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Basin Properties Geographical properties: Longitude at River Outlet: 78° 00' - 99° 00' Latitude at River Outlet: 26° 00' - 36° 00' Size of the basin: 561,253 km2 Length of basin: 2733 km Breadth 80-512 km Altitude range: Mean sea level – 5486m Topography: Following four distinct regions fall in the Indus Basin
Geology:
Rainfall: 100-1500 mm Average Annual Rainfall: 205 mm Summer: About 70% of annual rainfall Winter: About 30% of annual rainfall Main Rivers:
Major Floods:
Major Drought: 1951, 1871, 1881, 1899, 1991, 2000 Demographic properties: Total population in the basin: 140 million Population of the major cities of the basin: Lahore (6.50 million), Faisalabad (2.23 million), Hyderabad (1.17 million) Average per capita income: Market Price (MP) in Rupees = US $ 408.8/ year Industrial and agricultural Gross Domestic Product: US $ 56.9 billion Population below poverty line: 36% Water Poverty Index parameters: Medium (56-61.9) Land uses:
Water resources and uses in the basin: Water resources of the Indus Basin are basically derived from the Himalayan watershed of about 400,000 km2. Surface Water: River Flows:
Surface Water Quality: The river water quality is very good for agriculture, human and industrial consumption. However, the average annual inflow salinity of the rivers is about 130 parts per million. Ground Water: 80 billion m3 Groundwater Quality: The groundwater quality is highly variable. Within the Canal Command gross area of 16.47 Mha, it is estimated that 49% is underlain by groundwater with salt concentration below 1500 ppm, 12% between 1500-3000 ppm and 39% above 3000 ppm. About 97% of available freshwater is used for irrigation purposes and remaining 3% for domestic and commercial uses. Water stored for irrigation purposes in reservoirs is also used for power generation, fisheries and wild life preservation etc. Environmental properties: Considering Pakistan’s environmental scenario, it is obvious that human health, agriculture, rangelands, forests, water bodies, and aquatic life, in fact the whole ecosystem is affected by problems associated with water. In the Indus Basin, there is not only a scarcity of potable water but freshwater bodies are also being polluted by effluents from industries and sewerage system. Policy and legislative properties: Most of the problems are being faced in water sector due to non-implementation of appropriate legislative measures. The existing water laws and related legislations in Pakistan are stated below.
The Legislation of cooperative societies and cooperative banks is covered under the following Act:
Water Users Association became operational under the following Ordinances and Acts:
Land Revenue and water charges Acts:
Baseline information availability: Agro- meteorological and hydrological (river flow, canal supplies) data for last 30 years are available. Recent data on different water quality parameters pertaining to 21 major cities, 6 rivers, 5 reservoirs are also available with leading agency i.e. PCRWR. Organisations and institutions responsible for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the basin: Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR): Established in 1964, mandated to organize, co-ordinate and promote research in all fields of water resources engineering, planning and management. National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC): Established in 1984, serves as a common platform for the scientists working in different federal and provincial agricultural research and academic institutions to jointly plan their research activities avoiding duplication of research efforts. Federal Flood Commission (FFC): Created in 1977, its main functions are preparation and updating of national Flood Protection Plan, policy formation for the regulation of reservoirs for flood control, flood damages, flood forecasting and flood warning system. Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Engineering (CEWRE): Established in 1983, offers postgraduate courses leading to MSc, MPhil and PhD degrees in water resources engineering, water resources management, engineering hydrology and hydro power engineering. Drainage Research Centre (DRC): The Centre established in 1974 to conduct research on drainage of agricultural lands, salinity control, land reclamation, water management, and irrigation and drainage modelling. Water Resources Research Centres (WRRCs): The Centers established in 1986 at Islamabad, Peshawar, Bahawalpur and Quetta to conduct site specific research on various water and land related issues.
Statement of Issues, Purpose and Outputs Hydrological and Water Management issues: Increased Shortage of Water: Acute shortage of water is expected in the future. It is feared that the currently practiced institutional and management practices and available infrastructure of the Indus River System will not be able to achieve and sustain self-reliance in agricultural production. Sedimentation in Storage Reservoirs: The heavy sediment load brought by feeding streams in most of the reservoirs is a major problem. Sedimentation in the three major reservoirs – Tarbela, Mangla, and Chashma – is going to deplete their storage capacities by over 26% by the end of the year 2010. There should now be serious thought about creating new storages otherwise the Country would face severe water shortages. Low Water Use Efficiency: The water use efficiency in the irrigated areas of the Indus Basin is low due to old and primitive methods of irrigation, poor layouts and un-leveled fields. There is room for a lot of improvement in irrigation methods and field layouts. Inequity in Water Distribution: The distribution of water at the farm levels is faced with many problems. The most prominent of the problems is that the tail reaches receive much less water as compared to head reaches. Theft of water and interference by big landlords in the distribution of water are the major reasons for the poor state of affairs. There is need for revolutionary changes in the system by revising the rules and regulations controlling the system and implementation of the rule of law in accordance with present day requirements. Over Abstraction of Groundwater: Due to increased water requirements and reduced canal water supplies, farmers are tempted to pump more and more of the underlying groundwater due to greater flexibility and control over its use. The continued abstraction of groundwater has resulted in over-pumping and consequent depletion of water table in many areas. Environmental issues: Disposal of Saline Drainage Effluents: The disposal of saline drainage effluents from inland areas of the Punjab, NWFP, and Sindh is a major issue faced by the nation. The various techniques tried like disposal in evaporation ponds, lakes in wastelands including deserts are creating ecological problems. There is need to develop low cost, sustainable environment friendly methods for disposal of drainage effluent. Waterlogging and Salinity: Waterlogging and salinity problems have been responsible for large tracts of land to go out of production. Despite past efforts and huge capital expenses, the problems persist in various parts of the Indus Basin. Pollution of Groundwater Aquifers and Open Water Bodies: The pollution of the groundwater aquifers and open water bodies due to leaching of various kinds of agricultural inputs and reuse of saline drainage effluents is causing the pollution of aquifers, which needs to be controlled. Another cause of pollution of the aquifers and open water bodies is the disposal of untreated industrial effluent directly into the water bodies. The issue has become very serious in some cities with industrial units. This issue needs immediate attention, as aquifer once polluted cannot be rehabilitated easily. Livelihoods issues: Recent drought conditions give rise to the livelihood issues:
Policy and legislation issues: Lack of Water Legislation and its Implementation: Adequate water resources management is based on developed legislative institutions. Lack of water legislation and its proper implementation in the basin is aggravating the position. Lack of Coordination among Research and Development Agencies: Water management activities are currently being managed by different organizations at micro and macro levels without adequate coordination. Activities of the concerned line agencies need to be coordinated to accomplish the goal of sustainable and integrated water management. Note: Pakistan is now at a position that it must need to implement Integrated Water Resource management (IWRM) for better WRM and irrigation management. Different water agencies have realized the benefits of IWRM and they have a positive attitude towards its implementation. How do the issues fit with the Five HELP Policy Issues? Water and Food: Projections of food production indicate that Pakistan will have shortfall in the production of all major food grains and crops. Projections of grain production show a shortfall of 11 million tons by 2010 and 16 million tons by 2020, and 28 million tons by 2025. In order to meet, the shortages, Pakistan needs reforms in irrigation system, as it is evident that the areas that were very fertile and rich in water resources have turned into areas with waterlogging and salinity problem. Improvement of irrigation efficiencies through propagation of efficient irrigation techniques alongwith improved agricultural practices may help use the available water resources in an efficient way as it would result in more yield per hectare. Water Quality and Human Health: Not only there is a scarcity of drinking water but also pollution of water bodies by effluents from industries and the sewerage system have compounded the problem. Lack of sanitation and drainage facilities with no provision for sewage treatment will lead to further pollution of fresh water supplies. In the absence of water quality monitoring and testing, the incidence of water-borne diseases will continue grow and some of the diseases, which have been eradicated from Pakistan, will resurface such as the guinea worm disease, etc. Mortality rate of the vulnerable sections of the population will increase. Water and the Environment: The environmental issues impacting on water resources are the degradation of the surface and groundwater resources. Major environmental concerns of the Basin are controlling water pollution, prevention of waterlogging and salinity, safe disposal of drainage effluents, protection and management of watersheds, preserving the groundwater resource, protection of wetlands and allocation of additional water to improve and sustain ecosystem. Water and Climate: Pakistan today has less than 4% of its area under forest cover. Moreover, deforestation is a major concern. Reduction in forests is increasing the temperature and the snowmelt causing more water to waste in the sea. Water and Conflict: The construction of Kalabagh dam on the Indus River has remained the single biggest cause of friction between the provinces. Previous attempts to build the dam had resulted in violent protests. Need is to enhance linkage among various civil societies/groups for dialogue and consultation for better understanding of issues. Institutional change and capacity building issues: Due to the importance of water in national economy, the government has been taking steps to ensure that enough infrastructures are available to carry out productive activities. In the past, it was experienced that the provincial irrigation departments (PIDs) were not performing the maintenance of the irrigation system satisfactorily. Therefore in 1997, the PIDs were transformed into autonomous authority (PIDAs) with the intention of giving them more leverage for the proper operation of irrigation system. Moreover, the institutions responsible for the water sector have been distanced from the end-users and there is no mechanism for their involvement in the planning and decision making process. Involvement of farmers, NGOs has now started on a pilot project basis. Farmers are now being encouraged to form Farmers Organizations (FOs) to take over the operation of irrigation system at secondary and territory levels. Involvement of private sector would reduce government role in the irrigation management. Farmer’s participation to manage irrigation system is tested first on pilot basis, resulting both success and failures. The other capacity building issues include lack of knowledge and information management, and awareness about water situation among common people. Principal Purposes The key objectives for HELP proposal in the Indus Basin are:
Principal Outputs:
Statement of Proposed Activities Outline of the HELP programme design and plan: Hydrology:
Environment:
Life and Policy:
Measurement and reporting of baseline conditions in the basin: The importance of baseline conditions was realized in Pakistan Water Sector Strategy. Presently World Bank is supporting Government of Pakistan to improve GIS database and decision support system development in some areas including water resources. These outputs will be available to HELP program. Stakeholder analysis, participation and consultation: Farmers are the principal stakeholder in water sector as 97% of the available water resources are being used for agricultural activities. All the proposed activities will be conducted at farmers’ fields and on the lands of beneficiaries. The farmers/users will be involved in day-to-day activities thus ensuring their active participation. Capacity building, training and education: There would be initiated programmes for awareness of general public and users for water conservation and management. This would be done through print and electronic media, promoting awareness through field days, seminars and workshops. The program would encompass the full range of stakeholders from water managers to users. Schedule of proposed activities: Year-1:
Year-2:
Year-3 and onwards:
Monitoring and evaluation: The monitoring and evaluation of the activities will be carried out through the funding bodies. The cross basin evaluation will be facilitated through a technical reference panel. Quarterly and yearly progress reports will be written for the HELP initiative. A HELP conference will be organized during 2006 in the Indus Basin for the evaluation of HELP related activities by experts from other basins and to promote cross-basin HELP perspectives. The following indicators may help to measure the achievement of outputs:
Statement of Commitment Programme or project team members:
The above personnel are already working on the related projects and will therefore be able to contribute directly to HELP initiative. Supporting partners and stakeholders: Supporting partners include:
Key beneficiaries include:
Provision of resources: All the listed partner institutes are involved in the proposed activities through funding (overall funding of the projects over 1 million US$), provision of skills which is available during the activities mentioned under 1st year program. However, the additional financial support i.e. 10 million US$ is required to carry on the activities after 1st year. Year-1:
Year-2:
Year-3 and onwards:
Contribution to promoting HELP values Indus basin one of the largest basins in the world falls in the arid zone. This basin has been facing various land and water related problems to meet food and fibre requirements of its ever-increasing population. On one side, domestic and industrial water requirements are squeezing the existing share of water for agriculture sector. On the other hand, the irrigated agriculture has been conflicting with waterlogging, salinity and sodicity, desertification, etc. The global climatic change is another provoking factor. Under such circumstances, Indus basin can serve as an excellent example to illustrate water resources management under competing water uses and environmental and economic concerns. Lot of projects’ documents are available which can be used to illustrate how researchers, Govt. agencies and farming communities are involved in integrated water resources management. Other sources like newspapers, journals, and electronic media have already been engaged for promoting integrated land and water management approaches in the Basin. They will be further used to create awareness of HELP programme to general citizens of the Indus Basin. We believe that participatory research approach have been very influential in bringing about change in land and water management. Researchers like Dr. Muhammad Akram Kahlown, Chairman, PCRWR has received the following International awards for his research on Indus Basin: WatSave Awards – 2003 by International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) Joint Award of Gold Medals 2002 and INFAQ Foundation for Various Scientific Disciplines by Pakistan Academy of Sciences.
What inputs from other HELP basins are required through technology-transfer and training to achieve the desired project objectives? What inputs could you provide to other HELP basins through technology-transfer and training? The proposed project objectives can easily be achieved by sharing methodologies and adopting new technologies with a wider network of HELP catchments. Moreover, interactions with individuals and Research Institutes of the other HELP Basins would help to improve future research plans. Unfortunately, Indus Basin is lacking in expertise relating to harnessing hill torrents on scientific basis. This deficiency can be overcome by acquiring training/knowledge from the experts and professionals of the other basins. The experiences on the projects related to development and popularization of integrated land and water management system would be shared with other HELP basins through imparting training to the researchers of the basins.
Key contact for this project:
Dr. Muhammad Akram Kahlown Chairman Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) House No. 3&5, Street 17, F-6/2, Islamabad-Pakistan E-mail: pcrwr@isb.comsats.net.pk / kahlown@hotmail.com
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