KARACHI: Water supply situation in the city will improve in the coming weeks as the recent monsoon spell has increased Hub Dam’s water level, a Karachi Water and Sewerage Board spokesperson told Dawn.

“The (water supply) situation will definitely improve as water level of the dam has increased due to rains in its catchment area,” KWSB spokesperson Rizwan Haider said, adding that the dam now had sufficient water to meet the city’s needs till Dec 2020.

On the status of Hub Dam level, chief engineer of Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and project director at Hub Dam, Ahtashamul Haq said that the level of reservoir had increased from 298.5 feet to 309 feet.

“The maximum conservation level, however, is 339 feet, which means there is still space for 30 feet water. At the present level, water is sufficient to meet needs of Sindh and Balochistan [as] per their respective share,” he said, adding that the reservoir couldn’t reach its maximum level since 2007.

Winter rains in the dam’s catchment area this year in February and March also helped raise its water level to 302 feet, he said.

It might be recalled that most parts of the city has been facing an acute shortage of water; the current water demand is 1,200MGD while the city receives between 500MGD and 580MGD from the Indus source (Keenjhar Lake).

The Hub Dam supplies around 100MGD mainly to district West and parts of Orangi, Shershah, Pak Colony and SITE.

Water supply from the dam, however, has been erratic due to drought conditions since the dam is entirely dependent on rain. Its catchment area is spread over 3,410 square miles and comprises areas along the Khirthar National Park (Dadu, Jamshoro and parts of Larkana districts), and the Pub range (Khuzdar and Lasbela districts).

According to Wapda sources, the Hub Dam has a storage capacity of 687,000 acre-feet. Since its establishment in the 1980s, the dam has been hit by drought conditions five to six times. It was last filled to its optimum level in 2007.

The respective shares of Sindh (53 per cent) and Balochistan (36.7pc) were finally slashed down to 40pc last November/December owing to falling water levels.

According to government data if the dam is filled to its maximum level of 339 feet, it can supply 100MGD and 59MGD to Karachi and parts of Balochistan respectively for two and a half years without interruption.

A small portion of water is supplied for irrigation purposes to other parts of Sindh.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2019