UNDERSTANDING PAKISTAN'S WATER-SECURITY NEXUS (original) (raw)

2013, UNDERSTANDING PAKISTAN'S WATER-SECURITY NEXUS

Pakistan, a semiarid region and a primarily agricultural economy, is facing declining water availability and quality, growing water pollution, and overall environmental insecurity. Th is situation, coupled with institutional, operational, and governance failures, is fostering domestic discord. ■ Th e water confl ict has both historical roots and emerging dynamics. ■ Water scarcity, fl oods, droughts, and domestic mismanagement can embitter interethnic relations and prompt political tension, which can in turn lead to violence. ■ Understanding water availability, allocation mechanisms, and demand is critical to understanding national management challenges and security threats. ■ A common response to the data on water supply and demand is to put it in the context of population growth. However, the greater issue concerns the politics of distribution, allocation, and access. ■ Rapid urbanization, intersectoral competition, and a growing industrial infrastructure will increase the need both for water and for development of new water infrastructures. ■ Climate change forecasts may seem like an antidote to water scarcity but may not have the same implications for water security—that is, human and socioeconomic security. ■ Varying perceptions of water and security among stakeholders and decision makers are preventing viable solutions for eff ective water resource management. ■ Th e current policy approach is oriented in supply-side interventions, and the overall ethos favors engineering megaprojects, a bias refl ected in policy and in donor appeals. Th is approach only veils the problem of water use ineffi ciencies. ■ Water stress should not be the tipping point but rather a means to promote social harmony, environmental sustainability, and national unity. Eff ective management can only come from domestic reform, and dependence on foreign aid will not render lasting solutions. ■ It is crucial that the government invest greater political capital to regulate water competition and provide quality water services to all communities. Conservation will prove key