Pakistan Water Crisis: Facts and Myths
Pakistan is believed to be in the midst of a water crisis that is said to pose an existential threat to the country. These assertions raise a whole series of questions on the source of the crisis and possible solutions to deal with it. The New Water Policy adopted in April 2018 is a good start but it needs a lot more focus and continuing investments.
Questions on Water Crisis:
How severe is Pakistan's water crisis? Is India contributing to this crisis? How many million acre feet (MAF) of water flows in Pakistan? What are its sources? Glaciers? Rain? Groundwater? How much of it is stored in dams and other reservoirs? What is the trend of per capita water availability in Pakistan? What sectors are the biggest consumers of water in Pakistan? Why does agriculture consume over 95% of all available water? How can Pakistan produce "more crop per drop"? What are Pakistan's options in dealing with the water crisis? Build more dams? Recharge groundwater? Use improved irrigation techniques like sprinklers and drip irrigation? Would metering water at the consumers and charging based on actual use create incentives to be more efficient in water use?
Water Availability:
Pakistan receives an average of 145 million acre feet (MAF) of water a year, according to the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) report. Water availability at various canal headworks is about 95 million acre feet (MAF). About 50%-90% comes from the glacial melt while the rest comes from monsoon rains. Additional 50 MAF of groundwater is extracted annually via tube wells.
The total per capita water availability is about 900 cubic meters per person, putting Pakistan in the water-stressed category.
India Factor:
What is the impact of India's actions on water flow in Pakistan? Under the Indus Basin Water Treaty, India has the exclusive use of the water from two eastern rivers: Ravi and Sutlej. Pakistan has the right to use all of the water from the three western rivers: Chenab, Jhelum and Indus. However, India can build run of the river hydroelectric power plants with minimal water storage to generate electricity.
Currently, India is not using all of the water from the two eastern rivers. About 4.6 million acre feet (MAF) of water flows into Pakistan via Ravi and Sutlej. Water flow in Pakistan will be reduced if India decides to divert more water from Ravi and Sutlej for its own use.
Secondly, India can store water needed for run-of-the-river hydroelectric plants on the western rivers. When new hydroelectric projects are built on these rivers in India, Pakistan suffers from reduced water flows during the periods when these reservoirs are filled by India. This happened when Baglihar dam was filled by India as reported by Harvard Professor John Briscoe who was assigned by the World Bank to work on IWT compliance by both India and Pakistan.
Pakistan is also likely to suffer when India ensures its hydroelectric reservoirs are filled in periods of low water flow in the three western rivers.
Water Storage Capacity:
Pakistan's water storage capacity in its various dams and lakes is about 15 million acre feet (MAF), about 10% of all water flow. It's just enough water to cover a little over a month of water needed. There are several new dams in the works which will double Pakistan's water storage capacity when completed in the future.
Since 1970s, the only significant expansion in water storage capacity occurred on former President Musharraf's watch when Mangla Dam was raised 30 feet to increase its capacity by nearly 3 million acre feet (MAF). Musharraf increased water projects budget to Rs. 70 billion which was reduced to Rs. 51 billion by PPP government and further decreased to Rs. 36 billion by PMLN government. It was only the very last PMLN budget passed by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's outgoing government that increased water development allocation to Rs. 65 billion, a far cry from Rs. 70 billion during Musharraf years given the dramatic drop in the value of the Pakistani rupee.
Water Consumption:
Domestic, business and industrial consumers use about 5 million acre feet while the rest is consumed by the agriculture sector to grow food. Just 5% improvement in irrigation efficiency can save Pakistan about 7.5 million acre feet , the same as the current storage capacity of the country's largest Tarbela dam.
Given the vast amount of water used to grow crops, there is a significant opportunity to save water and increase yields by modernizing the farm sector.
National Water Policy:
Pakistan's Common Council of Interests (CCI) with the prime minister and the provincial chief ministers recently adopted a National Water Policy (NWP) in April 2018. It is designed to deal with “the looming shortage of water” which poses “a grave threat to (the country’s) food, energy and water security” and constitutes “an existential threat…”as well as “the commitment and intent” of the federal and provincial governments to make efforts “ to avert the water crisis”.
The NWP supports significant increases in the public sector investment for the water sector by the Federal Government from 3.7% of the development budget in 2017-18 to at least 10% in 2018-19 and 20% by 2030; the establishment of an apex body to approve legislation, policies and strategies for water resource development and management, supported by a multi- sectoral Steering Committee of officials at the working level; and the creation of a Groundwater Authority in Islamabad and provincial water authorities in each of the provinces.
More Crop Per Drop:
"More crop per drop" program will focus on improving water use efficiency by promoting drip and sprinkler irrigation in agriculture.
The Punjab government started this effort with the World Bank with $250 million investment. The World Bank is now providing additional $130 million financing for the Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Productivity Improvement Program Phase-I.
The project is the Punjab Government's initiative called High-Efficiency Irrigation Systems (HEIS) to more than doubles the efficiency of water use. Under the project, drip irrigation systems have been installed on about 26,000 acres, and 5,000 laser leveling units have been provided. The additional financing will ensure completion of 120,000 acres with ponds in saline areas and for rainwater harvesting, and filtration systems for drinking water where possible, according to the World Bank.
Groundwater Depletion:
Pakistan, India, and the United States are responsible for two-thirds of the groundwater use globally, according to a report by University College London researcher Carole Dalin. Nearly half of this groundwater is used to grow wheat and rice crops for domestic consumption and exports. This puts Pakistan among the world's largest exporters of its rapidly depleting groundwater.
Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources is working with United States' National Air and Space Administration (NASA) to monitor groundwater resources in the country.
NASA's water stress maps shows extreme water stress across most of Pakistan and northern, western and southern parts of India.
The US space agency uses Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to measure earth's groundwater. GRACE’s pair of identical satellites, launched in 2002, map tiny variations in Earth's gravity. Since water has mass, it affects these measurements. Therefore, GRACE data can help scientists monitor where the water is and how it changes over time, according to NASA.
Aquifer Recharge:
Building large dams is only part of the solution to water stress in Pakistan. The other, more important part, is building structures to trap rain water for recharging aquifers across the country.
Pakistan's highly water stressed Punjab province is beginning recognize the need for replacing groundwater. Punjab Government is currently in the process of planning a project to recharge aquifers for groundwater management in the Province by developing the economical and sustainable technology and to recharge aquifer naturally and artificially at the available site across the Punjab. It has allocated Rs. 582.249 million to execute this project over four years.
Summary:
Pakistan is in the midst of a severe water crisis that could pose an existential threat if nothing is done to deal with it. The total per capita water availability is about 900 cubic meters per person, putting the country in the water-stressed category. Agriculture sector uses about 95% of the available water. There are significant opportunities to achieve greater efficiency by using drop irrigation systems being introduced in Punjab. The New Water Policy is a good start but it requires continued attention with greater investments and focus to deal with all aspects of the crisis.
Here's a video discussion on the subject:
https://youtu.be/nrfF3ppBzpo
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
Groundwater Depletion in Pakistan
Water Scarce Pakistan
Cycles of Drought and Floods in Pakistan
Pakistan to Build Massive Dams
Dust Bowl in Thar Desert Region
Dasht River in Balochistan
Indus Water System. Courtesy: The Friday Times |
How severe is Pakistan's water crisis? Is India contributing to this crisis? How many million acre feet (MAF) of water flows in Pakistan? What are its sources? Glaciers? Rain? Groundwater? How much of it is stored in dams and other reservoirs? What is the trend of per capita water availability in Pakistan? What sectors are the biggest consumers of water in Pakistan? Why does agriculture consume over 95% of all available water? How can Pakistan produce "more crop per drop"? What are Pakistan's options in dealing with the water crisis? Build more dams? Recharge groundwater? Use improved irrigation techniques like sprinklers and drip irrigation? Would metering water at the consumers and charging based on actual use create incentives to be more efficient in water use?
Water Availability:
Pakistan receives an average of 145 million acre feet (MAF) of water a year, according to the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) report. Water availability at various canal headworks is about 95 million acre feet (MAF). About 50%-90% comes from the glacial melt while the rest comes from monsoon rains. Additional 50 MAF of groundwater is extracted annually via tube wells.
Pakistan Water Availability. Source: Water Conference Presentation |
The total per capita water availability is about 900 cubic meters per person, putting Pakistan in the water-stressed category.
India Factor:
What is the impact of India's actions on water flow in Pakistan? Under the Indus Basin Water Treaty, India has the exclusive use of the water from two eastern rivers: Ravi and Sutlej. Pakistan has the right to use all of the water from the three western rivers: Chenab, Jhelum and Indus. However, India can build run of the river hydroelectric power plants with minimal water storage to generate electricity.
Currently, India is not using all of the water from the two eastern rivers. About 4.6 million acre feet (MAF) of water flows into Pakistan via Ravi and Sutlej. Water flow in Pakistan will be reduced if India decides to divert more water from Ravi and Sutlej for its own use.
Secondly, India can store water needed for run-of-the-river hydroelectric plants on the western rivers. When new hydroelectric projects are built on these rivers in India, Pakistan suffers from reduced water flows during the periods when these reservoirs are filled by India. This happened when Baglihar dam was filled by India as reported by Harvard Professor John Briscoe who was assigned by the World Bank to work on IWT compliance by both India and Pakistan.
Pakistan is also likely to suffer when India ensures its hydroelectric reservoirs are filled in periods of low water flow in the three western rivers.
Water Storage Capacity:
Pakistan's water storage capacity in its various dams and lakes is about 15 million acre feet (MAF), about 10% of all water flow. It's just enough water to cover a little over a month of water needed. There are several new dams in the works which will double Pakistan's water storage capacity when completed in the future.
Since 1970s, the only significant expansion in water storage capacity occurred on former President Musharraf's watch when Mangla Dam was raised 30 feet to increase its capacity by nearly 3 million acre feet (MAF). Musharraf increased water projects budget to Rs. 70 billion which was reduced to Rs. 51 billion by PPP government and further decreased to Rs. 36 billion by PMLN government. It was only the very last PMLN budget passed by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's outgoing government that increased water development allocation to Rs. 65 billion, a far cry from Rs. 70 billion during Musharraf years given the dramatic drop in the value of the Pakistani rupee.
Water Consumption:
Domestic, business and industrial consumers use about 5 million acre feet while the rest is consumed by the agriculture sector to grow food. Just 5% improvement in irrigation efficiency can save Pakistan about 7.5 million acre feet , the same as the current storage capacity of the country's largest Tarbela dam.
Given the vast amount of water used to grow crops, there is a significant opportunity to save water and increase yields by modernizing the farm sector.
National Water Policy:
Pakistan's Common Council of Interests (CCI) with the prime minister and the provincial chief ministers recently adopted a National Water Policy (NWP) in April 2018. It is designed to deal with “the looming shortage of water” which poses “a grave threat to (the country’s) food, energy and water security” and constitutes “an existential threat…”as well as “the commitment and intent” of the federal and provincial governments to make efforts “ to avert the water crisis”.
The NWP supports significant increases in the public sector investment for the water sector by the Federal Government from 3.7% of the development budget in 2017-18 to at least 10% in 2018-19 and 20% by 2030; the establishment of an apex body to approve legislation, policies and strategies for water resource development and management, supported by a multi- sectoral Steering Committee of officials at the working level; and the creation of a Groundwater Authority in Islamabad and provincial water authorities in each of the provinces.
More Crop Per Drop:
"More crop per drop" program will focus on improving water use efficiency by promoting drip and sprinkler irrigation in agriculture.
The Punjab government started this effort with the World Bank with $250 million investment. The World Bank is now providing additional $130 million financing for the Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Productivity Improvement Program Phase-I.
The project is the Punjab Government's initiative called High-Efficiency Irrigation Systems (HEIS) to more than doubles the efficiency of water use. Under the project, drip irrigation systems have been installed on about 26,000 acres, and 5,000 laser leveling units have been provided. The additional financing will ensure completion of 120,000 acres with ponds in saline areas and for rainwater harvesting, and filtration systems for drinking water where possible, according to the World Bank.
Groundwater Depletion:
Pakistan, India, and the United States are responsible for two-thirds of the groundwater use globally, according to a report by University College London researcher Carole Dalin. Nearly half of this groundwater is used to grow wheat and rice crops for domestic consumption and exports. This puts Pakistan among the world's largest exporters of its rapidly depleting groundwater.
Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources is working with United States' National Air and Space Administration (NASA) to monitor groundwater resources in the country.
Water Stress Satellite Map Source: NASA |
The US space agency uses Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to measure earth's groundwater. GRACE’s pair of identical satellites, launched in 2002, map tiny variations in Earth's gravity. Since water has mass, it affects these measurements. Therefore, GRACE data can help scientists monitor where the water is and how it changes over time, according to NASA.
Aquifer Recharge:
Building large dams is only part of the solution to water stress in Pakistan. The other, more important part, is building structures to trap rain water for recharging aquifers across the country.
Typical Aquifer in Thar Desert |
Pakistan's highly water stressed Punjab province is beginning recognize the need for replacing groundwater. Punjab Government is currently in the process of planning a project to recharge aquifers for groundwater management in the Province by developing the economical and sustainable technology and to recharge aquifer naturally and artificially at the available site across the Punjab. It has allocated Rs. 582.249 million to execute this project over four years.
Pakistan is in the midst of a severe water crisis that could pose an existential threat if nothing is done to deal with it. The total per capita water availability is about 900 cubic meters per person, putting the country in the water-stressed category. Agriculture sector uses about 95% of the available water. There are significant opportunities to achieve greater efficiency by using drop irrigation systems being introduced in Punjab. The New Water Policy is a good start but it requires continued attention with greater investments and focus to deal with all aspects of the crisis.
Here's a video discussion on the subject:
https://youtu.be/nrfF3ppBzpo
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
Groundwater Depletion in Pakistan
Water Scarce Pakistan
Cycles of Drought and Floods in Pakistan
Pakistan to Build Massive Dams
Dust Bowl in Thar Desert Region
Dasht River in Balochistan
Comments
https://www.wired.com/2017/05/why-bangalores-water-crisis-is-everyones-crisis/
Through the 2000s, Bangalore’s urban landscape expanded so quickly that the city had no time to extend its subcutaneous network of water pipes into the fastest-growing areas, like Whitefield. Layers of concrete and tarmac crept out across the city, stopping water from seeping into the ground. Bangalore, once famous for its hundreds of lakes, now has only 81. The rest have been filled and paved over. Of the 81 remaining, more than half are contaminated with sewage.
Not only has the municipal water system been slow to branch out, it also leaks like cheesecloth. In the established neighborhoods that enjoy the relative reliability of a municipal hookup, 44 percent of the city’s water supply either seeps out through aging pipes or gets siphoned away by thieves. Summers bring shortages, even for those served by the city’s plumbing. Everywhere, the steep ascent of demand has caused a run on groundwater. Well owners drill deeper and deeper, chasing the water table downward as they all keep draining it further. The groundwater level has sunk from a depth of 150 or 200 feet to 1,000 feet or more in many places.
The job of distributing water from an ever-shifting array of dying wells has been taken up, in large part, by informal armadas of private tanker trucks like the one Manjunath drives. There are between 1,000 and 3,000 of these trucks, according to varying estimates, hauling tens of millions of gallons per day through Bangalore. By many accounts, the tanker barons of Bangalore—the men who own and direct these trucks—now control the supply of water so thoroughly that they can form cartels, bend prices, and otherwise abuse their power. Public officials are fond of calling the tanker owners a “water mafia.”
That term, water mafia, conjures an image straight out of Mad Max—gangs of small-time Immortan Joes running squadrons of belching tankers, turning a city’s water on and off at will. When I first started to hear about Bangalore’s crisis, that lurid image was hard to square with the cosmopolitan city I knew from a lifetime of frequent visits. The prospect of Bangalore’s imminent collapse from dehydration, and its apparently anarchic response to the threat, seemed to offer a discomfiting preview of a more general urban future. As Earth warms, as cities swell, as resources become more scarce and vexing to distribute, the world’s urban centers will start to hit up against hard limits.
In the moment, though—well before the apocalypse—there was Manjunath. When his tanker had emptied itself, he chucked away his toothpick, climbed back into the cab, and set off once more for the bore well. Huawei’s reservoir would swallow many more loads before it was full.
https://steelguru.com/power/ge-to-refurbish-mangla-power-station-by-2023/511191
Mangla power station, located in Kashmir, has an installed capacity of 1,000MW. The existing station has 10 generating units, having capacity of 100MW each with a useful life of 30 years extendable up to 35 years.
The first unit was commissioned in 1967. All units at Mangla have efficiently been working and generating electricity since then in accordance with their installed capacity despite completion of their useful life long ago.
The Wapda planned to refurbish the existing Mangla hydropower station to benefit from additional 2.88 million acres feet of water and 40 feet additional water head available with completion of Mangla dam raising project in 2009.
Sheikh said the modern technology is being used to optimise generation capacity of Mangla hydropower station. “The quantum of water, which generates 1,000MW, will be sufficient to generate over 1,300MW.”
He said GE is expanding its footprints in hydropower, coal, gas and renewable generation across the country. GE is expected to power 40 percent of the country’s overall electricity generation by 2019.
The company’s executive added that “Pakistan’s generation capacity will stand at around 35,000MW by 2019; of which 14,000MW would be generated through GE equipment.”
On regasified liquefied natural gas- (RLNG) fired power plants, Mr Sheikh said Haveli Bahadurshah and Bhikki plants have achieved their commissioning following rigorous testing while the Balloki plant would shortly be commissioned. He added that “The gas-run power plants are most cost effective power generation plants in the country and would add 3,600MW into the system. There are some teething problems, but now the plants are operating at full capacity.”
https://www.dawn.com/news/1241827
There are few river systems in the world as long and as reliable as the Indus. The river and its tributaries connect most major cities of Pakistan with each other and the Arabian Sea, but also Kabul in Afghanistan and the towns such as Gurdaspur and Ludhiana in India.
If a carefully engineered Indus Inland Waterways System (IIWS) is developed, connecting several cities in the three countries with the Arabian Sea, it could bring a huge economic boon in the entire region inhabited by 500 million people, including western China and Central Asia.
The economics and advantages of inland waterways are well documented, including in trade, commerce and engineering.
History of missed opportunities
Historically, this potential has existed since the times of British Raj. With the construction of Suez Canal in 1869, the British developed the port at Karachi and improved its transportation links with the interior through roads, railways and steamer services in the Indus.
Although proposals were put up for intercity linkage canals through the Indus, the British engineers saw more economic potential in building irrigation canals (a similar thing happened in the Ganges system).
While development of railways took care of inland transportation needs, the rivers were diverted into irrigation canals to transform the river basin into what is now known as the largest contiguous irrigation system of the world – IBIS (Indus Basin Irrigation System).
And it has sucked the rivers dry.
On the one hand, except for the monsoon months, the Indus delta receives very little to no flow going into the sea, and on the other, ever increasing irrigation demands are calling for damming or diverting even the leftover waters from the environmentally degraded rivers.
It seems almost impossible that the irrigation sector will let go its waters for maritime transportation.
The hope of agricultural efficiency
However, there is a ray of hope. The irrigation efficiency in IBIS is one of the lowest in the world. It is only half that of Imperial Valley in USA, and about two-third of its counterparts in Nile Valley and Indian Punjab.
Efficient irrigation can spare half the water being diverted from the rivers. This would only make economic sense if the water saved through efficiency can lead to more profit. IIWS provides that engine.
The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) 2015 World Economic Database reports that the agriculture sector’s total contribution to Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 23pc, or USD 60billion.
Irrigated agriculture provides approximately USD 45bn of this amount. In contrast, the Mississippi waterways serve approximately 200m people with an annual turnover of USD 70bn.
A fully developed IIWS would potentially serve more than 500m people in the region and could contribute to GDP far more than the current share of irrigated agriculture.
But IIWS will not replace agriculture, instead it will enhance agricultural productivity. Basin-scale investments in irrigation efficiency, therefore, make good economic sense.
Even with the current irrigation technologies being used efficiency can double, and with new emerging irrigation technologies we may be able to produce the same agricultural output with only a fifth of water.
A test run
The government of Punjab (GoP) has taken the initiative to test start a 200 kilometre commercial waterway in the Indus River between Attock and Daudkhel. Through a public private partnership, GoP has established the Inland Water Transport Development Company (IWTDC). The company’s mission is to ultimately connect Port Qasim with Nowshehra.
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2001/03/12/stories/09127101.htm
WHY inland water transport? Mainly because of the many distinct advantages it has over the other modes. IWT routes are developed along existing rivers, canals and waterways and, unlike road and rail, do not need to get into the vexed questio n of land acquisition. The per km cost of development of a waterway is insignificant when compared to that of an equivalent length or equivalent traffic capacity of rail or highway. The maintenance cost of a waterway is also less compared to the corresponding costs for rail or road. The time taken to develop waterway routes is, similarly, negligible.
The most important factor, in my view, is that IWT provides a service that is far more environment-friendly than either road or rail. In the context of damage caused to the fragile ecosystem by rapid economic development, it is impossible to overestimate the importance of this factor. Road transport, in particular, relies exclusively on fossil fuels which are not only polluting, but also finite in character.
The continued use of such fuel must inevitably lead to depletion of existing reserves. Finally, congested roads and indisciplined drivers result in accidents on our highways. Alternative transport strategies, such as IWT, therefore, do a major service by tackling congestion on roads, thus reducing accidents and the horrendous loss of life they cause.
Other parameters are equally revealing. IWT remains, in most situations, the least costly, the least energy consuming and the least hazardous mode of transportation. The order of the magnitude of the ratios between water, rail and road transportation is within the ranges of 1-2-5 in cost and 1-1.5-4 in energy consumption. These ratios are common for many typical routes in diverse waterway systems in the US, Bangladesh and China, though the cost structure is different in each of these countries.
It is unfortunate that we have not realised the immense flexibility of IWT in bringing about decongestion of roads. By increasing draft marginally, the capacity of IWT goes up exponentially. If a two-metre draft can support a traffic load of 150 million tonnes, the addition of a mere half of metre to the depth, bringing it to 2.5 metres, increases the carrying capacity to nearly 300 million tonnes. The facility of using relatively small amounts of capital to increase the existing capacity quite sharply is not available either in road or rail. For countries in the process of rapid development, it becomes a major option in the expansion of transportation capacities.
The effect of an efficient IWT is seen in the development of otherwise land-locked backward areas. IWT not only brings sea cargo to the hinterland, but also serves as a low-cost marketing channel, enabling small rural communities to access other communit ies not only as a market but also as a source of supply. In either case, the economy benefits immensely.
If all these are direct benefits of the development of an efficient IWT, the indirect benefits are no less relevant. The development of an efficient IWT system in the eastern region will undoubtedly promote the growth of a vibrant ship-building industry. Too often, when discussing the shipbuilding industry, we think in terms of VLCCs, ULCCs or very large container vessels. The possibility that the ship-building industry in the eastern region will be able to hold its own against the larger global players is remote. We are unlikely to be competitive in the construction of sophisticated ocean-going vessels.
A separate $2 million technical assistance from JFPR will help the provincial government improve its institutional capacity to address the risks and potential impact of climate change in the agriculture sector
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/adb-approves-100m-loan-to-address-balochistans-water-shortage/
The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) on Monday approved a $100 million loan to address chronic water shortages and increase earnings on farms in southwestern Pakistan province of Balochistan.
The Balochistan Water Resources Development Sector Project will focus on improving irrigation infrastructure and water resource management in the Zhob and Mula river basins, the ADB said in a statement.
“Agriculture is the backbone of Bolochistan’s economy,” said ADB Principal Water Resources Specialist Yaozhou Zhou. “This project will build irrigation channels and dams, and introduce efficient water usage systems and practices, to help farmers increase food production and make more money,” he added.
Among the infrastructure that will be upgraded or built for the project is a dam able to hold 36 million cubic meters of water, 276 kilometers of irrigation channels and drainage canals, and facilities that will make it easier for people, especially women, to access water for domestic use.
In total, about 16,592 hectares (ha) of land will be added or improved for irrigation.
The project will protect watersheds through extensive land and water conservation efforts, including planting trees and other measures on 4,145 ha of barren land to combat soil erosion.
Part of the project’s outputs are the pilot testing of technologies such as solar-powered drip irrigation systems on 130 ha of agricultural land, improving crop yields and water usage on 160 fruit and vegetable farms and demonstrating high-value agriculture development.
The project will also establish a water resources information system that will use high-level technology such as satellite and remote sensing to do river basin modelling and identify degraded land for rehabilitation.
ADB will also administer grants from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) and the High-Level Technology Fund (HLT Fund) worth $3 million and $2 million, respectively, for the project.
A separate $2 million technical assistance from JFPR will help Balochistan’s provincial government improve its institutional capacity to address the risks and potential impact of climate change in the agriculture sector, as well as build a climate-resilient and sustainable water resources management mechanism in the province.
JFPR, established in May 2000, provides grants for ADB projects supporting poverty reduction and social development efforts, while the HLT Fund, established in April 2017, earmarks grant financing to promote technology and innovative solutions in ADB projects.
ADB said it is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members of which 48 are from the region. In 2017, ADB operations totaled $32.2 billion, including $11.9 billion in co-financing.
BACKGROUNDERS - May 21, 2019
By Geopolitical Monitor
https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/glacier-watch-indus-basin/
The Indus Basin covers an area of around 1.1 million square kilometers, starting in the Hindu Kush, Karakorum, and Himalaya mountains before draining into the Arabian Sea in a vast 600,000-hectare delta. Upstream portions incorporate parts of China, Afghanistan, and India, while most of the downstream area falls within Pakistan. The system feeds the 3,000 km-long Indus River, which is the 8th longest in the world.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Indus Basin system to the 237 million people who live within it. The basin’s waters are essential for drinking, food security, and the health of local, fishing-based economies in Pakistan. Fish production (which is 63% marine and 37% inland) accounts for one of Pakistan’s top-10 exports. The health of these communities is an important and oft-unquantifiable consideration; their economic collapse generally leads to rapid urbanization, sectarian conflict, and popular upheaval against the state authorities.
Aquaculture is one economic standout, as the industry is one of the fastest growing in the world and it already contributes 1% of Pakistan’s GDP. Yet the industry is already in trouble: it’s growing at just 1.5% per year, far behind the rate in neighbors like India and Bangladesh, and some are even predicting the collapse of aquaculture in Pakistan within 20 years. At fault is years of unregulated overfishing, along with dam-building and climate change which are destroying species diversity. The problem is especially pronounced in the 600,000 hectares of mangrove forests in the Indus Delta. The unique mangrove ecosystem is ideal for shrimp farming, one of the most value-added fields of aquaculture. But the mangrove forests have been dying out as the Indus’ flow weakens; it’s estimated that some 86% of mangrove cover has been lost between 1966 and 2003 – and it’s likely that the trend has progressed since then.
Reduced flow along the Indus has allowed saltwater to slowly creep upstream, rendering previously arable land unusable and forcing locals to uproot and move in search of greener pastures. There’s some 33 million hectares of cultivated cropland within the basin, served by an irrigation system of 40,000 miles of canals and 90,000 watercourses, all drawing water from the Indus along with other rivers like the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej.
Agriculture is a major part of Pakistan’s economy: some 24 million people are engaged in cultivation – or 40% of the economically active population – and the sector accounted for 22% of Pakistan’s GDP in 2009. Agricultural products are also lucrative export goods for Pakistan – a country that is currently grappling with a severe balance of payments crisis. Food exports account for around 13% of Pakistan’s total exports, and are a rare case of year-on-year growth. Rice is of particular importance, representing 60% of Pakistan’s food exports. It is one of the main crops that’s cultivated in the Indus Basin, which, along with wheat and cotton, represent 77% of the total irrigated area. It is also an extremely water-hungry crop, making it reliant on heavy water extraction.
Zofeen T. Ebrahim Updated June 01, 2019
https://www.dawn.com/news/1485906
For as long as Hasan Abdullah can remember the 50-acre sandy dune on his 400-acre farmland in Sadiqabad, Pakistan’s Punjab province, was an irritant – nothing grew on it.
His farmland lies beside the vast Cholistan desert in a canal irrigated area east of the Indus River in Rahim Yar Khan district. Abdullah inherited it in 2005, when his father passed away. Until then he had been working in information technology.
In 2015, after much research, Abdullah took a “calculated risk” of cultivating the “barren” dune using the drip irrigation system. The government’s announcement of a 60% subsidy on drip irrigation was “a big incentive,” he said. Agriculture, through wasteful flood irrigation, accounts for over 80% water usage in a country facing severe water shortages.
Today, Abdullah’s dune is a sight to behold: fruit orchards have flourished in the sand. He admitted that without drip irrigation the “dune would never have produced anything.
Water mixed with fertiliser is carried out through pipes with heads known as drippers, explained Abdullah, which release a certain amount of water per minute directly to the roots of each plant across the orchard.
And because watering is precise, there is no evaporation, no run off, and no wastage.
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The power of the drip
Using drip irrigation, farmers can save up to 95% of water and reduce fertiliser use, compared to surface irrigation, according to Malik Mohammad Akram, director general of the On Farm Water Management (OFWM) wing in the Punjab government’s agriculture department. In flood irrigation – the traditional method of agriculture in the region – a farmer uses 412,000 litres per acre, while using drip irrigation the same land can be irrigated with just 232,000 litres of water, he explained.
The water on Abdullah’s dune is pumped from a canal – which is part of the Indus Basin irrigation system – into a reservoir built on the land. “Being at the tail end [of the canal system], we needed to be assured the availability of water at all times and thus we had to construct a reservoir,” said Abdullah. For years now, farmers at the head of the canals have been “stealing” water causing much misery for farmers downstream.
Costly savings
But drip irrigation is expensive. Out of Abdullah’s 40 acres of orchards on drip irrigation, 30 acres are on sand dunes and ten acres are on land adjacent to the dune, locally known as “tibba” – a small sand dune surrounded by agricultural land. On the 30 acre-dune patch, Abdullah grows oranges on 18, feutral (another variety of orange) on another six acres, lemons on five acres and on one acre he has experimented with growing olives, which bore fruit this year.
In took three years of “micromanaging the orchards” before the orange and olive trees began fruiting last year. “We hope to break even this year and next year we should be in profit,” he said. It will take another four years to recoup all his investment, he calculated.
Abdullah was the first farmer to experiment with this new approach. Among many challenges that came his way was to get his farmhands to understand the new way of watering.
Akram has had a similar experience, “It is difficult for a traditional farmer to come to terms with it. Unless he sees the soaked soil with his eyes, he cannot believe the plant has been well watered.”
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“Ours is the only farm in Pakistan that has set up a drip irrigation system over such a huge tract – and in the desert too,” said Asif Riaz Taj, who manages Infiniti Agro and Livestock Farm. Now in their fourth year, the orchards have started fruiting over 70 acres. But it will not be before its sixth year, Taj said, that they will “break even”. The drip irrigation and solar plant was installed at a cost of PKR 25 million (USD 174,000), and the monthly running cost of this farm is almost PKR 4 million (USD 28,000).
The Punjab government is providing 60 percent subsidy to the growers on promotion of latest irrigation techniques including drip irrigation in the province with an aim of conserving water and getting more yield. Director General Agriculture (Water Management) Malik Muhammad Akram said that latest irrigation techniques ensure availability of water and fertilizer in time to the plants and it also ensure uniform supply of these two major ingredients to all the plants in a field. It helps attaining more per acre yield with minimum agricultural inputs, he added.
He said that it also help saving fertilizer, time, labour and water by fifty per cent while a lot of water go waste in the traditional watering techniques. He said in this system water goes to plants' roots in shape of drops. This system is also very successful on uneven land or land in Potohar or desert areas. He said there is a need to attract farmers to drip irrigation system as it would help mitigate the negative impact of water shortage or impacts of climate change thus leading the country to self-reliance in food.
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/the-indus-river-system-authority-irsa-relea-660562.html
The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Wednesday released 287,100 cusecs water from various rim stations with inflow of 314,200 cusecs.
According to the data released by IRSA, water level in the Indus River at Tarbela Dam was 1408.31 feet, which was 24.31 feet higher than its dead level of 1,386 feet.
Water inflow in the dam was recorded as 146,200 cusecs while outflow as 130,000 cusecs.
The water level in the Jhelum River at Mangla Dam was 1138.15 feet, which was 98.15 feet higher than its dead level of 1,040 feet whereas the inflow and outflow of water was recorded as 50,900 cusecs and 40,000 cusecs respectively.
The release of water at Kalabagh, Taunsa and Sukkur was recorded as 156,200, 152,900 and 40,500 cusecs respectively.
Similarly from the Kabul River, 63,500 cusecs of water was released at Nowshera and 22,800 cusecs from the Chenab River at Marala.
Managing river systems can help Pakistan manage floods, deal with droughts, create engines for a green economy, as well as help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions more effectively and more cheaply than big dams, argue Hassan Abbas and Asghar Hussain
https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/2019/07/12/restore-pakistans-rivers-handle-floods-droughts-and-climate-change/
Management of riverine corridors and active flood plains is the key to managing large and frequent floods. What we need is to restore the capacities of riverine corridors to pass bigger floods, rehabilitate lost wetlands to absorb flood peaks, and regenerate forests in floodplains to break flood velocities and complement aquifer recharge. The estimated area of Pakistan’s riverine corridors and active floodplains is approximately 21,000 square kilometres as shown on the map. These areas are government-owned lands along 3,186 kilometres of the rivers with an average width of 6.6 kilometres. With proper management of wetlands and forests in this area, it could hold and recharge between 30 to 50 MAF of water during a flood.
No other engineering intervention can match this capacity, and the cost is much lower than building large dams. Additionally this would regenerate ecological services worth billions of dollars each year.
This approach will also help with the management of droughts. The riverbed and sand deposits within the areas shown on the map form freshwater aquifers of excellent quality. If we manage just the top 150 metres of these aquifers, they give us a storage potential of more than 380 MAF (in comparison the proposed Bhasha Dam is only 8 MAF, and the Mohmand dam less than 1 MAF). Compared to our current (wasteful) water demands of 104 MAF per year, this storage potential is enough to sustain us for more than 1,300 days. Our current storage through dams is only 30 days.
If we simultaneously start investing on both the water conveyance systems and on-farm practices to improve irrigation efficiency, current technologies can enable us to produce as much crops with less than 30 MAF. If we reach this potential, over 10-20 years, the aquifer storage of 380 MAF is enough to sustain us for 13 years.
In other words, managing aquifer recharge in the riverine corridor, combined with improved irrigation efficiencies, can literally make Pakistan secure in the event of the longest conceivable droughts.
Projects including a dam, airport and motorway are being finalised in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, ahead of a visit by President Xi Jinping
Prime Minister Imran Khan is keen to generate jobs for the country’s workers, 25 million of whom have been rendered jobless during the pandemic
After a two-year slowdown in the execution of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) following the 2018 election of Imran Khan as prime minister, Pakistan officials are finalising proposals for new infrastructure projects worth billions, ahead of a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping this year.
According to recent statements by Pakistan’s CPEC Authority, which was established during Khan’s visit to Beijing last October, officials are close to wrapping up the “action plan” for the estimated US$8 billion ML-1 project to rehabilitate Pakistan’s rickety railway network.
It would be the single largest project of the CPEC, the first phase of which saw a collective US$19 billion of Chinese credit and investment poured into energy, motorway and other projects, said Chinese ambassador Yao Jing at a conference last year.
Asim Saeed Bajwa, the retired three-star general appointed as founding chairman of the CPEC Authority, said last month he expected to soon sign an agreement with the China Three Gorges Corp for the US$2.5 billion Kohala hydropower project, which would generate 1,124 megawatts of electricity.
Bajwa announced on May 7 that construction work had begun for a US$230 million airport at Gwadar, the site of a Chinese-developed and operated port on the Arabian Sea. Pakistan last month granted approval for the port to handle Afghanistan transit trade.
Bajwa said work on building a second motorway route through western Pakistan, to improve overland transit connectivity between Gwadar and China’s Xinjiang province, had accelerated. Contractors were recently invited to bid for the second section of motorway connecting the Karakorum Highway to Quetta, the administrative capital of Balochistan province, where Gwadar is located.
Andrew Small, author of the China-Pakistan Axis, said in the lead-up to Xi’s visit – which earlier this year was said to be happening in July – there had been a push from China and Pakistan to put together “a decent new package of projects, and also to ensure that any elements of the phase-one plans that had been stalled were pushed forward”.
The political stakes had been raised since CPEC was dragged into the “informational war” which erupted between Beijing and Washington last year, said Small, a Brussels-based senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, a US think tank.
“Given the scrutiny that any visit from Xi would bring, and the need to convey a narrative of progress and success, there would always have been an effort of this sort,” he said.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/09/12/sindh-becomes-only-province-to-have-50-functional-small-dams/
According to the Small Dams Organization chief engineer, the Sindh government had launched a number of small dams, with a total cost of Rs 12,211 million, to contain water crisis in the districts. Various potential sites were identified for small water reservoirs, particularly along the Kirthar mountain on the western side of the province, he added.
“There are strong opportunities to store rainwater in natural catchments of the Kirthar hills which can be used for cultivation, livestock and human consumption on sustainable basis,” he said, adding that the Kirthar mountain range, shared by Balochistan and Sindh, extends southward for about 300km from the Mula River in east-central Balochistan to the Cape Muari, west of Karachi on the Arabian Sea.
The chief engineer said the areas identified for small dams include upper Kohistan, lower Kohistan, central Kohistan, Nagarparkar and Khairpur.
Advisor to Chief Minister on Information and Archives, Anti-Corruption and Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab told Pakistan Today that total of 50 small dams have so far been completed out of which 28 dams are completed under the province’s Annual Development Plan (ADP) while 22 dams are under the federally-funded Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
Barrister Wahab said that the number of total proposed dams stands at 122 and the provincial government is committed to accomplish all the dams at the earliest so as to end the prevalent water crisis in the province. Among these, he added, some 12 dams are located in Nagarparkar–Mithi, while 14 dams in Kohistan-I Dadu and 24 dams in Kohistan-II Jamshoro range.
Under the ADP schemes, the dams which have been completed include Ranpur bund, Mulji, Bhodesar Tank, Khararo Bund, Tobirio Tank, Lakhy-Jo-Wandio, Salari, Makhi, Rani Kot, Bandhani-I, Taki, Maliriri, Mohan, Ashoro Kuch, Suku, Koteri, Thado-II, Langheji, Nai-Mango, Kalu-1, Jharando, Sari, Malir Memon Goth Weir, Kataro, Meer Chakar, Mole Nadi, German Dhoro and Ranpathani. Whereas small dams under PSDP include Naryasar, Ghartiari, Gordhro Bhatiani, Jhinjsar, Lakar Khadio, Khuwara in Nagarparkar-Mithi, Shori, Kukrani, Bandhani-II, Khurbi, Ding Dhoro, Buri in Kohistan-I Dadu and Mullan, Bazkhando, Gaddap, Khand Dhoro, Ullar-Rahuja, Upper Mole, German Dhoro, Ranpathani, Liyari and Watan Wari.
Moreover, the advisor said that 12 small dams that are underway under PSDP included Surachand Bund, Chanida Dam, Rinmalsar, Adhigham in Nagarparkar-Mithi, Hassan Jo Kun, Malir Bukhshan, Sukhan in Kohistan-II Jamshoro and LarhaNai, AikrsoNai, UkhariNai, KiniriNai and WariwaroNai.
KEY RATING DRIVERS
'Very Strong' Status, Ownership, and Control: We maintain our 'Very Strong' assessment regarding WAPDA's ownership structure and control mechanism. WAPDA is a parastatal entity that operates based on the government's guidelines. The government owns 100% of WAPDA and has a tight grip on its overall operation, including financing. The Committee on Public Accounts conducts annual audits of WAPDA.
'Very Strong' Support Track Record: A favourable tariff scheme that covers financing and operating costs helps financial stability. WAPDA expects its fixed charges, which were equivalent to 95% of sales in 2020, to rise significantly in 2021, driven by an increase in capex. The government provides strong financial support, such as government guarantees (30% of debts) and loans that are ultimately incurred by the government, to ensure the entity's financial stability.
'Strong' Socio-Political Implications of Default: WAPDA is Pakistan's largest hydropower supplier. It accounted for 95% of the hydropower capacity in the country and is responsible for flood control and water supply. NEPRA plans to expand hydropower's share of total electricity generation to 35% by 2028, which will bolster the socio-implications of a default by the entity. We expect a severe service disruption should WAPDA fail because there is limited alternative hydroelectric capacity available.
'Very Strong' Financial Implications of Default: We view WAPDA as a proxy funding vehicle for the government in the power sector. The government currently provides a large share of financing for power-related capex, but the policy direction for WAPDA is to expand its own indebtedness without the government's commitment. This will increase the financial implications for the state should it default. The entity's parastatal status means a default will affect future lending and increase borrowing costs significantly for other government-related entities.
Funding Structure to Change: The entity plans significant capex in 2021-2023, while the funding structure will shift towards market sources, away from the government. WAPDA will contribute around 10% of total funding required for projects. We expect leverage to remain under 7x by 2025 from 4.9x in 2020, assuming that the periodic tariff reset is made without significant delay as planned each time. We expect WAPDA's net debt to equity to reach 1.0x by 2025 (2020: 0.2x) without equity injections.
DERIVATION SUMMARY
WAPDA's ratings are equalised with those of Pakistan (B-/Stable), reflecting our assessment of the four factors in our Government-Related Entities Rating Criteria, which results in a weighted score of 50. The ratings of entities with scores of 50 or more are equalised with those of the sovereign, regardless of their Standalone Credit Profile (SCP).
WAPDA's SCP is capped at the sovereign's IDR, given the central role of the government as a counterparty.
RATING SENSITIVITIES
Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive rating action/upgrade:
An upgrade of Fitch's credit view on the sovereign may trigger positive rating action on WAPDA.
Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative rating action/downgrade:
A sovereign rating downgrade, weaker government links or lower socio-political and financial implications of a default may lead to negative rating action.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331808150_Integrating_Floating_Solar_PV_with_Hydroelectric_Power_Plant_Analysis_of_Ghazi_Barotha_Reservoir_in_Pakistan
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Integrating Floating Solar PV with Hydroelectric Power Plant:
Analysis of Ghazi Barotha Reservoir in Pakistan
Temperature function for a long-term district heat demand forecast
Introducing a Floating Solar PV plant in a huge hydroelectric dam reservoir can be a revolutionary step in the field
of renewable energy systems. Floating Solar PV, having a reasonable power generation potential, if implemented on
Ghazi Barotha dam reservoir, can play a vital role in sufficing the peak load demand encountered by Ghazi Barotha
hydroelectric power plant.
The Dam has two heads with a storage capacity sufficient for daily requirement of 4 hours peak demand. On
average three out of five generating units operate for normal load conditions, and according to WAPDA records[14],
on average individual unit produces around 150 MW. The storage capacity of hydroelectric reservoir is utilized when
demand is at peak and according to daily load curves we have two peaks in 24 hours a day. First peak is around 10:00
- 15:00 and the second is 19:00 - 22:00, in some cases we cannot provide our peak demand because the storage has
already been used in the previous peak hours, a solution of the problem of not having stored capacity for peak demand
is to add one more generating unit connected to a floating photovoltaic power source of 200 MW (which is the
estimated output of Ghazi Barotha Dam reservoir I & II, covering 20% of the total area) installed on the Dam reservoir,
during day we could meet our peak demand with FSPV and night peak with hydro power. Moreover, no new
infrastructure is required in terms of transmission line. The same transmission line can be used for the peak demand.
Adding a 200 MW at this site will solve our problem of peak demand in morning and such solar plant could save the
additional costs associated with installing solar power plant any place else i.e. transmission and distribution costs. It
is assumed that the base load demand is always catered by the power from the hydroelectric plant. Floating Solar PV
plant becomes a peak demand source during daytime
https://www.geo.tv/latest/341738-pakistan-strikes-13-billion-development-agreement-with-world-bank
Pakistan has reached an agreement with World Bank to work on seven projects worth $1.3 billion aimed at improving social protection, infrastructure, and governance, a statement from the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Friday.
Minister for Economic Affairs, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar witnessed the signing ceremony of seven project agreements at the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
"This financing will support the government’s initiatives in Social Protection, Disaster and Climate Risk Management, Improving Infrastructure for Resilience, Agriculture and Food Security, Human Capital Development and Governance Sectors," the statement said.
The agreement includes the Crisis-Resilient Social Protection Programme (CRISP) worth $600 million. The objective of the programme is to support the development of a more adaptive social protection system that will contribute to future crisis-resilience among poor and vulnerable households in the country.
"The programme is focused on the key initiatives being undertaken by Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) under the Ehaas Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programmes," the statement said.
The second project worth $200 million is the Locust Emergency and Food Security Project that will introduce a set of customised activities — such as conducting locust surveillance and controlling operations, rehabilitating livelihoods of affected rural communities and farmers — to effectively address the desert locust outbreak.
The third project worth $200 million is the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Human Capital Investment Project.
It aims to improve the availability, utilisation, and quality of primary healthcare services and elementary education services in four districts — Peshawar, Nowshera Haripur, and Swabi — of KP that have been hosting refugees.
The Sindh Resilience Project worth $200 Million — the fourth project — is to mitigate flood and drought risks in selected areas and strengthen Sindh’s capacity to manage natural disasters and public health emergencies.
"The project will support the establishment of the Sindh Emergency Service, including the development of six divisional headquarters operational facilities, provision of equipment, and training of personnel," it said.
It will also support the construction of 35 small rainwater-fed recharge dams in drought-prone regions of Sindh including Karachi, Jamshoro, Thatta, Dadu, and Nagarparker in Tharparkar districts.
The fifth project and sixth projects, Balochistan Livelihood and Entrepreneurship, and Balochistan Human Capital Investment Projects, worth $86 million aim to promote employment opportunities for rural communities; achieve sustainability of enterprises, and improve utilisation of quality health and education services in the province.
The final and seventh project, the Supporting Institutional Interventions for Management of Refugees Project, worth $50 million, aims to improve organisational and institutional capacity for managing refugees and host communities.
Secretary Ministry of Economic Affairs Noor Ahmed signed the financing agreements on behalf of the federal government, while representatives of Sindh, KP, and Balochistan signed their respective project agreements online.
World Bank's Country Director Najy Benhassine signed the agreements on behalf of the World Bank. The country director assured his institution's continuous financial and technical support to Pakistan in a bid to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the country.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/855127-storing-floodwater-to-ensure-availability-for-whole-year
Islamabad : The government is likely to approve an ambitious plan to store floodwater in existing fifteen natural lakes linked with wetlands that would be a nature-based solution of its own kind in the country.
A high official of the climate change ministry told this correspondent that an international organization has recently submitted a report that stated that Pakistan stored only 9 percent of floodwater and the remaining amount went down to the Arabian Sea.
He said “The report pointed out that the melting of glaciers starts in the northern region and monsoon arrives from the southern region. All this happens within 100 days so the flow of water can be turned towards the natural lakes that are part of the wetland sites.”
The official said the natural lakes linked with wetlands can provide enough storage capacity and considerably ensure availability of water throughout the year.
He said there are one million tubewells in Pakistan due to which the level of underground water has reduced in last few decades, adding “The plan will also help recharge aquifer and raise the level of underground water. The whole country will benefit from this plan that is likely to be approved soon by the federal cabinet.”
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has said the government is finding out nature-based solutions to the issue of water storage in the country. He said: “We have received a report from an international organization and it has shown us a path to store floodwater in existing natural lakes.”
These natural lakes are currently losing their water level so the plan would not only restore them to their original status but also help raise the level of groundwater in Pakistan, he said.
n America’s fruit and nut basket, water is now the most precious crop of all.
It explains why, amid a historic drought parching much of the American West, a grower of premium sushi rice has concluded that it makes better business sense to sell the water he would have used to grow rice than to actually grow rice. Or why a melon farmer has left a third of his fields fallow. Or why a large landholder farther south is thinking of planting a solar array on his fields rather than the thirsty almonds that delivered steady profit for years.
“You want to sit there and say, ‘We want to monetize the water?’ No, we don’t,” said Seth Fiack, a rice grower here in Ordbend, on the banks of the Sacramento River, who this year sowed virtually no rice and instead sold his unused water for desperate farmers farther south. “It’s not what we prefer to do, but it’s what we kind of need to, have to.”
These are among the signs of a huge transformation up and down California’s Central Valley, the country’s most lucrative agricultural belt, as it confronts both an exceptional drought and the consequences of years of pumping far too much water out of its aquifers. Across the state, reservoir levels are dropping and electric grids are at risk if hydroelectric dams don’t get enough water to produce power.
Climate change is supercharging the scarcity. Rising temperatures dry out the soil, which in turn can worsen heat waves. This week, temperatures in parts of California and the Pacific Northwest have been shattering records.
By 2040, the San Joaquin Valley is projected to lose at least 535,000 acres of agricultural production. That’s more than a tenth of the area farmed.
And if the drought perseveres and no new water can be found, nearly double that amount of land is projected to go idle, with potentially dire consequences for the nation’s food supply. California’s $50 billion agricultural sector supplies two-thirds of the country’s fruits and nuts and more than a third of America’s vegetables — the tomatoes, pistachios, grapes and strawberries that line grocery store shelves from coast to coast.
Glimpses of that future are evident now. Vast stretches of land are fallow because there’s no water. New calculations are being made about what crops to grow, how much, where. Millions of dollars are being spent on replenishing the aquifer that has been depleted for so long.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2021/03/15/remarkable-development-with-miraculous-achievement-and-boon-for-thar/
It is meritorious to mention that Sindh Government has taken praiseworthy and remarkable initiatives to facilitate and encourage the investment and industrialisation in the Tharparkar district with vivid infrastructural development such as a widespread network of well-constructed roads, construction of the 42 small dams, water carrier pipelines, dam for the reservoir of rainwater in Tharparkar district, establishment of the Mai Bhakhtawar airport, Establishment of NED University Campus, schools by Engro with the collaboration of TCF and the start of the state of the art institutions of heart diseases the institute of Cardiovascular Diseases( NICVD) and several other projects.
The Sindh government has made a remarkable initiative on constructing 42 small dams in Thar. The construction of 23 dams has successfully completed and inaugurated by Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah and he showed an eager interest in the completion of the remaining 11 small dams will be completed by 2022. The initiative of the construction of small dams will not only provide fresh drinking water to 87 villages but will irrigate 85000 acres of land. At present constructed 23 dams have immensely contributed to the irrigation of the hundred acres of land with bumper crops of wheat, Onions, Garlic, Oats, Gawaar, and other crops which is indeed a miraculous achievement of the Sindh government for the prosperity of the People that was the vision of Mohtrama Shaheed Banzeer Bhutto and Bilawal Bhutto which coming to happen as an undeniable reality.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its latest report in August 2021, on the heels of one of the hottest and most devastating summers on record: floods in northern Europe and China, wildfires in the US, and heatwaves everywhere.
The report tells us that the consequences of the current global warming crisis are largely irreversible. The most we can do is to prevent all-out ecological collapse.
One of the more sobering findings of the report is that polar and mountain glaciers are likely going to continue to melt, irreversibly, for decades or centuries to come.
Pakistan has more glaciers outside of the polar icecaps than anywhere on earth. The glaciers feed one of the oldest and most fertile valleys on the planet – that of the Indus Basin, split between India and Pakistan. Roughly 75 percent of Pakistan’s 216 million population is settled on the banks of the Indus River. Its five largest urban centres are entirely dependent on the river for industrial and domestic water.
Pakistan has been blessed with regular agricultural cycles that have sustained its economy through successive crises. However, if the IPCC Report is correct – which it almost certainly is – by 2050, the country will be out of water.
Pakistan is not the only low-income country facing the impacts of climate change. It is not alone in looking on helplessly as industrialised nations – China and the US being the foremost – drag their heels on lowering emissions. Pakistan, like the Maldives and many other island nations, will suffer from the consequences of global warming disproportionately. However, unlike many countries that have taken up the issue of global emissions at the UN, Pakistan is not doing even the bare minimum to try and secure its future.
To say that this is the largest security issue the country will face in the next few decades would be putting it mildly. No other country is as dependent on non-polar ice for freshwater as Pakistan. No other country stands to lose as much. Yet, Pakistan’s government seems singularly unaware of the looming crisis. It has not even made much effort to meet its target of producing 60 percent of its electrical power from renewable sources by 2030. At the moment, the country still gets well over 60 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels.
Pakistan is already facing mounting environmental challenges. Heatwaves are killing scores of people and impacting crop cycles and yields on a regular basis. This year, both its largest city Karachi and its capital city Islamabad experienced devastating floods. Furthermore, the 806-kilometre (500-mile) Karakoram Highway, which is a critical part of Pakistan’s economic corridor with China, was shut down multiple times, for multiple days, due to landslides. These devastating landslides were a direct result of large-scale deforestation in the area north of Kohistan and south of Jaglot. Further north towards Shimshal and east towards the Skardu Valley, timber mafias are rapidly stripping old-growth forests, all but guaranteeing future environmental catastrophes.
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Today, Pakistan is facing an existential crisis. The effects of climate change are not threatening a single sector or region of the country, but the lives and livelihoods of its entire population. As this year’s IPCC report underlined, we are, sadly, already too late to reverse the damage caused by the rampant consumption of fossil fuels. The choice we are facing now – in Pakistan and around the world – is to continue on a path to certain destruction, or start fighting for our collective survival.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-022-00926-1
The groundwater systems of northwest India and central Pakistan are among the most heavily exploited in the world. However, recent, and well-documented, groundwater depletion has not been historically contextualized. Here, using a long-term observation-well dataset, we present a regional analysis of post-monsoon groundwater levels from 1900 to 2010. We show that human activity in the early twentieth century increased groundwater availability before large-scale exploitation began in the late twentieth century. Net groundwater accumulation in the twentieth century, calculated in areas with sufficient data, was at least 420 km3 at ~3.6 cm yr–1. The development of the region’s vast irrigation canal network, which increased groundwater recharge, played a defining role in twentieth-century groundwater accumulation. Between 1970 and 2000, groundwater levels stabilized because of the contrasting effects of above-average rainfall and the onset of tubewell development for irrigation. Due to a combination of low rainfall and increased tubewell development, approximately 70 km3 of groundwater was lost at ~2.8 cm yr–1 in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Our results demonstrate how human and climatic drivers have combined to drive historical groundwater trends.
Alishba Farrukh ⚯͛
@bubblesays
Pakistan has the world's fourth-highest rate of water use. Its water intensity rate — the amount of water, in cubic meters, used per unit of GDP — is the world's highest. This suggests that no country's economy is more water-intensive than Pakistan's. 1/n
https://twitter.com/bubblesays/status/1522195266933305345?s=20&t=YJvQFn8WZuSTKbNkcPfGcA
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Alishba Farrukh ⚯͛
@bubblesays
·
6h
Replying to
@bubblesays
According to the IMF, Pakistan's per capita annual water availability is 1,017 cubic meters — perilously close to the scarcity threshold of 1,000 cubic meters. Back in 2009, Pakistan's water availability was about 1,500 cubic meters.2/n
https://twitter.com/bubblesays/status/1522195653241319425?s=20&t=YJvQFn8WZuSTKbNkcPfGcA
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Alishba Farrukh ⚯͛
@bubblesays
Pakistan is approaching the scarcity threshold for water. What is even more disturbing is that groundwater supplies are being rapidly depleted. And worst of all is that the authorities have given no indication that they plan to do anything about any of this. 3/n
https://twitter.com/bubblesays/status/1522198066169798659?s=20&t=YJvQFn8WZuSTKbNkcPfGcA
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Alishba Farrukh ⚯͛
@bubblesays
Pakistan may face a water shortage of 22-30% for six months starting from April 1 to September 30 during the Kharif season 2022.
https://twitter.com/bubblesays/status/1522198262043877378?s=20&t=YJvQFn8WZuSTKbNkcPfGcA
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Alishba Farrukh ⚯͛
@bubblesays
In 2025 Pakistan may face an acute water crisis. To avoid this outcome Islamabad must work dedicatedly on National Water Security, and plantation dives to protect and conserve natural climate. The problem is not due to water availability but the mismanagement of water
Development sector professional Umer Karim talks about the energy and water crisis looming over the country.
Farahnaz Zahidi
https://scroll.in/article/1026969/interview-at-the-root-of-pakistans-water-crisis-is-mismanagement-of-resources
More than 80% of the population in Pakistan faces severe water scarcity. Without change, this is projected to increase. With the water crisis looming over the country, Umer Karim, a development sector professional, sat down with The Third Pole.
Karim has been working in the field of irrigation and water management for more than 20 years and is a consultant with public and private sector organisations, as well as a regular guest speaker and media commentator.
Can you explain the debate around dams in Pakistan?
In 2010, all the provinces had a consensus on the Diamer Bhasha dam [a dam being built in northwest Pakistan, which will be one of the highest in the world when finished]. However, now the project is taking a lot of flak. It is difficult to understand why they signed the agreement if it is now believed that we will suffer and dry up as a result.
Some people propose that small dams should be built in provinces. Please invite them to visit Chotiari reservoir, a small dam built on the Nara Canal in Sindh in 1996. No doubt it is very helpful and caters to the needs of downstream areas of Umerkot and Tharparkar whenever there is a shortage of water.
But people living near the banks of this dam are badly affected by waterlogging, salinity and land degradation. Small dams may be valuable in sustaining communities, but they need proper operation and maintenance plus remedial measures for waterlogging and seepage.
Usually, dams are built in areas where issues of waterlogging and salinity are expected to have the least impact. Tarbela dam, for example, recharges the area’s water tables and keeps them fresh.
Among people interested in the environmental pros and cons of hydropower, there are plenty of discussions, but technical or scientific research or data is not included. The narrative around hydros, therefore, remains superficial.
This year, we did not have water [stored in] dams. Tarbela was emptied for repair work on its tunnels during the dry – winter – period, and Mangla had to provide support for those areas in Pakistan’s upper reaches. We are essentially on a direct natural flow of the river, which remained lower than average due to low temperatures at glaciers, and this created multiple problems, especially for lower riparian areas.
https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/climate/pakistans-riverine-aquifers-may-save-its-future/
More than a thousand years ago, Alberuni wrote, “India has once been a sea which by degrees has been filled up by the alluvium of the streams.” This view was later endorsed in the late 19th century by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess, who named the sea ‘Tethys Ocean’. Mike Searle, in his 2013 book Colliding Continents explains that the Himalayas resulted from collision of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate 50 million years ago.
The Indus river and its Sutlej tributary both existed prior to this collision and drained into the Tethys Ocean. The collision gradually closed the sea and the remnants of the Tethys were filled by the material of eroding mountains deposited by the flowing rivers.
The Indus rivers have carried huge silt loads for millions of years, depositing them in the plains all the way to the delta. In their 1988 book, Irrigated Agriculture of Pakistan, Nazir Ahmad and Ghulam Rasul Chaudhry explained that high sediment loads in the Indus river system have created nearly 200,000 square kilometres of flatlands. These flatlands, to a considerable depth, are made up of unconsolidated and granular formations, capable of holding large volumes of water. “This reservoir of water is so vast, it ranks among the natural wonders of the world,” the authors write as they describe the groundwater resources of the Indus basin.
Aloys Arthur Michel, in his 1967 book, The Indus Rivers, describes these alluvial deposits as unconsolidated material, deeper than one mile, forming a large homogeneous groundwater reservoir with a capacity “at least ten times the annual runoff of the Indus rivers”.
This begs the question, that if we knew about this groundwater storage potential for decades, why has it never been discussed in the mainstream planning for sustainable exploitation to benefit the inhabitants of the Indus basin?
The reasons could have been many. The military dictatorship in place at the time of the signing of the Indus Water Treaty set a future discourse on the harnessing of surface waters only; a drift into debt economy and the lure of easy dollars in mega infrastructure projects for water; interest groups pushing large dams in the 1950s and 60s – an era when the whole world was going on a binge of building large dams; a lack of capacity at home to scrutinise proposals being advised by foreign ‘experts’ with vested interests; the obvious advantages of the visibility of big structures which can be loudly publicised in political arenas and so on. The result was that Pakistan chose the path of building mega-dams, river diversions and gravity-based flood irrigation systems. In doing so, we severely deteriorated our aquifers through waterlogging, salinity, unmanaged abstractions and indiscriminate pollution.
But that was the past. Is it possible to pursue a different path now?
Water quality
First, given the fact that this vast aquifer sits on top of a filled-up sea, its deeper formations are naturally saline. In the northern parts of the alluvial plains, the aquifer may hold sweet water up to a depth of a thousand feet or so, but as one moves south, the depth of sweet water gradually reduces.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40236204
The shrinking delta of Mighty River Indus of Pakistan has emerged on the United Nations radar after it accepted to create a global convention on all deltas of the world to ensure its protection against rising climate change impacts casting serious impact on its nature and habitat.
The development occurred after a strong international civil society nexus of experts, academicians, policy makers and stakeholders unanimously raised their voice for an international UN Convention for the Conservation River Delta (UN-CCRD) on the sequel of its UN Human Rights Declaration, UN Geneva Pact and many others to ensure that all the major deltas of the world were dying due to adverse impacts of climate change and environmental degradation namely sea intrusion, sea level rise, droughts, depleting water flows, shrinking creeks and others.
The African Centre for Climate Actions and Rural Development Initiative (ACCARD) in collaboration with the Nigeria’s Bayelsa State Government, the Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security at the University of Vermont, the Consortium for Capacity Building at the University of Colorado, Transboundary Water In-Cooperation Network (TWIN), Water Environment Forum-Pakistan, Center for the Advancement of Public Action (CAPA) Bennington College; Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam and Center for Environment and Sustainable Livelihood Projects (CESLP), among others hosted a side event at the UN Water conference titled “Integrative Highland to Ocean (H2O) Action for Disappearing Deltas: Towards a UN Convention on Conserving River Deltas.
Former Senator and federal minister for information and broadcasting and Chairman World Environment Forum, a civil society organization working to protect water resources and environment participated virtually to represent Pakistan in the sideline event whereas Freeman Elohor Oluowo of ACCARD and Prof. Dr. Asim Zia, Director, Institute for Environmental Diplomacy, Vermont physically participated in the session.
The global convention would help in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030 namely SDG-6 demanding “Clean Water”, SDG-13 “Climate Action”, and SDG-14 “Conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources”.
The announcement has came after successful campaign of the above mentioned coalition of non-governmental and civil society organizations who started the drive for a global convention of UN to protect deltas.
The speakers, and experts discussed deltas starting from Nigerian Niger Delta, Indus Delta of Pakistan, Mekong River, Colorado, Nile and St. Lawrence transboundary river basins.
Each of these deltas possessed varying risks owing to spiking up sea level rise and salt water intrusion from the oceans, and rapidly melting glaciers, increasing dams and shifting rainfall patterns in the highlands.
The UN had accepted that all the world deltas were under threat and sea level rise and intrusion was causing damage to soil and water ecosystems. It is not only nature but rather the communities, the livelihood opportunities and human lives that were diminishing and demanded the world to respond for their protection.
There will be various activities in Delta countries towards achieving the UN Convention for the Conservation River Delta.
Permanent Court of Arbitration rejects India’s objections to a Pakistan-initiated procedure over water use in the Indus River basin.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague has rejected India’s objections to a Pakistan-initiated procedure over water use in the Indus River basin, reopening a procedure that had been blocked for many years.
India called the arbitration proceeding illegal as a neutral expert was also looking at the issue and the World Bank-brokered treaty prohibits parallel proceedings, the Reuters news agency reported on Thursday.
The South Asian neighbours have been arguing over hydroelectric projects on the shared Indus River and its tributaries for decades, with Pakistan complaining that India’s planned hydropower dams in upstream areas will cut flows on the river which feeds 80 percent of its irrigated agriculture.
To resolve the dispute, Pakistan sought resolution through PCA arbitration proceedings in 2016, prompting India to request that the World Bank appoint a neutral expert under the terms of the treaty. India has boycotted The Hague court proceedings and questioned the competence of the court.
“In a unanimous decision, which is binding on the Parties and without appeal, the Court rejected each of the objections raised by India and determined that the Court is competent to consider and determine the disputes set forth in Pakistan’s Request for Arbitration,” the court said in a statement on Thursday.
It gave no details on when and how the case will continue, but added that it will address the interpretation and application of the bilateral Indus Water Treaty, notably the provisions on hydroelectric projects, as well as the legal effect of past decisions of dispute resolution bodies under the treaty.
A spokesman for India’s foreign ministry, Arindam Bagchi, said India’s “consistent and principled position has been that the constitution of this so-called court of arbitration is in contravention of the clear letter and spirit of the Indus Water Treaty”.
He said India was participating in the proceedings of the neutral expert, which he called “the only treaty-consistent proceedings at this juncture”.
“Legal sophistry” will not compel India to participate in the proceedings of the PCA, Bagchi said.
India says the construction of its Kishanganga and Ratle Hydro Electric projects is allowed by the treaty.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office said it remained fully committed to the implementation of the Indus Water Treaty and its settlement mechanism, which it termed a “foundational agreement” between the two countries.
“We hope that India would also implement the Treaty in good faith,” Foreign Office spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement on Thursday night.
@sherryrehman
Good news for Pakistan! Our Recharge Pakistan project, which will be implemented over the next 7 years, has been approved today for funding of 77.8 M USD. These include GCF resources of 66 M USD and co-financing of around USD 11.8 M. This adaptation project aims to initiate ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) interventions that will store flood water in wetlands, floodplains and depressions (green infrastructure) at several priority sites, build community resilience at these sites, and enable the Government of Pakistan, including all lead provinces and stakeholders to implement & replicate such nature-based solutions for climate resilience.
https://twitter.com/sherryrehman/status/1678625444176822275?s=20
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Funding of $77.8 million has been approved for Recharge Pakistan, a project that aims to build the country’s climate resilience and water security, Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman announced on Tuesday.
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40252003/778mn-funding-secured-for-recharge-pakistan-project-sherry-rehman
“Good news for Pakistan! Our Recharge Pakistan project, which will be implemented over the next seven years, has been approved today for funding of $77.8mn,” said Rehman in a post on Twitter.
The minister highlighted that the funding includes $66 million from Green Climate Fund (GCF) resources and co-financing of around $11.8 million.
GCF was established in 2010 by 194 countries party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is designed as an operating entity of the Convention’s financial mechanism and is headquartered in South Korea.
“This adaptation project aims to initiate ecosystem-based adaptation interventions that will store flood water in wetlands, floodplains and depressions (green infrastructure) at several priority sites,” said Rehman.
Recharge Pakistan is a joint collaboration by GCF, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Government of Pakistan. As per information available on the WWF website, the project aims to build Pakistan’s climate resilience and water security through cost-effective ecosystem-based adaptation.
“The project will increase water storage and recharge through wetlands, floodplains, and hill-torrents management; promote climate-adapted community-based natural resource management and livelihoods; and forge a paradigm shift to scale up this approach,” read the website.
Last week, Rehman during a high-level meeting with a delegation led by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, President-designate of COP28 and UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said a “critical gap” in resources for adaptation and mitigation has been identified by multilateral agencies -amounting to $348 billion or 10.7% of cumulative GDP by 2030.
Despite this, Pakistan is committed to a green energy transition, whereby it will transfer 60% of its energy needs to renewables by 2030 and reduce its projected emissions by 50% until 2030, Rehman said.
Pakistan is actively involved in transitioning the country towards the renewable energy sector and is seeking partnerships in the alternative and renewable energy sector, the minister added.
https://india.postsen.com/local/806198.html
Sulemani Headworks built on Sutlej River in Pakistan.
Pakistan has extended a hand of friendship amidst the flood situation in India. The country which used to close the gates of its headworks and dams in the event of floods in Punjab, has opened the gates of Sulemanki headworks this year. This step taken by Pakistan has brought a big relief. In the past, 1.92 lakh cusecs of water reached the neighboring country from Hussainiwala.
In the last 6 days, floods have caused a lot of destruction in Punjab. While the situation has worsened in the eastern case, it is now being felt in western Malwa as well due to the release of water from the Harike headworks. Initially Pakistan had closed its gates of Sulemanki Headworks near Fazilka, but now water is flowing smoothly into Pakistani territory.
Water level in Harike crossed 2.14 lakh cusecs
With this step taken by Pakistan, the major threat of flood in Fazilka has been averted for the time being. In the past, 2.14 lakh cusecs of water was seen flowing in Harike of Sutlej. At the same time, the flow of water near Hussainiwala was recorded at 1.92 lakh cusecs, which is flowing towards Pakistan.
https://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/recharge-pakistan-project-receives-77-8-million-funding-boost-from-the-green-climate-fund-united-states-agency-for-international-development-the-coca-cola-foundation-and-world-wildlife-fund
The new 7-year project brings together a broad set of funders to help reduce the vulnerability of people and ecosystems in Pakistan to the impacts of climate change following the devastating floods of the past year—which submerged one-third of the country and displaced millions. In addition to the GCF funding, the project is supported through a further $12 million investment and technical support from, collectively, The Coca-Cola Foundation, The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and WWF-Pakistan.
The project represents a deep commitment to addressing climate impacts in vulnerable communities and will transform the country’s approach to flood and water resource management in local watershed sites in the Indus Basin river system. Further, by taking a nature-based approach to the problem, it will create benefits to communities beyond climate resilience.
“Recent years have brought an unprecedented series of climate disasters that touched every corner of the globe. The 2022 floods in Pakistan were among the most searing and severe. Our hearts go out to all who lost friends and loved ones,” said Carter Roberts, President and CEO of WWF-US. “The funding announced by the GCF alongside the commitments from The Coca-Cola Foundation and USAID marks a decisive step towards addressing the challenges faced by communities experiencing climate impacts first and worst. And while no intervention can fully protect against future climate disasters, the nature-based solutions funded through this investment will help local communities in Pakistan restore what was lost and build resilience to help withstand our shared climate future. WWF thanks the Government of Pakistan and looks forward to working with them and partners to implement this important initiative.”
Recharge Pakistan is a collaboration among: Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC); the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) under the Ministry of Water Resources; local communities in DI Khan, the Ramak Watershed, and Manchar Lake; GCF; USAID; The Coca-Cola Foundation; and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The program encompasses three vital components: demonstrating the effectiveness of ecosystem-based adaptation and green infrastructure, promoting its adoption via an improved enabling environment, and enhancing community resilience in Pakistan's Indus Basin. This will be achieved through:
Restoration and reforestation of 14,215 hectares of forests and wetlands
Rehabilitation 34 km of water flow paths and channels
Development of 127 recharge basins and retention areas
Strengthening the climate resilience of 7 local businesses in the agriculture and forests sectors
Together, project interventions will directly benefit more than 680,000 people and indirectly benefit more than 7 million people.