Pakistan seeks $100 million from GCF to recharge underground water

In this file photo, a farmer drinking water from tube well running through solar panel on June 30, 2019 in Chiniot Pakistan. (File/ APP)

• The country is blessed with fourth largest water aquifer but its drawdown rate is also the fourth fastest, the minister says
• Pakistan’s annual groundwater withdrawal is 65 billion cubic meters against the recharge of 55 billion cubic meters

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is seeking about $100 million grant from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to construct at least fifteen wetlands along the Indus river to recharge its fast depleting underground aquifer and preserve the natural ecosystem.
“We are endowed with the world’s fourth largest water aquifer, but unfortunately our drawdown rate is also the fourth fastest,” Malik Amin Aslam, Federal Minister for Climate Change, told Arab News in an interview this week.
The GCF provides a global financial mechanism to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.
The minister said that the government had been working in partnership with the GCF and the Chinese authorities to secure the financing to further consolidate its “Recharge Pakistan” project for the country’s future water sustainability.
“We will soon start with a detailed feasibility [to construct the wetlands],” he said. “The funds being asked for are in the range of $100 million for the initial phase.”
Prime Minister Imran Khan last year approved the “Recharge Pakistan” program for better management and utilization of floodwaters and to restore and recharge groundwater.
The project is part of the government’s effort to fight adverse impacts of climate change and ensure sustainable use of groundwater which is falling by about a meter per year.
“We need to control unsustainable use of groundwater and initiate the planned recharging process,” Aslam said, adding that one of the most feasible options in this connection was to utilize floodwaters that come down in millions of acre-feet every other year and get flushed down into the Arabian Sea.
Pakistan’s fourth largest groundwater aquifer is spread over 1,137,819 square kilometers – making it slightly larger than England. According to WaterAid, “across Pakistan, the groundwater contribution is estimated to be 60 percent for the agriculture sector, 90 percent for the drinking water and 100 percent usage in industry.”
The annual groundwater withdrawal is estimated to be 65 billion cubic meters while the renewable groundwater resources are estimated to be 55 billion cubic meters a year.
“This is a rare and very valuable freshwater resource which can be diverted to around 15 wetland sites along the Indus banks to not only restore their natural ecosystems but also recharge the underground aquifer,” he said.
Citing example of China, the minister said that the Three Gorges Dam had utilized the concept of creating bigger lakes downstream and use them to recharge the underground aquifer.
“There is a lot for us to learn from that model,” he said. “We are committed to preserving our precious resource, and the best way to do is through the construction of wetlands.”
Pakistan has so far designated 19 wetlands across the country as Ramsar sites for being a signatory to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance while the government is taking all measures to conserve the wetlands to mitigate adverse impacts of climate change.
“The wetlands act as carbon sink, which is one of the major contributors of global warming, and a natural buffer to absorb the shock of natural disasters and protect communities,” the minister added.