Sustainable Development of MiniDam Command Areas, Pothohar (Feb 2018 – Aug 2019)
Covering 1,341 minidams and 26,500 ha across Jhelum, Chakwal, Rawalpindi, Attock and the Islamabad Capital Territory, this IsDBfinanced study set out a roadmap to modernise Pakistan’s largest hilltorrent microstorage network.
AAS Contribution
Focus What We Delivered
Agroecological analysis • Benchmarked crop, livestock, and waterproductivity
- Mapped biomass potential, grazing capacity, runoff and sediment loads
Dam performance & upgrade planning • Assessed structural life and sediment threats - Issued design/retrofit guidelines and operating rules for safe flood passage, runoff storage and conjunctive use with rainfall
Sustainability package • “Living with hillslope water” practices: rainwater harvesting, costeffective spillways, solarpowered precision irrigation - Olive and grape orchards for unproductive slopes
- Watersaving technologies to raise productivity
Stakeholder engagement • Strategy that unified 10+ public, private & NGO partners - Multidistrict consultations and capacitybuilding workshops for farmers and line departments
Outcome
A practical, climatesmart blueprint that protects watersheds, extends dam life, and unlocks higher, more resilient incomes for smallholders across the Pothohar Plateau.
World Bank | Indus Basin Groundwater Analysis
June 2018 – July 2019
AAS’s experts, in an equal partnership with Ecoseal Australia, delivered the first basinwide appraisal of groundwater across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh.
⦁ Mapped the aquifers and their economic value—revealing where depletion threatens food and water security.
⦁ Identified critical data and governance gaps that hinder sustainable management.
⦁ Cocrafted an investment and reform roadmap for federal and provincial agencies to stabilize and recharge the resource.
The findings—published by the World Bank as a flagship knowledge product—now shape Pakistan’s groundwater policy and investment agenda.
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