BACKGROUND
In 1991 and 1993, IPTRID fielded missions to identify and formulate proposals for technology research in waterlogging and salinity. In June 2000, the IPTRID Secretariat reviewed and updated the Pakistan programme with regard to ongoing projects, emerging priorities and Pakistan's vision on water for food. This resulted in identification of five priorities.
1. Improved operation and maintenance (O&M) of drainage systems for sustainable agriculture and enhanced rural livelihoods.
2. Management of drainage water resources towards a National Drainage Accord (NDA).
3. Water management in Baluchistan province.
4. Capacity building in geographical information systems (GIS) for waterlogging and salinity control.
5. Strengthening the IPTRID network in Pakistan.
Each of the priorities was subdivided into components. Details are in Appendix I: Programme review and update.
To investigate research and development (R&D) needs and implementation possibilities, a roundtable meeting was held in November 2000, hosted by the International Waterlogging and Salinity Research Institute (IWASRI), Lahore. National consultants were engaged by IPTRID to prepare state-of-the-art papers on priorities 1-4 for the meeting; the papers are given in this document.
IMPROVED O&M OF DRAINAGE SYSTEMS FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND ENHANCED RURAL LIVELIHOODS
R&D should focus on the roles of institutions and farmers. The performance of existing drainage systems should be analyzed to draw lessons for future installation and improve O&M. It was decided to locate future R&D projects in Sindh province, because waterlogging and salinity are increasing there.
Drainage system O&M is critical to the social and financial sustainability of irrigated agriculture. It is recommended that an R&D project be formulated soon to investigate problems, study possible solutions and carry out field tests.
Priorities for R&D were assessed as follows:
farmers' participation in O&M;
performance of drainage systems;
management information systems for improving O&M;
institutional factors for effective O&M.
MANAGEMENT OF DRAINAGE WATER RESOURCES TOWARDS AN NDA
Drainage systems are necessary to keep irrigated agriculture sustainable. They produce salty effluent that requires safe disposal. The effluent is polluted by municipalities and industries discharging waste into open drainage systems. Surface water becomes polluted and groundwater resources are affected. There is a need to coordinate safe disposal of effluent and integrate it into overall water management. In principle, there are three options for tackling drainage problems: convey the effluent to major outfall drains that discharge into the sea, dilute the effluent and reuse it and diminish the volume by source control.
Issues that require more R&D are:
measures that aim at:
- improving agricultural drainwater quality prior to disposal;
- reducing agricultural drainwater volume;
- minimizing groundwater pollution;
improved control over point-source pollution of drainwater;
national network of data collection, monitoring and transmission;
water-management decision-support systems based on monitored data;
development of institutional framework;
legislation.
Groundwater tables are generally falling in the Punjab, so it was opportune to formulate an R&D project focusing on related problems in the province. This resulted in the R&D project formulation by IPTRID for the Punjab: "Integration of irrigation, groundwater and effluent management towards a National Drainage Accord" (see Appendix IV). It is proposed to investigate the R&D issues mentioned above under "measures that aim at" in this project.
The project proposes that R&D be based on the current shortage of water in relation to the area irrigated, the effects of supplementing it with saline groundwater, reducing drainage effluent volume by source control, integrating effluent reuse with irrigation and management options for safe disposal. This 700 000 ha project, formulated for the Irrigation Canal Command Lower Jehlum, has the features required for a fair representation of current problems in the province and what may be expected in future, which is ever scarcer water in the irrigation canal commands (ICCs). The Lower Jehlum ICC could constitute a first building block for the NDA and be repeated with adaptations for other ICCs in the province and in Sindh to provide data for integrated water management and safe disposal of remaining effluent volumes produced by the drainage systems.
WATER MANAGEMENT IN BALUCHISTAN PROVINCE
Water is becoming ever scarcer in Baluchistan province. Groundwater mining is adding to problems of inadequate surface water supplies and low rainfall. Recommendations made at the roundtable meeting included:
surface water resources: improve water harvesting and conservation techniques and enhance recharging of groundwater;
irrigation: irrigate more efficiently, using water-saving techniques;
groundwater resources: establish an authority to regulate and improve groundwater use through detailed legislation.
Given IPTRID's mandate, resources, expertise and programme focus, future R&D topics should be related to water conservation and irrigation efficiency. Detailed identification is required for development of strategies and formulation of R&D projects. The projects should be linked to existing R&D programmes run by institutions in Baluchistan.
CAPACITY BUILDING AND GIS FOR WATERLOGGING AND SALINITY CONTROL
The state-of-the-art paper on this topic prepared for the roundtable meeting stressed the importance of combining remote sensing (RS) and GIS to monitor waterlogging and salinization of agricultural land.
The first R&D topic suggested was to investigate possible forecasting of waterlogging and salinization.
The second topic would be to determine whether RS can be used by ICCs to adjust and improve water management.
Combined R&D efforts by IPTRID and the International Water-Management Institute (IWMI) would be especially fruitful in the light of ongoing research.
STRENGTHENING THE IPTRID NETWORK IN PAKISTAN
IPTRID's network coordinator and country staff will give further details of the necessary activities during future missions to Pakistan and through professional contacts.
