Has given me sleepless nights when I tried to write the essay " Water and National Unity" that appeared this year. The facts that came out while researching to write about the topic were baffling.
1) The total demand for water by 2025 will be 274 Million Acre Feet(MAF) while the availability will be 191 MAF. Do the math!
2) The per capita water availability has gone down from over 5000 cubic meters in 1947 to 1017 cubic meters.
3) Global warming has increased the melting of glaciers faster than they are replaced.
4) Our total storage capacity is 30 days of average water demand compared to India's 300 and Egypt's 1000 days.

People who think that building dams alone can solve the demand and supply gap are mistaken because with all the dams built, they can only provide an additioal supply of 21 MAF while having done the maths above, we need at least 83 MAF do bridge the shortfall. Secondly, the capacity of storage and regulation of dams dwindle as time elapses due to siltation. Moreover, dams require their own time and financial resources to be constructed in the first place.

Hence in addition to building dams, their should be more emphasis on conservation through improving infrastructure and a comprehensive tax regime.

95% of fresh water is used in agriculture while only 5% is consumed in other sectors. Only the lining of canals in Sindh can save up to 20 MAF of water that seeps into the ground and gets wasted.
Secondly irrigation techniques need to be revisited and efficient methods such as drip irrigation should be introduced. Since this is a considerable investment for farmers, this policy and awareness is bound to fail if not backed up by revising the water tax. As an example, the canal water tax or "abiana" covers less than 30% of the expenses of the maintenance and running of these systems. This too, if the collection and recovery is 100% although it stannds at around 60%.
Hence, once the farmer is made to pay for the water he uses, the wastage of water will reduce and the incentive to invest in techniques that use water efficiently will be preset.

Another way of incorporating professionalism in our outlook of water is by pricing crops and agricultural produce based on their water differential. Some crops such as sugarcane and rice consume more water than other crops and this difference should be reflected in their prices.

This will pave way for the usage by farmers of genetically modified seeds of crops that produce more and require less water. As someone has aptly put it, " More crop per Drop". Since, in a competitive market with water differential, all will vie for the providing the cheapest rates for their produce and for that they will have to adopt better irrigation and plantation techniques.

Another important aspect related to water is taxing the agricultural sector. This sector is hugely under-taxed sector. By bringing this sector under the tax net, the government is sure to be in a healthy financial position to undertake different programs aimed at averting the water crisis.

These were some measures on the supply side of the water problem although equally important is the demand side of the equation. With an ever increasing population and being the seventh most populous country on planet earth, this is a race we must lose. More mouths to feed means more demand for water, both for domestic and agricultural purposes. Food security demands more land to be brought under irrigation which in turn means more constraint on the already meager water resources.
Effective population control programs such as increased awareness at the national level is necessary. The use of social workers, religious teachers and community leaders is a must i such campaigns. Secondly, bringing more and more females to pursue higher education can be another effective way of controlling the population as such females tend to delay marriages as opposed to the local customs.(we can go on and on regarding population control here, but I rest it here)

If all of the above ways fail and we donot take measures to turn the tables in the looming crisis, then the only possible solution to at least keep our population alive will be desalination of sea water. Its huge costs and limited scope will however not be even slightly able to support our agriculture but desperate times will require desperate measures and we may live a few more breaths.