ISLAMABAD: Wapda on Monday distanced itself from its previous stance of not allowing water storage in Tarbela Dam until July 20.
Instead, it agreed to fill the dam after June 30, effectively reducing the waiting period by 20 days. This decision was made after IRSA presented arguments highlighting the necessity of filling the dam to mitigate the impacts of fluctuating flows in the Indus River due to climate change and potential flood flows in May.
A senior official who attended the meeting convened on Monday to discuss water availability explained the situation that arose when Wapda initially resisted allowing IRSA to fill the dam.
“Wapda, however, will endeavour to fill the dam up to 1,475 feet within the next 10 days, if possible, to accommodate any variations in river inflows. The construction of the T-5 hydropower plant is expected to be completed in 33 months, with 30 percent of the construction work already finished.”
Now, IRSA will maintain the existing water level of 1470 feet in Tarbela Dam until June 30, following Wapda’s withdrawal of its demand to postpone filling the dam until after July 20, 2024. This means IRSA will maintain the current water level by balancing inflows and outflows from the dam until June 30, 2024.
This adjustment effectively puts Tarbela Dam on a “run of the river” basis starting on Tuesday.
Under the new arrangement, due to constraints related to ongoing construction work on tunnel five of the hydropower plant, IRSA will be compelled to increase water releases from the dam as inflows in the Indus River are rising. This increase in water availability is due to a significant rise in rainfall, with April experiencing 200 percent more rain than usual. Moreover, melting glaciers have contributed to increased water flows in the Indus, with temperatures in Skardu rising by 10 degrees Celsius last week due to a heatwave.
A member from Sindh in IRSA explained that due to increased water availability in Mangla, Kabul, and Tarbela and the limitations on water storage in Tarbela until June 30, IRSA has decided to implement paragraph two of the Water Apportionment Accord (WAA) of 1991 immediately.
This means that, depending on the availability of water in the coming days, there will be zero water shortages. Earlier, the IRSA advisory committee had projected a 30 percent water shortage for early Kharif, which was later revised down to 21 percent and now stands at zero. Under paragraph two, the water share will increase by 2.744 million acre-feet (MAF), from 5.548 to 8.292 MAF. Similarly, Punjab’s share will increase from 3.158 MAF to 12.424 MAF from 9.266 MAF.
The implementation of paragraph two will commence on Tuesday, as IRSA issued directives to the management of dams, barrages, Wapda, and provincial irrigation departments on Monday. However, a press release issued on Monday stated that an emergency meeting of IRSA was held, attended by Wapda authorities. The meeting was called in light of current rim station inflow trends and constraints related to Tunnel 5 of Tarbela Dam. The Wapda authorities informed the participants that the restriction on filling Tarbela Dam up to 1,470 feet by July could be shortened to June 30, 2024, without affecting the ongoing works of T5.
Therefore, considering Wapda’s revised constraints and the prevailing water situation, it was decided to maintain the water level at Tarbela Dam at 1,470 feet by June 30, 2024. Additionally, effective immediately, the water shortage in provinces has been reduced to zero, and distribution has been shifted to paragraph two of WAA, 1991. This means that 11 MAF of water availability on an annual basis has increased in the system.