Governments alone cannot manage the preservation and distribution of water sources in today's world, because it requires funding, skilled manpower, know-how and participation of community to deal with the challenges. In Pakistan, Inter-Cooperation with the financial assistance of the Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) is actively engaged in the integrated resource management of water in Chitral, which is a large district with mountainous topography and challenging landscape.
The district is endowed with water resources, which is a treasure for the district, but also a management challenge as the residents witnessed this in 2015 floods. This area is sensitive to climate change dynamics and, therefore a sound long term planning for water resources is a must to safeguard communities from negative effects of this change.
The SDC is funding Inter-Cooperation, Pakistan for its second phase of Water for Livelihoods (W4L) project since January 2014. The project is being implemented in four districts, i.e. Chitral, Karak, Dera Ismael Khan and Tank in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The project is designed to introduce integrated water resource management (IWRM) approach and implement it with effective participation of all stakeholders to build a common understanding on use of water.
To this end, the project has developed Water Use Management Plan (WUMP) in two union councils of Chitral namely Arandu and Shishikoh. These plans are based on the inventory of all water sources available in the area and communities' priorities regarding water use. A plan for future interventions has been prepared for both the Union Councils to enable an effective, equitable and efficient use of water resources at local level fulfilling community needs. These plans were prepared in close coordination with district administration, government departments working on water sector, civil society organizations and water user groups/associations organized by communities.
Preparing a WUMP required special skills and capacities of stakeholders involved in the process. Therefore prior to preparation of the document the project provided orientation on the process to all stakeholders including district authorities (administration), government departments in the districts, local NGOs, water user associations and W4L representatives.
The project also invested in capacity development of the Water Users Associations since they are the main actors on water sector for their union council. They learnt how to develop linkages with concerned actors and negotiate with the authorities for provision of required finances for implementation of their respective plans.
The whole process was initiated under the direct supervision of District Coordination Committee (DCC) chaired by Deputy Commissioner, where all water sectors related government line departments were core members. It took nearly eight months preparing two WUMPs, sharing and vetting by DCC and making final adjustments. A full members DCC meeting approved WUMPs of Union Councils Shishikoh and Arandu water Use management Plans. The Deputy Commissioner chaired this meeting.
On the occasion the representatives of Water user Association of Arandu and Shishikoh were also present. The Water for Livelihoods took responsibility for implementing top 11 priorities on drinking and irrigation facilities in UC Arandu and Shishikoh in 2015. Soil conservation and on farm Water management departments immediately took four schemes, which is a big achievement in a short time. All these activities were completed well in time.