ISLAMABAD: Environmentalists and experts on water conservation have suggested that nature-based solutions must be adopted for utilising rainwater to recharge the fast declining groundwater level and also for mitigating the serious problem of urban flooding in the country.

Artificial groundwater recharge techniques through rainwater harvesting and storage of flowing water in underground tanks have emerged as an effective nature-based solution to tackle serious challenges of water scarcity in the shape of rapid decline of the water table and urban flooding which causes damage to property and displacement of people, they added.

These suggestions were presented during an interaction with a group of journalists gathered from different cities under a media fellowship jointly arranged by the Institute of Urbanism (IoU), International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Pakistan and Heinrich-Boll-Stiftung (HBS).

In the prevailing weather conditions in Pakistan, people are faced with severe dryness for nine months while on other hand, there is flooding caused due to sudden and erratic rains, said chairman of Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) Dr Mohammad Ashraf.

To cope with water scarcity and severe flooding, we have to opt for the nature-based solution of harvesting rainwater to fulfill our demand of this essential commodity and to also avert accumulation of water on roads, Dr Ashraf suggested.

The severity of both dryness and flooding needs to be balanced by reducing the tilt from both sides through opting for nature-based solutions, he summarised.

He spoke about encouraging results achieved through rainwater harvesting by ground water recharge wells set up in Islamabad by Capital Development Authority (CDA) recharging around 10 million gallons of water in a few months.

“Within four months of installation of the first state-of-the-art artificial ground water recharge well at Kachnar Park in Islamabad by the PCRWR and IWMI, Pakistan through financial support of WaterAid, the water table in the area has shown an increase of 4.8 metres,” said Dr Mohsin Hafeez, country representative of IWMI. Up to 1.9 million gallons of water has been added to the aquifer against 589 mms of rainfall from May - September 2022 alone, Dr Mohsin added.

Such initiatives of ground water replenishment through artificial recharge wells are needed to be replicated across the country at suitable sites and must be included in by-laws for establishment of new housing societies, he said, adding that the IWMI wants to propagate this concept of rainwater harvesting to improve groundwater level and is ready to extend technical support to organisations in this regard.

Dr Mohsin also said the IWMI Pakistan would soon establish a Groundwater Management Information System (GMIS) to measure groundwater quantity and quality in Okara district and the project would be eventually replicated in other parts of the country.

Artificial recharge wells can also be installed at a small level in homes and will help in recovering groundwater by saving rainwater from going to waste, said Deputy Director General, CDA, Sardar Khan Zimri.

He said due to water scarcity in some areas of the capital city, people were compelled to pay Rs5,000 for each water tanker to fill their tanks.

Islamabad, meanwhile, receives on average around 1,400mm of rain annually and by conserving only 30pc rainwater through artificial ground water recharge sites, we can bridge the demand for 46 million gallons of water per day against the supply of 45 million gallons per day, he added.

He also stressed the need for propagation of nature-based solutions to environmental problems on social media for mass awareness while keeping in view severity and seriousness of climate-induced calamities. Meanwhile, in Lahore, an underground tank constructed over an area of three acres with 16 feet depth at Bagh-i-Jinnah protects the busy Lawrence Road from urban flooding by saving 1.4 million gallons of rainwater after almost every downpour.

Usually 60mm of rains inundated Lawrence Road which now remains clear even if the area receives 100mm of rain after establishment of the water tank, an official said.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2022