ISLAMABAD, Nov 4: The government on Thursday approved in principle the National Water Policy that envisages complete reorganization of water sector institutions through their mergers and okayed formation of a high-level permanent National Water Council (NWC) to take crucial decisions on water-related issues and inter-provincial conflicts.

The decision, taken at a meeting presided over by Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaqat Ali Jatoi, here on Thursday, will be submitted to the federal cabinet for formal approval.

The NWC, to be headed by the prime minister, will comprise chief ministers of four provinces, federal ministers for water and power, food and agriculture, finance, environment, law and justice, federal secretaries of a number of ministries, provincial irrigation and agriculture ministers, experts and other stakeholders.

Similar bodies with regulatory powers with the name of provincial water regulatory commissions would also be set up at the provincial level to take policy and regulatory decisions, says a copy of the National Water Policy obtained by Dawn.

The provincial commissions will handle all water-related provincial matters, including irrigation, domestic water and sanitation, industrial water, groundwater, and wastewater disposal to prevent contamination.

The National Water Commission will be formed through the merger of chief engineering adviser organisation, planning institutions of Wapda and the federal flood organisation.

The policy recognizes the quality of drinking water as "problem number one of Pakistan" and notes 22 million acre feet (MAF) of balance water availability for future development.

The policy says that to meet year 2025 water requirement, with a nominal annual increase of two per cent in export, the agriculture water requirement at farm gate are estimated to be about 20 MAF of additional water, assuming 50 per cent increase in crop yields due to non-water inputs.

For comparative purposes, the requirement for agriculture will be around 40 MAF at the farm gate assuming 25 per cent increase in yields. The policy is based on an assumption that population would grow to 168 million by 2010 and 221 million by 2025, with an average annual increase of 1.81 per cent.

The National Water Council will adopt the principles of integrated and unified river basin development to ensure that all aspects of water and areas are properly taken care of in decision making of water resources development and prepare water resource plans for development.

The policy also covers issues like irrigated agriculture, municipal, rural water supply and sanitation, maintenance of supply systems, water for industry, water for hydropower, water rights and allocations, economic and financial management, groundwater, stakeholders participation, flood management, drought management, drainage and reclamation, water quality, wetlands, ecology and recreational water, information management and research, trans-boundary water sharing and institutional and legal aspects.

The National Water Commission will also be the secretariat of the proposed National Water Council to be headquartered in Islamabad. For the purpose of requisite freedom of operation, the commission will have an autonomous corporate body to be covered by law.

The policy calls for encouraging and supporting the combination of appropriate provisions of various water-related provincial acts into one comprehensive act. Such an act would replace the existing provincial acts, framed from year 1873 to 1997 and would make the water-related laws concise and clearer, more-readily understandable and less susceptible to misinterpretations.

The commission shall implement the national water policy and strategy and assist the National Water Council in taking crucial decisions on water-related issues and conflicts.

It will be responsible for integrated planning of national water resources and activities in the fields of irrigation and drainage works financed by the federal government, improvement of water quality and monitor functions pertaining to federally-financed activities in irrigation, drainage, food, droughts, water supply and hydropower sectors and oversee utilization of water resources at the national level particularly in terms of sub-sector wise prioratization.

The provincial commissions will comprise government ministries, organizations, agencies, experts and farmer representatives for high-level policy making, periodic review, coordination and monitoring.

The provincial commission will be responsible for enhancing the capabilities of provincial irrigation and drainage authorities (PIDAs) and area water boards (AWBs) in engineering design and construction of provincial irrigation and drainage schemes, thereby leaving Wapda's water wing to concentrate on the inter-provincial construction work.

In case a province feels that services of Wapda are mandatory for the implementation of a particular project, PIDA and AWBs as a client would enter into proper consultancy or construction management agreements with Wapda for services to be rendered.

Wapda's water wing will continue to perform design, construction and operation and maintenance function on all inter-provincial projects including hydropower development and other works of specialized nature.

On the question of trans-boundary water sharing, the policy would foster cooperation for the management of common basic resources.