PCRWR reservoirs in Cholistan full of water
By Bushra Rafique

ISLAMABAD—The Pakistan Council of Research in Water, Resources has constructed a network of ninety two water storage reservoirs each with storage capacity of 4.0 million gallons.
The network of reservoirs covers an area of 26000 sq km of Cholistan Desert. This year during the months of July and August three events of rainfall each of 20, 30 and 34 mm occurred against the average rainfall of 160 mm. As a result, all ninety two newly constructed reservoirs are full of rainwater. The stored rainwater in these reservoirs is sufficient to meet drinking water requirement of 0.125 million human and 2.0 million livestock population for the entire year. More than six billion rupees will be saved due to this storage of water in reservoirs and availability of fodder which will double the livestock production.
The latest situation of water availability was assessed on the direction of Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology Pervez Butt. The desert is green blooming with flowers of bushes and grasses. The herds of cattle, sheep, goats and camels are grazing every where presenting beautiful view, with flying birds around the water points.
The Cholistan is a vast and largest desert in the province of Punjab. It covers an area of 26000 sq km. This desert is house to 125000 human and 2.0 million livestock. The major problem faced by the majestic desert is non-availability of fresh water. The primary source of water for human and livestock is rainwater collected in traditional ponds locally called Tobas. These Tobas can hardly store water for three to four months. There are about five hundred Tobas in Cholistan excavated by various tribes with a total storage capacity of about 66 million gallons. As these Tobas do not meet drinking water requirement of the people and livestock, the inhabitants along with their livestock migrate from desert toward canal irrigated areas on the desert periphery. As estimated by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) about half of the total annual rainfall is available in the form of runoff, which can provide about 77 billion gallons good quality water annually/ this quantity of rainwater is sufficient to meet total water requirements of human and livestock for drinking, as well as for micro farming.