Water Policy in Pakistan

Water is Pakistan’s lifeline and has had a profound influence on the civilizational development in the region. The river Indus (also known as the river Sindhu) affects the psyche of people living in Pakistan to mythic proportions. In the same way, a huge part of the glaciers of the Third Pole lies in Pakistan and are held almost with reverence by people who live on the roof of the world. This new century has brought new challenges including the direct impact of climate change on water—the unexpected and intense changes in water regimes and water cycles, shifting of seasons, distortion of natural regions, and loss of ecosystems. Yet in Pakistan these crucial conversations are swept aside in the obsession with irrigation-based agriculture and more infrastructure development. Pakistan’s water policy of 2018 is a long wish list and does not contain a coherent contextual narrative within which this wish list can be understood. This chapter outlines priority actions and responsibilities largely missing from the water discourse: water conservation at all levels from homes to the agricultural sector as a whole, new water subjects to train and engage young people, water services to rural areas to stem rural-urban migration, urban water management, new water technologies, building the capabilities of people and institutions to manage the effects of global climate change on water supplies, moving to smaller and more manageable water infrastructure, building the physical health of rivers, lakes, groundwater, springs, and glaciers.

The political economy of Pakistan’s water is a complex interplay of interests that in the modern era, beginning in the nineteenth century, emerged from within the context of colonialism. The foundation of the irrigated economy that was laid during British rule privileged particular norms of water control that, to large extents, persist and shape current policies. Given the rising and changing demands on the uses of water that have naturally arisen through the passage of time, coupled with a rapidly changing climate, prevailing water policy and allocation are hard-pressed to meet evolving societal, environmental, and economic goals. Particular and longstanding challenges arise from the political economy of interprovincial water-sharing and are further compounded by the changing geopolitics of transnational infrastructure finance within the prevailing narrative that privileges increasing supply over reducing or managing demand. Within and across sectors, a host of challenges arise from the failure to value water for its proper and integrated environmental, social, economic, and political uses. Meanwhile, the growing role of the private sector, in areas such as commercial groundwater extraction for drinking water as well as in beverage and industrial production more broadly that significantly impair water quality and the environment, remains a largely under-governed space. Since the British era, agriculture remains the foundation of the economy and with rising demands from a growing population, food and commodity security for both crops and dairy and livestock production within the context of global food production and trade flows have become ever more complex. These forces are playing out within the context of global climate change and evolving norms of water storage that take into account methane emissions from large dams as part of international climate pledges, further compounding Pakistan’s overall water, food and energy security goals. An improved understanding of local contexts as they interact with global trends will need to be developed to improve Pakistan’s political economy of water.

Water security imposes serious challenges for the social and economic development of Pakistan, which is the eight-most climate-vulnerable country in the world. This extreme climatic variability (drought/floods) has highlighted the need to manage Pakistan’s water resources more sustainably. In 2018, the Government of Pakistan developed a National Water Policy (NWP) to provide an overall policy framework and guidelines for a comprehensive plan of action leading to the development of sustainable water management solutions. This chapter will briefly review past water policies and take stock of available water resources and their sectoral uses, water use options under climate change, and water governance. It will also include data on available water (surface and groundwater) and sectoral uses by basin. In addition, it will comprehensively review Pakistan’s current water resources, the challenges faced by irrigated agriculture, and possible future strategies to overcome these problems and ensure the sustainability of irrigated agriculture in the Indus Basin. It will introduce topics that will be discussed in succeeding chapters in more detail.

This chapter focuses on the supply and demand of water resources in Pakistan. Data on the availability and use of water in Pakistan will be used to develop a water balance for the IBIS. Because the per capita water availability is less than 1000 cubic meters (m³), Pakistan is currently categorized as a water-scarce country. However, there is a silver lining in that productivity in the agricultural sector can be doubled by using better technology and reducing the amount of land that needs to be farmed, possibly reducing the gap between supply and demand. The Indus Water Treaty of 1960 has posed serious limitations for both countries in sharing the water supply during dry years. The provinces of Pakistan agreed on the Water Apportionment Accord in 1991 to resolve the water-sharing conflict. However, there are still issues between the provinces on sharing during dry years, resulting in reduced environmental flows to the ecosystems and reduced availability for the agricultural sector. Finally, water is discussed in the regional context of South Asia which will focus on Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. A brief overview of the current scenario along with historical trends will be provided for these countries. Then, we provide the successes and gaps related to water, specifically the measures taken to deal with issues related to climate change, in the four countries.

Water quality is one of the most important factors for any sector that uses water. However, despite its importance, it has been grossly neglected in Pakistan. This deterioration in water quality has caused human and animal health to suffer, land and water productivity to decline, and Pakistan’s ability to support aquatic wildlife to decrease. The causes of this deterioration are easy to understand. They include the disposal of untreated wastewater into freshwater bodies and healthy ecosystems, a lack of understanding by both the general public and the institutions responsible on how to prevent and mitigate the effects of declining water quality, prolonged use of low-quality groundwater and, above all, poor water governance. Since the economy is largely dependent on agriculture, which consumes the most water, using poor-quality water for agriculture is a major threat to Pakistan’s economy. Since approaches focused on engineering have not successfully or sustainably managed salinity—because of environmental issues and large O&M costs—it is time to learn to ‘live with salinity’. This approach involves managing salinity below the root zone and using saline agriculture and saline aquaculture techniques in affected areas to improve productivity to support livelihoods.

Water is an essential ingredient for life on this planet; major human civilizations settled along waterways. Control of water has remained central to all rulers. Water was under the jurisdiction of the national/federal government until the 18th amendment in the constitution of Pakistan in 2010. Groundwater has also become vitally important as demand for it has increased over the years in order to fill water supply-demand gaps and to safeguard against climate changes. Currently, surface water can irrigate only 27% of Pakistan’s land, while the remaining 73% is irrigated directly or indirectly with groundwater. Punjab uses around 90% of the country’s total extracted groundwater and is thus its food basket. Groundwater has become a source of drought mitigation and has thus helped in bringing a green revolution in the IRB. Uneven spatial and seasonal availability of surface water coupled with unplanned, unregulated, and poorly governed use of groundwater has resulted in multifarious and complicated water issues in the country, such as the over-mining of aquifers in freshwater areas, waterlogging and salinity, deterioration of quality, increasing energy use and overall extraction costs and interprovincial disputes. Climatic changes have aggravated the situation. After the 18th amendment, water policy was subject to the provinces and they have started to promulgate relevant policies and regulatory framework. Punjab has taken the lead in this area. This chapter encapsulates the recent policy paradigm shifts by the Punjab government to combat the challenges of water scarcity. Current initiatives by the Punjab government, including the Punjab Water Policy 2018, Punjab Water Act 2019, Punjab Local Govt Act 2019, The Punjab Khal Panchayat Act 2019, Punjab Local Govt Ordinance 2021, Punjab Water Resources Commission 2021, Punjab Water Services Regularity Authority 2021, have been discussed and evaluated as to how they can be helpful in mitigating the water crisis.

Pakistan’s economy is heavily dependent on water for use in agriculture and hydropower generation. The country’s water resources are shrinking, causing a big gap between allocations and the actual availability of water for irrigation, municipal, industrial and environmental uses. The storage capacity of existing dams is decreasing because of siltation. Additional storage is required to bridge this gap and increase water availability during periods of low supplies.

This chapter is an overview of the developments in water storage and hydropower production in Pakistan. It evaluates existing and under construction water storage capacity to enhance agricultural output and hydropower generation.

The energy sector faces serious supply shortages and financial losses. Initially Pakistan relied heavily on dams to produce electric power. Subsequently, the focus shifted to thermal power, which resulted in increased production costs because of imported fuels. Pakistan’s energy mix became a major issue. Now the emphasis on hydel power production has again gained momentum, with several new hydel projects under construction or being planned. Future demand and supply situations have been analyzed.

The Indus River Basin is a significant transboundary river system that is one of the largest in Asia in terms of volumetric flow and which feeds irrigation and hydropower systems in Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. This also makes the Indus River Basin politically significant. The physiography, river networks, and climate of the Indus River Basin area are explored in detail. The twin challenges of population growth and climate change are outlined. Population growth will drive demand for more hydropower; climate change will lead to more intense and more frequent flood events, including riverine and urban flooding, GLOFs, and hill torrents. The impact of climate change on precipitation and flows, together with the rise in temperature, could adversely affect agriculture, human health, ecosystem, soil erosion, energy consumption, water use, infrastructure, and agriculture. A comprehensive list of these major threats from climate change are given, followed by a thorough discussion of adaptation measures and policy options to mitigate these effects.

To ensure water security and sustainability, Pakistan’s policymakers must keep groundwater extractions and stock at reasonable levels. How do policymakers currently manage groundwater? Why have they struggled so far? What are some of the tools that they can harness to improve groundwater allocation? By surveying existing data and literature on Pakistan’s groundwater, I address these questions, identifying the challenges that the country faces in managing groundwater and explaining policy instruments that could tackle these challenges. The chapter serves as a guide for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers interested in contextualizing Pakistan’s groundwater issues and understanding policy prescriptions that incentivize welfare-enhancing extractions.

Water plays a significant role in Pakistan’s agriculture sector, which is backbone of the country’s economy. Presently, agriculture consumes a heavy amount (96%) of available resource base but most of it is wasted due to poor management practices. Over the years, the water supply to agriculture has moved from canal to groundwater, leading to over extraction. Water use (or misuse) has demonstrated consequences in the form of low water productivity, groundwater depletion and poor governance. There is a pressing need for a new mindset and necessary actions in the agriculture sector, to gain higher productivity with less water usage. This may be possible through the adoption of Regenerative Agriculture (RA) or Nature-based Agriculture (NbA). Both RA and NbA focus on restoring soil health that allows microorganisms to flourish and conserve the water that is already in the soil thus reducing significantly the need for artificial fertilizers, tillage, and watering. In Pakistan, private advisory groups, such as PEDAVER/PQNK, are showcasing the benefits of NbS and RA, which not only produce healthy and cost-effective food to meet domestic and export needs but also reduce the use of water. RA practices and technologies for conserving water are highlighted in the chapter. It is important to implement such policies and programs at the national level, which promote RA and eliminate obstacles in its adoption.

Pakistan has moved from having excess water to having problems managing demand. It has gone through several distinct phases in its devolution to water scarcity which shed light on the nature of the issues shaping water policy discourse. Pakistan has under-invested in water demand management and needs to chart a new water strategy to address the underlying causes of problems, not just the symptoms. Productivity in terms of actual water use in Pakistan is among the lowest in the world, at the same in value terms (economic output per unit of water) is also quite low in Pakistan. A growing body of literature has highlighted the benefits of adopting technologies and practices such as precision land leveling, zero tillage, and raised bed-and-furrow planting, which enhance water productivity in both physical and value terms. There has been very little uptake of High Irrigation Efficiency System (HIES) technology whose adoption depends on two factors: appropriate water pricing and the profitability of agriculture, Neither are the case in Pakistan. The government should consider a broader framework that entails three aspects: (1) enhancing the marketable commodity (or yield) of crops for each unit of crop transpiration; (2) reducing non-beneficial atmospheric depletions and outflows that are not retrievable; and (3) enhancing the effective use of rainfall, water of marginal quality, and stored water. The chapter underlines need to increase the price of irrigation water  and also provides case studies from Pakistan and other water scarce countries looking at the tradeoffs between productive and allocative efficiency in future policy paths.

Currently able to treat only 1% of its wastewater, Pakistan is far from its commitment under the sustainable development goals (SDGs) to treat up to 50% of its wastewater. The rapid urbanization of cities without corresponding improvements in infrastructure to collect and treat wastewater leads to poor quality water and sanitation. The organizations responsible for wastewater treatment are also responsible for providing quality drinking water, i.e., WASA (Water and Sanitation Authorities). This has resulted in untreated wastewater being used for irrigation, and heavy contamination of ground and surface drinking water, thus leading to disease. Decentralized wastewater treatment plants and nature based systems need to be introduced to both cities and villages so that water can be reused in a healthy and sustainable way. Industries are now beginning to adhere to compliance standards while cities are becoming aware that open drains are not a long term solution to this problem. In short, Pakistan needs to consider the long-term benefits of wastewater treatment instead of its short-term costs, and make it a priority.

The Water-Energy-Food nexus has emerged as a new perspective to clarify the complex and interlinked relationship between the global resource system and the potentially conflicting imperatives of substantial investments associated with energy, water, and food security. The World Economic Forum was among the first organizations to introduce the concept of the Water-Energy-Food nexus as a key development challenge. This chapter will focus on the continuous interactions between these three core sectors of the nexus. In general, food production relies on water and energy, while the extraction, treatment, and distribution of water require energy, and energy production itself necessitates water. Action taken in any of these sectors affect the others, making the optimizing of this link a key challenge. The nexus’ importance is further highlighted by its centrality to sustainable development. To ensure water and food security, and sustainable agriculture and energy production, an integrated approach between these critical domains is needed. In Pakistan and other developing countries, the demand for food, water and energy are constantly increasing due to rapid population and economic growth in combination with accelerated urbanization and changing lifestyles. The dynamic interventions in the nexus could possibly change the dimension and outcomes of the sectoral interactions.

In the realm of national and international treaties and water-sharing instruments, Pakistan faces significant challenges—that will only be exacerbated by the accelerating forces of climate change. In this chapter, we consider these at various scales ranging from international water law, bilateral treaties, and finally at the sub-national level across Pakistan’s federal constitutional structure of provincial boundaries. We find that Pakistan is currently a relative non-participant in the developing norms of international water law and suggest that it begin to take seriously the potential power of being an active participant in the negotiation, development, and application of international legal instruments. Such participation, we suggest, will unlock the power of the collective in a way that can begin to address the governance challenges faced by the Indus Basin’s four co-sharers: Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and China. In the realm of bilateral water-sharing, Pakistan and India signed the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 (IWT/Treaty) under the aegis of the World Bank. While hailed and acknowledged as a significant success, that continues to hold despite rising challenges from significant upstream development of hydropower projects by India in its Kashmiri territory, threats to watersheds from deforestation, and the forces of global climate change, we find that the significant political challenges the IWT faces will only be exacerbated unless both countries begin to earnestly work on building on the aspirations of the Treaty at the time of its signing. And finally, but no less significantly, we find that interprovincial water-sharing relations between Pakistan’s federating units remain mired in controversies that predate Independence in 1947 and suffer from rising distrust despite the adoption of the 1991 interprovincial Water Accord (Accord) and its operationalization through the Indus River System Authority (IRSA). We suggest that Pakistan needs to move towards a new normal in which one set and scale of norms and trust-building from the international to the regional (spanning the four co-sharing countries of the Indus River Basin: Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and China) bilateral, and subnational become complementary processes. We hope our analysis contributes to such a cooperative and sustainable water future.

Using the “Circle of Justice”—the guidance for princes that has ancient Mesopotamian origins, this chapter elaborates on the cross-cutting role of knowledge capacity in Pakistan’s water resources. As in the Circle of Justice, most of the policy issues facing Pakistan’s water sector can only be addressed by developing the ability of all actors and stakeholders to adopt holistic thinking and bridge critical knowledge gaps. These twin aspects of knowledge and capacity, holism and strategic innovation, and the need to balance them in ethical ways are addressed in this chapter through the rich metaphor of irrigated garden traditions and associated knowledge capacity in Pakistan. The chapter provides a historic perspective on knowledge capacity in the Indus Basin. Irrigated gardens provide powerful images and metaphors –– positive and negative –– for the land, water, and people of Pakistan. These can be used to reimagine and improve outcomes for water policy in Pakistan. There are three components that the irrigated gardens ideal might require: (a) focusing future knowledge capacity on the cultivation of wisdom in water use and stewardship; (b) pursuit of nature-inspired water science and technologies, especially those that benefit smallholders and landless workers; and (c) water and environmental education aimed at realizing irrigated garden ideals.

Pakistan finds itself in a moment of reckoning, in which it must address a growing set of issues facing water and agriculture. These issues encompass the negative impact of climate change, the faltering green revolution, COVID-19, floods, droughts, and conflicts. We must learn from past mistakes and forge a new strategy to make our large water endowments more productive. This chapter summarizes the previous chapters, which have detailed the forces that shape the past, current, and future of Pakistan’s water policy, described supply and demand options, and explained how agriculture (the primary user of water) can produce more and better quality food with less water. After a detailed description of the water economy, we propose a transformative agenda for the twenty-first century. Two guiding principles need to be understood before we propose a transformative agenda. The first principle is that we build our water management strategies by learning from the past. While both the issues and solutions have been well-documented in government-approved policies and strategies, it is implementation that has been the weak link because of the lack of political will. The second principle is that most water problems and solutions are outside the domain of any individual sector (population growth, agriculture, environmental flows, etc.) to fix. An integrated approach and cooperation within and between organizations is essential.