Water at Risk: A Qualitative Study on Climate Change and Water Consumption Patterns in Rawalpindi

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of climate change and the high rate of urbanization on water consumption in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. In the further future, unpredictable weather conditions and the growth of the city subject water sources to more and more pressure, which can undermine their availability and sustainable development. The paper takes into consideration the impact of changing climate, population pressure and mismanagement of water resources on its supply and usage. The qualitative methodology was used whereby data were gathered on four categories of people viz. households, officials of Water and Sanitation Agency, local government employees and environmental experts. According to the respondents, changeable rainfall, increase in temperatures and wearing out infrastructure reduced the reliability of the water supply. Such uncertainty is pushing a good number of households towards domestic supplies and occasional supply. There is a low level of awareness by the people on the need to conserve water and poor coordination among the institutions dilute the policy implementation. This paper proposes that urban water management requires climate adaptation, better governance and community-level behavior change to achieve sustainable water management in the city. The research in this respect proposes combined policy change, robust infrastructure investment and citizen-specific enlightenment aimed at encouraging reasonable water consumption. The lesson is to repair the systems, followed by assisting people in altering habits.