KEY POINTS
- Pakistan faces floods in the monsoon, droughts afterward.
- 36–40 MAF flows unused into the Arabian Sea.
- Storage capacity meets only 30 days of needs.
- Planned dams raise storage to just 45 days.
- Aquifers could store 380 MAF, largely untapped.
- Political disputes stall National Water Policy implementation.
- India’s dam releases worsen Pakistan’s flood and drought crises.
ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan reels under record monsoon floodwaters—now affecting millions in Punjab and Sindh—the country confronts a recurring paradox: an abundance of water in season but crippling scarcity outside it.
Experts point out that Pakistan’s water crisis is no longer about availability alone, but about management.
Each year, massive volumes rush down from glaciers and monsoon rains, swelling rivers and submerging towns before flowing unchecked into the Arabian Sea.
Yet, once the monsoon subsides, the same nation struggles to provide water for crops, drinking, and power generation.
The cycle of surplus and shortage, aggravated by climate change, has exposed deep structural flaws in Pakistan’s water storage and utilisation system.
Wasted monsoon waters
Official figures indicate that Pakistan receives an average of 140–145 million acre-feet (MAF) of river flow annually, primarily during the monsoon months.
Merely, 106 MAF is diverted into irrigation canals, but due to seepage and inefficient flood irrigation practices, more than half never reaches crops.
Another 36–40 MAF flows unused into the sea every year. In effect, only a small fraction of the water that floods the plains during summer is put to productive use, while the rest becomes a source of destruction.
Storage shortfalls
Pakistan’s storage infrastructure, built decades ago, now retains water for just a 30- day requirement, covering only about 15 per cent of the annual river flow. Global practice recommends retention capacity for at least 120 days.
Even if projects like Diamer-Basha, Mohmand, and Dasu are completed on schedule, total capacity would only rise to 45 days—still far below what is needed to cope with future flood and drought cycles.
Officials warn that heavy siltation in Tarbela and Mangla has further reduced the effective capacity of these lifeline reservoirs.
Future potential
Water experts argue that untapped opportunities still exist. Proposed projects, including Soan Dam, Akhori Dam, and the much-delayed and controversial Kalabagh Dam, could provide billions of cubic metres of additional storage and thousands of megawatts of hydropower.
Smaller dams such as Mohmand, Dadhocha, and Winder would offer critical flood protection and recharge aquifers.
Meanwhile, initiatives under the “Recharge Pakistan” programme aim to capture and store at least 5 MAF of floodwater by 2030.
More ambitious estimates suggest Pakistan’s riverine aquifers could store up to 380 MAF, a natural reservoir that remains largely ignored in planning.
Policy versus practice
The National Water Policy envisages a 30 per cent improvement in efficiency, reduced conveyance losses, and an additional 10 MAF in surface storage.
Yet implementation has lagged. Successive governments have announced projects, but political wrangling, financing hurdles, and provincial disputes continue to stall progress.
Senior officials acknowledge that unless water conservation is pursued with the same urgency as counter-terrorism or economic reform, Pakistan may face an existential crisis within two decades.
India’s water weaponisation
Compounding Pakistan’s internal weaknesses are external challenges. In recent weeks, sudden releases from Indian dams without prior intimation have worsened downstream flooding, while reduced flows in rivers like the Chenab are threatening irrigation supplies in Punjab ahead of the Kharif season.
Pakistani officials describe these moves as “water aggression” and a violation of the Indus Waters Treaty, which remains in abeyance after India unilaterally suspended it against the spirit and provisions of the Treaty.
Analysts warn that New Delhi’s ability to block or release water at will gives it a strategic lever over Pakistan, especially in times of political or military tension.
Looking ahead
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has described water storage as a “national survival project,” urging expedited construction of reservoirs.
Planning officials insist that the debate should move beyond political slogans to practical measures in improving irrigation practices, repairing canals, and investing in aquifer recharge alongside dams.
As climate change intensifies extremes—bringing fiercer floods in summer and harsher droughts in winter—the need for decisive action is greater than ever.
Unless Pakistan harnesses its floodwaters for future use, the nation risks moving from one emergency to another, leaving millions vulnerable to both floods and drought.
