Water Security in Pakistan: Availability, Accessibility and Utilisation

Water security is the assessment of a region’s capacity to provide safe and adequate water for all (including humans and the environment). In Pakistan, water security has predominantly been studied and assessed at the national scale, and without due understanding of societal implications. However, given Pakistan’s cultural, economic, and environmental diversity, assessment of water security in the country requires an understanding of human-water interactions at multiple scales, including national, regional, and local scales. This chapter is an attempt at analysing Pakistan’s water security both at the national scale and the sub-national scales and with emphasis on societal implications. The sub-national scales analysed are: (a) South Punjab; (b) Karachi; and (c) Southern Sindh. Key outcomes of the local scale water security assessment are: (i) a lack of water quality data and high-resolution water quantity data is a major hurdle to adequate water security assessment, especially in urban settings; (ii) existing and antiquated energy policies are promoting unsustainable groundwater extraction; and (iii) the ‘water for all’ notion is non-inclusive in practice and should, in future, include water rights of the neglected, e.g., farmers of South Punjab who do not have access to groundwater, or the deltaic communities that have been severely impacted by the lack of flows to the Indus Delta. More local perspectives need to be understood to truly assess and alleviate Pakistan’s water security challenges.