Pakistan’s Water: Changing the Narrative, Changing the Outcomes

Abstract

Water is Pakistan’s lifeline and has had a profound influence on the civilizational development in the region. The river Indus (also known as the river Sindhu) affects the psyche of people living in Pakistan to mythic proportions. In the same way, a huge part of the glaciers of the Third Pole lies in Pakistan and are held almost with reverence by people who live on the roof of the world. This new century has brought new challenges including the direct impact of climate change on water—the unexpected and intense changes in water regimes and water cycles, shifting of seasons, distortion of natural regions, and loss of ecosystems. Yet in Pakistan these crucial conversations are swept aside in the obsession with irrigation-based agriculture and more infrastructure development. Pakistan’s water policy of 2018 is a long wish list and does not contain a coherent contextual narrative within which this wish list can be understood. This chapter outlines priority actions and responsibilities largely missing from the water discourse: water conservation at all levels from homes to the agricultural sector as a whole, new water subjects to train and engage young people, water services to rural areas to stem rural-urban migration, urban water management, new water technologies, building the capabilities of people and institutions to manage the effects of global climate change on water supplies, moving to smaller and more manageable water infrastructure, building the physical health of rivers, lakes, groundwater, springs, and glaciers.