Problem to Agriculture with Increased Seepage 

The rate of aquifer recharge varies with the source and the composition of soil strata.

To develop a relation of the water seepage with the source, in the Indus Basin, HARZA has conducted a study in 1975, and its results are as under: 

 These aquifer recharges for the water seepage are mainly due to the run-off water in the riverbed, the flow in canals and watercourses, sinkage in the fields and rainfall.

 From the above table, the relatively high value of seepage from the canal system is worth noting, since the enhanced water supply due to KBD is feared to further aggravate the aquifer recharge, and pose a major system and water management problem in future.

 The relation of vertical and lateral permeability of local rocks in different canal command areas of Pakistan has already been discussed at length in the preceding section. And it was deduced that, there is a gradual decline in lateral permeability as we move downstream towards south.

Given the dangerously high values of lateral permeability in the vicinity of KBD site, the seepage from the reservoir is feared to become a major contributing factor to the aquifer recharge.

The situation becomes more precarious in the light of the dangerously high water table in the 2.4 million acres of irrigated agriculture, since a further push in the water table will render these land uncultivable by turning them into marshy swamp lands.

And the dam water, rather than increasing the irrigated agriculture area, will reduce the already commanded areas of Pakistan.