Introduction to Water Storage Solutions: Tackling Pakistan’s Growing Crisis
Water is essential for life. Clean water is vital for human health, industry, agriculture, and energy production. Yet the world’s water systems face formidable threats due to unsustainable management and climate change. As many as 3.5 billion people could experience water scarcity by 2025, while demand is projected to go by 30% by 2050. Water-related conflicts and political instability are on the rise. Climate change is worsening the problem, intensifying floods and droughts, shifting precipitation patterns causing sea level rise. Already, 90% of natural disasters from 1995-2015 have been water or heat related. Pakistan continues to experience acute water scarcity, largely driven by drought and intensive agriculture.
Despite its location in the Indus River Basin, Pakistan is at risk of acute water challenges. Its surface and groundwater sources are increasingly stressed and severe drought conditions persist in parts of the country due to a lack of rain. Due to Pakistan’s diverse geography, rainfall tends to vary significantly from region to region. Much of the country is arid or semi-arid, with three-quarters of Pakistan receiving less than 250 millimetres of rain per year and droughts are common in many areas. In Sindh and Balochistan, severe drought conditions have been caused by a lack of rain during the winter and monsoon rainfall periods. The rate of ice melt has also been affected by climate change, creating a greater risk of flooding and extreme water cycle variability. Snowmelt and glacial runoff also contribute between 35 to 40 % and 25 to 35 % of Indus Basin River flows, respectively, making their contribution indispensable to Pakistan’s hydrological cycle.[i]
The situation is made worse by Pakistan’s rate of water usage, which is the fourth highest in the world, while its water intensity rate (the amount of water used per unit of GDP) is the highest in the world. According to the German watch, Global Climate Risk Index, Pakistan is counted amongst the top ten countries that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In addition, the total number of people living below the poverty line are 88 million, which is approximately 39.2% of the total population of Pakistan.[ii]
Pakistan has an extensive agriculture sector, which uses flood methods of irrigation to grow water-intensive crops, using up to 97% of all surface water and more of the groundwater. The water infrastructure in Pakistan is outdated and in poor condition, which leads to high conveyance losses, while little is stored because of a lack of reservoirs and sediment build-up in existing facilities. Therefore, reservoirs are needed at all levels and have to be of all sizes, especially in barani areas, which are areas dependent on rain and without irrigation.
While water storage at a large scale is already being addressed by the government through prioritizing the building of dams, it is the small storage capacity which can directly reach the poorest that we need to focus on. Due to limited state resources and investment, barani areas are some of the poorest regions in Pakistan. Therefore, it is important to look at low-cost solutions to supplement water storage in Pakistan with the goal of providing benefits to the poorest of the poor in the country and as a buffer against increasing climatic variability. One of the low-cost solutions is construction of small and large ponds which are a reliable and economical source of water. [iii]
History of Pondage in South Asia
Ponds have historically been part of the hydrological landscape of the South Asian region, depending on the topography and climate. A study of regional water resources systems illustrates many traditional structures. For example, in the arid climate of Balochistan and the Kutch peninsula, there is archaeological evidence for wells and stone dams to store water from local runoff. These age-old structures, known as gabarbands, are sloping stone rubble structures placed to intercept intermittent storm runoff and alluvium from hillsides.
There is also evidence of historical water management techniques in a relatively dry hard-rock area of central India that was known as Bundelkhand, which included parts of present-day Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Large ponds (also referred to as tanks) as well as numerous smaller ponds were built after 831 AD at such sites known as Khajuraho and Chanderi, and almost every village had at least one pond. More than 40,000 ponds were built, mostly 250–300 years ago, within the Wainganga river basin in the Bhandara district, to provide irrigation. The district has the largest proportion of irrigated land in Maharashtra, with nearly 80% of the land under cultivation of rice, wheat and sugarcane. Traditional systems of storage were adapted to the different topographic and geological conditions in different parts of the region, small-scale structures at some sites and single structures, depending on the area’s unique climatic conditions.
In South India, such as the dry region of Karnataka, ponds were first constructed in the eastern deltas to store the diverted flows of perennial rivers, probably from 600 AD. Around 1300 AD they were the main source of irrigation in the drier interior region. The simple ponds included earthen dams with stone revetment upstream, a sluice with a tunnel closed by a plug, an overflow weir and a canal network. In Sri Lanka the emphasis was on larger reservoir structures. A large number of small pond cascade systems have been constructed by communal enterprise. It is estimated that a total of 7600 small ponds currently exist in the various provinces of Sri Lanka, and that there are an additional 7700 abandoned ponds with an overall total of over 15,000 ponds, mainly concentrated in the Northwest and North Central Provinces. These systems consist of networks of small reservoirs that are linked and designed to irrigate rice, provide water supply for humans and livestock, and to generate groundwater recharge.[iv]
Why is Pondage Important in this Part of the World?
The need for increasing agricultural water storage systems (such as ponds) is obvious for Pakistan because of its large areas with rainfall variability. Rainfall variability is an important determinant for a country’s development, and this translates directly into a need for water storage. In many places, rainfall variability is likely to be magnified due to climate change, even where the total amount of rain increases. Different forms of water storage such as ponds can increase water security and agricultural productivity, thereby leading to improved livelihoods and reduced rural poverty.
Rainfall variability is a major impediment to the livelihoods of the poorest people. The inability to predict and manage rainfall, and consequent runoff, is a key factor to their food insecurity and poverty. Climate change will exacerbate extreme weather conditions, and periods with too much rainfall will frequently be followed by periods of little to no water. Thus, water management will become increasingly difficult and many poor farmers will become even more vulnerable than they already are. Under such circumstances, even relatively small volumes of water storage can significantly increase agricultural and economic productivity and improve people’s well-being because it would safeguard domestic supplies and support crops and/or livestock during dry periods. For millions of small farmers, reliable access to water is the determining factor between self-sufficiency in food and hunger and thus has an important role to play in poverty reduction, sustainable development and adaptation to climate change.[v]
Million Ponds Initiative for Pakistan
To make a significant impact in the storage capacity for small farmers and communities across Pakistan, there needs to be a low cost and green solution that can be implemented at a large scale throughout the country in partnership with the government. With proper planning and execution, up to a million ponds can be built over three years. Therefore, a concept proposal for such a project by Hisaar Foundation, known as “Million Ponds Tabdeeli” has been researched and proposed and will be outlined in this paper[vi].
There are many ways to categorise ponds, but for the purpose of this paper we have categorised them by type of water source: spring water, seepage, rain-fed, and flood-fed. Pakistan has a diverse topography from the northern highlands to the Indus River plain, the desert areas, the Potohar Plateau, Balochistan Plateau, Salt Range, and the Sistan Basin. Considering the diverse topography, the ponds would be selected on the basis of their source of water. There is no one type or size fit for all ponds. Spring water ponds are good for mountainous areas in Gilgit Baltistan (GB), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK). Seepage ponds are good for irrigated areas in mostly Punjab, Sindh and some parts of KP. Rainfed ponds are good for Barani areas in deserts, some parts of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and Potohar.
Two sizes of ponds should be built, small ponds that can hold 20,000 litres of water per day (10 ft x 9ft) and large ponds that can hold a maximum of 50,000 litres per day (15 ft x 10 ft). These ponds should be constructed in all the provinces of Pakistan on the basis of the poverty map made and used by the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) to cater to the poorest of poor districts. The feasibility analysis of the sites would include temperature, average precipitation rate, vulnerability index, topography, geography and whether it is a flood prone or drought prone district. The cost and size of the pond will depend on local factors: rocks, soil, precipitation, topography, number of people, distance from villages, and possibility of under-ground tanks.
According to the World Health Organization, the daily water needs per person is between 50 litres to 100 litres. Therefore, to pursue a “Million Ponds Tabdeeli” project, we are proposing 50 litres of water per person per day.
Ponds can be of a range of sizes, from small with a capacity from 20,000 litres to large with a capacity of 50,000 litres. The average capacity of a pond would therefore be 35,000 litres. Assuming that every pond will fill to a capacity of 30 days a year, it would make a total of 350,000 litres per year. At 50 litres per day, every user will require 18,250 litres per year. This means a pond of 35,000 litres filling 30 days a year could support an average of 57 people.
Given that we are proposing a million ponds, we would be serving 58 million people which is 66% of the estimated 88 million people living below the poverty line. Since the ponds will have different surface areas and the sources of water are different for different ponds, some of them will require filtration. We are assuming 10% of the ponds will require filtration plants. The recommended filter plant should have the following components: slow sand filter, charcoal filter, UV radiation and chlorination. We envisage all these filter plants would be locally made, locally produced and low cost.
It is recommended using the feasibility study done on the “Geography of Poverty” by Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (2014-15) and Dr. Haroon Jamal’s seminal work on “Spatial disparities in Socioeconomic Development: The Case of Pakistan” as a baseline to identify districts for implementation. Selection of sites will be done according to two criteria – (i) poverty level and (ii) type of water source. The scale and size of the pond will depend on the type of water source available. A baseline study needs to be conducted for all selected sites that includes the precipitation rate, population, topography, poverty rate, vulnerability indicators, climate hazards etc. Approval of the federal government would be needed in order implement such a project as it is envisioned on a large scale across Pakistan.[vii]
Such a project would provide “Total Water Cover” to the beneficiary population rather than just drinking water as vulnerable communities’ lives can only improve if their total water needs pertaining to drinking water, personal and household hygiene, cooking and sanitation can be met.
Providing safe and clean water through purification systems is one of the greatest challenges for Pakistan. The need for these plants desperately highlights a fundamental right every citizen has: access to clean drinking water and water for domestic and sanitation needs. Specifically, for women who are childbearing individuals, safe water is key to their reproductive system and to ensure that the chance of birth defects for the future generation is no longer a worry. Increasing access to water purification plants will also help Pakistan in achieving its SDG 6 targets. It is also expected that people from neighbouring villages could travel short distances to fetch water from these plants.[viii]
The proposed project will generate benefits as briefly outlined below:
● Benefits approximately 58 million people (or 66% of the population below the poverty line)
● Enhancement of small storage capacity
● Mitigation against floods and droughts
● Provide water for drinking, domestic use, farming & livestock
● Welfare of the poor
● Job creation (skilled and unskilled workers required for construction)
● Increase in agricultural productivity
● Low-cost infrastructure development
Furthermore, the proposed project directly meets some of the objectives laid out in the National Water Policy of Pakistan as follows:
Policy objective 2.1: Augmentation of the available water resources of the country through judicious and equitable utilization via reservoirs, conservation and efficient use.
Policy objective 2.2: Improving availability, reliability and quality of freshwater resources to meet critical municipal, agricultural, energy, security and environmental needs.
Policy objective 2.15: Promoting appropriate technologies for rainwater harvesting in rural as well as urban areas.
All three policy objectives are addressed by the proposed project. Construction of a million ponds to store water at multiple levels and in various capacities will result in augmentation of available water resources throughout the country. Furthermore, these ponds will capture freshwater from precipitation which will improve availability of freshwater resources. These ponds will be supplemented by water filtration technologies at select locations and this will further lead to an improvement in water quality. Finally, the proposed ponds are being built for the purpose of capturing rainwater as well as supplemental water storage.
Additionally, the project is completely aligned with the government’s strategic priority 3.2 addressing “Storage” in the National Water Policy which states that the most important instrument of mitigation against the impact of climate change on water resources is storage. When the pattern of rainfall becomes erratic—with more than average rain in one year and a drastic reduction in the following year—the only way to conserve the surplus rainwater in wet years is to store it and release it in dry years, when required.
A key part of the project is identification of agencies and partners on the ground for implementation. Since this is a large-scale and extensive project across all provinces of Pakistan, implementation partners will be central to the execution process. Key partners will include government departments such as P&D, PHED, Social development, CSOs and CBOs, construction companies, engineering consultants, RSPs, etc. Appointment of technical advisors will be necessary to oversee the project. The advisors will be responsible to make site assessments based on proposed criteria to determine the type of pond to be constructed. After the sites have been identified in the target districts in all the provinces, then the government will be required to acquire the sites for pilot testing and scaling up. Alternately, some of the communities may be able to provide land. The respective beneficiary communities will then be mobilised and an MoU would be signed to ensure that there is a buy-in and ownership of the project from the communities, especially for ongoing maintenance of the infrastructure.
The project envisages construction of one million ponds of various sizes over a three-year timeframe. The first phase would be a pilot phase with construction of 1000 ponds across all the provinces of Pakistan. The poorest districts that fall under the classification of extreme poverty zone 1 will be targeted for the pilot phase. In years 2 and 3, the project will be scaled up to construct the remaining 999,000 ponds (large, medium and small) across all provinces of Pakistan.
It is proposed that the 1000 ponds for the pilot phase be divided amongst the provinces as follows:
● 3 districts in Punjab (DG Khan, Rajanpur and Muzaffargarh)
● 3 districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Kohistan, Upper Dir, Tank
● 2 districts in Sindh (Thatta and Umerkot)
● 1 district in Balochistan (Kila Abdullah)
● 1 district in Gilgit Baltistan (Skardu)
● 1 district in Azad Jammu Kashmir (Bagh)
These districts are identified as the poorest districts of the provinces and most vulnerable to poverty. They are only indicative and can be changed. The proposed districts will also provide a comprehensive coverage of the country, consisting of varying sources of water, range of topographies and diverse climatic features. These sites will also provide a diverse sample of type of rock, precipitation, population, number of villages, and distance from water source with which to work.
The second phase will be implemented in the second and third years of the project which will consist of constructing the remaining 999,000 ponds across the provinces of Pakistan. For the scaling up phase, it is recommended to first serve those districts that fall under the classification of extreme poverty zone1 and then extreme poverty zone 2 and so on up the poverty profile. For phase 2, the pilot model of 1000 ponds can be replicated 1000 times in the different provinces in varying combinations as required.
Since this is a large-scale and extensive project across all provinces of Pakistan, implementation partners and community engagement will be central to the execution process. It is envisaged that the project would be implemented as a public-private partnership enterprise. Partnership agreements will be signed between the Ministry of Water Resources (MOWR) and various Civil Society Organizations such as rural support programs. Along with government departments and the agencies already mentioned, private and public companies working in water filtration, construction, water and sanitation, irrigation, etc. can also be contacted. Local government and Community Based Organizations will play a key role in community mobilization and outreach.[ix]
Conclusion
Rainfall variability across Pakistan, and insufficient capacity to manage it, contributes to much of the prevailing poverty and food insecurity in the country. Pakistan has been experiencing severe negative impacts of climate change in terms of heat, droughts and floods. Population growth alongside climate change will only make finding water storage solutions more important. By ensuring that water is available at times when it would not normally be available, water storage systems such as ponds can significantly increase agricultural and economic productivity and enhance the well-being of people. There needs to be a shift in focus from planning large dams to considering water storage options that will benefit the poorest of the poor and be cost-effective in order to implement them as widely as possible.
The Million Ponds Tabdeeli project outlined in this paper would be an important step in this direction because it provides a low-cost green solution to supplement water storage across Pakistan. Given limited government resources, a public-private partnership will be essential to implement such a large-scale and extensive project. The proposed project directly meets some of the objectives in the National Water Policy which makes it all the more relevant and should easily have the necessary buy-in from government entities. Sixty-six percent of the population below the poverty line would benefit from the potential water that could be stored and used for drinking, domestic use, farming, and livestock. This project would create jobs and increase agricultural security and development. Given that the most important instrument of mitigation against the impact of climate change on water resources is storage, implementing such a project is the need of the hour.
REFERENCES
Sutcliffe, J., Shaw, J. & Brown, E. (2011) Historical water resources in South Asia: the hydrological background. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(5), 775–788.
Matthew McCartney and Vladimir Smakhtin, Agricultural Water Storage in Developing Countries, World Water Congress 2011.
Geography of Poverty, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF).
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Programme, Pakistan (2022). Living Indus – Investing in Ecological Restoration. Available at: https://www.livingindus.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Living-Indus-Investing-in-Ecological-Restoration-Final-Version.pdf (Accessed: 02 January 2024).
Hisaar Foundation, (2021) Million Ponds Tabdeeli – Low cost green solution to supplement water storage across Pakistan Concept Note. rep. Karachi: Hisaar Foundation.
Hisaar Foundation, (2021) Million Ponds Tabdeeli – Low cost green solution to supplement water storage across Pakistan Pre-Pilot Phase Proposal. rep. Karachi: Hisaar Foundation.
[i] Hisaar Foundation, (2021) Million Ponds Tabdeeli – Low cost green solution to supplement water storage across Pakistan Concept Note. rep. Karachi: Hisaar Foundation.
[ii] Asian Development Bank (2021), Poverty Data
[iii] Hisaar Foundation, (2021) Million Ponds Tabdeeli – Low cost green solution to supplement water storage across Pakistan Concept Note. rep. Karachi: Hisaar Foundation.
[iv] Sutcliffe, J., Shaw, J. & Brown, E. (2011) Historical water resources in South Asia: the hydrological background. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(5), 775–788.
[v] Matthew McCartney and Vladimir Smakhtin, Agricultural Water Storage in Developing Countries, World Water Congress 2011
[vi] Formally submitted to Ministry of Water Resources, Government of Pakistan on 21st September 2021
[vii] Hisaar Foundation, (2021) Million Ponds Tabdeeli – Low cost green solution to supplement water storage across Pakistan Concept Note. rep. Karachi: Hisaar Foundation.
[viii] Hisaar Foundation, (2021) Million Ponds Tabdeeli – Low cost green solution to supplement water storage across Pakistan Concept Note. rep. Karachi: Hisaar Foundation.
[ix] Hisaar Foundation, (2021) Million Ponds Tabdeeli – Low cost green solution to supplement water storage across Pakistan Concept Note. rep. Karachi: Hisaar Foundation.
