Pakistan Eyes $18bn Over Decade for Water Storage and Irrigation

Pakistan will need an estimated $18 billion in federal financing over the next decade for strategic water infrastructure, according to a Planning Commission report. The money would cover flood management, storage development and canal modernisation, as the country faces worsening water scarcity.

The National Water Security framework under URAAN Pakistan aims to raise water-use efficiency from the current 40% to 70%. It also seeks to increase water availability at farm gates from 58.3 million acre-feet (MAF) to 79 MAF by 2029.

The report sets a target of lifting storage capacity from 15.318 MAF to 23.54 MAF by 2029. It warns that current live storage equals only 11% of annual Indus River flows. Ongoing projects under the Public Sector Development Programme are expected to add 9.821 MAF. Proposed projects, including the Akhori Off-Channel Storage Dam, Shyok Dam and Skardu Dam, could provide about 14.5 MAF more.

The framework proposes a Water System Integrator function under the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) to strengthen accountability in distributing water from rivers to farms. Agriculture accounts for about 95% of freshwater withdrawals in Pakistan.

Proposed irrigation reforms include financial incentives for drip and sprinkler systems, changes to abiana so it reflects actual operation and maintenance costs, and rationalising cropping patterns. The report identifies about 20.58 million acres of suitable farmland outside formal irrigation networks. It also recommends linking subsidies for solar-powered tubewells to groundwater registration and sustainable extraction limits, warning that solarisation speeds depletion because farmers can pump water at virtually zero marginal energy cost.

Groundwater levels are falling by 0.5 to one metre a year across Punjab, and the Indus Basin Aquifer has been identified as the second most overstressed aquifer system in the world, the report says. It also notes that flood warning time at Marala Headworks dropped from 40 hours in 2014 to 5.5 hours in 2025.

The report proposes declaring water security a national security agenda, enacting the National Flood Protection Plan-IV, passing a National Glacier Protection Act and revising flood design assessments with updated hydrological data. It further proposes recycling at least 25% of urban wastewater, noting that about 53% of monitored urban water sources are unsafe for human consumption.

The Planning Commission warns that meeting the 2029 targets depends on coordinated infrastructure development, regulatory reforms and better water governance.