Publication: Pakistan’s Water Economy : Running Dry
Date
2008-10
ISSN
Published
2008-10
Author(s)
Briscoe, John
Qamar, Usman
Abstract
With an average rainfall of under 240
milli-meters a year, Pakistan is one of the world's
most arid countries. The population and the economy are
heavily dependent on an annual influx of water into the
Indus river system that emanates from the neighboring
countries and is mostly derived from rainfall and snow-melt
in the Himalayas. Throughout history, people have adapted to
the low and poorly distributed rainfall by either living
along river banks or carefully husbanding and managing local
water resources. In the nineteenth century, the advent of
large-scale irrigation technology decisively shifted the
balance between man and water. In the twentieth century,
Pakistan faced several political and natural challenges to
its water economy. There were successfully managed through
the Indus water treaty with India and the shrewd application
of science, technology, and economics, but Pakistan is once
again facing a number of very serious water-related threats
to its survival.
Citation
“Briscoe, John; Qamar, Usman. 2008. Pakistan’s Water Economy : Running Dry. Water P-Notes; No. 17. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11746 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”