Maintaining storage capacity: Over 2,000 cusecs discharged from Rawal Dam

With intermittent rains throughout the week, water level in the dam had reached to 1,751.70 feet.

ISLAMABAD:

The Rawal dam spillways were opened on Friday afternoon to discharge excess water accumulated during the day’s brief spell of rain in the twin cities.

With intermittent rain showers throughout the week, the level of water in the dam had reached up to 1,751.70 feet, said Rana Bilal, the Sub-Divisional Officer of the Small Dams Organisation at Rawal dam.

One of the primary sources of water for Rawalpindi, Rawal dam’s storage capacity is usually maintained between 1,750 to 1,751 feet of water, according to Bilal.

“We opened the spillways by 0.5 feet,” he said. “That meant a release of around 2,100 cusecs downstream, which brought the water level back to storage capacity.”

March has been a rainy month for the country, with scattered rain and thunderstorms in different parts of north and western Pakistan caused mainly by weather systems moving in from Iran.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has termed the March rains normal and “not unprecedented.” Met officials and agriculture experts have also suggested the rains will be beneficial for the wheat growers of the Potohar region except if the rains are accompanied by hailstorms.

But the 30 millimetres (mm) of rain recorded in Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Monday evening had filled up the Simly dam reservoir and also pushed water to capacity at the Rawal dam.

Between Thursday and Friday morning, Rawalpindi received another 11mm of rain and Islamabad around 7mm, according to the PMD’s weather report. The resulting increase in stored water led to opening of the spillways.

Bilal said a cushion of around three to four feet below storage capacity could be maintained at the dam. But authorities avoid keeping the water level that low because in case of no rains, the water has to be supplied for drinking purposes, he said.

Meanwhile, the PMD has predicted that the westerly wave, which has been affecting upper parts of the country, will likely move towards Kashmir by Saturday morning.

There could be more rains in Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Friday night, but the cities are predicted to remain mostly dry with the start of the weekend.

The Met Office Friday forecast widespread rain-thunderstorm with snowfall over the hills in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. The tourist destinations Nathia Gali, Ayubia in Abbottabad, Malam Jabba and Kalam valleys are likely to receive rain with snowfall over the hills that will turn the weather cold and chilly. The agriculture experts termed the present rainfall beneficial for wheat crops in arid and semi-arid zones and expected more wheat this year due to timely rain.  The pollen count yesterday remained at 24,419 per m3 of air.

The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) on Friday released 88,123 cusecs water from various rim stations with inflow of 133,708 cusecs.  According to the data released by IRSA, water level in the Indus River at Tarbela Dam was 1,407.06 feet, which was 29.06 feet higher than its dead level 1378 feet.  Water inflow in the dam was recorded as 27,700 cusecs while outflow was recorded as 12,000 cusecs.  The water level in the Jhelum River at Mangla Dam was 1121.30 feet, which was 81.30 feet higher than its dead level of 1040 feet whereas the inflow and outflow of water was recorded as 49,885 cusecs and 20,000 cusecs respectively.  The release of water at Kalabagh, Taunsa and Sukkur was recorded as 57,185, 41,881 and 37,855 cusecs respectively.

Similarly, from the Kabul River a total of 31,500 cusecs of water was released at Nowshera and 24,623 cusecs released from the Chenab River at Marala.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2014.