Groundwater overdraft in Pakistan

This research project looks at the social affects and solutions of groundwater overdraft on the Indus Basin in Pakistan.

(Population Data, 2019)

Indus Basin: Basic Facts

Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and China border the Indus Basin.
The majority of it is found in Pakistan.
The Basin covers a total area of 16.7 million hectares (Qureshi et, al. 2009).
The Basin's aquifer is recharged from river surface water and rain (Qureshi et, al. 2009).

(Course Hero, 2023)

Importance of Groundwater

Groundwater is found in aquifers beneath the earth's surface.
Demand for groundwater is increasing due to intensive agriculture and population growth.
Developing countries in Asia, South America, and Africa rely on groundwater for cheap crop production at all levels, from subsistence to industrial farms (Garduño and Foster, 2010). .
Groundwater also allows crops to be grown in arid regions, as is the case with Pakistan.
Overdraft occurs when groundwater is depleted faster than it is recharged through methods such as rainwater percolation or snowmelt (Garduño and Foster, 2010).
As the global population grows and becomes wealthier, land area for crops and livestock will need to increase by an additional 73% as diets shift more towards meat (de Fraiture and Wichelns, 2010).

(Conserva Irrigation, 2023)

(Shawn, 2007)

Groundwater use in Pakistan

Groundwater irrigation is more reliable, allows farmers to diversify their crops. and provides drinking water to urban and rural communities (Qureshi et, al. 2009).
90% of people in the Punjab region of Pakistan rely on groundwater (Qureshi et, al. 2009).
Groundwater irrigation is the only way for water-intensive crops such as rice and sugar cane can be grown in arid regions (Qureshi et, al. 2009).
The majority of Pakistan's farmers are small landholders who rely on pumping groundwater, and this lifted many people in rural regions out of poverty (Qureshi 2015).
Groundwater overdraft in Pakistan results from unlimited pumping using tube wells (Qureshi et, al. 2009).
Incomes for farmers are five times higher using groundwater irrigation than other methods, such as surface water irrigation (Qureshi et, al. 2009).
Tube well instillation and groundwater use brought in $2.5 billion in profits, with 90% coming from agriculture (Qureshi et, al. 2009).

Impacts of Groundwater Overdraft

(Gluck, 2010)

Economic Costs

Groundwater overdraft degrades the aquifer and lowers the water table, resulting in between 5% of the groundwater in the Punjab region, and 15% of the groundwater in the Balochistan region being inaccessible for irrigation. This increases costs for farmers from US $4.2/1,000 meters squared to US $12/1,000 meters cubed as they must dig deeper wells (Qureshi 2015).

(Stavi et, al. 2021)

Salinization

Salinization occurs when saltwater leaches into the aquifer and contaminates the fresh water. On the coastal parts of the Indus Basin, this happens when ocean water seeps into the aquifer. The soil is also at risk of salinization from salts that flow in from rivers and tributaries being diverted into Pakistan's canal system, which delivers surface water for irrigation. An extra ton of salt is added to the soil as a result. (Qureshi 2015). 4.5 million hectares of the Indus Basin is affected by salinization, including 30% in the Punjab region, which produces 90% of Pakistan's agriculture. If salinization persists, it is unknown if Pakistan will continue to be able to feed its growing population (Qureshi et, al. 2008).

Solutions to Groundwater Overdraft

(Public Domain)

Artificial Recharge

Artificial Recharge involves using a planned method to increase the amount of groundwater in an aquifer. This is done through pumping treated wastewater or greywater into the aquifer. In Punjab, Pakistan, irrigation canals contribute 80% to groundwater recharge. This could potentially be expanded to other regions in Pakistan as well (Qureshi 2015).

(Ground Report, 2016)

Agricultural Reform

Agricultural reform is a broad solution that includes both switching to less water-intensive crops, and irrigation methods using governmental subsidies. Flood irrigation is the most common method, but drip irrigation uses less water in a more precise manner. Furrow-bed irrigation reduces water usage up to 40%. Direct seeded rice, where seeds are planted directly in the field instead of a nursery (Polycarpou 2010) uses 23% less water than rice cultivated the regular way (Qureshi et, al. 2009). Letting fields fallow and decreasing cropping intensity would also lessen groundwater exploitation (Qureshi et, al. 2009).

(Rice Partners Limited)

Water Markets

Water markets occur when farmers that pump too much groundwater sell the excess to buyers, usually other farmers. The most common method is large-scale farms with a private or shared tube well selling to a small-scale farm that cannot afford their own tube well. Water markets sprang up informally in Pakistan, and especially the Punjab province, due to increasing costs associated with drilling deeper boreholes from the lower water table and salinization. These are a solution because selling excess water reduces overall use, and standardized contracts that reflect water scarcity would further encourage water cuts by increasing the price to pump water. Markets can also be expanded through lining watercourses to reduce seepage and building infrastructure that makes water travel more efficient (Razzeq et. al 2022).

Theoretical Framework

The social-ecological system framework, originally created by Elinor Ostrom in 2007, and later revised by Mark McGinnis and Elinor Ostrom in 2014, was developed to understand how different levels of governance affect resource users of numerous levels and backgrounds. It also examines how resource users affect the resource system with unique characteristics through help from different scientific disciplines all working together (McGinnis and Ostrom 2014).

Frameworks help policymakers gather, organize, and analyze data from various scientific sources, such as assessments and past official documents, and theory guides the analysis. The basic concept of social-ecological systems framework is that humans make intentional decisions, either as individuals or in collaborative groups, and explores how the significance of these choices impact outcomes (McGinnis and Ostrom 2014). This theory is often used with common pool resources, where resource users extract resource units from a resource system (McGinnis and Ostrom 2014).

This theoretical framework was chosen because groundwater is a common pool resource, or a resource used by many different groups for a variety of reasons, such as agriculture, municipal drinking water, or industry. The interactions of the resource system, or the Indus Basin, along with the resource units, including aquifer recharge rates, pumping rates, and the cost to pump groundwater determine how the national and provincial governments of Pakistan, and the citizens use the groundwater.

Resources

de Fraiture, C,. & Wichelns, D. (2010). Satisfying future water demands for agriculture. Agricultural Water Management, 502 511.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2009.08.008

Garduño, H., & Foster, Stephen. (2010). Sustainable groundwater irrigation: Approaches to reconciling demand with resources. GW-MATE Strategic Overview Series;No. 4. ©World Bank, Washington, DC. http://localhost:4000//entities/publication/f652e97c-aa56-5591-aa46-2e656ecf8bb6 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”

Gluck, C. (2010). Pakistan floods: Farmers salvaging rice crops [Photograph]. Oxfam International. flickr. Pakistan floods: Farmers salvaging rice crops | Tenant farme… | Flickr.

Hettel, G. (2016). From crop production to market: Improving the livelihood of Pakistan's basmati rice farmers [Photograph]. Rice Partners Limited. ricetoday.irri.org. From crop production to market: Improving the livelihood of Pakistan’s basmati rice farmers - Rice Today (irri.org).

McGinnis, M. & Ostrom, E. (2014). Social-ecological systems framework: initial changes and continuing challenges. Ecology and Society. 1-12. https://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-06387-190230.

Polycarpou, L. (2010) Direct seeding of rice - a simple solution to India's water crisis. news.climate.columbia.edu. Direct Seeding of Rice – A Simple Solution to India’s Water Crisis? (columbia.edu).

Qureshi, A.S., McCornick, P.G., Qadir, M. & Aslam, Z. (2008). Managing salinity and waterlogging in the Indus Basin of Pakistan. Agricultural Water Management. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2007.09.014.

Qureshi, A., McCornick, P. Sawar, A. & Sharma, B. (2009). Challenges and prospects of sustainable groundwater management in the Indus Basin, Pakistan. Water Resources Management. 1551-1569 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-009-9513-3

Qureshi, A.S. (2015). Improving food security and livelihood resilience through groundwater management in Pakistan. Global Advanced Research Journal of Agricultural Science. 667-710.

Razzaq, A., Liu H., Zhou Y., Xiao, M., & Qing, P. (2022). The competitiveness, bargaining power, and contract choice in agricultural water markets in Pakistan: Implications for price discrimination and environmental sustainability. Front. Environ. Sci. 10:917984. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.917984.

Shawn. (2007). Tube well in Modiphur [Photograph.] flickr. Tube Well in Modiphur | Arsenic is a big problem for a lot o… | Flickr.

Stavi, I., Thevs, N., & Priori, S. Soil salinity and sodicity in drylands: A review of causes, effects, monitoring, and restoration measures [Photograph]. frontiersin.org. Frontiers | Soil Salinity and Sodicity in Drylands: A Review of Causes, Effects, Monitoring, and Restoration Measures (frontiersin.org)

Conserva Irrigation. (2023). Conventional sprinklers [Photograph]. conservairrigation.com. Sprinkler & Irrigation Services | Conserva Irrigation

Course Hero. (2023). Groundwater [Photograph]. coursehero.com. Groundwater | Earth Science | | Course Hero.

Ground Report. (2016). Increasing crop production by using drip irrigation system [Photograph]. groundreport.com. Increasing Crop Production By Using Drip Irrigation System - Ground Report.

Population Data. (2019). Indus - watershed [Photograph]. populationdata.net. Indus - watershed • Map • PopulationData.net.

Walter Resources. (2019). Artificial groundwater recharge [Photograph]. usgs.gov. Artificial Groundwater Recharge | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov).