TAXILA: Highly awaited pre-monsoon rainfall brought little water to the Khanpur Dam’s catchment area, increasing water in the reservoir by only 0.15 feet.

The water level in the dam is 13ft above dead level, raising concerns that its water supply, particularly to residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, could be suspended.

“The much awaited pre-monsoon rains were the last hope for improvement in the Khanpur Dam’s drying reservoir. But little rain in the catchment areas has not significantly improved the water level in the dam, which is fast drying due to the persistent hot weather,” Irfan Khan Khattak, a Khanpur Dam official, told Dawn on Wednesday.

He said the water level is the reservoir is at 1,923.8ft, which is 13ft above dead level (1,910ft). Mr Khattak said the water level fell by 0.4ft due to hot weather and the lack of inflow from the catchment areas, but the recent rainfall and hailstorm in the dam’s catchment area added around 0.15ft of water.

He said the dam’s water inflow is currently 196.12 cusecs a day, while outflow is 136.18 cusecs a day. Due to the low water level, rocks, stones, bare banks and small sandy surfaces in the dam can be seen from a distance. The lack of water has also drastically affected water sports and boating.

According to official sources, water supplied from Khanpur to the twin cities has been halved, and if the reservoir does not receive more water from pre-monsoon rainfall in the catchment areas, the authorities will have no choice but to reduce the supply further.

Khanpur Dam is located on the Haro River, which originates in Galiyat. It is situated near the Potohar Plateau and Khanpur village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, about 40 kilometres from Islamabad and 15km from Taxila.

The dam caters to domestic water needs in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, and provides irrigation water to many agricultural and industrial areas surrounding the twin cities. It is 167ft high and stores 110,000 acre feet or 140 million cubic metres of water.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2017