Experts Urged To Adopt Modern Techniques To Sustain Water Resources For Future Generations

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Jun, 2022 ) :The water managers, experts and policy makers should adopt the integrated water resource management techniques to sustain the available water resources for future generations said the speakers while addressing a training workshop on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).

The workshop on topics of Water Markets and Water Trading, Hydrological Modeling, Water Banking and Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR), Integrated River Basin Management under Climate Change was organized here at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR) by the Department of Land and Water Conservation Engineering (L&WCE), Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology (FAE&T), PMAS-AAUR in collaboration with Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), with the objective of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of Registered Engineers (REs) and Professional Engineers (PEs).

Prof. Dr. Qamar uz Zaman Vice Chancellor PMAS-AAUR was the chief guest at the concluding session while the guest speakers were Dr. Muhammad Akhtar Abbas, Assistant Director in the Australian Federal Ministry of Water and Dr. Sohail Rai, Director Modelling in Murray�Darling Basin Authority.

Teachers from different faculties of PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, students of BSc Agricultural Engineering, and Water Engineers of PCRWR were the participants.

Dr. Qamar uz Zaman emphasized on the industry-academia linkage to address the challenges being faced by our farmers related to water resources management.

He stressed on the enhancement of water productivity pertaining to smart and precision irrigation.

Dr Qamar stated that FAE&T, Department of L&WCE was working for national water management under the "internet of things" and Geographic Information Systems to develop an economical solution to provide early weather warnings and crop-related instructions to the farmers.

He was of the view that the most important component was the national water management and water should be the top priority for economic & environmental security and policy.

He stressed that IWRM should be adopted for small-scale basins where indigenous people or farmers and stakeholders could potentially take care of their own available water resources.

He said that the focus of the Agricultural Engineering faculty was to ensure food security by developing simple and economical solutions for the farming community.

The VC further appreciated the hard work of the organizers of the training workshop and reiterated his commitment to leave no stone unturned to bring this University at par with the standards of world-leading International universities by providing a pleasant environment to the researchers to find the best solutions for the agriculture in the country which was hard-pressed due to small landholdings and growing population.

Dr. Muhammad Akhtar Abbas explained to the participants about Water Market, Water Trading and Water Banking in MDBA and put his thoughts how that idea could be beneficial for Pakistani farmers specially in Punjab.

He said that the new concept of Water Banking was similar to a banking system that could be used to store water to be used later during drought or when required.

He added that the water banking system meant Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR), which was a water management approach that could be used to maximize natural storage and increase water supply system resilience during periods of low flows and high seasonal variability.

Using MAR techniques, the underground water system could be sustained and its quality could be enhanced, he added.

Dr Abbas emphasized that the water managers, experts and policy makers should adopt the integrated water resources management techniques to sustain the available water resources for our future generation as the policy was practically implemented in MDBA.

Water is the only resource which is absolutely necessary for human survival. There is nothing you can purchase for water or exchange for water. Water is vital for human beings as water is a basic human right but there is no global trade on water, he said.

Dr. Sohail Rai who is working as Hydrological Modeler in MDBA delivered his lecture on Integrated Quantity-Quality Model (IQQM) from Australia using a zoom link.

He talked about the importance, concept and scope of IQQM model, saying that IQQM assisted in planning and evaluating water resources management policies using a decision support system.

This Node-Link type model was used to regulate the resources allocation system (i.e. irrigation demand and diversion) in MDBA. From his lecture, research students learnt about hydrological modeling usage and its importance in water management policies according to demand and supply.

Dean FAE&T Prof. Dr Jehanzeb Masood Cheema emphasized that Pakistani rivers were facing adverse impacts of climate change.

IWRM was not working on large scale basins like the Indus. IWRM should be according to the scale of the river basin. Water has no price in real monetary sense; politically and emotionally, it is probably the most important thing, he said.

The trade of water, he said, was completely different from other things because the water was untouchable in political agendas. We want to make sure the people have good access to clean water, a reliable supply of water for drinking, for industrial purposes, for agriculture purposes, for environmental purposes, he said.

At the end, Dr. Cheema thanked the participants and speakers and the training workshop concluded with the award of certificates to the participants.