HARIPUR, March 15: The ongoing countrywide dry spell, particularly in catchment areas of the Khanpur Dam, has dropped the water level of the reservoir, official sources here on Saturday.

The Khanpur Dam is the biggest source of drinking and irrigation water supply to the Capital Development Authority of Islamabad, cantonment areas of Rawalpindi, some other industrial concerns and irrigation departments of Punjab and the NWFP. In Khanpur, a vast area under citrus, lychee and other fruit orchards is irrigated by the reservoir.

Official sources privy to daily data of water inflow and outflow at the dam said since the dam was a rain-fed reservoir it depended on rainwater from hilly areas of upper Hazara and Murree, and the current dry spell in these areas had reduced the inflow considerably.

They said the water level in the reservoir had dropped to1,968 feet, which was 58 feet short of its dead level of 1,910 feet. Last year, the level of the dam on this day was 1974.72 feet, they said.

The water inflow was only 75.36 cusecs against 1,086 cusecs of last year on this day. The outflow on Saturday morning stood at 185.58 cusecs, which was 128 cusecs on March 15, 2007. The gross discharge, which included seepage, was 279.27 cusecs.

About the volume of outflow from the dam, the sources said that from the left bank canal the reservoir supplied 50 cusecs to the CDA, Islamabad, 36 cusecs to the NWFP, 35 cusecs to the Punjab irrigation department, 0.40 cusecs to the military organisation PMO and 2.18 cusecs to the Facto Cement Industry. From the right bank canal, NWFP and Punjab irrigation departments received 43 and 17 cusecs, respectively, they said.

They said daily loss in the shape of seepage and evaporation of water at the dam was estimated at about 94 cusecs.

An official source said available water in the reservoir could fulfil requirements of its beneficiaries for one and a half months. However, he said, if the situation did not improve and the dam’s catchment area did not receive rain for another month, the beneficiaries could face problems. He said that until the reservoir reached its dead level there would be no cut in the water share of any of the beneficiaries.