Dr Imran Aziz Tunio
THE State of Global Water Resources 2025 published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) provides a comprehensive assessment of global hydrological conditions. For South Asia, and particularly Pakistan, the findings are alarming. The floods of 2025, suggestive of the catastrophic inundations of 2010 and 2022, exposed once again the fragility of Pakistan’s water governance and infrastructure. Historically, the Indus Basin has been the backbone of Pakistan’s agriculture and economy, but climate variability, glacial retreat, and mismanagement now threaten this lifeline. The position here is clear: Pakistan’s water crisis is systemic, not episodic, and requires urgent reform.
The WMO report is retrospective, offering scientific evidence rather than policy prescriptions. Yet its findings demand immediate action. Are Pakistan’s policymakers genuinely integrating this evidence into planning, or are they reacting only when disasters strike? Why does hydrological monitoring remain weak, leaving groundwater and reservoir data incomplete? And why, despite repeated floods, does Pakistan still lack systematic disaster-loss accounting? The report notes that two thirds of monitored wells worldwide showed abnormal conditions in 2025, with deficits worsening compared to 2024. For Pakistan, where groundwater sustains much of Punjab’s agriculture, this raises a critical question: how long can the Indus Basin sustain unchecked extraction?
Regional comparisons highlight both lessons and warnings. India has invested heavily in basin-level monitoring and dam safety, yet still faces severe floods and groundwater depletion, showing that infrastructure alone cannot solve systemic water stress. Bangladesh, despite its vulnerability to monsoon floods, has pioneered community-based adaptation and early warning systems, reducing casualties in recent decades. Nepal’s glacial floods remind Pakistan that Himalayan retreat directly threatens Indus flows. The WMO report stresses that glaciers lost 408 gigatonnes in 2025 alone, equivalent to 1.1 mm of sea-level rise, with South Asia among the hardest-hit regions. Pakistan’s reliance on glacial melt makes this trend particularly alarming, as the Indus system depends heavily on Himalayan cryosphere stability.
Pakistan’s challenges are severe and complicated. The WMO report confirms that 2025 was one of the driest years in 35 years for global river discharge, with only 36 percent of catchment areas within the normal range. For Pakistan, this translated into contrasting extremes: above-normal flows in some basins, but devastating shortages in others. Groundwater extraction in Punjab has reached unsustainable levels, echoing the report’s warning of persistent deficits across South Asia. Governance disintegration between federal and provincial authorities hinders integrated water management. Socially, communities in Sindh and Balochistan endure repeated displacement, while drought in Tharparkar exacerbates poverty and food insecurity. Economically, the absence of systematic disaster-loss reporting means that billions lost in floods remain poorly documented, limiting both compensation and investment in resilience. The report further warns that Asia and Africa together accounted for half of all water-related disasters and more than 80 percent of deaths in the past five years, placing Pakistan at the epicenter of risk.
The way forward requires a shift from reactive crisis management to proactive resilience. Pakistan must strengthen hydrological monitoring and data sharing, ensuring that groundwater, reservoir inflows, and flood losses are systematically recorded. This would align with WMO’s call for open exchange and fill Asia’s data gaps. Governance must be integrated: a national water council with binding authority could harmonize federal and provincial policies, reducing disintegration. Pakistan should scale up community-based adaptation, learning from Bangladesh’s success in flood preparedness and early warning systems. Economic instruments such as climate risk insurance and disaster-loss accounting frameworks should be introduced, modeled on regional initiatives like the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility. Finally, investment in climate-resilient infrastructure, including multipurpose reservoirs, floodplain zoning, and nature-based solutions, can balance flood control, drought mitigation, and ecosystem health. These solutions are not abstract; they are drawn from successful models within South Asia and beyond.
The evidence is irrefutable. Terrestrial water storage has declined persistently since 2014 to 2016, and Pakistan’s Himalayan glaciers are part of the global 1,400 gigaton loss recorded between 2023 and 2025. The report warns that the planet’s “savings account” of groundwater and glaciers is being depleted, leaving countries like Pakistan dangerously exposed. If Pakistan continues to treat floods and droughts as isolated disasters, it will remain trapped in cycles of loss and recovery without progress. The way forward lies in data solidarity, integrated governance, and community resilience. By embracing these principles, Pakistan can transform its vulnerability into an opportunity for regional leadership in sustainable water management. The choice is severe: continue drifting from crisis to crisis, or act decisively to secure the lifeblood of its people and economy. The time for forward-looking action is now.
—The writer is researcher and water sector professional , based in Karachi.
