Islamabad:
The Advisory Committee of the Indo River System Authority (IAC) on Tuesday approved the availability of water for the Rabi 2025-26 season, projecting a general scarcity of the 8%system, despite the fact that the country experienced strong floods during the current year.
The figure marks the lowest scarcity of the last decade, according to officials. As a result, the planned provincial withdrawals were set at 33,814 million acres-pie (MAF), a substantial increase compared to the average of 10 years of 28,870 MAF and the 29,427 MAF last year.
The IAC met here with the president of IRSA, Sahibzada Muhammad Shabir, as president. Members of IRSA, representatives of the Ministry of Water Resources, the Water and Energy Development Authority (WAPDA), the Punjab and Sindh irrigation departments, and others, and others attended.
During the session, according to a statement, the Committee reviewed the results of the Kharif 2025 season, observing with “satisfaction that the real entries of 122,364 MAF exceeded the projections in 18%, the average decade in 19%and the tickets last year at 14%”.
The provinces used 62,394 MAF of water against IAC assignments, compared to provincial assignments and IRSA releases of 68,505 MAF, 78,427 MAF and 99,292 MAF, respectively, according to the statement.
After a detailed discussion, the IAC unanimously ended and approved the inputs planned to the 22,016 MAF edge station for Rabi 2025-26. After evaluating the availability of water, the Committee approved a general scarcity of the 8%system.
The committee, the statement continued, described the scarcity of the 8% system as the lowest recorded in the 10 years of system operations, a significant reduction in the average shortage after IRSA of 18%.
The planned provincial retreats were set at 33,814 MAF, a substantial increase compared to the average of 10 years of 28,870 MAF and the 29,427 MAF last year. Provincial assignments also showed marked increases in all areas.
Punjab, who historically has maintained the greatest use, with an average of 15,367 MAF during the last decade and 15,561 MAF last year, will now receive an assignment of 18,207 MAF, IRSA said. It is followed by Sindh, with an average of 10 years of 11,935 MAF and a use last year of 12,154 MAF, and now you will receive 13,734 MAF.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is assigned 0.701 MAF, compared to 0.668 MAF last year and an average of 10 years of 0.528 MAF. The Baluchistan allocation also increased modestly from 1,044 MAF last year to 1,171 MAF, compared to its average of a decade of 1,040 MAF.
Together, the total provincial use averaged 28,870 MAF during the last decade, increasing to 29,427 MAF last year, and it is projected that it reaches 33,814 MAF during Rabi 2025-26.
The committee attributed the slightest use during Kharif to a very humid season of monsoons, marked by generalized rains and floods, particularly in the eastern and western river systems. This abundance of water allowed IRSA to fill almost all reservoirs to its maximum capacity.
At the end of September 2025, total storage amounted to 13,214 MAF, equivalent to 99 % of the maximum storage capacity of the system, which guarantees a solid initial position for the next Rabi season.
