Water deficiency remains key issue

With the country fast heading towards a water-deficient status, experts at a workshop in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, this week emphasised the need to educate the public about the natural water shortages and efficient management of available water both for household and irrigation purposes.

"The awareness of end-users [of water] is critical at the moment since they have to face the fallout. At the same time, an integrated and sustainable approach at the institutional level is required to efficiently manage the available water resources to cope with future challenges," Dr Shahid Ahmed, director of water resources directorate of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), told IRIN in Islamabad.

At present, Pakistan is classed as a "water-stressed" nation, having about 1,200 cu metres per capita water availability for a population of almost 150 million. However, according to water experts that figure could slip below the water-deficient level of below 1,000 cu metres per capita per year by 2010 onwards if the current situation prevails.

Demands on Pakistan's water resources are multiple, ranging from drinking and sanitation to irrigating crops, manufacturing activities, or as a vital component of the country's ecosystem.

"In a country with a high population growth expected to rise to 221 million by 2025, an integrated approach to the nation's water resources has never been more important," noted Tim Cullen, a water consultant for the Asian Development Bank's water programme facilitating Tuesday's journalist workshop on water issues in Pakistan.

The Islamabad workshop was organised by the bank to provide local journalists with an overview of some of the key water issues affecting the South Asian region in general and Pakistan in particular, with a relevance on the essential role of media to create awareness about water challenges ahead.

Pakistan's agricultural sector, which accounts for 93 percent of all water usage in the country, is under severe pressure due to natural water shortages, high population growth and inappropriate management of available water.

"We have to introduce greater institutional efficiencies to manage water logging and salinity, reduced water storage capacity, over exploitation of groundwater and weak water management for irrigation purposes," Ahmed said.

Meanwhile, tensions with neighbouring India, which shares the rivers of the Indus basin with Pakistan, over water availability remain at the international level, while domestic tension between Pakistan's provinces and over the distribution of water at the local level between farmers continue.