Alarming news from NASA: Groundwater basin under India Pakistan sinking rapidly.

[tore]

New NASA data show how the world is running out of water - The Washington Post

News | Study: Third of Big Groundwater Basins in Distress

NASA: Major droughts threaten food supply, global security — RT News

A third of the world’s biggest groundwater basins are in distress | UCIrvine News

Document: Many of the world's water basins are being depleted, studies find


Major droughts threaten food supply, global security
New NASA data show how the world is running out of water
Third of Big Groundwater Basins in Distress

As far as i i know, water issu is not on agenda for PML-N goverment. Pakistan & India should have a clear policy on this water and should on emergency basis work om providing clean water to all pakistanies & indians, and simultaneously develope proper sewage system, so clean water is separated from sewage water and install treatment plants all over Pakistan & India. Also tightening the practice of releasing contaminated water in nature.

Goverment should give priority to this issu , simmilar to the electricity issu.


(Definition of Indus basin: 'basin' which in geographic terms means "A river drainage basin is an area drained by a river and all of its tributaries". So when we say Indus Basin we mean all the area within which rainfall collects in drains into one river. So Indus Basin is the area where all rainfall eventually flows into Indus River and finally drains into the Arabian Sea.

Check this thread for details about Indus basin:
Indus Basin - Pakistan

 

[RazorMC]

Thank big water companies like Nestle for pumping out groundwater from India and Pakistan.
Another thank-you to our proud governments for allowing this to happen.

 

[nik22]

There was just a news few days back. There would be serious drought situation in India by 2025.

 

[Imran Khan]

man what we can do to avoid it ?

 

[nik22]

Thank big water companies like Nestle for pumping out groundwater from India and Pakistan.
Another thank-you to our proud governments for allowing this to happen.

So it is just the companies who are to be blamed? If they are pumping out they are not selling abroad. It is the people of country who are using. Problem is there is no rainwater harvesting, encroachment of lakes/ponds, uncontrolled usage of water by boring etc. Some industries also consume lot of water.

 

[VCheng]

man what we can do to avoid it ?

Build more (and massive) water storage above ground so that reliance on the aquifer is reduced.

 

[Imran Khan]

Build more (and massive) water storage above ground so that reliance on the aquifer is reduced.

its something wrong here ? we have too much rainfall every year now then why underground water level going down

 

[RazorMC]

man what we can do to avoid it ?

Bad agricultural practices waste tremendous amounts of fertile, river water. Those farmers should be encouraged, even forced, to opt for drip irrigation.
Groundwater should be made illegal to pump by anyone without proper permits.
Large-scale commercial pumping can be banned altogether.
Build desalination plants to convert sea water into usable source for household like cleaning, bathing, cooking etc

These steps need time, effort and some financing. But it's definitely better than living in a period of drought.

 

[[Bregs]]

Ground water recharge must be a law now in both countries, need to diversify to different crop variety. Rain water harvesting in cities.

 

[VCheng]

its something wrong here ? we have too much rainfall every year now then why underground water level going down

The aquifer is a massive store, but it takes several decades for the surface water to slowly percolate down. If the rate of withdrawal is more than the replenishment rate, the aquifer depletes. Deforestation also increases runoff so the ground cannot soak enough water to get to the aquifer. So what is wrong here is multi-factorial and long term.

 

[Adecypher]

its something wrong here ? we have too much rainfall every year now then why underground water level going down

All that rainfall water is wasted, that's why Pakistan needs dams to store that excess water.

And on the question why too much rainfall is not helping, I have listed some paras from the article published in reuters below:

Groundwater resources, used to supply Pakistan's growing population with water for agriculture, drinking and sanitation, are depleting rapidly. Such underground reserves usually are replenished naturally by rain and melting snow.

But experts warn that the short, intense rainfall that is becoming common during Pakistan's monsoon season between June and September results in more runoff, giving the water less time to percolate into the ground.

Scientists at the Pakistan Meteorological Department say weak and moderate rainfall provides the most groundwater recharge – but unfortunately that type of weather is becoming a rarity, they say.

"The frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events are very likely to escalate and their increasing trend is already quite visible in different parts of Pakistan," said Ghulam Rasul, a senior weather scientist and climatologist at the meteorological department.

"Because of the high intensity rainfall on steep, sloped land areas in the country’s northwestern and northeastern parts, groundwater recharge is minimal," he said.

 

[B+ Dracula]

Rain Harvesting

Ground water recharge must be a law now in both countries, need to diversify to different crop variety. Rain water harvesting in cities.

Rain harvesting is collecting rain from roofs and other surfaces to store for later use for landscape irrigation. The harvested water is non-potable, but can be used to irrigate your garden throughout the dry summer and reduce the water used from the tap.

You can calculate potential harvest with this calculation: To estimate the amount of water you can collect from your roof use this calculation:

Area of roof in square feet × 0.625 gallons of water = gallons caught per inch of rain.

Using this calculation, a 1,000 square foot roof would drain 625 gallons for an inch of rain. The City of Watsonville averages about 22.41” of rain per year (less in 2013), which means a harvesting system draining a 1000 square foot roof could potentially collect ≈14,006 gallons in an average rainfall year, if it had the capacity to store that much water.
PVWater.org Webkits

Rain Water Harvesting solutions in india

 

[[Bregs]]

Rain Harvesting

Rain harvesting is collecting rain from roofs and other surfaces to store for later use for landscape irrigation. The harvested water is non-potable, but can be used to irrigate your garden throughout the dry summer and reduce the water used from the tap.

You can calculate potential harvest with this calculation: To estimate the amount of water you can collect from your roof use this calculation:

Area of roof in square feet × 0.625 gallons of water = gallons caught per inch of rain.

Using this calculation, a 1,000 square foot roof would drain 625 gallons for an inch of rain. The City of Watsonville averages about 22.41” of rain per year (less in 2013), which means a harvesting system draining a 1000 square foot roof could potentially collect ≈14,006 gallons in an average rainfall year, if it had the capacity to store that much water.
PVWater.org Webkits

This is a very natural way to conserve and save water and in Rural areas we used to have large ponds in villages they were natural ground water chargers, they needs to be digged more deep.

All these actions are not costly but there is no political will in leaders to take such steps to save our precious and rapidly dwindling ground water

 

[Shah01]

Bad agricultural practices waste tremendous amounts of fertile, river water. Those farmers should be encouraged, even forced, to opt for drip irrigation.
Groundwater should be made illegal to pump by anyone without proper permits.
Large-scale commercial pumping can be banned altogether.
Build desalination plants to convert sea water into usable source for household like cleaning, bathing, cooking etc

These steps need time, effort and some financing. But it's definitely better than living in a period of drought.

Please look at the cost of drip irrigation. Small scale farmers could hardly make ends meet. It maybe possible for large scale farmers only.
Desalination plants need energy to run and is the most expensive way to get clean water. Pakistan cannot afford this.

Solution is simple as some others have said. Build large scale reservoirs and there are many possible sites. Build flood control reservoirs. Update the canal system by lining them.
These two measures will be enough to insure that there is water in canals all year around so the farmers won't need to pump water from aquifers. This in turn will reduce reliance on aquifers hence they will recharge with rain water etc.

Some control over the growth of population will also help as Pakistan has a set amount of water from rains and snow/melting glaciers.

 

[Edevelop]

Plant more trees, ground water will be re-charged