to increase at
twice the rate of population growth. This is leading the world to a continuously
growing demand and supply gap which is further exacerbated when depleting
water resources are not sustainably managed leading to waste and pollution.

Pakistan falls under the category of water-stressed countries. Per capita surface
water availability has declined from 5,260m3 in 1951 to 1,000m3 in 2016 and
expected to fall to as low as 860m3 (below the world requirement of 1,000) by
2025. Accessibility to clean water paints an even grim picture with estimated
84% people not having access to safe drinking water. The impending issue of
water scarcity in the country was highlighted decades ago, yet no concerted
effort was made to address the issue. It is ironic that while we know water is
existential, yet it has been ignored by successive planning departments. The
Study Notes by Aamir Mahar (FB Page: @CSSExamPrep)
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country’s first water policy was approved only this year after 70 years of
independence. Today, we stand at a point where water emergency needs to be
declared. There is a dire need to discuss sources of water, how it will be put to
best use and how can we reuse and conserve it. Politicising dam construction
and continuing with poor water management in agriculture (using 70% of water
resources), domestic or industrial use is bound to dry up the country. It is
alarming to note that our present storage capacity is as low as 30 days compared
to 220 days for India and 1,000 for Egypt.

The incoming government has included two initiatives for resolving the water
crisis in its first 100 days agenda. These include construction of dams and
preparation of master water plan for each province, whereby water
conservation and provision of clean water to every citizen is effectively carried
out. Previous governments had made similar promises. The project of providing
‘Saaf Pani’ in the recent past, albeit only for one province, never saw light of the
day.

Pakistan needs a clearly thought-out water policy looking at long- and

short-term solutions to water scarcity. Policymakers and bureaucrats need to
learn from countries that have successfully managed their water resources to
become sustainable for future generations. There is no dearth of solutions
available for fixing water woes, eg, reusing and recycling used water, efficient
irrigation systems, desalination, rainwater harvesting, optimal pricing of water,
et al. The only thing required is the will and action to achieve sustainability.

As an optimist one would want to see Pakistan taken off the list of
water-stressed countries, however, given the way the country is going, it seems
an uphill task. “Children of a culture born in a water-rich environment, we have
never really learned how important water is to us. We understand it, but we do
not respect it,” says William Ashworth, an environmentalist writer.

Study Notes by Aamir Mahar

Facebook Page: @CSSExamPrep

Study Notes by Aamir Mahar (FB Page: @CSSExamPrep)

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