Salinlty MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES for the RECZINA DOAB, PUNJAB, PAKISTAN
REPORT NO. R-21.5 SALINlTY MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES FOR THE RECZINA DOAB, PUNJAB, PAKISTAN Voltline Five Predicting Future Tubewell Salinity Discharges G3t:y,&...~..,....... ................ ..R 7% ......... ... bL.......... LL,i<o.&..,9,2.%...... Muliainniad Aslain (Principal Irrigatioll Engineer, Salinity) JANUARY 1997 PAKISTAN NATIONAL PROGRAM INTERNATIONAL IRRICATION MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE LAHORE FOREWORD This report is one of eight volumes under the unibrclla title "Salinity Management Alternatives for the Rechna Doab, Punjab, Pakistan." The fundiiig for this effort has been provided by the Government of The Netherlands through the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Islamabad under the Phase I1 project, "Managing Irrigation for Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture in Pakistan." Between 1989-93, IIMI operated three field stations in Rechna Doab using Dutch phase I funding; much of this field data has been incorporated into this study. Rechna Doab, the ancient floodplain between the liavi and Chenab rivers covering a gross area of 2.9 Mlia, is one of the most intensively developed irrigated area within the countiy. With over a century of modern irrigation development, primarily by diversions from the Chenab River, agricultural productivity was continually bolstered. Then, some localities were beset with the threats of higher subsurface water levels and soil salinization. The public sector responded by implementing Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects (SCARPS) beginning in 1960. ,These projects, plus a huge increase in private tubewell development since 1980, have lowered subsurface water levels; however, the use of poor quality tubewell water, particularly in the center of the Doab, has resulted in secondaiy salinization. 'lXs study is an integrated attempt across both space and time to address the systems responsiveness to the abovementioned concerns.
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