5. Water Quality and Salinity

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.