Ground Water Resources
of Punjab, Pakistan
Introduction
The Punjab-Land of Five Rivers-consists of the vast alluvial plain traversed
by the Indus River and its tributaries, the Chenab, Sutlej, Jhelum,
and Ravi Rivers,
in the northern part of West Pakis tan. Toward the north the Punjab is bordered
by the Himalayan Foothills, the Salt Range, and the Potwar
Plateau. The Indus and Sutlej Rivers are, respectively, the western and southeastern boundaries of the area. The alluvial
plain extends southward, beyond the Punjab, to the Arabian
Sea
Irrigated agriculture is of prime importance. It generates 90% of Pakistan's agricultural production. Thanks
to the investments of the last
120 years, the Indus irrigation
system, covering 86% of the national irrigated
area, has become the largest contiguous
irrigation system in the world.
Groundwater has become an increasingly important resource for irrigation, particularly in the Punjab, in the northern Indus. Plain, where it contributes an estimated 50% of
the
on-farm
water
supplies
In Punjab, the
importance of groundwater can be ascertained from the fact that quantitatively,
it is contributing over 50% of canal water supplies available at the farm-gate.
Canal system provides about 55 MAF of water to Punjab each year. Of this amount
approximately 40% recharge goes to the groundwater. This recharge and
additional irrigation water is provided through groundwater extraction.
Presently there are about 500 000 private tube wells in the Province
abstracting 30 MAF to cover an area of 51 MAC. Discharge of the private tube
wells varies from less than 0.5 cusecs to more than 1.5 cusecs and operation
factor ranges from about 3% to more than 30% with an average of 10.5%.
Additional groundwater 4 MAF is extracted for SCARPs, industrial and domestic
use.
Punjab
constitutes an area of 50,968 m acres. Its canal irrigated area is about 24.3 m
acres. It lies mainly in the four Doabs , a part of Bahawalpur and some
portions in D G Khan. The remaining 27 m acres depend upon rainfall.
Groundwater
Before
the development of the irrigation system crops were irrigated by active flood plain.
After the floods the plains were planted and supplementary water requirements
were derived from ground water through Persian wheels, open wells and by
lifting water from ponds. Knowledge of water formations existing within 50 ft
to 100 ft was available and utilized. Later with advent of centrifugal pumps
deeper water resources were utilized there was, however, no systematic study of
the ground water resources. In 1954 Punjab Agriculture Department in
cooperation of US Geological Survey started a study Of the soils and ground
water resources. These investigations supported by WASID of WAODA outlined the
existence of the Aquifer.
Ground Water Potential
The main source of
groundwater in the Punjab lies in the four hydrogeological zones, namely
Potohar plateau & salt range, Piedmont areas, Alluvial plains and Cholistan
desert. Indus River and its tributaries drain the province. In Punjab a lot of
work has been carried out on seepage from the irrigation system and the
resulting recharge to the groundwater (PPSGWP, 1998). The groundwater potential
is based on rainfall recharge, groundwater recharge and recharge from
irrigation system. The rainfall recharge of 9.90 MAF (15% from 380 mm/year) in
different SCARP areas was worked out during the period 1987-97 (PPSGWP, 1998).
The recharge from return flow, irrigation application, and sub-surface inflows
was assessed 7.08 MAF (22.5% of 31.5 MAF). Canal seepage varies from 2 to 8
cfs/msf depending on the size of canal and drainage characteristics. A delivery
of 24 large canals for the irrigation year 1990-91 was with an average of 54
MAF. The recharge from these canals was estimated 21.70 MAF (40% of 54 MAF).
The recharge from rivers was 3.5 MAF and return flows from domestic and
industrial use were assessed as 0.57 MAF (22.5% of 2.52 MAF). The total
available groundwater resource of the Punjab Province was estimated 42.75 MAF
Formation of the Aquifer
The geographical division between the Indus Plain and the mountains has a parallel
in the aquifer systems between
the two
regions The Indus
Plain
was formed by sediment
deposits from the Indus River and its tributaries, and it is underlain by a highly transmissive, unconfined aquifer. In the Punjab, most groundwater supplies
are fresh. The main exceptions are the areas of saline groundwater in the centre
of the interfluviums ('doab'), particularly those between Multan and Faisalabad, around Sargodha, and in the south-eastern part of the province
Groundwater law and policy
The use of groundwater for irrigated agriculture in Pakistan has a long history. The existence of vertical
well systems ('karezes') in Balochistan was documented by Greek
travelers as long as 2500 years ago. Persian wheels formed an important element
in the flood-recession agriculture in the Indus Plain prior to the development of surface irrigation. The present degree of groundwater exploitation in Pakistan
is unprecedented.
In 1960, groundwater still accounted for only 8% of the farm-gate water supplies in Pakistan's most populous Province,
the Punjab. Twenty-five years later, in 1985, this amount had gone up to
40%. This figure is nowadays
considered to be on the conservative side and ground water supplies about the
same amount of water as the irrigation system • Fresh groundwater was exploited to be used conjunctively with surface water. This way, intense shallow tube
well development in the Indus Plain made up for many of the deficiencies of unreliable and insufficient water
supplies in the Indus irrigation system. Outside the large scale irrigation in the
Indus Plain, groundwater development changed the face of many arid areas, in the un-irrigated tracts of Punjab. According to official
estimates, the development of shallow wells and deep tube
wells has played the main role in the expansion
of the area under cultivation
in Pakistan, with 75% of the increase
in water supplies from 1960 to 1985 being attributable to public and private groundwater exploitation. During the same period,
the cropping intensity
increased by 39% (MINFA 1988).
With this dramatic increase
in the intensity of groundwater exploitation, the policy landscape has changed. The main policy issues now relate
to environmental sustainability and welfare, i.e. how to avoid declining groundwater tables and deteriorating groundwater quality in fresh
groundwater areas, and how to ensure equal access to this increasingly important natural resource.
Two different, and partially
opposing, policy themes
dominated the political
agenda. The first theme was the control of high groundwater tables
in the canal irrigated areas in the Indus
Basin. The second theme was the active promotion
of tube well installation as a means to
encourage. Agricultural development
Tube well promotion for agricultural development
Besides the control of water
logging and salinity, a second
important policy in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s was the promotion
of private tube well
development. In canal-irrigated areas, private tube well
development can help alleviate drainage
problems. This was probably one reason why the licensing procedures of the Soil Reclamation Act and the WAPDA Act were never enforced. Outside
the canal irrigated
areas private tube wells can foster economic development. In the un-irrigated parts of the Indus Plain, in Balochistan, and in North West Frontier Province, private
tube wells make it possible to bring large tracts of land under cultivation.
Private groundwater exploitation was stimulated
in several ways. Foremost
among these was to provide subsidized power supplies
to tube well owners. . Several government programs promoted tube well
development by providing
free pump sets and wells, and by making soft loans
Private tube well
development soon took off, even without public subsidies. Private
tube well ownership in the Indus Plain exceeded
400,000 in the early 1990s. By this time, Balochistan and North West Frontier Province
each had more than 10,000
tube wells. By the late 1980s, the Report of the National Commission on Agriculture concluded
that groundwater development
could now be left entirely
to the private sector. Almost all government support to private tube
well installation came to an end. The most important exception was the continuation of the low electricity tariffs
for agricultural tube
wells.
Current ground water issues
Groundwater policy of the last 40 years in Pakistan can be summarized by a number
of characteristics: The focus
of
groundwater
policy
was
on
the
control
of
water
logging and the stimulation of private
tube well development. Government interventions were supply driven. There was little
concern about overexploitation of aquifers or deteriorating groundwater quality.
Groundwater policy
relied
on
public
investment
and
subsidies
rather
than
on
regulation. Legislation was not enforced. It was
not clear
whether the federal government or the provincial
governments should regulate
groundwater exploitation. All policies
were initiated
and implemented
at provincial
and
federal level. The involvement
of local government was minor. There
was no involvement of local farmers’
organizations. Local
government and farmers’ organizations are weak
in Pakistan.
During the last 40 years, the spectacular increase in the number of private tube wells has changed the setting entirely
and invalidated the old policies. In several fresh
groundwater areas in the Indus Plain, there has been a complete
volte-face. Where 30 years ago high groundwater tables were the major threat,
groundwater levels have now declined
due to private tube well development. Salinization through capillary
rise is no longer a threat, but the intense pumping poses other threats
to soil and water quality.
Outside the canal-irrigated areas of the Indus Plain,·
the promotion of private tube well development is outdated. Groundwater is no longer the limitless
resource it once was. In the absence of effective
regulation, the large numbers of tube
wells have resulted in groundwater mining. In addition, the social issue of distribution of access to groundwater has come to the fore. Because most of the tube
wells are privately owned, the question is: How can people without a private
tube well use the groundwater? The next
section begins with a discussion of the current
groundwater issues in the Indus Plain and the mountain
provinces. It concludes
with a brief look at another emerging groundwater issue,
i.e. the declining
urban water tables.
Groundwater
issues in the Indus Basin Punjab
Owing to public and private groundwater development, water
logging has disappeared from most fresh
groundwater areas of the Punjab.
It persists, however, in isolated natural depressions and in areas with saline
shallow groundwater, in particular in the centers
of the interfluviums and in the south-east. As a result,
the Punjab suffers from the paradox of having areas with high water tables and areas where tube
well development has been
so intense that water tables are declining. A study undertaken in 1990 suggests
that in the Punjab the volume of groundwater extracted
significantly exceeds the volume of water recharged. The study estimates
the difference to be as much as 27% on a provincial basis (NESPAKISGI 1991), but this over extraction is concentrated in a number of
fresh groundwater areas.
Localized overexploitation in fresh groundwater areas has already
lowered groundwater tables 2m to 4 m in some places. There are also fears that the intense
use of groundwater will lead to a deterioration of groundwater quality.
The first reason
for such a decline in groundwater quality
is the intrusion of water from saline
groundwater zones into the over pumped fresh groundwater zones (Ahmad and Kutcher 1992). The second reason is associated with the heavy reliance on groundwater vis-a-vis surface water, particularly towards
those tail-ends of the distributaries and watercourses where
surface water supplies
are scarce and erratic. (Recent
research by IIMI Pakistan indicates that unreliable tail supplies are related more to the type of outlet than the distance
from the distributary head.) Because groundwater is generally more saline and sodic than canal water, the increased reliance
on it in certain areas is bringing
more salts to the soils and causing
deterioration of soil and groundwater quality.
VanderVelde and Kijne (1992) established this scenario for the tail-ends
of two distributaries in the Punjab, but in other distributaries fresh groundwater recharge is better
at the tail-ends. The extent of groundwater-induced secondary salinization still needs to be established. In their study of the SCARP-1 project
area, Beg and Lone
(1992) looked at changing
groundwater quality parameters
in 1900 tubewells over a time span of 25 years. They
established that overall
groundwater quality had deteriorated,
particularly in residual sodium-content levels. Many of the wells
in which groundwater quality had improved were next to an even larger number of
wells where quality had deteriorated. In another study,undertaken by IWASRI (1995),
soil quality was monitored in SCARP areas.
The IWASRI study established that only 7% of the sample plots
had turned saline and/or sadie from the long-term use of tube well
irrigation. These plots were mainly
irrigated from tube wells with marginal water
qualities. The study also found that in 41% of the plots, soil salinity
and/or sodicity had disappeared. In summary, the data on the extent
of the changes in soil and groundwater quality due to secondary salinization is inconclusive and contradictory.
The spectacular increase
in private tubewells
in the Punjab began in the 1960s,
with the installation of 'black engines.'
These are low-speed
prime movers that operate on crude oil. The rural electricity grid expanded in the 1970s,
and electricity became the preferred
source of energy for the tube wells. Gradually the electricity tariffs - although
still subsidized - went
up. Between 1989 and 1993 flat rates increased
by 126%, and electricity lost its popularity as the main source of energy. The big boom in private tubewell development in the 1980s was generated
by the availability of locally
manufactured high-speed diesel
engines ('peters'). These diesel engines,
with a typical capacity of 12 to 15 hp, operated centrifugal pumps, lifting between
20 and 30 I per s. The relatively low investment costs (usually below US $ 1200) opened up the sector to small farmers.
Moreover, there were no fixed energy charges for the diesel engines,
as there were for electric
pump sets. This was particularly useful
for conjunctive water use, for which the hours of utilization of the pumpsets
were relatively low. In·the irrigated
areas of Dera Ghazi Khan and Layyah districts, in the cotton belt of the eastern Punjab, the number of tube
wells doubled between 1981 and 1987, and then doubled again between
1988 and 1991.
By 1993, tube well density in Dera Ghazi Khan had increased to 4.4 per 100 acres from 0.7 in 1981. In Layyah,
in the same period, tube well
density increased to 2.7 per 100 acres from 0.5 in 1981. Operation factors
(the proportion of hours of utilization) were 5.3% in Dera
Ghazi Khan and 3.9% in Layyah (van Steenbergen 1993). In the rice-and
wheat belt in the south-western Punjab, the growth in tube
well numbers was exponential.
. With the data they collected
data from the Lagar Distributary of the Lower Chenab channel in Sheikhupura district, VanderVelde and Johnson (1992)
established that the number of tube
wells had increased four-fold between
1980 and 1989. In 1989, tube
well density in the area also served by public SCARP tube wells was 2.2 per 100 acres. In another
canal command in the same area, the Mananwala distributary, Malik and Strasser (1993) found
that tube well proliferation and
density were comparable. The average operation factor was 9.4%, higher than in
either of the two cotton
belt areas
A remarkable finding in all four case study areas is that tube
well densities in areas with marginal groundwater quality do not substantially differ from those in areas with fresh groundwater. Yet particularly in many tail reaches, little
good quality surface water is available
to mix with the marginal
quality groundwater. This is the reason why some have warned against the danger of groundwater-irrigation-induced soil salinity in the
tail reaches (Murray Rust and vander Velde
1992). It is only in areas with very saline
groundwater, such as the Fordwah Sadiqia area in the extreme south-west
of the province, that tube well
densities are lower. The tube wells
that are in use are usually skimming
wells, which skim off the thin layer of
fresh water that floats on the saline water.
An issue related to the distribution of tube wells over the command area is the
theme of equity in access to groundwater. Several authors in the early 1980s argued
that access to groundwater was being monopolized by a few 'water lords,'
who could afford
to install a tubewell• In reaction, others pointed out that the inequity
in ownership was mitigated to some
extent, as less fortunate farmers
could hire the tube
wells (Meinzen-Dick and Sullins 1992, Strasser and Kuper 1993).
There were debates
on several ways to make the water markets more effective in reaching non-owners. Nevertheless, the question
of access to groundwater has to be placed in a dynamic
perspective. There are indications that tube
well numbers have increased as tubewell operation factors have decreased.
A number of surveys took place in Dera Ghazi Khan and Layyah. In 1983, operation factors were 5.3% in
Dera Ghazi Khan and 6.0% in Layyah.
A second survey
in 1986 recorded higher operation
factors: 9.5% in Dera Ghazi Khan and 8.0% in Layyah. In 1992, however,
tube well operation factors were significantly lower: 5.3% for Dera Ghazi Khan and 3.9% for Layyah. In the six years from 1986 to 1992, the number of tubewells in Dera Ghazi
Khan had increased
by 174%. In Layyah, the increase was 131%. What appeared to have happened
is that the demand for groundwater was slowly saturated
in this period. Even so, the number of tube wells increased. Small farmers, especially, purchased their own tube
well, sometimes pooling
resources with others. This decreased their dependence on tubewell-water purchases
from other farmers.
For those who could still not afford their own tube
well, the situation improved nevertheless, as there were more providers. Water prices did not go up in this period,
despite an increase
in the water-lifting costs. This further suggests that groundwater market changed from a sellers' market to a buyers' market
The tremendous growth in the number of private tube wells caused the government of the Punjab to reconsider its role in groundwater management. As shallow wells were providing
vertical drainage, the government decided
to phase out the public
tube wells in the fresh groundwater areas. Over the years, operation
and maintenance costs of the deep tube wells had become prohibitive. Moreover,
the condition of the SCARP deep tube wells had deteriorated to the point where 67% of the tube
wells were operating at less than 50% of their original capacity. The policy of phasing out public tube wells took shape in the SCARP-1 area, where farmers were provided with a
subsidy to develop a private tube
well to compensate for the reduction in the discharge
from the SCARP tube
well. The intention is to close down all of the SCARP tube
wells in fresh groundwater areas before the year 2002. The government's direct involvement in groundwater management will come almost
to an end. Public deep tube
wells will continue to be operated only in areas with saline groundwater, to prevent saline groundwater intrusion in fresh groundwater
zones. It has to be said that in many saline
Ground water areas the farmers have already made efforts to close down the tube wells, to prevent the saline effluent, which was often inadequately drained,
from spoiling their land.
Urban groundwater issues
Most of Pakistan's major cities rely on private pumping for domestic water supply. The piped supply from the Water and Sanitation Agencies
is generally far too limited
and unreliable. Shallow private
wells are sunk in large numbers to augment supplies
- even where restrictions are in force,
such as in the city of Quetta (Balochistan). The large-scale exploitation of the aquifer underneath the cities has led to falling water tables and to contamination of water supplies
by leaking sewerage
systems and septic tanks, as Rahman (1996) has documented for Karachi. In Quetta,
the overexploitation of the confined aquifer by agricultural users in the surrounding area has
already led to doomsday projections, predicting that in the foreseeable future even the supply from deep
groundwater to the capital of Balochistan
will dry up. Another problem
is the excavation of the river beds near the big cities,
to provide building
material. In the Malir River near Karachi,
for instance, the disturbance of the river bed has already resulted
in a limited recharge of water flows
and reduced water levels in wells in the adjacent area.
So far these urban groundwater
problems have gone unaddressed. The same is true of industrial groundwater contamination. There are indications that the uncontrolled disposal of industrial
waste water and the sludge from petrol pumps has contaminated groundwater supplies, but there is hardly
any monitoring of the problem, and even less control.
Tube Wells
In Punjab 2903 Thousands HA were irrigated by tube
wells in 2015. .There were 1.028 m electric
Tube wells out of which 1.027 were private, there were 0.896 m diesel
tube wells out of which 0.865 were private. The diesel-operated tube wells/wells
constitute 87 percent of Pakistan’s total tube well population. The current tub
well density in Punjab is 46. The utilization factor of electric tube wells is
almost double than the diesel tube wells. Similarly, utilization factor of all
category private tube wells during Kharif season is more than double than in
the Rabi season. The utilization factor of private tube wells is greatly
influenced by tube well type, growing season and agro-climatic zone. . · There is a big mismatch between the depth
of water table and the energy (horsepower) used to pump groundwater from this
depth. This is one of the major sources of energy wastage in the agriculture
sector of Pakistan. The efficiency of locally made diesel tube wells is also
very low, which is not only causing serious energy losses but also increasing
pumping costs. There is a possibility to improve energy efficiency of locally
produced pumps by at least 50 percent, which will decrease energy bill of
private tube well owners. · The cost of installing tube wells soar rapidly as
water table depth declines. The cost of installing tube well in areas where
water table depth is more than 24 meters is 7 times higher as compared to those
areas where water table depth is around 6 meters. The estimated annual fuel
(diesel) consumption by the diesel tube wells in Pakistan is about 950 million
liters, which is worth Rs. 16 billion. The electric tube wells’ power
consumption is currently 1.02 billion kilo watt-hours (kwh) costing Rs. 2.6
billion annually. The total energy cost of operating private tube wells is
about Rs. 18.6 billion per annum. · The farmers with access to good quality
groundwater are getting substantially higher crop yields. The yields of wheat,
cotton and rice crops are 41, 75 and 68 percent higher than average national
yields, respectively. The survey results show that the groundwater quality
(dS/m) varies from 0.3- 4.6 in Punjab. The groundwater quality varies depending
on its origin, the source of recharge and the pattern of groundwater movement
in the aquifer. · The selling prices of groundwater are about 50 percent higher
in NWFP as compared to Punjab and Sindh. These higher prices are due to
elevation differences of agricultural lands that limit the farmers to buy water
from the tube well of their vicinity. This allows the tube well owners to
monopolize the prices. However in other parts of Pakistan, the selling price of
electric tube wells is almost half of diesel tube wells. This is mainly due to
lower O & M costs of electric tube wells. · High-energy costs, declining
groundwater tables and incipient secondary salinization are considered to be
the biggest threats to the sustainability of groundwater irrigation in
Pakistan. Pakistan’s groundwater economy
is largely farmer-financed; about 77 percent tube well owners use their own
funds, 10 percent acquire bank loans and rest of the farmers depend on other
sources like joint ownership, borrowing from relatives and friends and subsidy
to install their private tube wells.
Implications
. Groundwater has become a major source of water supply in Pakistan. Excessive
use of groundwater is causing secondary salinisation . Continuous over-draft has resulted in
excessive groundwater abstraction, so that 5% area of Punjab Province contains
groundwater out of reach of poor farmers. Up-coning of deep saline water has
started in some parts of Pakistan . There is a need to realistically estimate and
manage the demand for water . The flat-rate energy charge has encouraged
farmers to exploit more and more groundwater, which has resulted in an
unsustainable situation.
It is difficult not to be pessimistic about groundwater management in Pakistan. As the study on the Indus basin
by Masood and Kutcher (1992:92) concludes, '...in all probability, the quality
of groundwater,
on which
Pakistan
depends
for
about one-third of its irrigation supplies, is deteriorating. Within a few years, most of it may be unusable, or out of reach of existing pumps.
Given that tube well
farmers have been the singular
bright spot in the sector for the last two decades, this prospect is most
discomforting.' At the same time, water
logging persists in the areas of saline
groundwater in the Indus Plain. In the mountain provinces, in Balochistan, and in a number of areas of North West Frontier province, the intensity of groundwater mining is already
far beyond sustainable limits. The decline
in groundwater tables, it appears,
can be stopped only by a drastic
reduction in tube well numbers. The trend is, however, the opposite, and it seems that only the shore will stop the ship. Finally, urban drinking water supplies from private wells in several
large cities are in jeopardy as well.
The development of groundwater exploitation has brought about major social changes too. The falling
groundwater tables in Balochistan have led to the decline
of karezes throughout the province,
denying many farmers access to the vital resource. On the other hand, former have gained access to groundwater by developing dug wells. In areas where groundwater has fallen below the level that can be exploited
by a dug well, deep tube
wells appeared on the scene. Because
the investment costs for a tube
well are high, access to groundwater was monopolized by those who could afford
to pay them.
To some extent, selling of water from private
tube wells mitigates the inequity. Relatively brisk water sales are reported
in all provinces. It is obvious,
however, that non-owners are last in the cue, making groundwater supplies to them less reliable
and, in times of scarcity, the object of a favor. These problems
are compounded by rights-of-way issues and conveyance losses. This explains
why in many areas shallow
tube well installation - which is relatively expensive-
continued, even where there are active groundwater markets. Ultimately, with the number of groundwater providers increasing, the market was saturated. Water lease prices decreased, and non-tube
well owners had a larger choice of tube
wells from which they could take water. While this increase in installed
capacity improved equity
in access, the downside was that
it contributes even further to overdrafts.
Aquifer Recharge
The different and complementary characteristics of surface water and
groundwater make it possible to solve specific needs of water quantity and
quality more adequately and economically than if both resources are used
separately. Aquifers can provide water storage, distribution, and treatment that can be combined with surface water
and hydraulic structures to augment water availability more economically and in a more functional and environmental way.
Likewise, groundwater possesses other advantages such as its adaptability to a
progressive increase in water demand, the
possibility of temporary overexploitation as a means of deferring costly construction projects, for mitigating
the effects of droughts, and alleviating drainage problems. Another virtue of
groundwater in conjunctive use schemes is the insurance role it plays . Aquifer storage can be used through
artificial recharge and alternate conjunctive use. Groundwater is
used more during dry periods, while surface water is used more extensively in
wet periods in alternate conjunctive use. This strategy enables an increase in
water availability through an increase in subsurface storage.
Recommendations
1. A groundwater regulatory framework should be
introduced and implemented for the sustainability of groundwater use
2. There is
need to manage the demand of water
3. Low water delta crops should be preferred to high
delta crops
4. Efficient
irrigation methods should be used to irrigate crops
5. Recharge of groundwater should be increased by
increasing canal diversions, rainwater harvesting and check dams
6. Saline water can be used for saline agro-forestry
or for alternative agricultural crops
7. Energy charges should be at least equal to the
cost of delivering electricity to tube wells
8. Research on groundwater recharge is urgently
required.
It has been argued
that groundwater management should be part of a larger effort to integrate water resource management in Pakistan (Bhatti and Kijne 1992). Ahmad and Kutcher (1992) argue that a reallocation of surface water supplies between
fresh groundwater areas with relatively low surface irrigation duties and fresh groundwater areas with high irrigation duties and
saline groundwater areas,
would go a long way to reduce groundwater mining in the former areas and to water
logging in the latter areas. VanderVelde and Kijne (1992) looked at various possibilities of redistributing surface water supplies along one distributary channel
so as to improve groundwater quality in the middle and tail sections, and they concluded
that insufficient surface
water was available
for the canal
to achieve such an objective. Reallocation between and within canal distributaries is, moreover, politically unacceptable at
present. Yet, given the need for integrating surface and groundwater management, one would hope that this will change,
and that there will be more flexibility in redirecting surface supplies
Ahmad and Kutcher (1992) argue further
that channel and watercourse lining
should be undertaken
in saline groundwater areas to reduce seepage from the surface
irrigation systems. At the same time, more investment
in subsurface drainage
is required. The costs of such investments, however, are substantial, and while they will probably prevent the problem from worsening, they cannot remove it. Yet
even more is needed. For fresh groundwater areas, both in the Indus Basin and the
mountain provinces, effective regulation is required. There is, however,
a lot of ground to cover in this field.
To start with,
the data available on groundwater is patchy and often
outdated or irretrievable. Systematic monitoring is limited to the SCARP areas, where it is done by the Federal
Water and Power Development Authority. Outside the SCARP
areas, very little monitoring is undertaken. There is an urgent need to improve monitoring of groundwater levels
and groundwater quality.
With respect to groundwater quality,
there is also a need to start investigating
the contamination of groundwater by pesticides, particularly in the cotton-
growing areas, that account for the lion's share of pesticide consumption in Pakistan (World
Bank 1996) . This raises a second issue, i.e. the responsibility for groundwater management. For a long time there was confusion as to which organization had the mandate in this regard. As. explained, for a long time there was even confusion on basic issues,
such as whether it is the province or the federal government that is responsible for groundwater management. The conflicting stands of the WAPDA Act and the Soil Conservation Act were noted,
with the first confirming federal
responsibility and the second confirming provincial responsibility. Even more confusion
was added by an ordinance
from 1979 (the Local Government
Ordinance), which suggests
that all groundwater falling within the local area of an urban council
shall come under the control of this local government body. Fortunately, the new
and overriding acts that have come into force in 1997, for the Provincial Irrigation and Drainage Authorities in all four provinces, makes an end to the confusion and puts the responsibility for groundwater management,
irrigation and drainage
operations, and cost recovery clearly
with the newly established Provincial Irrigation
and
Drainage
Authorities.
These
new authorities
are
to ensure that groundwater monitoring is undertaken, and they have a mandate· to initiate policies
to address groundwater management problems.
Moreover, the Environmental Protection Agency Act of 1996 offers the beginnings
of a legal basis for groundwater-quality management. This Act calls for the establishment of Environmental Protection Councils at federal
and provincial level that will set standards
on groundwater quality.
Most likely the provisions of the Environmental Protection Agency Act will be applicable
to industrial effluent standards rather than to rural groundwater quality.
Because these Acts have been issued recently, little
has happened in operational terms
so far. The Provincial Irrigation and Drainage Authorities were notified of their promulgation only in the second half of 1997. Realistically, one can expect the Authorities to be occupied
with establishing themselves as revenue-generating and self-accounting bodies for some time to come, before
they will be able to address the challenges of groundwater management.
. A third issue is the role of local organizations. On paper, the Balochistan Groundwater Rights Ordinance created the scope for the development of local rules and the involvement of local
groundwater users. Unfortunately the Ordinance was badly implemented, and in one valley It even demoralized groundwater users who had developed their own pooled-resource management regime. An important lesson from Balochistan is that ordinances, acts, and laws are
meaningless without enforcement and the involvement of groundwater users,
The question remains, Who will take the effort
of organizing the users of the new groundwater resource?
In Balochistan and parts of North West Frontier province,
organization appears to be the only way forward. In other areas (e.g. the Punjab and Sind), the sheer number
of groundwater users is too large to even think of a local resource
management regime. Yet regulation is not less important. It will
simply have to depend more on public organizations, licensing,
and cooperation with the agri-service sector. The formulation of such a regulatory framework
is now being considered for the Punjab.
This will have to be supported by a public awareness campaign, as awareness
of the changed groundwater issues among
farmers and political decision-makers is very limited, and much of the thinking is dominated by the period when water logging was still the main issue. Without such awareness, enforcement of any regulation
will be difficult.
Finally, the price of groundwater needs to be mentioned. In the discussion on water management,
it is often proposed that water prices should reflect
water scarcity, so as to encourage more prudent water use. The question in Pakistan is how to implement such a pricing
system? Most tube wells
run on diesel, making it hard to increase the price of diesel without hurting other non-agricultural diesel consumers. On the other hand, the subsidies of electrical supplies to tube wells continue. This is an anomaly
that should be corrected. The tragedy of Pakistan is that groundwater is a very precious resource,
yet, at the same time, it
is a resource that can be exploited
at very low cost.
Studies on depleting ground
water resources in the city of Lahore and around suggest that a multifaceted
strategy of aquifer recharge needs to be put in place. The elements are: rain
water harvesting in the urban areas; construction of a low level weir over the
Ravi to store flood water and rain water for aquifer recharge purposes; Lahore
expansion to the East should be prohibited and the area be kept free of the
urban sprawl, there also need to be ponds established all over the land left
free of urban intrusion; a weir on the dried bed of Sutlej should be build to
store flood water for aquifer recharge purposes.
The Punjab government is going to
kick-off a project for recharge of aquifer for groundwater management in Punjab
to develop the economical and sustainable technology and to recharge the
aquifer naturally and artificially at the available site across the Punjab. A
project with the estimated cost of Rs 582.249 million has been approved to
execute this project for four years time period by the Punjab Irrigation
Department. The main objective of the scheme is
to recharge the groundwater by pounding of flood water in old Mailsi Canal and
supplement it by installing suitable recharging mechanism like recharging well
as pilot project.
