Charles Sturt University (CSU)'s Institute for Land, Water and Society (ILWS) has had a ten year research program of integrating research activities across social, economic and biophysical disciplinary domains. Since 2009 it has led the social research component of Australia's National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training. ILWS researchers undertook case study investigations together with integrated modellers and adopted a social learning approach, including participatory methodologies and surveys on the social acceptability of water reforms related groundwater management. CSU's Hydrology Group, working through ILWS and the School of Environmental Sciences (SES), coordinated UNESCO's Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) program in the Asian and Pacific catchments. Expertise was acquired in: (i) integrating the hydro-economic decision support systems linked with geographical information systems for predictive modelling of environmental and economic futures of irrigation areas; (ii) database development and spatial and hydrodynamic analysis for canal and groundwater interactions; (iii) hydro-geological and hydro-salinity modelling at regional level; and (iv) training farmer groups and environmental staff of irrigation companies in land and water management. CSU's involvement in the project will enhance technology transfer and capacity building efforts of the Australian Government to improve the livelihood of people of Pakistan. The CSU team will be responsible for hydrological modelling of canal and groundwater to evaluate spatial and temporal dynamics, hydro-economic modelling for policy options, the participatory methods to maximise stakeholder engagement, ownership and knowledge transfer, and the overall integrated systems approach to research design. Being the lead organisation, CSU will also be responsible for overall project planning, supervision, and finalisation of project outputs.

Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) is a national research organization with mandate to conduct, coordinate, and promote research on all aspects of water resources. It is working under the Ministry of Science and Technology and undertakes its R&D activities in all the provinces through its five regional offices located at Lahore, Tando Jam, Peshawar, Bahawalpur and Quetta and eighteen Sub-Regional Offices across the country. These centres are equipped with state of the art water and soil testing laboratories, lysimeter stations, groundwater investigation cells and R&D/ dissemination farms in all agro-climatic zones. PCRWR also has a well established GIS and Modelling Lab to support its regional and field centres. PCRWR through its regional centres is closely working with all the provincial departments and academic institutions as collaborative partners to deal with specific issues of respective provinces/ regions. With its national level mandate and research infrastructure, PCRWR will play its role as Project Coordinator in Pakistan to deliver smooth execution and facilitation among partner organisations and various project components. PCRWR as a key organisation in this project and in another ACIAR project titled "Enhancing irrigation skills of farmers in Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab Provinces of Pakistan" (LWR/2014/074) will play a coordinating role between the two projects. Especially important will be coordination of the opportunity to share project sites to improve water productivity. Another opportunity is with regard to knowledge sharing between the two projects about water availability and how that affects irrigation management and how improved irrigation management can affect water demand.       Visit Team

The University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF) is the largest agricultural university in Pakistan. Its location in Faisalabad is in Rechna Doab – a prime project site, and it has three sub-campuses located in other areas of Punjab province. UAF has a vast experience in conducting and facilitating groundwater research in Punjab and other provinces of the country. It has a well-established Water Management Institute (WMI), which has been successful in developing technologies on various aspects of water management creating an environment among the farming community to adopt the improved water management practices. The institute has four sections: (i) Farm Irrigation Management, (ii) Irrigation Agronomy and Soil Management, (iii) Socio-Economic and (iv) Training and Extension. UAF has also been successful in developing various water conservation technologies. The Institute of Agricultural & Resource Economics (IARE) of UAF has been working on socioeconomic aspects of groundwater management in the country. It has completed projects on water management with international institutes such as IWMI, ICARDA, and USAID. UAF has a talented pool of Master and PhD students who can help steer the research activities that will be pursued during the course of project. In the proposed ACIAR project, the UAF/IARE/WMI with their country level experience, will assist CSU, PCRWR and PID/SID/BID in conducting research on socioeconomics aspects of groundwater management.        Visit Team

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) aims to promote agricultural development in the dry areas of developing countries with a focus on resource-poor farmers. ICARDA delivers new technologies to support sustainable growth in agriculture, and works with a wide range of partners to accelerate the dissemination of these technologies. ICARDA directorate of Integrated Water and Land Management Program (IWLMP) conducts research on different land and water management strategies including land and water productivity, effective management of irrigation and drainage systems, conjunctive use of canal and groundwater, soil salinity management, controlled drainage, water harvesting, supplemental irrigation and water-saving irrigation techniques. Moreover IWLMP is working on cross cutting issues e.g., GIS and Remote Sensing techniques in water management, empowerment of rural women, youth and men, and also with other directorate of ICARDA e.g., conservation agriculture methods to reduce production costs and improve sustainability, diversification of production systems to high- value crops, integrated crop/rangeland/livestock production systems, support and training for value-added products.       Visit Team

PMAS Arid Agricultural University Rawalpindi (UAAR) has initiated on-campus water harvesting projects, improving productivity through adoption of high efficiency irrigation systems and high value crops. The university has developed rainwater harvesting ponds in the Potohar region of Pakistan in collaboration with other agencies for promotion of high value crops in the region. Previously, the university participated in optimisation of canal and groundwater management through maximising crop production and managing salinisation in Rechna Doab project of ACIAR by doing survey and monitoring work in the three distributaries of study area. The university team performed additional tasks for successful completion of the project in close collaboration with ACIAR and the Australian team. University team provided input data for hydrological modelling and socio- econometric model i.e. land cover of Rechna Doab, agricultural areas mapping and monitoring, calculation of ET crops, rainfall, soil type and irrigation network on modelled grid scale for whole doab and socio-economic parameters for detailed studies. Currently, the university has projects which include rain water harvesting and socio-economic aspects of rural communities through the Pak-Korea Center hosted at the university. Dr Mobushir Khan will provide input for remote sensing and GIS development for the three case study sites. In addition he will design provide remote sensing input for estimating spatial and temporal groundwater usage at each site. He will also be responsible for designing a mobile App that farmers can use to estimate irrigation requirements for their specific crop and farm location. Dr Irfan Baig will provide input on design of socioeconomic surveys for the three case study sites. In addition he will work closely with Dr Culas and Prof Ashfaq to assist with econometric modelling and design of appropriate scenarios.
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The International Waterlogging and Salinity Research Institute (IWASRI) is a part of the Water And Power Development Authority (WAPDA)'s Water Wing and located at Lahore. WAPDA's mandate is to meet the requirements of the country in both water and hydropower sectors with an ultimate object to enhance economic development of Pakistan. The Water Wing of WAPDA is responsible for planning, designing and execution of water resources development projects in the sector of irrigation, drainage and hydropower, and major surface water projects including large dams. IWASRI's research includes investigation into the potential for artificial groundwater recharge in the irrigated areas of the Indus Basin and exploration into groundwater-related governance issues in Pakistan. IWASRI will support this project by providing GIS spatially referenced data on water table depth, water quality, surface salinity and other relevant aspects for all provinces and study sites.       Visit Team

The Irrigation Department came under the Administrative control of the Provincial Government in 1970 when the One Unit was disintegrated and Balochistan Province was formed. Since its inception the Irrigation Department is busy harnessing precious and scarce quantity of water to enhance agriculture production. Scarce water is sourced from small streams, springs, hill-torrents through construction of small weirs, lining of channels, flood diversion structures, and small storage and delay action dams in the province. Responsibilities include: Monitoring / collection; compilation of water quality and hydro meteorological data; planning, design and construction of delay action dams, storage dams, perennial and flood irrigation and drainage schemes, flood protection schemes for protecting irrigated land, population and other infrastructure facilities; and rehabilitation of damaged irrigation/ drainage facilities. The private sector is also involved in exploiting water resources with the assistance of agriculture and irrigation departments including harnessing of flood flows and ground water flows through karezes, tubewells and open surface wells. These sources have contributed a significant boost to agricultural production. The Department also has a separate Directorate of Groundwater dealing with relevant matters.       Visit Team

Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management (BUITEMS) is a leading university imparting quality education in Balochistan province of Pakistan. BUITEMS undertakes social research, natural resources related research (agriculture, water, environment etc.) and supporting infrastructure (GIS laboratories, transport facilities). The university has excellent coordination and collaboration with leading provincial, national and international research organisations such as UNDP, IUCN, CIMMYT, and JICA on various projects of agriculture, water, environment, computer sciences etc. BUITEMS has six PhD qualified faculties in the disciplines of agriculture, economics, water and environment. There is a social sciences department in the university that will help undertake research in the areas related to the socio-cultural and gender related aspects of the project. There is a large number of MS and PhD students pursuing their studies in various related disciplines. Their services can be utilised for this project. The university has been involved in various social sector development projects with various international organisations and NGOs and is in a good position to serve the communities through this project.       Visit Team

Punjab Irrigation Department (PID) has a mandate and responsibility for supply of irrigation water at province level to ensure equity and reliability in irrigation service delivery among different stakeholders. Recently this mandate has been expanded to include groundwater management, and the organisation has established the Groundwater Management Cell (GMC) within the Irrigation Research Institute (IRI). Established in 1924, IRI is the oldest of its kind in the sub-continent, and is equipped with laboratories and field research stations where applied experimentation is undertaken. GMC has a mandate for groundwater monitoring, modelling and management in Punjab through 3000 points in different units/doabs and 4000 tube-wells across the province. The GMC has GIS staff and facilities. The complete network of canals, drains and piezometers is available in digital form. The PID's Program Monitoring and Implementation Unit (PMIU) monitors surface water in rivers and canals and data are also available in digital form. PID also has a social and environmental unit to consider these aspects across all its activities. The project will play a key role in building capacity of PID staff to monitor, model and manage groundwater in the doabs. These staff provide irrigation extension services to farmers' organisations emphasising participatory demonstration, evaluation and exploration of adoption pathways for promising on-farm water saving technologies. They are already working closely with Farmers' Organisations and Water Area Boards (WABs) in the pilot study sites. PID is well equipped to act as a supporting partner in the project and can play coordinating role at provincial level.       Visit Team

Sindh Irrigation Department (SID) operates under the Government of Sindh. Its major tasks are the operation and maintenance of the irrigation and flood protection system, and the regulation of flows of River Indus and canal systems, covering inter provincial and intra provincial systems. execution of development schemes and mega projects is also one of its major responsibilities. major on-going project are: revamping/rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage systems in Sindh, revamping/rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage systems in Sindh, lining of distributaries and minors; works of Chotiari reservoir, small storage dam, and establishment of monitoring and evaluation cell.       Visit Team

Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) is the only agriculture university in Sindh and is located in the centre of the province. It has a sharp focus on agricultural education, improved quality of learning, promoting integrated functions of teaching, research and extension, and adoption of appropriate technologies. A wide range of disciplinary expertise is available at SAU including agriculture, agricultural economics, irrigation, horticulture, engineering, and livestock and poultry. This expertise can be utilised to help the agriculture sector and achieve the desired goals and results of this project. The university has a experienced staff in agriculture and agricultural economics and is located in rural Sindh and understands farmer needs in Sindh. SAU has established the Community Service Centre (CSC) in Mirpurkhas district and interacts directly with farmers to enhance their capacity. CSC provides a platform for effective interaction between SAU scientists and the farming community. SAU has also established farmer's advisory service centres in the university. These centres help to disseminate scientific knowledge on farm to farmers and conduct periodic training of farmers to equip them with modern technology for increasing production on a sustainable basis. SAU can help the project understand the socio-economic issues of the farming community with special reference to groundwater. It can also provide input on designing socio-economic surveys for all project case study sites and the design of suitable scenarios for econometric modelling. Water quality testing centres and laboratories are also available in the university.       Visit Team

NED University of Engineering and Technology is one of the oldest educational institution and a leading engineering university in Sindh. Recent projects include the development of a Groundwater Simulation Model for Malir River Basin, Karachi for Sustainable Peri-Urban Water Management. The project was conceived to address the fast growth of population, poor town planning and industrialization which are causing problems in supplying public services and continuing irrigated agricultural activities. NED University has excellent facilities for research and training and its staff have worked on a number of groundwater projects in Sindh and Balochistan.       Visit Team

The Institute of Water Resources Engineering and Management sits within Mehran University, Jamshoro. In addition to local knowledge and access to doctoral students for data collection, staff bring a wealth of knowledge about irrigation and water management in canal irrigated areas of Sindh.       Visit Team