Pakistan: Water Crisis Causes and Solutions.

Sardar Taimur Hyat-Khan.

The so often taken for granted continuous miracle of life on Earth has a tenuous foundation upon water. This life-bestowing drop is sadly mistreated, polluted, and dangerously depleted. The dangers inherent in ignoring the life-threatening situation that is emerging in so vital a sector as water availability, both in terms of quality and quantity has to be avoided at all costs. Mounting shortfalls in Food Production leading to famine-like conditions take into account scarcity as well as the improper application of irrigation water, declining fertility levels of the soil, incorrect plant nutrition, and cultural practices all leading to dropping yields. All this can be tackled with Complete Plant Nutrition, drought proofing, Composting, and Conservation Irrigation including the use of water crystals. Pakistan is facing serious concerns regarding water availability, quality, and supply and will perforce have to come up with dynamic, innovative, and cost-effective strategies to ensure survivability. Current and foreseen problems of impending water and energy crisis serve to confirm this statement. Increasing population and growth in the economy place added demand for municipal, industrial, and agricultural water supply.

The production of ethanol and biodiesel has as yet to be catered for as well as the need to support environmental uses. There is no system to regularly monitor surface and groundwater quality, deteriorating due to aquifer pollution; excessive pumping/mix with salts; Industrial and Municipal Pollution. There is a great need to incorporate the latest High Tech developments and tools in order to effectively tackle this grave problem.

To highlight the nexus between water and poverty, it is not that we do not have water, sheer waste and pollution is depriving the poor of quality and quantity of this precious resource. A single wet spell should not bring about complacency; rather we should examine lessons learned and take action in their light.

Seasonal localized and widespread flooding is common in Pakistan, resulting in loss of life, substantial damage to urban and rural property and infrastructure, public utilities, and loss of agricultural crops and lands. Despite the construction of reservoirs and major investments in flood protection, there is still a considerable flood hazard. The main causes of floods in Pakistan are the progressive denudation of river catchments and the general deterioration of the river channels from significantly reduced flows during

non-flood seasons. It is estimated that between 1950 and 2001 total losses from floods have been of the order of US $10 billion and over 6,000 lives were lost. The Member (Water), WAPDA, Sardar Mohammed Tariq has estimated (April 1999) that groundwater storage capacity in Pakistan is 55 MAF1. Groundwater pumpage in the Indus Basin has increased from 3.34 MAF in 1959 to 48 MAF in 1996-72. Groundwater use has reached a stage whereby further exploitation will be fraught with adverse consequences, as it will exceed the natural rate3. Irrigated agriculture, in Pakistan, covers 74 % (16.2 million hectares) out of the total cultivated area of 22 million hectares. Irrigated agriculture uses 97 % of available water and produces 90 % of agricultural produce. It accounts for 25 % of GDP, earns 70 % of the export revenue, and employs 50 % of the workforce directly and another 20 % indirectly. Although the share of agriculture in GDP has declined over the years, it is still the largest single contributor to GDP. However, despite its importance, the level and growth of agricultural production fall short of its real potential. The sustainability of irrigated agriculture is threatened due to the continuous deterioration of the irrigation infrastructure.4

1 South Asia – Water Vision 2025, Country Report, Pakistan.

2 Dr. M. N. Bhutta, Vision on Water for Food & Agriculture: Pakistan Perspective, Regional South Asia

Meeting on Water for Food and Rural Development, June 1-3, New Delhi, 1999.

3 South Asia – Water Vision 2025, Country Report, Pakistan.

4 South Asia – Water Vision 2025, Country Report, Pakistan.

These are exciting times in climate science. Discoveries that grew out of a line of research that began 50 years ago as a small geophysical field experiment are making their way onto the public stage. A big secret about how the climate behaves was buried a mile deep in the polar ice on Greenland, and scientists went there and found it. What the earth was keeping from us was this: When change comes, it can be big and fast. The whole record that we expected to be smooth as a knife blade is punctuated with enormous lurching changes between warm and cold, wet, and dry. This is the signature of abrupt climate change. Climate change can be dangerous, even catastrophic. The Pentagon was mulling over a private think tank study it had commissioned that painted a particularly gloomy scenario of abrupt climate change as a threat to national security during the new Century. “Military confrontation may be triggered by a desperate need for natural resources such as energy, food, and water,” its authors warned. This was not meant to be a prediction of the future, but rather a device to encourage strategists to begin thinking in different terms about climate.

There is nothing imaginary about abrupt climate change or, for that matter, about this story of its discovery. It is not a hypothesis or a computer simulation. It is a solid theory supported by a careful reading of the remarkable direct evidence, the hard data that scientists pried from the earth itself. Since the early 1990s, all of the world’s oceans have yielded high-resolution sediments bearing the familiar signs of abrupt climate changes. As the signs of abrupt change became more and more global in scope. Among the most valuable sites are those in the North Pacific off the California coastline, in the northern Arabian Sea off the coast of Pakistan, in the tropical Atlantic north of Venezuela, and in the subtropics near the island of Bermuda. different ocean and atmospheric conditions preserved annually layered tropical Indian Ocean sediments in the northeastern Arabian Sea that revealed a finely detailed profile of abrupt climate change. The continental shelf off Pakistan is a region of intense upwelling of nutrients and such robust biological productivity that the respiration of marine organisms depletes the water of dissolved oxygen In 1998, a team of German researchers led by Hartmut Schulz presented sediment records from the Arabian Sea that are remarkably similar to Greenland climate oscillations over the past 110,000 years. When Greenland and North Atlantic temperatures were relatively high during the warm periods of a Dansgaard-Oeschger cycle, strong southwest monsoon activity led to high biological productivity; an oxygen-depleted Arabian seafloor; and dark, carbon-rich, well-preserved annual bands. Pale, carbon-poor disturbed laminations marked times of weaker monsoons and coincided with cold North Atlantic Heinrich events. Schulz wrote in Nature that these links between high-latitude and low-latitude climate events suggested “the importance of common forcing agents such as atmospheric moisture and other greenhouse gases.”

Rainfall: Rainfall in Pakistan is markedly variable in magnitude, time of occurrence and, its aerial distribution. However, almost two-thirds of the rainfall is concentrated in the three summer months of July - September. The mean annual precipitation ranges from less than 100 mm in parts of the Lower Indus Plain to over 750 mm near the foothills in the Upper Indus Plain.

There are two major sources of rainfall in Pakistan: the Monsoons and the Western Disturbances. The relative contribution of rainfall in most of the canal commands is low when compared with the two other sources of irrigation water i.e., canal water and groundwater. More than 60% of the Kharif season rainfall is concentrated in the month of July for almost all of the canal commands.

The Monsoons originate in the Bay of Bengal and usually reach Pakistan, after passing over India, in early July. They continue till September. The Indus Plains receive most of their rainfall from the Monsoons. There are two periods of thunderstorms in Pakistan: (1) April-June (2) October-November. These periods are the driest parts of the year, particularly October and November. During this time, thunderstorms caused by convection bring sporadic and localized rainfall.

Pakistan lies in an arid and semi-arid climate zone. The entire Indus Plains (canal command areas) receive an average seasonal rainfall of 212 mm (95% confidence interval ± 28) and 53 mm (95% confidence interval ± 8) in the Kharif and rabi seasons, respectively.

The rainfall varies as we move from the north and northeast to the south of the country. It is only the canal command areas in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KP) and the northern-most canal commands of the Punjab Province that receive some appreciable amount of rainfall during the summer as well as the winter season. The canal commands upstream of the rim stations (i.e., in the KP) receive almost 55% of their annual rainfall during the Kharif season. The canal commands in the Upper and Lower Indus Plains receive 75% and 85- 90% of the annual rainfall respectively, during the Kharif season. The annual variability of rainfall increases as one moves south. The canal command areas of Guddu and Sukkur Barrages fall in an area where variability is the highest.

Based on a 10-year average (1990-1999), data from the Pakistan Meteorological Department of annual rainfall in some of the major cities is as follows:

Glacier: The catchment area of the Indus Basin contains some of the largest glaciers in the world, outside the Polar Regions. The glacial area of the upper Indus catchment is about 2,250 km2 and accounts for most of the river runoff in summer. The Kabul River, which is mainly snow-fed, originates from the Unai Pass of the Southern Hindukush at an elevation of 3,000 m above sea level (masl). It drains eastern Afghanistan and then enters Pakistan just north of the Khyber Pass.

The Jhelum River rises in Kashmir at a much lower elevation than the source of the Indus River. It falls much less rapidly than the Indus River after entering Pakistani territory. The Chenab River originates in the Himachal Pardesh in India, at an elevation of over 4,900 masl. It flows through Jammu in Indian-held Kashmir and enters Pakistani territory upstream of the Marala Barrage.

The snow and ice melt from the glacial area of the Upper Indus catchment supply approximately 80% of the total flow of the Indus River in the summer season. The annual flows in the Kabul River are less than one-third of that in the Indus River. However, the Kabul River starts to rise approximately a month earlier than the main stem of the Indus. Its flows are of significance for fulfilling the late-rabi early-Kharif (March to May) irrigation requirements of the canals.

Snowmelt accounts for more than 50% of the flow in the Jhelum River. However, the Jhelum is much more dependent than the Indus on the variable monsoon runoff. Both, the Jhelum and Chenab River catchments can simultaneously be influenced by the Monsoons. Since the Chenab River rises at higher altitudes, snowmelt accounts for a considerable proportion of its runoff.

Rivers and Dams: The embryonic Indus river system, which is the main source of surface water in Pakistan, most likely was created some fifty million years ago, when the Indian Plate (Gondwanaland) first collided with Eurasia (Angaraland). Between the two plates was the Tethys Sea, which was shallow and sandy and up-folded to form the great Himalayan Mountains in the Mesozoic era. These mountains, their unbroken snow cover, have become the primary source of water to the Indus system.

The average annual flow-rates of major rivers has been calculated between 1922-61 to indicate water flows before the Indus Water Treaty, 1985-1995 to indicate the post treaty flows, and 2001-02 flows to present the current situation of drought conditions.

These are presented in the table below.

The history of dam construction in Pakistan is relatively short. The perennial River Indus fulfilled the irrigation needs and the drinking water supply was served by tapping the vast underground water reservoir. Before independence, there were only three dams in Pakistan and none on the major rivers. Two of the dams were in the water-scarce area of Balochistan i.e. the Khushdil Khan Dam - 1890 and the Spin Karaiz - 1945. The Namal Dam, 1913 was located in the Mianwali district of Punjab. The construction of dams in Pakistan was initiated in 1955 when the country was facing an acute power shortage. Work on the Warsak Dam on Kabul River near Peshawar was undertaken.

Later, when India stopped water supplies to the network of canals in Pakistan, it became imperative to build large storages and link canals to restore water to the affected canal system. This resulted in the construction of two gigantic dams, Mangla with a gross storage capacity of 5.88 MAF and Tarbela with 11.62 MAF, as a part of the Indus Basin Replacement Works. Apart from replacement works, a number of relatively smaller schemes of irrigation and water supply dams were also undertaken.

Surface Water: The accounting of surface water resources in the Indus System is based on river inflows measured at Rim Stations. A rim station, in the context of the Indus Basin Irrigation System, is defined as a control structure (reservoir, barrage, etc.) on the river just when the river enters into Pakistani territory or upstream of the canal-irrigated Indus Plains of Punjab and Sindh Provinces.

The rim stations for the Indus System rivers are the Kalabagh Barrage (or sometimes Tarbela Reservoir) for the main Indus River, Mangla Reservoir for the Jhelum River, Marala Barrage for the Chenab River and Balloki and Sulemanki Barrages for the Ravi and Sutlej Rivers.

The Indus River and its tributaries, on average, bring 154 MAF of water annually. This includes 144.91 MAF from the three Western rivers and 9.14 MAF from the Eastern rivers. Most of this, about 104.73 MAF, is diverted for irrigation. 39.4 MAF flows to the sea and about 9.9 MAF is consumed by the system losses which include evaporation, seepage, and spills during floods.

The flows of the Indus and its tributaries vary widely from year to year and within the year. As is the case with the water availability, there is significant variation in annual flows to the sea.

The waters of the Indus Basin Rivers are diverted through reservoirs/barrages into canals, classified as Main Canals. These main canals then distribute the irrigation water into their command areas through a network of branch canals.

The Indus Basin Irrigation System comprises three major reservoirs, 16 barrages, 2 head-works, 2 siphons across major rivers, 12 inter river link canals, 44 canal systems (23 in Punjab, 14 in Sindh, 5 in KP, and 2 in Balochistan), and more than 107,000 watercourses. The aggregate length of the canals is about 56,073 km. In addition, the watercourses, farm channels, and field ditches cover another 1.6 million km.

The system utilizes over 41.6 MAF of groundwater, pumped through more than 500,000 tube wells, in addition to the canal supplies.

Outside the Indus Basin, there are smaller river basins. One on the Mekran coast of Balochistan drains directly into the sea and a closed basin (Kharan). These in total amount to an inflow of less than 4 MAF annually.

Groundwater-Historic Development: Before the introduction of widespread irrigation, the groundwater table in the Indus Basin varied from about 40 feet in depth in Sindh and Bahawalpur areas to about 100 feet in Rachna Doab (the area between Ravi and Chenab Rivers). After the introduction of weir-controlled irrigation, the groundwater table started rising due to poor irrigation management, lack of drainage facilities, and the resulting additional recharge from the canals, distributaries, minors, watercourses, and irrigation fields. At some locations, the water table rose to the ground surface or very close to the surface causing waterlogging and soil salinity, reducing productivity.

In the late 1950s, the Government embarked upon a program of Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects (SCARPS) wherein large deep tube wells were installed to control the groundwater table. Over a period of about 30 years, some 13,500 tube-wells were installed by the Government to lower the groundwater table. Of these, about 9,800 tube wells were in the Punjab.

The projects initially proved to be quite effective in lowering the water table but with time, the performance of the SCARP tube-wells deteriorated. The development of deep public tube wells under the SCARPS was soon followed by private investment in shallow tube wells. Particularly in the eighties, the development of private tube wells received a boost, when locally manufactured inexpensive diesel engines became available. Most of these shallow tube wells were individually owned.

Now more than 500,000 tubewells supply about 41.6 MAF of supplemental irrigation water every year, mostly in periods of low surface water availability. These tube-wells compensated for the loss of the pumping capacity of the SCARP tube-wells and helped in lowering the water table.

Status of Groundwater in Pakistan: The Indus Basin was formed by alluvial deposits carried by the Indus and its tributaries. It is underlain by an unconfined aquifer covering about 15 million acres in surface area. In the Punjab, about 79% of the area and in Sindh, about 28% of the area is underlain by fresh groundwater. This is mostly used as supplemental irrigation water and pumped through tube-wells. Some groundwater is saline. Water from the saline tube wells is generally put into drains and, where this is not possible, it is discharged into large canals for use in irrigation, after diluting with the fresh canal water.

In the last 25- 30 years, groundwater has become a major supplement to canal supplies, especially in the Upper Indus Plain, where groundwater quality is good. Large scale tubewell pumpage for irrigation started in the early sixties. There are presently more than 500,000 tubewells in the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS) and the annual pumpage in all canal command areas has been estimated to be over 50 BCM. According to a study, the total groundwater potential in Pakistan is of the order of 55 MAF.

A Major part of the groundwater abstraction for irrigation is within the canal commands or in the flood plains of the rivers. However, the amount of abstraction varies throughout the area, reflecting the inadequacy/unreliability of surface water supplies and groundwater quality distribution.

The quality of groundwater ranges from fresh (salinity less than 1000 mg/l TDS) near the major rivers to highly saline farther away, with salinity more than 3000 mg/l TDS. The general distribution of fresh and saline groundwater in the country is well known and mapped, as it influences the options for irrigation and drinking water supplies.

Pakistan has diverse and varied Agro-Ecological Zones and is broadly divided into three Hydrological Regions, plus one with no water resources. The Indus Basin, the major source of Pakistan’s water, covers 566,000 sq. km. including the whole of the Punjab, NWFP, Sindh and part of Baluchistan. Its Drainage Basin covers 1.06 million sq. km. The Indus Basin was formed by alluvial deposits carried by the Indus and its tributaries. It is underlain by an unconfined aquifer covering about 15 million acres in surface area. In Punjab, about 79% of the area and in Sindh, about 28% of the area is underlain by fresh groundwater. The Indus Plain covers 25% of the total land area, with most of the irrigated agriculture and 80 to 85% of the population concentrated here. The Kharan Desert in West Baluchistan with inland drainage covering 15% of Pakistan is the second and the Arid Makran Coast lying along the Arabian Sea in Southern Baluchistan, covering 14% of Pakistan in the South West is the third with Cholistan and Thar Deserts in Punjab and Sindh Provinces respectively having no Water Resources. These four Regions have completely different demands and requirements. Each Region should be managed in accordance with Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)

techniques. A study of Trans Basin Water Management for Aquifer Recharge and Managed Underground Storage needs to be carried out immediately.

To analyze the issue on a Provincial basis:

Punjab: Some 9.78 million acres are underlain with the groundwater of less than 1000 mg/l TDS, 3 million acres with salinity ranging from 1000 to 3000 mg/l TDS, and 3.26 million acres with salinity more than 3000 mg/l TDS. Saline waters are mostly encountered in the central Doab areas. The Cholistan area in southern Punjab is well known for highly brackish waters, which cannot be used for drinking purposes. Groundwater with high fluoride content is found in the Salt Range, Kasur, and Mianwali. There are also reports of high fluoride content, ranging from 65 to 12 mg/l in groundwater in the Bahawalpur area. Samplings of groundwater in Jhelum, Gujrat, and Sargodha districts have shown

concentrations of arsenic well above the WHO guideline value of 50 g/l.

Sindh: Around 28% of the Sindh province has access to fresh groundwater suitable for irrigation i.e. the water has less than 1000 mg/l TDS. Close to the edges of the irrigated lands, fresh groundwater can be found at 20 - 25 m depth. Large areas in the province are underlain with groundwater of poor quality. Indiscriminate pumping has resulted in contamination of the aquifer at many places where the salinity of tubewell water has increased. The areas with non-potable, highly brackish water include Thar, Nara, and Kohistan. In Tharparkar and Umarkot, the situation is further complicated by the occurrence of high fluoride in the groundwater.

KP: In KP, abstraction in excess of recharge in certain areas such as Karak, Kohat, Bannu, and D.I. Khan has lowered the water table and resulted in contamination from underlying saline water.

Baluchistan: The Makran coastal zone and several other basins contain highly brackish groundwater. Local communities use groundwater with TDS as high as 3000 mg/l, for drinking purposes, as there are no alternatives. In Mastung Valley, the groundwater has been found to have high fluoride content. The Makran coast and Kharan have also been reported to have high fluoride groundwater. The general distribution of fresh and saline groundwater in the country is well known and mapped, as it influences the options for irrigation and drinking water supplies.

Water Analysis For Urban/ Rural/ Industrial Areas:

Urban domestic water use: Access to water for domestic purposes in the urban areas is limited to about 83% of the population with 57% having piped supply to their homes.

Recent water use in the urban sector is 4.3 MAF. The demand is expected to increase to about 12.1 MAF by the year 2025.

Industrial: Water consumed by major industries is only about 1.2 MAF per year, mostly from groundwater.

Rural domestic water use: 0.8 MAF, with only about 53% of the rural population having access to drinking water from public water supply sources.

The source is from both municipal and industrial uses, with only about 1% of wastewater treated before disposal. This has become one of the largest environmental problems in Pakistan. Waterlogging and salinity pose a major threat to the sustainability of irrigated agriculture in about 30 percent of irrigated lands, which is directly related to the low efficiency of irrigation systems, which in turn is a result of inadequate irrigation management both at the system and at the farm level.

A minimum of 1,200 cubic meters per person/ per annum is required for the sustainability of life, at 1,000 c/m economic development is severely curtailed and at less than 500 c/m water availability life is threatened.

The practice of overdraft of groundwater or unsustainable water mining is widespread and has already resulted in diminished availability resulting in untold misery and drudgery for countless citizens. We must create a balance between extraction and recharging and ensure that our subsurface water is not polluted by sewage. The problem has to be tackled both at the Macro or top Government level as well as at the Micro or Grass Roots level in order to be effective. Water is not only required for the Agricultural Sector, presently consuming 97% of this resource, but it is also needed for Industry, Environment, Domestic consumption, Sanitation as well as for Power Generation. There is no question of monopolization and we must plan and use water to a high degree of efficiency in order to ensure sustainable development across the board. To evaluate an attempt at Wheat or Rice Export, it is tantamount to Exporting Water. We have not taken into account the amount of water that we have expended to produce these grains. Our targets should include self-sufficiency in grain and export of high value, processed horticultural produce to take maximum advantage of the water resource that is expended. Global warming with resultant unpredictable weather patterns threatens both amount of water as well as the timing of water availability. Thus growing demand and diminishing supply is certain in both the short and long term. One aspect of unsustainable groundwater mining is that large storage space has been created in existing aquifers. Lessons to be learned are that water must be managed with care and use has to be intensified in order to use water in a more productive manner. Unused as well as under-utilized water supplies will have to be tapped including flood flows, urban stormwater, brackish water, and reclaimed wastewater.

Increased knowledge that has uncovered the interrelatedness of Natural Resources and the entire ecosystem demands that management systems and approaches have to be reconsidered and approached in a holistic and integrated manner. It is universally accepted amongst ecological experts that surface storage and conveyance is no longer a viable alternative. High risks, environmental damage, reduced water quality that actually impairs plant growth in the long term, social problems, and high cost of such facilities have eliminated this means of addressing water scarcity. Water conservation, harvesting, and intensive management are some of the alternate tools available to address this problem. Voluntary water transfer including water rights, purchase of water on the spot market along with water market development help by converting water to more profitable use and as yet have to be adequately addressed at the National level.

Water availability during wet seasons or years and the need to keep water where it can be easily accessed points to some form of storage in order to meet demand where and when required. High evaporation losses’ leading to increased concentrations of salinity as a direct result of Global Warming means that we have to rethink our approach towards water containment. The soil pH levels that determine uptake or otherwise of nutrients have alkalinized to above 9 in the Punjab and Sindh due to the use of Dam water for irrigation over a long period of time. Depressed yields due to non-uptake of nutrients as well as saline encrustment of the root system when fields are dry cause stress upon the plant and directly result in declining yields, tip dieback, and sudden death syndrome in trees. It is reported that 10 % of Pakistan’s Mango Orchards have succumbed to this factor, Citrus and Loquat orchards are similarly threatened in KP.

Irrigation water is not rainwater and it is even farther from distilled water. The water of rivers, reservoirs, and artesian wells is always a solution of chemical compounds: a dilute solution (mountain streams have a salt concentration of 0.1-0.4 g/1); a weakly concentrated solution (up to 1-3 g/1), made so as a result of evaporation or transpiration; or a highly concentrated solution (up to 5-8 g/1) due to the dissolution of salt precipitates, the intrusion of ocean water, or intensive evaporation. Natural water always carries dissolved organic matter and relatively stable little-polymerized solutions such as fulvic acids in particular. Water is always saturated with gaseous CO2 and O2 and sometimes with H2S and CH4, particularly at low temperatures.

Even the freshest and purest water is a complicated compound of oxygen-hydrogen containing various isotopes and polymers with ready silicon and oxygen tetrahedral and OH and H groups capable of destroying the crystal lattices of minerals and substituting metals in them. Weakly and moderately mineralized, alkaline natural waters of rivers, lakes, and subsurface basins are more aggressive. Irrigation waters are strong and complex chemical agents entering into prolonged, diverse chemical and

physical reactions with soil minerals, mineral solutions and colloidal compounds, organic substances, and the intra-soil biomass. The complexity of these reactions is aggravated by the fact that soil solutions are constantly diluted by irrigation and further concentrated by evapotranspiration. The salt concentration of irrigation water in soils increases by tenfold, amounting to 5-7 g/1 in the best non-saline soils. The concentration of salt in weakly saline soil solutions is 15-25 g/1. And the moisture in strongly salinized soils has a salt concentration of up to 75-150 g/1, i.e., thousands of times as high as that of normal river water.

The economic and social effects of irrigation have been exceptionally great in the history of mankind. Irrigation has been the most effective, though complicated, way of controlling climatic aridity since ancient times. It was not by chance that ancient civilizations emerged and developed simultaneously and in parallel with the emergence of ancient irrigation and drainage systems in the valleys and deltas of the Murgab, Amu Darya, Syr Darya, Hwang Ho, Yangtze, Nile, Ganges, Indus, Mekong, Tigris, Euphrates,

and Liber rivers.

Irrigated fields constitute a very complicated anthropogenic ecological system that includes the following interacting components: land, climate, water, soil, plants, animals and microorganisms, machinery, fertilizers, biocides, human activities, crop yield, and wastes. The farmer, agronomist, engineer, researcher, planner, and manager are far from always understanding and keeping in mind all the elements of this highly complicated system, a system that not only should be productive under human management but also should continue to function effectively as time goes on.

The necessary increase in food production will depend on the rate at which irrigated areas are expanded and existing irrigation systems are improved. Almost half of the world's irrigated area is believed to be in developing countries and that area should probably be doubled by the year 2000 to satisfy the food requirements of their growing populations. , future irrigation reserves will be obtained by cautiously increasing the use of groundwater and surface water (without overdrawing) and by controlling salinization.

Improving water-use practices and the technology of existing irrigation systems, recovering the fertility of saline soils, and training personnel and farmers will contribute to increasing food production by larger amounts and at a faster rate. 50 million hectares, the result would be an exceptionally large quantity of products worth on the order of 25 billion dollars (U.S.).

Irrigated soils often lose their fertility because of the accumulation of toxic salts contained in the ground or the irrigation water. As another example, excessive irrigation and losses of water by seepage from canals cause swamping. Extensive erosion sometimes occurs on slopes as a result of irrigation. Often, soil destruction, puddling, and compaction also occur. The control of over compaction in irrigated soils is an urgent and constant task of irrigated agriculture.

The yields of irrigated crops should be at least 2.0-2.5 times as high as present yields, provided that soil salinity is eliminated, the land is fertilized, and advanced land cultivation practices and new varieties of crops are introduced. Pakistan, and some countries of Africa and South America, landlords have used all the advantages of irrigated agriculture and fertilization to obtain high yields of new varieties of wheat and corn created by geneticists during the green revolution. Small farmers have not received any benefits from the green revolution, since they had no opportunity to irrigate and fertilize new varieties of crops.

A system for classifying irrigated areas according to the extent of natural drainage has been worked out and adopted in the USSR (Kovda, 1946). The real peculiarities of areas from the viewpoint of the extent of natural drainage are more complicated and diverse. They should be evaluated on the basis of profound integrated studies.

Unfortunately, this is rarely done, and the design of new irrigation systems is limited only by consideration of the topography of an area and by the geometry of irrigation structures. Ignoring the complexity of natural conditions and implementing irrigation projects in a routine manner result in catastrophic consequences (salinization, swamping, etc.)

The experience of Tanzania and Kenya in creating representative and test irrigation plots for training farmers in modern agricultural techniques for cultivating wheat and corn and obtaining high yields deserves popularization and expansion. The development of irrigated agriculture will improve the biospheric envelope of our planet, generate additional amounts of oxygen, bind man-made carbon dioxide, and involve the use of composted wastes and by-products for fertilizers and of treated industrial and municipal wastewater for irrigation.

Conservation Irrigation including sprinkle, drip, and subsurface (reticulation) irrigation has to be introduced and encouraged at all costs. Reforestation through Pre-germination of forest trees seed doping with natural rooting and fruiting hormones and polymer coating along with Nutrients has to be resorted to. This practice can be easily extended to Range Management. Given favorable rainfall, it is possible to establish large stands through aerial seeding. At present this practice is carried out at 1% survival rates whereas the afore outlined method can increase survival to 40%. Community involvement to protect the seedlings from goats will have to be ensured. Conventional plantation by hand has to be encouraged through establishing Environment/ Predator Protected Nurseries that grow a mix of Farm Forest/ Fodder/ Timber and Fruit trees on a sustainable and commercial basis through Community Organizations; Sewage Treatment through the use of Bioaugmentation (addition of live bacteria to augment existing colonies) and Phytoremediation (use of plants and trees to uptake toxic elements) through the establishment of Reed Beds and Artificial Wetlands is seeing increasing use in developed

Countries. Our weather conditions make this method even more cost-effective and efficient than those used in the Northern Latitudes; Water Harvesting including surface and rooftop harvesting has to be introduced and widely disseminated. Surface Water Harvesting can be used additionally as soil conservation structure for instance building of low-cost pre-fabricated cement ring tanks at gully heads; Aquifer Recharging; Alternate Energy Pumping; Water Recycling and supply of Potable Water are some of the options that have to be examined and adopted.

Water Quality: The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, which launched its National Water Quality Monitoring Program in 2001, documents the water quality situation throughout Pakistan and submitted its fifth and final Report in 2007. The report examines the water quality of 357 samples taken from 23 major cities, eight rivers, six dams, four lakes, two canals, and one reservoir to analyze contaminants against an array of quality standards.

Every major city reported unsafe drinking water. None of the water sources tested in Bahawalpur, Kasur, Multan, Lahore, Sheikhupura, and Ziarat was safe for drinking purposes. All of the 22 surface water bodies evaluated in the report were found to be contaminated with coliforms and E. Coli; 73 percent had a high level of turbidity, three had high concentrations of irons and 27 percent showed excessive concentrations of iron and fluoride.

Approximately, 60 percent of Pakistanis get their drinking water from hand or motor pumps (in rural areas, this figure is over 70 percent). It is estimated that as many as 40 million Pakistanis depend on the supply of irrigation water for their domestic use.

According to a United Nations Children’s Fund study, 20-40 percent of the hospital beds in Pakistan are occupied by patients suffering from water-related diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, and hepatitis and that water-related diseases account for one-third of all deaths. According to the World Bank’s 2006 Environment Assessment, Pakistan employs Daily Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) –– the years of healthy life lost to illness and premature mortality –– as the standard measure to calculate the economic cost of environmental degradation. It finds that poor water quality in Pakistan accounts for more than 2.5 million DALYs. Total health costs are estimated at Rs114 billion or approximately 1.81 percent of the GDP.

Most surface water pollution is associated with the untreated discharge of wastewater from urban areas. Effectively, none of the estimated 2,000 million gallons of sewage discharged into surface water bodies in Pakistan daily, is treated. Industrial effluent, under law, is to be regulated by environment protection agencies through self-monitoring and reporting programs under the Pakistan Environment Protection Act but, proverbially, enforcement is lax (and made more challenging after the 18th Amendment).

The water quality situation in Pakistan is an environmental catastrophe.

Untreated wastewater, industrial effluent, and agricultural run-off are poisoning our water and people. However, the interest in taking this issue up, enforcing the law, and making a difference does not appear to exist.5

Access to clean water and the provision of sanitation facilities are crucial elements of any habitat. However, in my experience, there is a disconnect — very few people understand the importance of water and sanitation.

In Lahore, the entire city’s sewage is discharged, untreated, into River Ravi. It is estimated that nearly 800,000 kilograms of biological oxygen demand pollution load are discharged into Ravi every day. Given urbanization and industrial growth, the pollution in the river can only increase. Industrial and domestic waste flowing in the river then join the irrigation waters heading for South Punjab.

The environmental and health effects of this pollution are immense. The Ravi can scarcely sustain any biological life and is dangerous for recreational purposes. The polluted irrigation water affects crops and the health of anyone unlucky enough to rely on it for drinking. And, as the river and irrigation waters flow, the pollutants they carry also seep into the aquifer, leading to more crop and health issues.

In Lahore, there have been plans and proposals to deal with the sewage problem. Yet, four years into the present government, not a single sewage treatment plant has been commissioned. The reasons given are financial more than environmental. A sewage treatment plant for North Lahore that would treat about 30 percent of the city’s effluent would cost billions to construct. That is not the problem, however. The

5 The Pakistan Water Quality Crisis. By Ahmad Rafay Alam. Published in The Express Tribune, March

15th, 2012. problem is, paying for its running costs and ensuring it has electricity. But financial concerns should not trump environmental concerns.6

Constructed Wetlands: The developments of Bioaugmentation through Microbial Agents for cleaning sewerage water and the use of constructed wetlands have led to inexpensive and ecologically sound methods of recycling water. Wetlands will yield biomass that can be used for fodder, paper pulp (papyrus reeds) compost and even generating electricity. Annual production of papyrus in tropical conditions can be in excess of 100 tons/ha/year while the foliage can be sustainably cropped for fodder.

Papyrus stems can be used for matting and thatching roofs Water that has passed through the wetland can be used to irrigate crops and/or introduced to a fishpond in this final stage, Remaining nitrates and phosphates stimulate the growth of phytoplankton – The favorite food of the Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.), A food fish becoming increasingly popular in Europe. Such systems may actually yield a profit for local communities and would be a powerful tool in breaking the poverty cycle.

 Constructed wetlands are an effective, environmentally friendly means of treating liquid waste.

 Wetlands are effective at reducing loads of BOD/COD, nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended solids. The reduction can be up by 98%.

 Despite current usage patterns, it is tropical and subtropical climates, which hold the greatest potential for the use of wetlands; cold climates bring problems with both icing and thaw.

 Constructed wetlands require little maintenance, and remain effective after more than 10 years of use.

 The use of constructed wetlands in developing countries can provide real economic benefits by providing biomass and supporting aquaculture.

 One of the main problems with producing a treatment scheme in a developing country is the lack of money for general maintenance and repair. With reed beds, there are no mechanical or electrical parts to break down, and once they are established they are virtually indestructible. Using local labor and materials means that the capital outlay for the scheme is also considerably reduced as

expensive imports are almost totally eliminated.

6 The Express Tribune Opinion. On Providing Sewage. By Ahmad Rafay Alam. Published: February 1, 2012

New Generation Reed Bed Systems:

Wetlands Integrated within a Village Food Production Cycle:

Managed Underground Storage (MUS) is a concept that has been adopted in technologically advanced Nations to a large extent. This is but a repeat of our ancestral practice embodied as the Karez system of making water available. This system directly addresses the problem of aquifer depletion and water quantity as well as quality concerns.

It should be realized that in the near future no single strategy will adequately address all our concerns regarding water. What is required is that the problem is approached in a systematic and integrated manner that makes use of all available options and measures to remove the threat of water scarcity.

At present, our carry overcapacity is insufficient for even one crop to the next, what to talk about 2/ 3 years of drought conditions. To cite the example of The Holy Quran and draw attention to Surah Yusaf where 7 years of plenty and 7 years of drought was the interpretation of a dream by Hazrat Yusaf (AS). Water Conservation was first practiced by the Prophet Yusuf (AS) when he successfully led Egypt through drought, over 2000 years ago. The modern Aswan Dam was constructed keeping in mind a carry overcapacity of 7 years for its command area. The United States has a storage capacity of 6,500 cubic meters per person while we hold a meager capacity of 132 cubic meters.

Water Harvesting, Conservation Irrigation, and Sewage Treatment have to be introduced and widely practiced and that too at an affordable price.

Managed underground storage provides many of the benefits of surface water storage while eliminating many of its drawbacks. The vulnerability of surface infrastructure to natural and man-made hazards are implications that cannot be ignored due to the fact that water supply cannot be disrupted and also the colossal amount of devastation that would occur in the case of surface water storage failure. Decades of experience and detailed study are available for replication if MUS is implemented to provide seasonal or multi-year storage.

An aquifer is a layer, formation, or group of formations of permeable rock or sediment saturated with water and with a degree of permeability that allows water to be withdrawn or injected (Fetter, 2001; Marsily, 1986; Lohman et al., 1972). A Managed underground storage system has five components; water source; method of recharge; storage system and management approach; method of recovery and end-use of the recovered water. Surface water; groundwater; treated sewage water and stormwater are

all sources for MUS systems and are utilized in a number of ways. Various forms of MUS based upon surface recharge have been in use for millennia. MUS systems using well recharge are a recent introduction but have been in use for more than forty years. There is, therefore, adequate experience and technological skills to tap for implementation. Managed underground storage of recoverable water can

be achieved by using different methods. Surface spreading through the use of recharge basins, modified stream beds, pits and shafts; vadose zone wells, and recharge or ASR wells, plus others including watershed management, water harvesting, or enhancement of natural recharge are some of these methods. Existing aquifers can be improved, after mapping, by constructing underground weirs. Trans Basin Management is also viable for the use and storage of surplus water.

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR), electrical conductivity, and laser sounding are some of the methods used for mapping underground aquifers, determining geological structures and material properties. GPR is sensitive to water content and provides a method for mapping groundwater surfaces including perched water tables. Detailed databases along with three-dimensional (3D) applications and visualization of aquifer properties are available through commercial software packages while hydrologic computer models can be built up for study and planning. The Public Domain or Open Source Revolution has introduced the availability of free software to assist in every aspect of water management. For example, WASH123D (Watershed Systems of 1D Stream-River Network, 2D Overland Regime, and 3D Subsurface Media) developed by the Waterways Experiment Station for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is used for modeling of detailed watershed management plans. It is capable of representing a watershed system as a combination of a 1D river or stream, 2D overland, and 3D subsurface subdomains.

WASH123D is a physically-based, spatially distributed, finite-element, integrated surface water, and groundwater model. WASH123D is applicable to a variety of problems, including flood control, water supply, water quality, structures, weirs, gates, junctions, evapotranspiration, and sediment transport for both event and continuous simulations.

WASH123D can provide a water budget for the full hydrologic cycle. MUS systems can restore local water levels in stressed aquifers in arid or semiarid regions created by excessive groundwater mining or over withdrawal within a well field and can restore the natural flow pattern of the regional aquifer. MUS in shallow aquifers can thus have major effects on the interaction between groundwater and surface water. If surface water is diverted from streams and lakes for aquifer recharge, it may not only affect the downstream flow but also cause deterioration in water quality. This as well as other considerations emphasize the importance of having a clear understanding of the hydrogeologic system. MUS must be kept in the context of other water management activities and tools.

Forest Canopy has the effect of decreasing the impact velocity of falling rain, the organic content of the soil and underlying soil strata has the effect of increasing infiltration as opposed to surface runoff. The absence of forest canopy and soil organic content leads to accelerated soil erosion, when gravel mining of stream beds, as well as lack of silt control structures in streams, eventually leads to lowering of stream beds to an extent where horizontal and lateral aquifer recharge is no longer possible as the stream bed is on bedrock. This results in minimal natural aquifer recharge, enhancement of recharge or watershed management, reforestation, and soil erosion control measures offer an effective method to allow recharge through an increase in infiltration. Terraced agriculture in hill country has been a traditional method of water harvesting. If correctly built and kept well maintained they are effective in controlling erosion and increasing infiltration. If these terraces are allowed to fall into disuse, as has happened in the Earthquake and 1992 Flood Affected Areas of Western Galliyat, Abbottabad, damaged retaining walls, gully erosion impact negatively upon the hydrological regime.

Expenditure: Government expenditure in the water sector has randomly fluctuated since independence because the allocation of funds for the development of the sector has not observed consistent growth patterns. Also, the relative priority of the water sector has changed during various government regimes. The expenditure in the water sector as accrued during the 5-year development plans of the government are shown in the graph below:

The goals of the government for the development of water resources are reflected in the WAPDA Vision 2025 document, which stipulates the addition of 64 MAF of storage capacity and about 27,000 MW of additional power - mainly through hydel sources, by the year 2025. The estimated investment for Vision 2025 will be $50 billion spread over the next 25 years.

The Indus River Basin: The Indus Plain covers 25% of the total land area, most of the irrigated agriculture takes place here and 80 to 85% of the population is centered here. The Indus Basin Irrigation System commands an area of 36.2 million acres, is the largest contiguous irrigation system in the world, and is the agricultural and economic center of the country.

The Indus River and its tributaries on average bring about 152 million acre-feet (MAF) of water annually. This includes 143 MAF from the three Western rivers and 8.4 MAF from the Eastern rivers. Most of the inflow, about 104 MAF, is diverted for irrigation, with 38 MAF flowing to the sea and about 10 MAF consumed by system losses.

Irrigation System: The Indus Basin Irrigation System comprises three major reservoirs, 16 barrages, two head-works, two siphons across major rivers, 12 inter-river link canals (all in Punjab), 44 canal systems, and more than 107,000 watercourses. The aggregate length of the canals is 34,834 miles. The System also utilizes an estimated 41.6 MAF of groundwater pumped through more than 600,000 tube wells (mostly private) to supplement the canal supplies. In addition, there are over 200 civil canals in NWFP,

which irrigate about 0.82 million acres and are managed by local tribal populations.

Outside the Indus Basin, there are two smaller river basins in Balochistan. The Makran Coastal Basin includes the Dasht, Hingol, and Porali rivers, which discharge individually into the Arabian Sea. The closed Kharan Basin comprises the Kharan Desert and Pishin Basin and includes Pishin, Mashkhel, and Baddo rivers which discharge into shallow lakes and ponds that dry out completely in the hot season. The total inflow of the two basins is less than 4 MAF annually. The streams are flashy in nature do not have a perennial supply. About 25% of the inflow is used for flood irrigation.

Agriculture: Agriculture is the single largest sector of Pakistan’s economy, contributing 24.7% of GNP (2000-2001) and more than 60% of foreign exchange earnings. Some 68% of the rural population depends on the sector and 46% of the labor force is employed in it. The principal crops include wheat, rice, cotton, sugarcane, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables, and pulses. While there have been improvements in the productivity of some crops, the overall yield per hectare of most crops is far below their demonstrated potential. The main reasons for this include an uncertain policy environment for pricing and marketing of staples, generation, and dissemination of technology to the farmers, and inefficient post-harvest processing and storage.

Waterlogging and salinity pose a major threat to the sustainability of irrigated agriculture in about 30 percent of irrigated lands, which is directly related to the low efficiency of irrigation systems, which in turn is a result of inadequate irrigation management both at the system and at the farm level.

Domestic and Industrial Water Use and Waste Water Disposal: Access to water for domestic purposes in the urban areas is limited to about 83% of the population, with 57% having piped supply to their homes. Present water use in the urban sector is of the order of 4.3 MAF. The demand is expected to increase to about 12.1 MAF by the year 2025.

Rural domestic water use is currently 0.8 MAF, with only about 53% of the rural population having access to drinking water from public water supply sources.

Water consumed by major industries is about 1.2 MAF per year, mostly from groundwater.

Environment: Water pollution is the main concern in Pakistan. The source is from both municipal and industrial uses, with only about 1% of wastewater treated before disposal.

This has become one of the largest environmental problems in Pakistan.

Hydropower Generation: Total installed power generation capacity in Pakistan is 17,980 MW, which includes hydropower generation capacity of 5,042 MW, thermal power generation capacity of 12,509 MW, and nuclear power generation capacity of 462 MW. The thermal capacity includes 6,003 MW supplied by private power plants developed and operated by the private sector.

Floods: Localized and widespread flooding is common in Pakistan, resulting in loss of life, substantial damage to urban and rural property and infrastructure, public utilities, and loss of agricultural crops and lands. Despite the construction of reservoirs and major investments in flood protection, there is still a considerable flood hazard. The main causes of floods in Pakistan are the progressive denudation of river catchments and the general deterioration of the river channels from significantly reduced flows during non-flood seasons. It is estimated that between 1950 and 2001 total losses from floods have been of the order of US $10 billion and over 6,000 lives were lost.

Impending Water Crisis:

I crave your attention to a very serious and potentially dangerous situation appertaining to a most vital sector as Water that can threaten our continued survival!

Climate Change and our present Wasteful Water Regime, is adversely impacting the future availability of potable and irrigation water in Pakistan. This is fast leading to a life-threatening situation, due to Government inaction and inability to move beyond Policy Formulation to on-ground application.

We need to immediately come up with innovative and effective solutions to remove constraints and ensure survival on an emergency basis before it is too late!

Traditional means to tackle problems are incapable of resolving the issue of Environment Protection and Climate Change.

The Honorable Supreme Court is requested to review the issue as well as my humble attempts for interventions as per the prepared Technical Brief and Presentation, in order to provide me a hearing. I may be heard as a common citizen aware of Bioenvironmental Management in order to suggest “A Way Forward.”

The undersigned petitioner is compelled to knock at the doors of the Superior Judiciary to avert a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions for our Nation. The appropriate corridors have failed to respond to the repeated calls of the petitioner and are lost in the confusion created and prevalent in the power palaces. The Honorable Supreme Court of Pakistan remains the only ray of hope.

Petitioner Name: Sardar Taimur Hyat-Khan

CNIC : 61101-8299188-9

Email ID: timurhyat@gmail.com

Mobile No: +923015456088

Address: 1 Gulistan Colony, College Road, Abbottabad

Cc: Honorable Chief Justice,

Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Islamabad.

Logical Call To Action - Request.7

Climate Change Impacts:

Climate Change is likely to disturb the river flow patterns in the future. Initial periods will be of rapid glacier melt and fewer but heavier bouts of precipitation. After this 25-30 year period, there are projections for prolonged periods of drought. Pakistan gets about 142 MAF of river water every year, this figure could be as low as 106 MAF.

Global warming will melt most of the glaciers in Pakistan unless nature intervenes to reset the balance of snowfall. This escaping water resource needs to be captured and stored underground for future use. When a glacier disappears, the stream or river it feeds shuts down, and flows are restricted to rainfall inflow.

Major Concerns:

 Increased variability of Monsoon;

 The projected recession of Hindu Kush Himalayan Glaciers (HKH) threatening Indus River System (IRS) Flows;

 Increased risks of Extreme Events (floods, droughts, cyclones, extreme high / low temperatures, etc.);

 Severe water- and heat-stressed conditions in arid and semi-arid regions leading to reduced agricultural productivity;

 Increase in Deforestation; Loss of Biodiversity;

 Rapid melting of Glaciers;

 The increased intrusion of saline water in the Indus delta due to sea-level rise; Risk to mangroves and breeding grounds of fish;

A petition addressed to Honorable Justice Ejaz Afzal. Supreme Court of Pakistan, Islamabad. 26-11-2015.

Pakistan's Vulnerability:

 Increasing Extreme Events over the last two decades;

 Devastating super floods in 2010, 2011, and 2014 (about 2200 deaths, 20 million people homeless, $ 10 Billion damages in 2010 alone);

 Large scale flooding in 1992, 1997, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

 History's worst drought during 1999 - 2002; Droughts in Thar area of Sindh and Cholistan area of southern Punjab in 2014;

 Intense heat waves during 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2010 (53.7 0C); At least 748 people have died in four days as a result of a severe heatwave in Karachi and at least 33 deaths in other parts of the Country, in June 2015.

 Severe cyclonic storms in 1999, 2007, and 2010; the tropical cyclone 'Ashobaa' came near the Karachi coast in 2015.

 Increased flooding due to glacial melt in 2015. Recent glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) in Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan, as well as the recent announcement by IOM that unseasonal snowmelt has resulted in over 30 floods and landslides in Afghanistan during July 2015, there comes a timely study by the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) that claims tens of thousands of glaciers are melting faster than ever.

Suggested Actionable, Practical Interventions as Replicable Demonstrations by Petitioner as Turn Key Bioenvironmental Consultant:

Matters Requiring Urgent Government Action:

1. Financial enablement for turnkey demonstrations as tabled above.

2. Aquifer mapping over the length and breadth of the Country.

3. Aquifer improvement; underground Weirs to create underground Dams; ensured recharging; prevention of pollution and remediation of already polluted underground reservoirs.

4. Phase-out large Dams, build check or delay action dams.

5. Use run of the rivers for hydro energy generation.

I am obliged to bring to the Notice of Your Honor that after many years of Advocacy my latest effort was to submit a Public Petition to the Honorable Senate of Pakistan, now overdue, only regarding biomelioration of wastewater to solve the problems of aquifer pollution and urban water availability. Tracking No: PP-334

Date: 25-05-2015

Water! Threat or Survival? Logical Call To Action Request.

Sardar Taimur Hyat-Khan 12/ 01/ 2015

Flowing Gutters from the Water Towers of Pakistan:

Climate Change Impacts

Climate Change is likely to disturb the river flow patterns in the future. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC (2007), initial periods will be of rapid glacier melt and fewer but heavier bouts of precipitation. After this 25-30 year period, there are projections for prolonged periods of drought. Consequently, much-reduced water resources and more pressure on possible allocation of water flows will occur.

Pakistan's Total Annual Water:

Pakistan gets about 142 MAF of river water every year, this figure could be as low as 106 MAF.

Threatened Glaciers:

Global warming will melt most of the glaciers in Pakistan unless nature intervenes to reset the balance of snowfall. When a glacier disappears, the stream or river it feeds shuts down, and flows are restricted to rainfall inflow.

Preamble:

I have repeatedly approached concerned Authorities in the Federal, Punjab, Baluchistan, and KP Provincial Governments with Key interventions guaranteed to ameliorate the lot of our hapless citizens as well as the eco niche that we inhabit. At this time an application is lying with the Senate (on its website), duly forwarded to various Ministries for action. Unfortunately, my Low-Cost alternatives have not received any consideration and this has forced me to take recourse to the Ultimate Court of Appeal. I pray that a hearing to my requests may please be made.

Petition:

The most serious problem of water availability and aquifer pollution from wastewater can be readily addressed by biomelioration of wastewater. Aquifer pollution is the main concern in Pakistan……..

We Urgently Need:

1. Aquifer Mapping over the Length and Breadth of the Country.

To learn about Aquifer's condition and capacity in order to plan realistically.

The Finished Product:

2. Aquifer improvement; underground Weirs to create underground Dams; Ensured recharging; prevention of pollution and remediation of already polluted underground reservoirs:

Much of our irrigated soil is afflicted with secondary salinization arising from Dam Water irrigation leading to a raise of Ph to even 9 (highly alkaline) where plants are unable to uptake nutrients from the soil. Most of the remaining is subject to waterlogging and Salinity.

To Create Underground Fresh Water Reservoirs: There is a need to build groundwater dams, which store water underground, rather than on the surface. Water that is stored in the soil does not evaporate like lakes; rivers; ponds and streams and does not cause secondary salinization. It is clean; healthy; free from parasites and can be stored for thousands of years. Secondly, and weir failure will not result in a catastrophe due to escaping water as in the case of Mega Surface Dams. Natural Causes or Enemy Action will not threaten the Nation and nor will the Storage fail due to siltation. The key is to find ways to capture wet season rainfall underground. Check and delay action dams as well as Forests and vegetation will help infiltration of rainwater. Another method consists of river or stream beds reinforced at suitable locations with several meters of formwork of concrete and steel, which goes five to six meters underneath the bed to the clay lens. This slows the flow of the river, giving monsoonal rains more time to seep into the aquifer. It builds up the water table towards the surface and that creates many thousands of times more water storage than existed previously and much more storage than a traditional weir. Beneath the Pingtung Plain in Taiwan, there is an underground “water corridor” known as the “Twin Peak Ditch” built during the Japanese occupation.

For more than 80 years groundwater has been extracted using this underground weir” and it has continuously provided water for local irrigation. Its yearly average output of almost 30 million tons is more than that of Tainan’s Paiho Reservoir.

Naturally occurring below-grade water is subject to recharging and flow. Some sites can be improved to retain more water rather than allowing all to flow out. Underground dams are used to trap groundwater and store all or most of it below the surface for extended use in a localized area. They can also be built to prevent saltwater from intruding into a freshwater aquifer. Underground dams are typically constructed in areas where water resources are minimal and need to be efficiently stored. They are most

common in northeastern Africa and the arid areas of Brazil while also being used in the southwestern United States, Mexico, India, Germany, Italy, Greece, France, and Japan

There are two types of underground dams: a sub-surface and a sand-storage dam.

A sub-surface dam is built across an aquifer or drainage route from an impervious layer (such as solid bedrock) up to just below the surface. They can be constructed of a variety of materials to include bricks, stones, concrete, steel, or PVC. Once built, the water stored behind the dam raises the water table and is then extracted with wells. A sand-storage dam is a weir built in stages across a stream or wadi. It must be strong, as floods will wash over its crest. Over time, sand accumulates in layers behind the dam, which helps store water and, most importantly, prevents evaporation. The stored water can be

extracted with a well, through the dam body, or by means of a drain pipe.

3. Conservation Irrigation especially Sub-Soil (Reticulation) Irrigation:

To conserve water resources and provide plants with water when needed in the required quantity only. Thus merely 10% of flood irrigation water will achieve better results. Conservation irrigation by means of Sprinklers, Drip, or Sub-Soil is effective in conserving the amount of water expended while catering fully to the water needs of the plants.

Sub-surface Textile Irrigation is the most efficient irrigation method available

Tap Assembly, 200m x Nano, Spinlock T, Spinlock Joiner and auto-Flushing Valve

Sprinkle; Misting and Drip irrigation save more water progressively than the current wasteful flood irrigation practiced by our farmers. Reticulation is by far the most efficient. We will need to manufacture locally from recycled material to keep costs down.

4. Ensure Sewage Treatment through Energy Domes and Constructed Wetlands:

To eliminate pollution; eradicate disease pathogens; deny space for disease vectors breeding; recycle safe water and create energy (Methane and Heat).

Harnessing Biomethanation for Energy Generation & Environment Protection:

At great personal expense and effort I have perfected Design of Energy Domes on Innovative principles as a Super Insulated, Disaster-proof and low-cost structure that would tap Methane Gas and heat from the waste slurry and use for energy generation; effectively kill all viruses and disease pathogens present in liquid waste including Polio Virus; Remediate the water as a nutrient-rich compound for Agriculture; Horticulture and Aquaculture as well as recycled water for non-consumptive use.

Every year, millions of people, most of them children, die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation, and hygiene. Each and every day, some 6,000 children in developing and emerging countries die for want of clean water and sanitation. although far more people suffer the ill effects of poor water and sanitation services than are affected by headline-grabbing topics like war, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction, those issues capture the public imagination – as well as public resources – in a way that water and sanitation issues do not. In many cities, towns, and rural areas of Pakistan today people live and raise their children in a highly polluted environment. Urban and peri-urban areas are among the worst polluted and disease-ridden habitats. Much of this pollution, which leads to high rates of disease, malnutrition, and death, is caused by a lack of adequate excreta disposal facilities and inadequate solid waste collection and disposal service. As communities expand and the population increases, the situation will grow worse and the need for safe, sustainable, and affordable sanitation technology or system will be even more critical. Sewage infiltration into groundwater has made most of the world’s potable water undrinkable, unless immediate and emergency measures are taken to restore the environment and stop pollution, we will be unable to meet Pakistan’s water demands in the near future. It is estimated that a community of 10,000 people generate 40-acre inches of sewage effluent per day which is equivalent to 1 million gallons of wastewater. The prime objective of this presentation is to promote sustainable Liquid Waste Management Systems that support Green House Gas (GHG) emission reduction through The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Biological Treatment: Biological treatment is the most economical of waste treatments available today. In biological systems, the dynamics are biochemical as opposed to chemical, and the active agents are living entities. In chemical treatment, we have to increase the quantity of chemical proportionally to deal with a higher load of reactant, in a biological system the biological additive can grow to help compensate for increased loadings. The septic system is a biological process. Like any living thing, it has certain nutritional requirements to function properly and functions best in a suitable environment. However, the best first step in optimizing the performance of a septic system is to have a complete ecosystem of the organisms required for the most complete breakdown of the waste.

Use Liquid Waste as a Resource:

Energy will be recovered from the heat in the sewage and from biogas generated in the treatment process. Materials that have nutrient value will be recovered from wastewater treatment plants. Water will be recovered from the wastewater treatment process and stormwater will be kept separate from effluent.

Integrated Resource Recovery:

This is a concept and approach that integrates the management of water, wastewater, energy, and solid waste services to recover resources and value and to help increase resiliency. IRR planning and resource recovery actions in this plan support the Climate Action Plan, the Energy Plan, and Living Water Smart.

An Energy Dome that combines liquid waste-treatment with biodegradable solid waste consisting of four, 30ft. domes (two each of Anaerobic and Aerobic Design) with allied equipment will optimally generate 10 MW-hours of electricity while treating 10,000 gallons (8% solid content) of waste per day. This is adequate to maintain 500 to 1,000 homes, depending upon energy requirements. An energy dome of this size, capable of generating 3,650 MW-hours annually and should cost under Rs. 50 million. This system costs less than coal or nuclear for initial set up as well as maintenance while remaining completely sustainable. The 3 inch concrete with Basalt Rebar dome's disaster-proof construction and adobe cover of 1 to 2 feet imparts the ultimate flexibility for architectural design. It is ideally suited for small as well as large-scale structures such as homes, shops, mosques, auditoriums, schools, athletic facilities, arenas, stadiums, gymnasiums, convention halls, stores, shops, and warehouses, including cold store/freezer operations. Insulated concrete domes provide excellent energy efficiency.

Heating and cooling a dome typically costs 1/4 to 1/2 less than a conventional building the same size. This cost savings has to do with how the dome is constructed. The thermal mass of the concrete and adobe combined to create an R-value of 50-60 with extremely low air filtration. Low maintenance is also a quality of a Monolithic Dome. Snow and rain cause very little stress on the exterior of a dome since its shape sheds water quickly. In a well-constructed Dome, leaks are rare compared to conventional domes and are easily repaired. The American Institute of Architects has acclaimed the geodesic dome "the strongest, lightest and most efficient means of enclosing space known to man". They handle hurricane winds, extreme snow loads, and are the safest structure in an earthquake.

Geodesic Dome Bamboo Frame:

The Design: The design consists of an aerodynamic geodesic dome that covers the most floor space with the least walls or roof and rests, but is not grouted to, a floor of 2 tons per square foot bearing capacity. This results in freedom for the structure to move with, rather than resist earthquakes up to 9 on the Richter scale. Secondly, the aerodynamic design does not oppose high-velocity wind and allows it to flow over the structure thus providing the capability to resist up to 250 mph winds. Rising temperatures in summer and increased cold in winters is resulting in an increased need for energy for heating and cooling at a time when energy is scarce and prohibitively costly. This is yet another factor that is adequately catered for by emplacing the lowest possible cost and abundantly available adobe insulation material. Arising from the technology of our own cultural streams rather than the inappropriate western technologies, the concept is ready for ownership by our people.

Culture: The dome of Muslim architecture is the prototype of the Geodesic dome which is the strongest structure in an engineering sense and consists of 40 triangular facets. The compressional forces of traditional architecture are replaced by pre-stressed “tensional members” which is best described as “Tensegrity” or Tensional Integrity of the structure.

Each member is linked to the other and passes on applied force to the others to provide equal strength of all members. Similarly, gravitational forces from below or impaction forces from above are not resisted but are allowed to flow through the structure.

Structure: The structure consists of an RCC shell of 3-inch thickness that is covered with 1-2 foot adobe with a soil-cement layer upon curing. This system is capable of rapid erection by using permanent inner and outer shuttering, utilizing pressure filling of concrete over Steel Bar Re-enforcement (Rebar) or Basalt Rebar for lower carbon rating.

Steps involved are; Firstly, construction of a floor pad. Secondly; erection of inner shuttering. Thirdly, erection of outer shuttering and pressure filling; Fourthly, curing and removal of outer shuttering and finally emplacement of adobe cover and removal of inner shuttering.

Mega Cities in Advanced Countries are recycling their water 7 to 11 times to extract benefit from every drop.

Unique Low-Cost; Super-Insulated and Disaster-Proof Construction developed by the Petitioner. Can be used for Habitation, Storage, Utilities, Commercial & Industrial Uses.

Constructed Wetlands:

Having introduced this technology to the former Chairman PARC, I am constrained to point out that the PARC is using this system and even exporting to other Countries without prior bacteria and disease pathogen treatment. In fact, plants grown to remediate the effluent are being harvested and sold to be fed to poultry farms thus introducing disease pathogens into the food chain.

Wetlands are a system of artificial swamps that imitate the purification processes performed by natural swampland and filter out organic material, suspended solids, and heavy metals. The constructed wetlands are the means of rehabilitating the river ecosystem and its surroundings. The water is then pumped and piped out for use in crop irrigation and urban landscaping. A constructed wetland is an ecological wastewater treatment facility that uses a series of pools, in which a variety of aquatic plants grow to simulate a natural wetland environment, to purify water As the water flows from one pool to the other it undergoes biological purification, and the resulting water can be used to irrigate commercial short-rotation forest The project combines ecology (recycling wastewater) with research to eventually yield an economically feasible forestry venture.

1. 90-95% BOD reduction (Biological Oxygen Demand)

2. 90-95 % TSS reduction (Total Suspended Solid reduction)

3. 45-80% Nitrogen reduction - This ratio varies greatly in regards to local conditions and time of the test.

4. 30-60% Phosphorus reduction - The same variability of ratio as in Nitrogen can be observed.

5. Over 98% of Coliform bacteria reduction

If the effluent coming out of the WWG unit/s is to be further used for subsurface irrigation, the waters will know a secondary nutrient uptake process and thus meet even higher standards at final discharge.

While the treated water discharged from the Wastewater Gardens® is highly reduced in bacteria, it is not up to drinking standards as we normally don't use a final disinfectant such as chlorine or ultra-violet lights. This means that you can grow and eat fruits and some types of medicinal plants for example, or grow fodder for animals, but shouldn't plant leafy vegetables destined for human or animal consumption.

The discharge water could also be used for flushing toilets but the cost of pumping it back into houses usually makes this option uneconomical.

Since WWG systems rely on green plants and microbes, they perform more rapidly in warm, sunny conditions, the approach is ideal for climates ranging from tropical to Mediterranean-type climates. In these conditions with higher temperatures and increased sunlight, system effectiveness is high year-round. Applications for colder regions, for example, can however also be very effective in high elevation sites with long winters. However, in colder climates, sizing per resident must be larger to accomplish similar treatment.

A WWG Unit:

5. Extensive use of compost and water gel crystals in Agri/ horticulture. Seed Treatment by naturally occurring enzymes and use of Complete, Eco-safe Plant Nutrition. Innovative Cultural Practices. Traditional and Innovative Water harvesting:

For Longer Moisture Retention:

Composting is the aerobic (oxygen-demanding) decomposition of organic materials by microorganisms under controlled conditions and is Mother Nature’s process tuned by man. The product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of organic materials

• Sanitized through the generation of heat

• Stabilized to the point where it is beneficial to plant growth

• Provides humus, nutrients, and trace elements to soils

Physical Benefits:

• Improved soil structure, reduced density,

• Increased Permeability (less erosion potential)

• Resists compaction, increased water holding capacity

Chemical Benefits:

• Modifies and stabilizes pH

• Increases cation exchange capacity (enables soils to retain nutrients longer, reduces nutrient leaching)

Biological Benefits:

• Provides soil biota – healthier soils

• Suppresses plant diseases

Complete, Eco-safe Plant Nutrition:

The Green Revolution increased yields and thus put off the scepter of famine from many a 3rd World Country. However, this revolution unwittingly fostered the pollution of the environment by using unstabilized chemical fertilizers, which, in turn, led to the heavy use of pesticides. With growing knowledge and a body of evidence to spur them on, Agri Scientists applied their ingenuity to overcome these problems while maintaining and even increasing yields. Some alarmists pressed panic buttons and advocated a return to natural farming; a misnomer as there is nothing natural about farming. This gave rise to Organic Farming, which name is used to include the most unscientific of practices including the use of raw manure and resultant chemical ill-effects that are similar to that of unstabilized chemical fertilizers (excessive nitrate nitrogen build-up) and lead to pest infestations (Chemical Trail – Chemitaxi for crawling insects and build-up of excessive amino acids to attract flying pests).

The hormone balance of a plant dictates its growth characteristics. Nutrients are used to derive these hormones. Weather and its extremes of heat and drought compounded by insects and disease, restrict genetic potential utilization to 35 - 40%.

Complete Plant Nutrition pushes this efficiency up.

The existing Food Chains and Webs need to be reinforced and replenished to ensure health and continued functioning.

The vital human requirements for food, water, and air cannot be left to the mercy of ruthless, short-sighted, and short-term exploitation that leaves death, destruction, and permanent loss in its wake!

This fact is a dire necessity and can no longer be held in abeyance. Nor is it productive to enter into useless and repetitive argumentations. International and National Politics cannot be allowed to subvert the achievement of Eco Stability.

Von Liebig's Law states that the yield of a crop is limited by the nutrient in the least supply. This means that the supply of whichever of the essential building materials is restricted in terms of quantities required by the plant, it will restrict the yield. Apart from Chloride and Nickel, which help a plant to use urea, a plant needs at least 17 nutrient elements critical for its survival. Carbon, Oxygen, and Hydrogen constitute over 95% of a plant’s needs and are supplied from the air and water. The rest are taken from the soil. Soil pH determines tying down or availability of Nutrients and 6.8 pH is the breakpoint as nutrients except Molybdenum and Chlorine are more easily absorbed in Acidic Soil. Foliar feeding of essential nutrients is firstly, more efficient (70% foliar absorption compared with 30% soil-borne uptake, radioisotope analysis). Secondly, the mutual antagonism/ stimulation between various essential nutrient elements are overcome. Roots act as a transport system for raw and inorganic nutrient elements to the leaves where they are converted into food and sent to the roots for storage. It has been determined that foliar feeding is six times more efficient for Clay Loam and Organic soils and 20 times more efficient for sandy loams. Loss by leaching is 2% for foliar (chelated nutrients) and 70% for soil.

The hormone balance of a plant is responsible for dictating its response to environmental factors. Changes in climate affect hormone balance. This is more in some varieties and less in others. This is dictated by the genetics of a plant.

Innovative Cultural Practices:

Reusable plastic trays to collect dew from the air, reducing the water needed by crops or trees by up to 50 percent.

The square serrated trays, made from non-PET recycled and recyclable plastic with UV filters and a limestone additive, surround each plant or tree. With overnight temperature change, dew forms on both surfaces of the tray, which funnels the dew and condensation straight to the roots. If it rains, the trays heighten the effect of each millimeter of water 27 times over.

The trays also act as mulching and block the sun so weeds can’t take root, and protect the plants from extreme temperature shifts. “Farmers need to use much less water, and in turn much less fertilizer on the crop,” which translates to less groundwater contamination.

Low-Cost Surface; Roof-Top & ‘Pukka’ Surface Water Harvesting:

In general, water harvesting is the activity of direct collection of rainwater. The rainwater collected can be stored for direct use or can be recharged into the groundwater.

Rivers, lakes, and groundwater are all secondary sources of water. At present, we depend entirely on such secondary sources of water. In the process, we forget that rain is the ultimate source that feeds all these secondary sources and remain ignorant of its value.

Water harvesting means to understand the value of rain and to make optimum use of rainwater at the place where it falls. Because of high intensities and short duration of heavy rains, most of the rain falling on the surface tends to flow away rapidly, leaving very little for the recharge of groundwater. This is also due to deforestation.

Built by the petitioner at the National Center for Rural Development (NCRD) at Chak Shahzad, Islamabad in-place readily constructed by anyone in the place of plastic water tanks introduced by ERRA.

6. Hydro Seed Mulching for Slope Stabilization and Erosion Control:

To establish vegetation/ forests/ ensure slope stabilization and erosion control along with erosion control structures. To remediate watershed degradation which causes a decline in the groundwater table. Watershed management is aimed at recharging groundwater aquifer, rehabilitating rangelands, controlling flash floods, and enhancing fuelwood production in the target area.

The recent landslide in Village Puna, Tehsil Havellian, Abbottabad District is a case in point where Slope Stabilization avoids such hazards created due to lack of vegetation and poor road construction practices. Slope Stabilization uses Hard or Soft Armoring (Retaining Walls, Gabion Stone Holders, Fabric lays) for serious problems and Hydro Seed Mulching that bonds the soil along with seeds and nutrients and disallows washing away due to rain. This allows the plants to take root and provide the function of holding the slope. The time taken for establishing Green Control is covered by the Polymer application.

Polyacrylamide (PAM), Water Gel Crystals & Hydro Seed Mulching:

Erosion Control:

Polyacrylamide (PAM) is a long-chain molecule. PAM seeks out and binds to the broken edges of clay particles, which carry a negative charge. By increasing the cohesiveness of soil particles on the soil surface of a field, PAM makes the soil more resistant to the highly erosive shear forces exerted by water flowing over it. When used according to the NRCS standard, polyacrylamide (PAM) increases infiltration in addition to nearly eliminating furrow erosion. An increase in infiltration varies with several soil attributes, especially texture. Silt loam soils have shown about a 15% increase in net infiltration and a 25% increase in lateral wetting from shallow furrows between low, flatbeds. PAM preserves a more pervious pore structure during the formation of surface seals during irrigation, thus allowing increased infiltration. The greater infiltration associated with PAM-treated furrows can boost crop yields in sloping areas such that it's almost like giving the farmer the added yield equivalent of another irrigation during the growing season. Studies have shown that because PAM holds the topsoil in place, it also keeps phosphorus, nitrogen, pesticides, weed seeds, and micro organism out of wastewater. It takes very little PAM to dramatically cut erosion and increase infiltration. Just 10 parts per million (ppm) added to the advancing stream can reduce erosion by 70-99%.

These photos are from a site where there was poor vegetation establishment with the normal hydroseeding application. It was decided to re-hydroseed the slopes using the soil-specific polymer to aid the establishment of the vegetation.

Extensive 1-year trials by PFRI, Gatwala, Faisalabad on Seed Treatment, and PAM submitted by Petitioner over 5 years ago. Results communicated to Chairman PARC…….No Action!

7. Use of Saline Water for Solar Ponds:

To generate energy/ mariculture and capture evaporation for freshwater.

Saline Water:

In Pind Dadan Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan where saline water exists, the salt content is greater than seawater. We can generate as much as 35 KW in summers and 15 KW in winters with a peak production as high as 150 KW from a pond of 7,000 square meters. Saline water is allowed to develop a Salinity Gradient due to evaporation and feeding of saline water to the top of the pond. Thus the water at the bottom is denser and traps and retains heat from the sun. Using Rankine Engines and trapped heat energy is generated. If the pond is covered with plastic to create a Solar Still, a huge flat plate collector and if the evaporating vapor is trapped and condensed we can achieve greater efficiencies as well as collect distilled water for drinking and irrigation. Due to the growing scarcity of water, an essential element for survival, alternate sources have to be tapped. Apart from recycling and harvesting, there is a possibility of producing drinking water from solar stills. This principle is simple as the sun’s heat is trapped to heat water to produce steam. The vapor is then condensed to reappear as pure water. The scale of the operation will be determined by need and it can be extended to produce sufficient water

for single-family drinking and cooking purposes.

8. Phase out Large Dams, Build Check or Delay Action Dams:

To ensure soil conservation; recharge of aquifers to prevent floods.

9. Use Run of the Rivers for Hydro Energy Generation:

Low-cost and safe.

Core Petition:

I, the undersigned, call on all that powers that be, to keep our Water unsullied; unpolluted, free from waste; equitably distributed, wisely used, and conserved with all requisite interventions in order to assure our continued survival at least apropos to this vital sector.

Petition Background:

The so often taken for granted continuous miracle of life on Earth has a tenuous foundation upon water. That life-bestowing drop is sadly mistreated, polluted, and dangerously depleted. The dangers inherent in ignoring the life-threatening situation that is emerging in so vital a sector as water availability, both in terms of quality and quantity are staggering. To highlight the nexus between water and poverty, it is not that we do not have water, sheer waste and pollution is depriving the poor of quality and quantity of this

precious resource.

The hydrology of our Mega Cities has undergone a fundamental change, the aquifers are not being recharged adequately and sewage infiltration has polluted the subsurface water to create a health hazard. A minimum of 1,200 cubic meters per person/ per annum is required for the sustainability of life, at 1,000 c/m economic development is severely curtailed and at less than 500 c/m water availability life is threatened. Pakistan once a water surplus country is now facing a severe water shortage. The per capita water availability is reduced from 5,600 cubic meters to 1,100 cubic meters.

We must create a balance between extraction and recharging and ensure that our subsurface water is not polluted by sewage. The problem has to be tackled both at the Macro or top Government level as well as at the Micro or Grass Roots level in order to be effective.

Firstly, the immense bodies of policies formulated by various Governments and Agencies have to be reviewed and practical measures be adopted to replace mere verbiage.

The logical next step is to form Water User Associations at sub-regional levels. Water is not only required for the Agricultural Sector, presently consuming 97% of this resource, but it is also needed for Industry, Environment, Domestic consumption, Sanitation as well as for Power Generation. There is no question of monopolization and we must plan and use water to a high degree of efficiency in order to ensure sustainable development across the board.

Tereek-e-Pakistan Saani

Saturday, October 31, 2020

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