$18 billion for dams and canals over 10 years: Planning Commission water plan targets 23.5 MAF storage by 2029

The federal government plans to spend about $18 billion over the next ten years on strategic water infrastructure (flood management, new storage and canal modernisation), according to a Planning Commission report on the National Water Security framework under URAAN Pakistan, The News reported on Wednesday (published by Geo News). At today's dollar rate of about Rs 276.80, that is roughly Rs 5 trillion.

Targets for 2029

MAF is million acre-feet. Ongoing PSDP projects are expected to add 9.821 MAF of storage.

Dams named

The report lists the Akhori off-channel storage dam, Shyok Dam and Skardu Dam in a strategic pipeline that could add about 14.5 MAF.

Reforms in the plan

• A Water System Integrator under IRSA, to make the system accountable from river to farm.
• Incentives to speed up drip and sprinkler irrigation.
• Reforming abiana (the canal water charge) so it covers actual operation and maintenance costs.
• Linking subsidies for solar tubewells to groundwater registration and extraction limits.
• Recycling at least 25% of urban wastewater.
• A National Flood Protection Plan-IV and a National Glacier Protection Act.
• Declaring water security part of the national security agenda.

Why it matters

The report's own numbers explain the urgency:

• Agriculture uses about 95% of freshwater withdrawals.
• Live storage holds only 11% of the Indus River's annual flow.
• Groundwater in Punjab is falling 0.5 to 1 metre a year, and the Indus Basin aquifer is the world's second most overstressed.
• Flood warning time at Marala Headworks fell from 40 hours in 2014 to 5.5 hours in 2025.
• About 53% of monitored urban water sources are unsafe to drink.
• Some 20.58 million acres of farmable land lie outside the formal canal network.

What it means for farmers

Two proposals touch farmers' costs directly: higher abiana rates that reflect real upkeep, and solar tubewell subsidies tied to registering and limiting groundwater use. Neither has a date or a rate yet. Farmers weighing a solar tubewell can work out the payback with our solar payback calculator.

The report warns that the 2029 targets need infrastructure, regulation and better water governance together.