KARACHI: The absence of reliable and adequate data is a major barrier to formulating an environmental flow regime for the lower Indus River, says a report released on Monday at a local hotel, where a workshop was held to discuss it.

Titled ‘Lower Indus River: Review of Environmental Flows to Maintain the Ecosystem Downstream Kotri Barrage’, the report is authored by Dr Christopher J. Gippel, a hydrologist and geomorphologist based in Australia, for the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan and is prepared under its Adaptation in Coastal Areas of Pakistan project.

The report has been produced after reviewing a range of literature and is intended to help make decisions on the use and management of water in the Indus River basin, and provides an important insight into the current status of the health of the lower Indus, downstream the Kotri Barrage.

According to the report, there are a number of key barriers to formulating an environmental flow regime for the lower Indus River based on a holistic approach. For instance, environmental flow objectives for flora, fauna, geomorphology, salinity and livelihoods have not been clearly stated and agreed; hydrological, sediment load and fisheries data are inconsistent between sources.

“A reliable set of relevant data is required. The hydraulic models (including river cross-sections) developed in 2005, or the results of model runs, need to be available.

“An Indus River basin-wide water balance model is required to assess the impacts of environmental flow requirements (EFR) options to and assist in the equitable and rational sharing of Indus River basin water resources,” it says.

It also says that the social process of reaching an agreement on an EFR for implementation requires formation, and a transparent operation, of a panel that includes representatives of impacted stakeholders and scientists.

“This would not be a local-scale working group, but an esteemed panel under independent leadership that reports directly to the government of Pakistan,” says the report.

The literature (reviewed by the author) strongly suggests a cause-effect link between regulation of the flow and degradation of the health of the lower river, including the delta. However, the report says, flow is not the only pressure on the health of the assets of the river, and management of the river requires attention to a range of topics.

“This review of literature revealed considerable inconsistencies in reported flow, sediment load and ecological data. There were few examples of analysis of primary data, with most authors simply citing results from other publications, some of which did not cite their sources.

“It would be of considerable benefit to improving understanding and management of the Indus River if a single, quality checked, and approved digital database of daily, monthly, seasonal and annual discharge and sediment concentration and load data for the Indus River was compiled and made available to all researchers and agency staff who had an interest in this topic,” it says.

The study notes that the overall demand for water from the Indus River exceeds supply, requiring an agreement on the rules for sharing the available water among the environment and other users.

The main threats to the health of the Indus Delta, according to the report, include reduced freshwater flow, construction of dams and various canals, encroachments, clearing mangroves for agriculture, reduced sediment loads, habitat destruction and pollution.

“However, the threats do not necessarily impact the delta in isolation, and implementation of any environmental flow initiative would also need to consider mitigating other non-flow related threats to the health of delta,” the report says.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2015