Climate responsive urban groundwater management options in a stressed aquifer system

After Independence of Pakistan in 1947, problems between India and Pakistan arose overthe distribution of water as rivers in Punjab Province flow into the Pakistan territory fromacross India. To solve this water distribution problem, a treaty known as Indus WaterTreaty, brokered by the World Bank, was signed by the two countries in 1960. As per thistreaty, Pakistan has exclusive rights for the three western rivers, namely Indus, Jhelumand Chenab whereas India retains rights to the three eastern rivers, namely Ravi, Beasand Sutlej. The new river water distribution seriously affected the urban centres' aquiferswhich were previously being recharged by these eastern rivers and their associatedirrigation canal systems. The biggest setback due to the lost of water use of one of thethree eastern rivers is being faced by the Punjab Province capital city of Lahore where themain source of recharge to the underlying aquifer is River Ravi.The main aim of this paper is to study the wicked water problem being faced by Lahorecity and to explore sustainable groundwater development policy options for adaptation toclimate change as part of integrated urban water management in a stressed aquifer likeLahore. To study this problem, groundwater modelling tool was used. A parsimoniousworking surface-groundwater interaction groundwater flow model, using MODFLOWPackage, was developed for understanding the hydro-geological dynamics under differentaquifer management interventions as part of climate responsive policy. The developedmodel was calibrated using PEST (acronym for Parameter ESTimation) Package. Therewas a close agreement between the observed and simulated heads and the overall trend ofthe observed groundwater hydrograph was also followed well by the modelled data.