The Twin Cities' Urban Water Resilience

The Twin Cities' Urban Water Resilience

Pakistan's social, environmental and economic development is already being affected by water scarcity. Climate-related disasters (floods and droughts) have in recent years highlighted the need to implement climate-friendly flexible solutions for better water management at all levels. Pakistan generally had plenty of water in 1980. Pakistan suffered from water scarcity in 2000, and is expected to have it by 2035. 

Furthermore, COVID-19 emphasizes the importance of improving the flexibility of the drinking water transmission system. Consequently, Pakistan's growing water scarcity and sensitivity to climate change underscore the urgent need to address climate-related threats and increase water use at the national and local levels. Groundwater as of now supplies over 90% of the drinking water to every single significant city, including Rawalpindi and the Islamabad Capital Territory, in some cases alluded to as the "twin urban areas".

The twin cities, like every other city in Pakistan, are now facing major water-related problems, including inadequate water supply, sanitation, wastewater and sanitation. Ladies, kids and the old are generally helpless, particularly in poor metropolitan regions where clean water supply, sterilization offices, and related wastewater removal are as yet deficient. For example, Islamabad's current water supply of 45 MGD (million gallons per day) is insufficient to meet the city's 246 MGD water demand. 

It is extremely difficult to provide reliable water supply to Islamabad with a population of over 2.6 million. What's more, most of families have assembled an underground water siphon for private use. To meet the future need for rapid population expansion, the gap between supply and demand is expected to widen dramatically. As a result, the already scarce groundwater supply will come under even greater pressure. In Rawalpindi, for example, the groundwater deficit is 2.5 meters per year. 

Ensuring long-term potable water supply in cities is also a major challenge. To increase water security in these cities, flexible climate measures are needed. As a result of human population pressures, over-isolation, and climate change, groundwater supplies have been severely depleted, requiring unconventional methods to replenish groundwater or even sustainable use.

Under the Australia-Pakistan Water Security Initiative (APWASI), supported by the Australian Government in 2021, WWF-Pakistan and IWMI have created adaptable water the board answers for environment as a team with networks, common society and neighborhood states. Doing things that will prompt quantifiable upgrades. . Reasonable utilization of water in the Twin Cities.

To demonstrate the strategy of the WSCs, we are working to implement Australia's system-level water management approach, called 'Water Sensitive Cities (WSC)', in two backward metropolitan areas, in the Twin Cities. In one The team is working with communities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi to meet the project's goal of improving water safety, livability, and climatic resilience.

We are working with communities as part of the APWASI project to find scientific alternatives by adopting nature-based solutions (assistance in collecting rainwater and recharging artificial groundwater) to deal with the dire situation in the Twin Cities. Engage with Nature-based water solutions (NBSW) are being advocated around the world, and in some cases, they are replacing traditional designed (gray) infrastructure. 

NBSW is not commonly used in Pakistan, but it has the potential to help vulnerable people living in disadvantaged communities cope with weather shocks. For example, Islamabad's long-term average annual rainfall (1990-2020) is about 1400 mm. A recent scientific study by IWMI and PCRWR found that the Twin Cities have a tremendous potential for rainwater harvesting to address groundwater shortages and domestic water shortages.

Finally, the team conducted their joint socio-economic surveys to better understand the water and sanitation issues of the communities and to involve them in the development of locally sustainable water solutions. The team has also collected biophysical data from all water and wastewater infrastructure in the Twin Cities so that in-depth modeling can be done and low cost NBSW can be proposed for research sites. 

To enhance urban planning, as well as policy and decision-making processes, the team is developing scientific evidence-based information and statistics on water use and quality, distribution, leakage, and sanitation. By 2025, the team will work with Pakistani communities and the government to strengthen the management of urban water systems in two Pakistani cities, as well as to strengthen community resilience to climate change and other water-related shocks.

In Pakistan, the author serves as the national representative of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). drmohsinhafeez is his tweet. There were hammer's views and visions of each and every one of them.