In the heart of South Asia, Pakistan stands on the brink of a worsening water crisis a struggle that has deepened over the past decade. Many in the country still remember the historic drought of 1998-2002, which devastated more than three million lives, drying up crops, stealing livelihoods, and pushing rural families into hardship. Similar disasters struck again in 2018 and 2019, hitting Balochistan and Sindh hard, forcing families to abandon farms and move in search of work and water. Though 2024 brought brief relief, last year’s drought affected over 80% of the country, proving that Pakistan’s water troubles are far from over.
The problem runs deeper than just dry skies. Pakistan receives about 80% of its annual rainfall during the monsoon season, but the country has storage capacity for only 10% of that water. On top of this, nearly 90% of its water is used for agriculture and almost half of that is lost due to inefficient irrigation systems. With groundwater levels falling fast, the country’s freshwater supply is disappearing at an alarming rate.
But this is not only an environmental problem. It is a human one and the poor suffer most. In drought-hit regions, life becomes painfully hard: rivers shrink, wells dry up, and families especially women must walk farther to fetch water. Farmers struggle to keep crops alive. Children miss school to help with water collection. As one drought follows another, hope dries up too.
Recognizing these threats, researchers at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) conducted a detailed study to uncover the cracks in Pakistan’s water management system. Their biggest finding? The country lacked an early warning system to alert people before droughts turned deadly. Without such a system, farmers and officials alike had little time to prepare.
That’s when change began. Working with Pakistan’s Meteorological Department, IWMI developed the country’s first real Drought Management System — PakDMS. This new digital tool is a breakthrough. It gathers weather, rainfall, soil moisture, and temperature data from different sources and displays it all on a single easy-to-understand screen. For the first time, decision-makers can track drought conditions in real time and see which regions are most at risk — and act before disaster hits.
PakDMS is not just a scientist’s tool. It was designed with local people in mind. As part of the Water Resource Accountability in Pakistan (WRAP) program, IWMI spent time with farmers and families in Chakwal (Punjab) and DI Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) to understand what they really needed.
For farmers like Ishrat Bibi*, the system could be life-changing. “I depend on my small farm for income,” she said. “In the past, I’ve lost my crops because I never knew when drought would come.”
For young farmers like Tahir Awan*, the story is even sadder. “We’ve had to leave farming and find work in the city because we couldn’t survive another drought,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking to leave our homes.”
Stories like these pushed researchers to make PakDMS simple, reliable, and focused on helping real people — not just officials in offices far away.
Government leaders have welcomed the new system. Aisha Humera Chaudhary, Federal Secretary at Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change, said the tool has made a huge difference. “For the first time, we have clear, reliable data,” she said. “It helps us make decisions fast — and that’s what saves lives in a drought.”
The first version of PakDMS, including its monitoring tools, has already been handed over to the Meteorological Department. A public version is now online in Beta form, giving anyone access to the latest drought data. New features — including drought forecasting — are being added, which will let the system warn people early enough to prepare.
The system also supports Pakistan’s National Climate Change Policy, which focuses on helping vulnerable communities adapt to water shortages, disasters, and changing weather patterns.