Good news first. There is only one. There are serious talks going on in Punjab to bring legislation in the form of a comprehensive Water Act. It is likely to be tabled in front of the cabinet in the next couple of months. Now, the not-so-good news. There is plenty. The proposed Water Act may cover the monitoring and controlling aspect of all water related activities, but water pricing is not likely to be part of the Act.

The relevant provincial minister, in an event in Lahore earlier this week, spoke at length of challenges Pakistan is facing on water security, and singled out water pricing as a key one, among others. According to the FAO, more than 90 percent of all water consumption in Pakistan is for agriculture purposes, of which nearly 50 percent is wasted because of poor irrigation practices, system, and infrastructure. Of the 105 million acre feet water that goes to canals, 50 million acre feet are wasted. Remember the Urdu proverb: “Pesa paani ki tarah bahana”, which literally means wasting money like water. The solution will take a mindset change, nothing less. Forget the power T&D losses, forget the gas UFG ones, this water loss at 50 percent in irrigation, has to be the biggest worry, talking point and priority. It is, sadly, none.

Pakistan charges a paltry Rs135 per acre per year for irrigation water. This translates into $0.4/ha/year. The average foe developed countries is around $40-50/ha/year, whereas that in India and Bangladesh is $10 and $8/ha/year. There goes the incentive to use water judiciously. The total revenue collection in Punjab on this account is less than Rs3 billion per year, based on 21 million acres of agriculture land. Equating the price to that of India, let alone the developed world, could lead to revenues north of Rs70 billion from Punjab alone.

But revenue collection is not the goal. Water being treated as a commodity, and a precious one at that, is of paramount importance. The other aspect is that of governance, and the repair of thee existing irrigation system, which is hundreds of years old. The Punjab irrigation system is roughly valued at $25 billion. Global standards require at least 2 percent of the value being spent on maintenance, which in today’s term comes around Rs70 billion. The maintenance outlay for irrigation instead stays around Rs8-9 billion. Try maintaining an asset worth $25 billion with a mere 0.26 percent of the value being spent on maintenance.

Then there is the issue of crop patterns, where growers grow high water intensive crops, leading to high water usage (and wastage), end up producing surplus, which is then exported after getting subsidy from the government. It is no rocket science to tell that it is far from ideal use of a resource, which is scarce, and could well be the biggest problem of the country by as early as 2025.

Pakistan’s water tables are the fastest falling in the world. The water stress level is comfortably the highest in the region and one of the highest in the world, at 112, the threshold being 25. This indicator does not only hint at hindrance in sustainability of the natural resource, but also “hampers economic and social development, tending to disproportionately affect the most disadvantaged people,” according to the FAO.

“Water needs to be priced appropriately, efficient use of water is the key to our survival,” said Mohsin Leghari, the Punjab Minister for Irrigation. Heartening to see a minister making efforts to set the priorities right. Only that he is less likely to convince his own cabinet members, let alone others – as pricing water may have strong political repercussions. It is high time; his voice finds ears, before the crisis deepens further.