This document summarizes the water resources of Pakistan. It discusses that Pakistan receives water from the Indus River basin and its tributaries, monsoon rains, western disturbances, and glacial melt. It notes that agriculture currently uses 93% of water resources but that demand from domestic and industrial sectors is increasing. It also provides details on surface water sources like rivers and dams, as well as groundwater sources found primarily in Punjab and Sindh provinces. The document concludes by stating that Pakistan is facing a growing water shortage due to increasing population pressures.

2. WATER RESOURCES OF
PAKISTAN

3. BY MAHNOOR REHAN AND ALVINA RAZA
GROUP 8
ASSIGNED BY DR. IMRANA
COURSE : PST ( HS : 105)
N.E.D University of Engineering And Technology
Metallurgical Engineering Department

4. INTRODUCTION
• Almighty Allah has gifted Pakistan with abundant of water resources.
• About 71% of the earth’s surface is covered with water.
• Pakistan is an agricultural country. Therefore water is an essential resource for
sustained economic growth as well as human survival.
• Presently agriculture sector is using 93%, domestic sector 5% and industrial
sector 2% of water resources.
• Agriculture sector is the major user of water, but its share is expected to
decrease because of competing non-agricultural demands.
• The domestic and agricultural sector water uses are projected to increase to
15% by 2025.

5. RAINFALL
• Rainfall in Pakistan is markedly variable in magnitude, time of occurrence and its aerial
distribution.
• There are two major sources of rainfall in Pakistan: the Monsoons and the Western
Disturbances.
• More than 60% of the kharif season rainfall is concentrated in the month of July for
almost all of the canal commands.
• The Monsoons originate in the Bay of Bengal and usually reach Pakistan, after passing
over India, in early July.
• Pakistan lies in an arid and semi-arid climate zone. The entire Indus Plains (canal
command areas) receive an average seasonal rainfall of 212 mm (95% confidence
interval ± 28) and 53 mm (95% confidence interval ± 8) in the kharif and rabi seasons,
respectively.

6. Glaciers:
“ Glaciers are made up of fallen snow that, over many years,
compresses into large, thickened ice masses ”
• The catchment area of the Indus Basin contains some of the
largest glaciers in the world, outside the Polar Regions.
• The glacial area of the upper Indus catchment is about 2,250
km2 and accounts for most of the river runoff in summer.
• The snow and ice melt from the glacial area of the Upper
Indus catchment supply approximately 80% of the total flow
of the Indus River in the summer season.
• Snowmelt accounts for more than 50% of the flow in the
Jhelum River. However, the Jhelum is much more dependent
than the Indus on the variable monsoon runoff.

7. •Pakistan has got some pretty good share when we talk
about glaciers. Because it has some big glaciers like siachin,
baltoro etc
•The glacier area of pakistan is about 13,680 sq km.
•Pakistan is the home of 108 peaks above 6000m and
various peaks above 4000m and 5000m.
•These glaciers are enormous reservoirs of fresh water and
their melt water is an important resource which feed rivers in
pakistan.
•Glacier melting can affect agriculture, drinking water,
hydroelectricity and ecological habitats.

8. RIVERS AND DAM
• The embryonic Indus river system, which is the main source of surface water in pakistan,
most likely was created some fifty million years ago.
• The average annual flow-rates of major rivers has been calculated between 1922-61 to
indicate water flows before the Indus water treaty, 1985-1995 to indicate the post-treaty
flows and the 2001-02 flows to present the current situation of drought conditions.
• Before independence, there were only three dams in pakistan, and none on the major
rivers.
• The construction of dams in pakistan was initiated in 1955, when the country was facing
an acute power shortage.
• India stopped water supplies to the network of canals in pakistan

9. Surface water
• The accounting of surface water resources in the Indus
System is based on river inflows measured at Rim Stations.
• The Indus River and its tributaries, on an average, bring 154
MAF of water annually.
• The flows of the Indus and its tributaries vary widely from
year to year and within the year.
• The waters of the Indus Basin Rivers are diverted through
reservoirs/barrages into canals, classified as Main Canals.
• Outside the Indus Basin, there are smaller river basins. One
on the Mekran coast of Balochistan drains directly in to the
sea and a closed basin (Kharan).

10. GROUND WATER
• The Indus Basin was formed by alluvial deposits carried by the Indus and its tributaries.
• In the Punjab, about 79% of the area and in Sindh, about 28% of the area is underlain by
fresh groundwater.
• Some groundwater is saline. Water from the saline tube wells is generally put into drains
and, where this is not possible, it is discharged into large canals for use in irrigation, after
diluting with the fresh canal water.
• In the last 25- 30 years, ground water has become a major supplement to canal supplies,
especially in the Upper Indus Plain, where ground water quality is good.
• Major part of the groundwater abstraction for irrigation is within the canal commands or
in the flood plains of the rivers.

11. FUTURE OF WATER RESOURCES
• One of the key issues to Pakistan is the growing population pressure, which is responsible
for driving its water resource development.
• This scenario warns that Pakistan has already slid from water affluent country to a water
scare country and already a shortage of over 40 MAF persists and it will increase to a
projected water shortage of over 108 MAF, and 151 MAF by years 2013 and 2025,
respectively.
• Since no additional water is available, it is better to improve the existing water system and
land capabilities; otherwise, Pakistan will be facing acute shortages of food, fiber, and
edible oils in near future.

12. THANK YOU