Pakistan faces increasing water stress and scarcity as its population grows. Its water resources come from rainfall, surface water from rivers and reservoirs, and groundwater. Rainfall alone cannot sustain much agriculture, so Pakistan has developed one of the world's largest irrigation systems including major dams, barrages, and canals. However, aging infrastructure and increasing demand mean Pakistan may face acute shortages by 2025 if actions are not taken to improve efficiency and management of its water resources.

1. 04. Water Resources of Pakistan
B.Sc. Civil Engineering 8th Semester
Muhammad Ajmal (PhD)
Lecturer
Agri. Engg. Deptt.
CE-402 Irrigation Engineering

2. World Water Distribution
Ice caps &
Glaciers 70%
https://www.nap.edu/read/11809/chapter/6#65

3. World Water Resources
 Water Stress vs Water Scarcity
 Hydrologists typically assess
scarcity by looking at the
population-water equation.
 An area is experiencing water
stress when annual water supplies
drop below 1,700 m3 per person.
 When annual water supplies drop
below 1,000 m3 per person, the
population faces water scarcity.
 < 500 m3 "absolute scarcity".
http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml

4. Facts about Water Resources
 Around 66% of the world’s population may be water stressed by 2025, and
around 1.8 Billion will be suffering from absolute water scarcity.
 Approximately 50% of the global population will be living under high water-stress by 2030.
 The largest number of water-stressed countries is in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the most
water stressed region being the Middle East.
 Approx. 700 Million people in 43 countries suffer from water scarcity.
 The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) has warned that the
country may run dry by 2025 if the authorities didn't take an immediate action.
 According to a report, the Islamic country touched the "water stress line" in 1990 and crossed
the "water scarcity line" in 2005.
 If this situation persists, Pakistan is likely to face acute water shortage or drought-like
situation in the near future.

5. Pakistan Canal System

6. Water Resources of Pakistan
 The water supply available to agriculture is derived from three main sources:
 Rainfall which occurs directly on the crop areas,
 Surface water from rivers or storage reservoirs, and
 Usable ground water from the aquifers.
 Rainfall is normally inadequate to sustain more than a very low level of agricultural production,
particularly in the semi-arid conditions of Pakistan.
 Pakistan ranks 4th in the world as for as irrigated area (About 7%) is concerned. About 36 MA (About
75% of the cultivated area) in Pakistan is irrigated land.
 Pakistan has invested heavily in the irrigation sector. Allocated about $ 8 billion in this sector upto the
year 2011-12
 Pakistan has one of the largest irrigation systems in the world comprising:
o Three major reservoirs with a design capacity of about 20 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM),
o 23 barrages, headworks and siphons,
o 45 main irrigation canals commanding an area of about 16.6 million hectares.
Irrigation: Life blood of agriculture

7. Water Resources of Pakistan
 Rainfall
 Annual rainfall (125mm in South-East to 750mm North-West)
 Total water generated by rainfall is around 32 BCM
 Contribution to crops is 10-20%
 Groundwater
 Exploitation of Groundwater is 59 BCM
 Over 9,00,000 private tubewells
 40% of total supply at farm-gate

8. Water Resources of Pakistan
 Irrigated agriculture is the backbone for economy of the country where over 93% of the available
water resources are consumed.
 Irrigation is used on 80% of all arable land and meets almost 90% of all food and fibers
requirements.
 Agriculture is the single larges sector of economy accounting for about a quarter of the country’s
Gross Domestic Products (GDP).
 It employs 44% of the labor force, supports 75% of the population and accounts for 60% of
foreign exchange.

9. Water Resources of Pakistan
 The increased population, urbanization, industrialization and agricultural activities
however widened the gap between water demand and supply.
 The water shortfall that was 11% in 2004, is expected to increase to 31% by 2025.
 The per capita water availability which was about 5600 m3/year in 1947 has now
reduced to less than 1000 m3/year converting the country to a water scarce condition.
 Due to poor maintenance and old irrigation system, the overall efficiency < 40%.

10. Water Resources of Pakistan
 Out of 142 BCM of water available at the canal headworks, only 55 BCM is used by
crops. The remaining 87 BCM (60%) is lost during conveyance through canal
distributaries, minors, watercourses and in fields.
 In Pakistan the development of rainfed area is completely ignored. The dry farming is
practiced on about 12 Mha that is 40% of the Culturable land. It just contribute < 10%
to the total production.
 The main reasons for the low productivity are:
o Low and erratic rainfall
o Soil erosion
o Poor use of land and water resources due to small and fragmented land holdings, and
o Low agricultural inputs.

11. Pakistan Some Major Dams and their Capacity
Name
Location/
Impounds Height Storage capacity
Year of
completion
nearest city
Warsak Dam Peshawar Kabul River 67 m (220 ft) 0.0765 BCM 1960
Mangla Dam Mirpur District Jhelum River 138 m (453 ft) 7.252 BCM 1967
Tarbela Dam Haripur Indus River 143 m (470.0 ft) 13.69 BCM 1974
Hub Dam Malir Hub River 48 m (157 ft) 1.06 BCM 1979
Ghazi Barotha Dam Attock District Indus River 133 m (437 ft) 0.0225 BCM 2003
Gomal Zam Dam Wana Gomal River 133 m (437 ft) 1.40 BCM 2012
Note: 1 BCM = 1 km3 = 810713.18 acre-ft = 105 ha-m

12. Pakistan Irrigation Network and Barrages