Nature

Ahmed and Joyia (2003) call this the non-consumptive use of water and this is the water left over from its use in agriculture and households. This water sustains many of the natural ecosystems of these areas such as streams, springs, rivers and wetlands which in turn benefit human beings. However this water is being affected in terms of quality and quantity due to human activities such as usage of fertilizers, dumping of untreated sewage into water bodies, abstraction for agriculture and so on.

One of the most important natural ecosystems that depend on adequate supply of water are wetlands. But only basic research has been done on the wetlands of the Northern Areas. A survey was conducted in 1997 under the auspices of WWF-Pakistan but it was confined to wetlands associated with lakes (Khurshid, 1997). It identified 19 lakes and surveyed 10 of them. The following table lists the surveyed wetlands and some of their prominent features as stated in the report.
Table . Surveyed wetlands in the Northern Areas

Source: Khurshid, N. 1997. Wetlands of Northern Areas. Survey Report. WWF-Pakistan

However, this was just a preliminary survey and a lot of data is missing. The reliability of the rest of the data also varies. For example the area and the maximum depth of the lakes are only an estimate and some are even taken from local people. Disturbances to the wetlands are also not catalogued completely. On the other hand, the flora and fauna are better listed but the fauna data is missing for Khalti lake.

Another brief study was done on counting and identifying migratory waterfowl of five lakes in the upper Hunza area (Khan, 2004). But the data reported in it is good only for a start and more comprehensive surveys need to be done in this regard.
- Power - However, one more usage of water in the Northern Areas can be added to the list. This is the use of river and stream water for small hydro-projects for power supply and are managed by the Northern Areas Public Works Department (NAPWD). The following table gives information about the current projects and planned schemes.

Table . Current hydro-power stations and their capacities in the Northern Areas

Source: Electricity Generation Plan for the Northern Areas 2004. Water &Power Divison, NAPWD Headquarters, Gilgit.

According to the Water and Power Division, NAPWD, following is the demand and supply of electricity.

Table . Demand and supply of hydro-generated electricity in the Northern Areas

Source: Naz Akbar Shah, Assistant XEN, Water & Power Division, NAPWD Headquarters, Gilgit (pers. comm.).

Therefore shortfall in supply is significant which results in frequent load-shedding, especially in winter when the water level in streams fall below that required for power generation.

To partly redress the situation many new hydro-power schemes are in various stages of implementation; some have been identified while others are under review and for others feasibility studies are being undertaken. A list of these schemes is given below:

Table . Future hydro-power schemes in the Northern Areas

Source: Naz Akbar Shah, Assistant XEN, Water & Power Division, NAPWD Headquarters, Gilgit
(pers. comm.)

All this data shows that the running river and stream waters of the Northern Areas are a vast resource for use in hydro-power projects which benefit the people of this area by providing them with electricity and thereby reducing pressure on other sources of fuel such as wood and kerosene, and also enabling farmers to run electric irrigation pumps. However, an analysis of the impact of electric generation on villages found that better power management by villagers is required to be able to run electric cookers and heaters because such appliances consume a lot of power (AKRSP, 2000a).

Even so, the benefits of electricity supplied by the hydro projects are visible. A study conducted in the village of Chogo-grong between Satpara and Deosai confirms that although voltage fluctuation is high, electrification has meant that people can now do productive work at night also and can save more because of less spending on kerosene oil and batteries. The following table shows savings due to electricity.

Table. Village savings due to use of electricity

Source: Hasnain, M. 2000. An impact study of micro-hydel unit VO Chogo-grong (Sadpara-Skardo). AKRSP Monitoring, Evaluation & Research, Baltistan region.

The table shows that the use of electricity has enabled villagers to save significant money on kerosene oil and batteries. Interestingly, electricity has also increased communal integration here because villagers now tend to socialize and make late evening sittings (Hasnain, 2000).