Emerging Challenges of Groundwater in Pakistan and the Way Forward

Introduction

Groundwater is one of Pakistan’s most important but increasingly threatened natural resources. As the backbone of agriculture, domestic, and industrial needs, it supports millions of livelihoods. However, unsustainable use, over-extraction, and lack of proper management have turned it into one of the most pressing water challenges for the country. This unchecked exploitation has created a looming crisis of groundwater depletion, saltwater intrusion, and deterioration of groundwater quality. With increasing population, industrial growth, and urbanization, Pakistan now faces serious challenges in sustaining this precious resource.

This blog explores the availability, development, emerging challenges, and management issues of groundwater in Pakistan, followed by practical insights into the way forward for sustainable groundwater management.

Groundwater Availability in Pakistan

Pakistan is an agriculture-based economy. The agriculture sector contributes about 23% to the country’s GDP and employs more than 37% of the labour force. Ground water is one of the various resources which plays vital role in areas where the irrigation system is not fulfilling the irrigation needs. Pakistan primary ground water resource is in the irrigated areas of the Indus Basin, while the secondary source is the area outside the Indus Basin.

Indus basin is underlain by unconfined aquifer covering about 40 million acres (MA) of surface area of which 15 MA is fresh and 25 MA is saline. The aquifer receives its direct recharge from natural precipitation, river flows and continued seepage from canal, distributaries and watercourses. Indus basin aquifer ranked as the 2^nd most over stressed underground water reserve in the world. It contributes more than 50% in agriculture sector, around 70% in domestic use and 100% in industrial sector.

The safe yield of groundwater is 53.3 MAF (Punjab 40 MAF, Sindh 10 MAF, KPK 2.4 MAF and Balochistan 0.9 MAF. The groundwater potential and use in AJK is very limited as compare to others provinces. Estimated province wise groundwater balance is shown below:

Groundwater Development in Pakistan

Large scale extraction and use of groundwater for irrigated agriculture in Indus basin started in 1960 from SCARP project. Development of groundwater remains key focus and its management could not get full attention which resulted in uncontrolled and unregulated abstraction of this precious resource. Average annual abstraction of groundwater is about 55 MAF which has already crossed the safe yield limit.

Historic data shows that around 1.4 million private tubewells with average discharge of 1 cusec are working in Pakistan. Out of these 800,000 are in Punjab. Now although there is clear evidence that groundwater is being over-exploited, yet 10,000 additional wells are being put into service every year. According to recent estimated 13% of these tubewells are run by electricity whereas rest of 87% use diesel engines. Diesel engines are preferred by farmers due to low installation cost and assured operation.

Groundwater exploitation has brought numerous economic and environmental benefits. It transformed the concept of low and uncertain crop yield to a more secure and predictable crop production. Crop production increased from 20% to 100% and use of groundwater in conjunction with canal water supplies has helped in maintaining the salt balance in the soil. Canal water supplies are 40% deficient of crop water requirement which is fulfilled by groundwater.

About 80% farmers use groundwater in conjunction with canal water whereas remaining 20% totally dependent on groundwater. Area irrigated by groundwater has increased from 6.7 to 8.4 MA whereas the area irrigated by canal water has decreased from 19.5 to 17.0 MA.

Emerging Challenges of Groundwater in Pakistan

1. Overdraft/Over-Exploitation

Unregulated and uncontrolled use of groundwater is diminishing the relative accessibility. Depth to water table has decline in many areas of the Indus Basin which is evident that there is serious imbalance between abstraction and recharge. Due to excessive urbanization and construction of impermeable membrane over the natural strata, rate of groundwater extraction is much higher than its recharge rate. Many tubewells have gone out of production whereas production of remaining wells has reduced below 50% in many areas.

Excessive mining of aquifer in fresh groundwater area has resulted in falling water tables and groundwater has become inaccessible in 15% and 20% of the irrigated area of Punjab and Baluchistan respectively. The electricity for pumping groundwater is heavily subsidized in Baluchistan. The construction cost of deep electricity tubewell (greater than 65ft) is five times as compare to shallow tubewells (less than 20ft). The rich farmers having deep tubewells are the real beneficiary and poor are not getting benefit of this subsidy which ultimately creating unrest in society. This policy also exacerbating the problems of groundwater over-draft in Balochistan.

2. Deterioration of Quality

Groundwater under the Indus irrigation system is plentiful however quality is constraint. Key indicators to determine the quality of groundwater are EC, TDS, SAR and RSC. Quality of groundwater in Indus Plain varies widely, both spatially and with depth. Around 77% (10 MA) area of Punjab has access to fresh groundwater. Saline water is mostly encountered in central doab area and Cholistan area in southern Punjab. In some parts of Punjab, there are also reports of high fluoride content(7-12mh/l) and high concentration of arsenic (50 ug/l) in groundwater. In Sind province, about 28% of area has access to fresh groundwater. Large areas are underlain by poor quality of groundwater.

3. Salt Water/Sea Water Intrusion

In Sindh, the area of fresh ground water is confined to a narrow strip along the river Indus. Excessive pumping of this layer is causing salt water intrusion into fresh groundwater areas which resulted in abandoning of about 200 public tubewells located in fresh groundwater zones of Sindh province. Moreover, In coastal areas, excessive groundwater extraction can also encourage seawater to enter freshwater aquifers, further increasing groundwater salinity and threatening agricultural and domestic water supplies.

4. Climate Change Impacts

Climate change is increasingly affecting groundwater resources in Pakistan by changing rainfall patterns, increasing temperatures, and intensifying droughts and floods. Prolonged dry periods can reduce groundwater recharge and increase reliance on tube wells, while intense rainfall and flooding may cause rapid runoff and contaminated recharge rather than effective aquifer replenishment. As a result, climate change can increase both groundwater stress and water-quality risks, particularly in areas heavily dependent on groundwater for agriculture and domestic use.

5. Lack of reliable groundwater data

Pakistan has limited and uneven monitoring of groundwater levels, extraction rates, recharge, and water quality. The absence of accurate and regularly updated data makes it difficult to assess the actual condition of aquifers and identify areas facing depletion or contamination. This data gap also limits effective planning, regulation, and sustainable groundwater management.

6. Increasing Competition Among Groundwater Users

Increasing demand for groundwater from agriculture, households, industries, and ecosystems is putting growing pressure on Pakistan’s limited groundwater resources. Agriculture is the largest user, particularly for irrigation, while rapidly growing populations and industries are also increasing groundwater demand. This competition can lead to excessive extraction, declining water tables, and conflicts among different users, making sustainable groundwater management increasingly important.

7. Management Issues

The groundwater use has almost reached the sustainable limit. Increasing population and industrialization has put this precious resource under severe stress. In IBIS, groundwater is usually used in conjunction with surface water which helps the farmers in decreasing the salinity of irrigation water in an attempt to avoid soil salinization. In most of the canal command areas, conjunctive use of ground water and surface water is equally practiced in head and tail end of canal system. One of the key disadvantages of this unmanaged conjunctive use is that upstream areas are subjected to waterlogging whereas tail end users are aggravating their salinity problems due to bad quality of the groundwater.

Solution to Emerging Challenges

1. Improve Groundwater Monitoring

Begin with monitoring, then shift to management. Establish a nationwide groundwater monitoring network to regularly measure water levels, extraction rates, recharge, and water quality.

2. Promote Artificial Groundwater Recharge

Store water underground during wet years for use in droughts. Develop recharge wells, recharge ponds, infiltration basins, and other managed aquifer-recharge systems, particularly in groundwater-stressed areas.

3. Regulate Groundwater Abstraction

Introduce effective licensing and monitoring systems for tube wells to prevent excessive pumping and aquifer depletion.

4. Strengthen Groundwater Governance

Develop and enforce clear provincial groundwater policies, regulations, and institutional responsibilities.

5. Raise public and farmer awareness

Educate farmers, industries, and communities about groundwater conservation, efficient pumping, and the long-term consequences of over-extraction.

6. Improve Irrigation Efficiency

Promote drip irrigation, sprinkler systems, laser land levelling, and improved irrigation scheduling to reduce unnecessary groundwater extraction.

7. Promote Conjunctive Use Of Surface Water and Groundwater

Manage canal water and groundwater together to improve water availability, reduce waterlogging, and control salinity.

8. Control Groundwater Pollution

Strengthen management of agricultural chemicals, industrial effluents, sewage, and solid waste to protect aquifers from contamination.

Conclusion

Groundwater is a vital resource for Pakistan’s agriculture, domestic needs, and industrial development, but increasing extraction, declining water tables, deteriorating quality, saltwater intrusion, climate change, and weak monitoring are placing this resource under growing pressure. While groundwater development has significantly supported agricultural productivity and water security, its continued unmanaged use is not sustainable.

Pakistan needs to shift from uncontrolled groundwater development toward sustainable and integrated groundwater management. Strengthening monitoring and regulation, promoting artificial recharge, improving irrigation efficiency, controlling pollution, and encouraging the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater can help protect aquifers. Effective governance, public awareness, and long-term planning are essential to ensure that Pakistan’s groundwater remains available, accessible, and safe for future generations.

References

https://iwaponline.com/jwcc/article/15/10/4919/105078/Water-resources-in-Pakistan-a-comprehensive

https://www.samaa.tv/2087321422-pakistan-s-groundwater-levels-fall-rapidly-by-over-5

https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/501941611237298661/pdf/Groundwater-in-Pakistan-s-Indus-Basin-Present-and-Future-Prospects.pdf

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-36131-9_6

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969723019757

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/unconfined-aquifer

FAQs

What are three sources of groundwater?

The main sources that recharge and supply groundwater are precipitation (rain and snowmelt), surface water bodies (rivers, lakes, and streams), and artificial or irrigation recharge.

Which country uses most groundwater?

India uses the most groundwater in the world, extracting about 250 billion cubic meters every year.

Where is groundwater most commonly found?

Groundwater is most commonly found underground in the tiny spaces between soil, sand, and gravel, or in the fractures of rocks within areas known as aquifers.