Indus River Basin: Water Management Plan
Prepared by: Aaron Burt, Jon Lee, Jeff Morgan, Ben Roman, Roman, and Liyiran (Shelly) Xia Xia Prepared for: International Affairs 501 - Water and Sustainable Development April 26, 2016
Executive Summary Home to the largest irrigation system in the world and roughl y 300 million people, the Indus River Basin is endowed with high-quality glacier melt from the Himalayan mountain range; however, Pakistan and India are increasingly finding their water resources to be diminishing at an alarming rate. Climate change, inefficient water use, pollution from agricultural, industrial and domestic sectors, in addition to historic water allocation disputes, all contribute to the growing water crisis in one of the most strategically important regions in the world. Water security has innate links with food and energy security. With a growing population and increasing urbanization rate, improving water management mana gement of the Indus River Basin is vital in ensuring the livelihood of a large faction of Southeast Asia’s population and in preventing a range of economic, social, and political instabilities that can have a ripple effect across the globe. This Plan conducts a situational analysis on the status of water management in the basin, with a focus on four main areas: hydropower h ydropower development, irrigation, wastewater pollution, and legal framework. framework. Our strategies strategies are: are:
emphasizing integrated water management approach rather than isolated efforts across different jurisdictions increasing the use of small scale hydropower structures that have less ecological impact than big dams promoting education on techniques to increase irrigation efficiency, reduce waterlogging, seepage, evaporation, and wastewater implementing low-cost wastewater treatment systems to improve the overall water quality and human health within the basin strengthening law enforcement mechanisms through resource sharing and capacity building with external actors such as international institutions and donors meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals through su ggested indicators
Many developing regions around the world are experiencing similar problems as the Indus River Basin. Implementing an efficient efficient and well executed water management plan is one of the foundations to improving improving the quality of life in in these areas. Constructing a ‘template’ to to achieve these goals, in a region that may not have the financial capabilities to do so, is sorely needed. If successful in in the Indus River Basin, Basin, this plan can be used to improve the quality of life, by improving the overall water management, for many developing nations around the world.
of the Punjab Plain where the Indus connects with its most significant tributaries, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej Rivers. This region forms the boundary between India and Pakistan and control of these rivers is split between the two countries.5 The remainder remainder of the Indus’ path is a slow wind through Pun jab and Sindh until it branches into distributaries near the city of Thatta, forming a delta that empties into the Arabian Sea at various points southeast of Karachi. The Indus’ delta is the 6th largest in the world, covering approximately 3,000 square miles and extending hundreds of miles along the coast.6 The large area of the basin necessarily results in a variety of land cover. The majority of the basin includes the plains of Punjab and Sindh, where the groundcover is generally sand and sparse grass. This map details where in the Indus Indus basin particular ground cover is prevalent. As can be seen, huge sections of the basin are labelled as barren or shrubland, with the orange depicting land that is used for agriculture and is thus irrigated, but which would otherwise be shrubland as well. A disconcerting aspect of this this map is the distinct lack lack of forest and wetlands wetlands and, in their place, large portions po rtions of land that are impervious due to urbanization.
Figure 1b. Land Cover of the Indus River Basin (India Water Portal, 2009)
The irrigation networks have make the banks of o f the Indus lush, but desert conditions prevail 10 to 25 miles away from the river. In the northern area of Punjab province, initial land cover consisted of varied vegetation and woodlands, but overgrazing and deforestation have destroyed much of the natural ecosystem. ecosystem. Timber felling in the Himalaya Himalaya foothills has led to a drop in groundwater levels, further harming natural vegetation. ve getation.
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Ibid. CMS Data. "THE LOWER INDUS RIVER: BALANCING DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF WETLAND ECOSYSTEMS AND DEPENDENT LIVELIHOODS." CMS Data. Accessed April 17, 2016. http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/indus.pdf.
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Education and Management Practices to Reduce Agricultural Pollution ................................................................ 48
Industrial Wastewater Pollution.............................................................................................................. 49 Industrial wastewater discharge and lack of regulations ......................................................................................... 49 Field Study on the Lower Reaches Reaches of the Indus River .................... .......... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ................... ......... 49 Implementing Regulatory Agencies ........................................................................................................................ 51
Natural Geologic Pollution ....................................................................................................................... 52 The Pothohar Plateau Field Study ........................................................................................................................... 52 Cascade Aerators and Settling Ponds to Precipitate Metals ..................... ........... ..................... ..................... .................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ........... 53
Courses of Action to Improve Water Quality ........................................................................................ 54
5. ANALYSIS 5. ANALYSIS ON WATER-RELATED LEGAL FRAMEWORK....................................... 55 55 Transboundary Legal Framework .......................................................................................................... 56 Existing Bilateral Water Treaty with India .................... ......... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... .................... ................ ...... 56 Potential Water Treaty with Afghanistan ................................................................................................................ 56
Legal Framework within Pakistan: ......................................................................................................... 56 Major Water-Related Legislation ............................................................................................................ 56 National Level Legislation ..................... .......... ..................... .................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ................... ......... 58 Provincial Level Legislation ................................................................................................................................... 61
Analysis of Ongoing Progress Regarding Water-Related Legislation: ................................... .................. .............................. ............. 62 Water-Related Institutions In Pakistan and External Actors............................................................... Actors ............................................................... 62 The Ministry of Water and Power ........................................................................................................................... 63 Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) ......................................................................................................... 64 Ministry of Environment (Federal) ......................................................................................................................... 65 Ministries of Local Government (Provincial) ......................................................................................................... 65 Agriculture Department (Provincial) ....................................................................................................................... 65 Water User Associations (WUA) ............................................................................................................................ 66 Departments of Public Health Engineering (Provincial) ......................................................................................... 66 The Irrigation Departments (PIDs) and Irrigation and Drainage Authorities (PIDAs) (Provincial) .......... ............. ........... .. 66 External Actors (International Organizations and Donors) ..................................................................................... 67
Analysis on Institutional Shortfalls and Challenges ................................. ................ ................................... ................................... ........................... .......... 68 Addressing Areas of Capacity Building .................................................................................................................. 68 Recommendations on Capacity Building and Opportunities...... ..................... ........... .................... ..................... ..................... .................... ..................... ............... .... 68
APPENDIX 1 ................................................... ......................................................................................................... ...................................................... ...................... 71 Table 1. Sector wise estimated wastewater wastewater production in Pakistan ................................. ................ ................................... .................... 71 Table 2. Wastewater produced annually annually by cities in in Pakistan ................................. ............... .................................... ........................... ......... 71 Table 3. Construction and operation and maintenance maintenance cost estimate for wastewater treatment treatment facilities in the ten largest cities without sanitation in Pakistan ................................... ................. .................................... ........................ ...... 71 Figure 1. Changes in course of the Indus River ................................. ................ ................................... ................................... ................................. ................ 72 Figure 2. Tres Rios Rios constructed wetland ................................. ............... ................................... ................................... .................................... ........................... ......... 72 Figure 4. Map of industries in Pakistan ................................... ................. ................................... ................................... .................................... ........................... ......... 74 Figure 5. Cascade aerator. ................................... .................. ................................... ................................... ................................... ................................... .............................. ............. 75 Figure 6. Lead oxide. ................................. ................ .................................. ................................... ................................... ................................... .................................... ........................ ...... 75 Figure 7. Settling pond. ................................... .................. .................................. ................................... ................................... ................................... .................................... .................. 75
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1 Indus River Basin Background Information
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Physical Dimensions of the Indus River System The Indus River System is one of the largest systems s ystems on Earth, coving thousands of miles through several countries and supporting supporting the lives of millions of people. The Indus originates on the Tibetan Plateau and spans approximately 2,000 miles before its delta drains into the th e Arabian Sea.1 While the Indus itself itself flows almost exclusively through Pakistani territory, territory, the breadth of the entire Indus basin is distributed between four countries. countries. 53% of the area remains in Pakistan while 33%, 8%, and 6% exist in India, China, and Afghanistan respectively.2 This vast swath of territory makes up roughly 450,000 square miles, 175,000 square miles of which lie in the Himalayas, Hindu Kush, and Karakorum mountain ranges and foothills, while the remainder encompasses the plains and lowlands of Pakistan. P akistan.3 For a sense of scale, the Indus’ annual flow is 58 cubic miles, which is twice that of the Nile River and three times the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers combined.4 The river begins its journey in Tibet at an elevation of 18,000 feet. From there, it flows 200 miles northwest, crossing through the disputed Kashmir region between Pakistan and India where it encounters its first major tributary, the Zaskar River in Ladakh. 150 miles on, in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, the Indus is joined by another notable tributary, the Shyok River. The Skyok and other tributaries, the Shigar and the Gilgit, Figure 1a. Indus River Basin Land Area (EcoPeace Middle East, feed glacial melt into the Indus from 2012) the Karakoram Range, the Nanga Parbat Massif, and the the Kohistan Highlands. The Indus moves rapidly as it descends from the mountains and is joined with the Kabul River just north of the city of Attock, at which point the Indus flows at an elevation of 2,000 feet. At this point, the flow of the Indus slows dramatically as it enters the Punjab Plain, which sits at just 260 feet above sea level. It is in the eastern region 1
CMS Data. "THE LOWER INDUS RIVER: BALANCING DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF WETLAND ECOSYSTEMS AND DEPENDENT LIVELIHOODS." CMS Data. Accessed April 17, 2016. http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/indus.pdf. 2 Aquastat. "Indus Basin." Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Last modified 2011. Accessed April 15, 2016. http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/basins/indus/index.stm. 3 Mehran, Sênggê Zangbo, and Sindhu Shiquan He. " Indus River." Encyclopedia Britanica. Last modified March 17, 2016. Accessed April 17, 2016. http://www.britannica.com/place/Indus-River. 4 Ibid.
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