Demand Side management of Water Crisis in Pakistan: Post # 24

Water Crisis and demand-Side Water Management

Agreed and Enforceable Demand Side Water Management: Review of the literature provides us with the following definition: Demand side management means reducing the amount of water that customers (water users) use. Whereas supply side water management solutions to improve water availability are usually very expensive and may take years to complete, solutions based on demand side water management are more quickly implemented and are relatively inexpensive to secure.

As an alternative to the supply side water management (or at least as a parallel), demand side water management, along with water conservation and improvements in water use efficiency, provides solutions to water scarcity scenarios that can help make additional water available for the immediate needs of society. As demand side water management focuses on reducing the amount of water use, such a strategy (which would include policies and initiatives) would require political courage to adopt water demand management to face the serious emerging crisis of water scarcity.

Having a high level of experience and access to technology and knowledge, Israel, with a high water scarcity environment of 300 m³/ person per annum, presents a well tested practical model of water demand management for others entering or ready to enter this zone to follow. As reported by Engineer Saul Arlosoroff (2004), the following steps have been undertaken to secure set objectives of water demand management:

1. Legal basis, Prices and Economic Policies: In 1959, a public water commission was established to regulate, monitor and manage water resources. The total system is equipped with water meters and progressive water charging rates for every farmer, apartment, house and industry are automatically updated with a cost of living formula.
2. Re-use of Sewage Effluents:  Laws have been passed to further improve the quality of water produced by the sewage water treatment plant so as to increase its use potential in exchange of fresh water to meet mostly irrigation needs. Moreover, it helped to reduce health and environmental hazards associated with sewage water. In 2003, a 65 % reuse target was achieved.
3. Water Conservation / Improved Efficiency of Water Use: In addition to Point 1 and 2, efforts were focused on developing new efficient agronomic techniques like drip irrigation and changing cropping patterns based on product value per unit of water. Parallel to this, technological improvements were introduced to improve water use efficiency and reduce water consumption in the following sectors: urban, domestic, commercial and industrial.
4. Agriculture and Industrial Production Sectors – Water Allocation System: In agriculture, water allocation was determined based on potential economic gains by the introduction of new technologies, changes in cropping patterns and moving away from the crops where the product value per unit water is low. A similar policy for the industrial sector was followed to reduce the water usage per unit of product as well as pollution caused by the industrial waste.
5. The Urban Sector Water Use: In this case, the urban water supply system was equipped with water metering, older pipes were replaced with new ones to reduce leakage, and electronic monitoring was conducted and retrofitted to make the system more and more efficient.

6. Virtual Water Policy: In 1960, after realizing that available water resources were not enough to meet water needs, the Israeli Government decided to import most of its grain rather than grow it in the country. Such a policy decision meant that they were importing 3 BCM of water, which is almost twice the total amount of fresh water available in the country.
7. Water Markets: The Water Commissioner was already facilitating the trading of treated sewage water with fresh water in the country. Recently, the Government has allowed the holders of temporary or permanent allocations to be traded and provided water transactions through the national water carrier.

Of course, Israel faces much more water scarcity than Pakistan but the main purpose here is to demonstrate that Israel in 1948 had water availability of 300 m³per capita as compared to about 6000 m³per person in Pakistan at that same time. After 55 years, per capita water availability has stayed almost the same in Israel but we in Pakistan are witnessing a free fall to a figure around one-sixth of the referred quantity per capita in the same period. Why?  In one case, in Israel, there were water policies and initiatives that were implemented all along this period whereas in our case, Pakistan, water policies and initiatives for integrated water resource demand management are hardly in sight even today.

Although water conservation and improvements in water use efficiencies are an integral part of demand side water management, we discuss these aspects in a separate section as Pakistan has had a long history of undertaking such activities at the national level since the early seventies. Of course, the water conservation measures that we have introduced to save water do not seem to be enough; we need to take the next logical steps to convert dry water savings (invisible savings)  into wet water savings (visible savings), a cliché coined by David Seckler and Jack Keller, two well-known water experts.  By advancing a concept of global or effective water use efficiency, the referred experts mainly promoted an almost hands-off concept of water management when compared with those who associate themselves with improvements of local water use efficiencies described under demand side water management. I believe that by simultaneously adopting an integrated strategy for water resource supply as well as demand side water management, we can benefit from both concepts by producing visible and tangible water savings to contribute toward adequate water availability under a water scarce environment.

The difficulty with water demand management or demand side water management is that the practical experience related to this concept is mainly confined to domestic, industrial and wastewater sub-sectors in developed countries. In these sub-sectors of water use, the literature illustrates the following sort of implemented water demand management strategy:

Israel is one relatively well-developed country whose efforts covered all sub-sectors of water use, including agriculture. In view of the level of entrepreneurship, knowledge and technological advancements in Israel, its experience may be an excellent guide for the developing world for selecting well tested options but only for the distant future. In the near future, or perhaps even in the medium term, the differences in the available infrastructure and existing ground conditions may make it difficult for a developing country like Pakistan to copy the integrated water resources management strategy adopted by Israel.

As Pakistan has its own peculiar ground conditions, issues and options, our potential strategy for water demand management should be home-grown, which ideally covers all of the following three approaches: (1) Economic, (2) structural /operational and (3)social devices.    Learning from the on-going water demand management in Israel and techniques applied for some water utilities in the developed countries, we can initiate a process to develop an integrated water demand management strategy for further deliberations and refinements that includes:

1. Economic Devices:  The economic devices are mainly comprised of financial incentives or disincentives to encourage water users to reduce water use. In Pakistan’s case, agriculture is the most dominating sector for water consumption, making up almost 97% of total water consumed. Here, examples for financial incentives could include subsidies in providing technical assistance in providing LAZER land leveling services, improving layouts and proper designing of surface irrigation systems aimed at reducing excessive water applications. Subsidies for installing pressurized / drip irrigation systems or delivering water in pipes within command areas of small dams should pave the way for higher economic efficiency of water use. These incentives can also be extended to convert the resulting water savings into tangible or visible water savings (wet-water savings as discussed earlier) by encouraging on and off-farm water storages to facilitate adequate and readily available water during dry periods by individuals or by the community on the lower levels.

In the case of urban or rural water supply schemes, these incentives could take shape in providing rebates on changing new and improved fittings such as toilets, shower-heads and dishwashers to reduce water use or new pipelines and related fittings to check leakages to avoid water loss. The industrial sector can benefit from such incentives if units show significant reduction in water use in producing regular outputs.

 An example of financial disincentives could include increasing water charges to discourage excessive water usage. In Pakistan, there exists a huge disparity of water rates charged by the provincial irrigation departments within public canal commands and water charges that farmers pay to tube-well owners or expenses paid in pumping groundwater (which is typically used either to augment canal supplies or as a sole source for irrigation). In order to improve water use efficiency in canal commands, compatibility with the local tube-well water market is a possibility for consideration. These financial disincentives in agriculture, as part of a progressive water rate system such as that opted for in certain developed countries, can take shape as being either management-free or management intensive depending upon local conditions. Whatever the case, the purpose remains to discourage excessive water use either with restructuring water charging rates or by putting penalties for over use of water.  This stated principle also applies equally to other water use sub-sectors.

2. Structural and Operational Devices: In the irrigated agriculture sector, one example of a structural and operational device is making use of existing canal outlets as flow measuring structures, made possible with proper calibration, and then using them as operational tools for supplying and charging water on a volumetric basis. This is important as demand side (as well as supply side) water management without water measurement is just not possible. If such structural and operational devices were to be installed, we would be, in fact, putting in place a built-in mechanism to discourage over-use of water and incentivizing production of more valued products that use less amount of water. In the same vein, to influence farmers to use water efficiently and promote water allocation for crops with higher value outputs per unit of water, we need to push harder the ongoing institutional reforms in the irrigated sector with institutionalized formal participation of water users at all levels of the irrigation system.

For domestic and industrial sectors, the structural and operational devices referred to above can include installing new and improved flow meters for accurate assessment of water usage and a fair basis for charging for delivered water. Water supply agencies can consider programs for leakage detection, repair of old or leaky pipes and more efficient retrofits to reduce water use. Operational and structural arrangements for trading or exchanging treated sewage / wastewater with fresh water can be another way to do more with the same quantity of available water resource.

3. Social Devices:  Social devices are more tailored to influence the behavior of water users to reduce their water consumption. This approach is essentially based upon undertaking educational or awareness campaigns and providing enough data / information about efficient water usage that they realize that the same production goals can be achieved with less water used, and consequently less cost. In this context, following are a few options that can be considered:

3.1  Sensitization Campaign: This campaign is focused on creating awareness among all stakeholders to motivate them to work for the same shared goal of water demand management. By providing a water audit of current water use patterns across Pakistan, water users can be convinced that by improving water use efficiency, they can avoid negative externalities of over use of water, while additionally benefiting from having to pay less for less water used. In a way, this is marketing water demand management by selling its benefits to individuals and society at large. For example, the surface drainage that we observe in a few districts of southern Punjab and Baluchistan, the Punchoo system of water application in Sind, and the 3 to 5 times higher water allowances provided in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa can all be compared to the original canal design in Pakistan via a water audit to illustrate that if used efficiently, less water can lead to greater yields per unit of water applied. Presenting this audit to water users can motivate them to reduce water use for their own sake as excessive use can cause water-logging and salinity and decrease water productivity. Of course, this campaign has to assure water users by presenting them with alternatives where their saved water can be stored either on on-farm or off-farm reservoirs to be used to meet water demand during lean periods or to increase cropping intensities or even to sell it to other water users at per market rates.

3.2  Capacity Building: For marketing the package of water demand management to beneficiaries, the roles of all institutions responsible for water distribution within their respective sub-sectors should be understood in an integrated manner and short-falls in their capacities to promote water demand management must be identified by assessing training needs in each case. All gaps regarding technical and management skills of all institutions of different water use subsectors have to be identified and training programs tailored accordingly to impart capacities to meet challenges of marketing water demand management. 

 If we do not find any meaningful interaction among different institutions and stakeholders of different water use sub-sectors, integrated and focused capacity building will be a difficult task to achieve. Leaving aside all subsectors, even within the irrigated agriculture sub-sector, the main water user of water resources, there is no well-coordinated and focused training needs assessment being carried out to build capacity to support challenges of water demand management in Pakistan. At present, this is the most significant missing link in creating awareness and realization that there exists a huge opportunity to increase water availability on a fast track in the agriculture sector just by opting for water demand management, even if the new water development projects do not come on board soon.

3.3  Development of Institutions and Enforcement of Legal Framework:  Our water institutions are mostly built around the imperial mind-set. There is a critical need to have new institutional frameworks in each water use sector so as to let the beneficiaries have an effective say in policy making, planning and implementation. Fortunately, in the irrigated sector, the desired institutional changes are being introduced in three provinces of Pakistan. However, the implementation of these reforms is a slow process because those who stand to lose their long established imperial perks are asked to introduce such changes; it clearly points to a need for real political will to bring about such change. Be as it may, one thing is very clear—without effective participation of water users, it is difficult to expect any water demand management. If the intention is to make additional water available on a fast track without heavy investment in structures and long gestation time in any subsector of water use, water demand management is an obvious way forward. However, without effective involvement of users at every level, this dream of water demand management is expected to face a lot more resistance before it becomes reality.

3.4  Monitoring and Evaluation:  Water entities should have in-built mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation both in real time as well as on a continuous basis. These can be used to fix problems as they happen as ignoring them can affect desired water use performance in the future. For example, in the irrigated sector, if a relevant agency is properly funded and assigned to make use of the Geographic Information System (GIS), we can pinpoint the areas where excessive water applications are routine practice. In such cases, corrective actions can reduce water demand for water without causing any damage to crops. Similarly, a telemetry flow measuring and transmitting system can be installed and controlled by a third party so that water distribution related inter-provincial transactions can be made transparent enough that the current deficit of trust among the four provinces of Pakistan cannot stay an issue or become a source of conflict.

3.5             Political Will: Most of our water problems either keep on festering or become a serious source of conflict because of lack of political will to take issues head-on as they emerge. Isn’t it strange for an outside observer that in Pakistan, there are two tiers of water pricing systems: one public that delivers excellent quality of canal water almost at nominal seasonal flat rates and another private groundwater extraction system that delivers many times more expensive irrigation water to users? A similar lack of political will can be seen in the introduction of reforms in the irrigated sector. Because of this lack, even after more than a decade, we are stuck at an unknown stage without any serious and positive outcome on ground so far. Had there been political will and ownership in implementing such reforms to bring water users on board, it would have brought social pressure to reduce water stealing and installation of unauthorized outlets that will have significant impact on demand for irrigation water.

For the people of Pakistan, lessons from the management of the ongoing electric power crisis provide insight that will be useful when adopting water demand management in the context of the serious emerging water crisis. For many years now, efforts to manage the power shortages have focused on supply side management. There have been efforts to start some hydro-power stations, but they were stalled due to impeding obstacles that needed to be addressed first. Even if those issues are resolved, everyone will soon realize that the supply of power is possible only after a long gestation period. The same can be said about coal powered alternatives that are now being contemplated. As for Independent Power Plants (IPPs)[1], they are either out-of-order or not operating because the owners have not been paid and hence, are facing problems associated with imported fuel shortages. In such an environment, an option of Rental Power Plants (RPPs)[2] was pushed forward but public perceptions and opposition to this more expensive mechanism has made the government and the owners rethink this option as well. However, it cannot be ignored because without additional power supplies, it will be difficult to manage additional demands.

While we work on supply side options, there is a need to also consider managing demand to reduce the intensity of the crisis on hand. Although our government has tried to manage power-shortages by distributing the available power by introducing a system of load-shedding from hour to hour and area to area, this has not stopped street protests all over the country.  Some efforts have also been directed to improve its end-use savings by replacing old bulbs with energy-saver lightings. As a matter of fact, consumers are already switching over to such better and efficient means of new technology.

After realizing that these measures to manage demand have not reduced public unrest over power, the Prime Minister of Pakistan held two sessions with provincial and federal top guns and experts in April 2010 to come up with alternative measures to reduce demand for power so that frequency of load-shedding can be decreased. By enforcing and promoting measures like closing markets after 8:00 in the evening, reducing work days from 6 to 5, restricting use of air conditioners by government officials, restricting road-side lights, stopping billboard lighting, reducing operational hours of wedding halls, staggering weakly holidays in the industrial sector, time adjustments for running tube-wells in agriculture sector, encouraging energy savers, reducing power subsidies, etc., some success has been witnessed.  It is reported that power demand has gone down from 600 to 900 mega watts, providing some relief to the public, particularly for the business sector, from frequent and unpredictable load-shedding hours. However, its sustainability depends on the degree of political will to enforce such measures to reduce power demand. Of course, this demand management is not promoted as a sufficient means for a way-out or a solution, but its cost effectiveness and immediate impact can be counted as a significant part of the final solution to address the ongoing power crisis.

As presented above, power demand management mainly revolves around the end-users. Similarly, water demand management will also focus on the end-users. Like power demand management, we need all devices—economic, structural, operational and social—to accomplish significant reduction of demand for water.  In this light, there is a huge potential in irrigated agriculture to lower water demand through techniques outlined above, which can then significantly help meet additional water requirements. Again, water demand is an essential part of the solution to address water shortages cheaply and in a very short time span, but for a complete solution we must also include developing new sources of water supply that require more time and more financial resources. In other words, we are bound to work on the water demand management and water supply management in tandem.

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[1] Independent Power Plants (IPPs) are electric power generation plants in private sector that use imported fuel rather than locally available coal or hydro-power.

[2] Rental Power Plants are very similar to IPPs as for source of fuel to be used for power generation but they are rented units for shorter time to provide electricity at a rate higher than their sister modality on ground.