TY - CHAP
T1 - Pakistan’s water resources
T2 - Overview and challenges
AU - Watto, Muhammad Arif
AU - Mitchell, Michael
AU - Akhtar, Taimoor
N1 - Includes bibliographical references.
PY - 2021/3/26
Y1 - 2021/3/26
N2 - Pakistan has a vision to become one of the top ten global economies by the middle of this century, but has to achieve that transition despite being one of the most water-stressed and arid countries in the world. Its water availability goes through extremes from too much to too little water, and climate change is projected to exacerbate these extremes. For decades, the monumental Indus Basin Irrigation System has been a lifeline, allowing Pakistan’s agricultural economy to boom. While the system continues to grow, intensification of agriculture has meant surface water supply is being rapidly replaced with groundwater, and Pakistan has now become the fourth largest groundwater withdrawing country in the world. Yet Pakistan is also among the top five wastewater producing countries, with only 1.2% of that wastewater being treated. This chapter introduces the challenges Pakistan faces in achieving a more sustainable use of its water resources, emphasising that many of these challenges require social and institutional change. It then provides an overview of the chapters, showing how each chapter contributes to a deeper understanding of these challenges, as well as offering practical suggestions for how Pakistan’s future challenges can be addressed.
AB - Pakistan has a vision to become one of the top ten global economies by the middle of this century, but has to achieve that transition despite being one of the most water-stressed and arid countries in the world. Its water availability goes through extremes from too much to too little water, and climate change is projected to exacerbate these extremes. For decades, the monumental Indus Basin Irrigation System has been a lifeline, allowing Pakistan’s agricultural economy to boom. While the system continues to grow, intensification of agriculture has meant surface water supply is being rapidly replaced with groundwater, and Pakistan has now become the fourth largest groundwater withdrawing country in the world. Yet Pakistan is also among the top five wastewater producing countries, with only 1.2% of that wastewater being treated. This chapter introduces the challenges Pakistan faces in achieving a more sustainable use of its water resources, emphasising that many of these challenges require social and institutional change. It then provides an overview of the chapters, showing how each chapter contributes to a deeper understanding of these challenges, as well as offering practical suggestions for how Pakistan’s future challenges can be addressed.
KW - Indus basin
KW - Water outlook
KW - Water security
KW - Water vision
KW - Water challenge
UR - https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-65679-9#toc
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-65679-9_1
DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-65679-9_1
M3 - Chapter (peer-reviewed)
SN - 9783030656782
T3 - World Water Resources
SP - 1
EP - 12
BT - Water resources of Pakistan
A2 - Arif Watto, Muhammad
A2 - Mitchell, Michael
A2 - Bashir, Safdar
PB - Springer
CY - Cham. Switzerland
ER -