FAO workshop on accounting for water to cope scarcity

Pakistan is facing increasing water demand in various sectors considering this the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) organized a 3-day workshop on accounting for water, boundaries, methodologies, and results.

FAO workshop on accounting for water to cope scarcity

The 3 day long workshop was organized in both Lahore and Karachi respectively as the FAO was currently implementing a water accounting project in the Indus basin in Pakistan.

The Indus basin project is multi-dimensional in its span and introduces high-technologies to improve water and land databases.

Senior land and water officer Dr. Robina Wahaj at FAO said that water accounting results from the canal command, province and the basin levels will endow with much needed water use, productivity and the water stress profiles for the whole basin.

Minister for Irrigation Punjab Mohsin Leghari said that water accounting can provide the foundation upon which a future direction can be build and serve as a course of action for improving water management and overcome the challenges facing the water sector in Pakistan.

FAO representative for Pakistan Mina Dowlatchahi also stressed that ‘water accounting is the tool to ensure a coherent approach for overseeing overall water availability and sector destination in Pakistan.

Chief minister Sindh for irrigation and modernization, Ashfaque Memon said that water scarcity is a crucial issue for Pakistan and the workshop proved to be a mentoring exercise for all the water managers of the country, starting from accountability and auditing, we will move forward with FAO’s initiative and implement it into future course of action.