Establishment of Database Management System Network:

As recommended by the World Bank “Implementation volume to Staff Appraisal Report Vol-I (Section2, Page-10), Pakistan NDP Project, November 1997”, a Water Sector Information System (WSIS) Cell would be established in the Water Wing for this purpose, first within the NDP Cell to address the requirements of NDP, and then it could be extended to the rest of the Water Wing. Ultimately, it could be extended or connected to other institution in the Water Sector in Pakistan and the NDP. The WSIS could cover the inventory of irrigation and drainage resources of Pakistan, and data on all aspects of the water sector, which pertain to policy formulation, planning and operating.

Based on these recommendations, a setup of Water Sector Database is being established in the Computer Application Directorate (CAD) of WRPO, WAPDA. The primary aim of the computerized database is to gather most of the data related to the water sector at one place. Also, the database aims to provide most of the relevant information required for water resources planning. A typical computerized database has two main components;

i)                    A User-interface programmed in front-end tools like Oracle Developer/Visual Basic to facilitate communication with the database
ii)                   A Database program like Oracle working at the back-end to provide complex data handling and management functions.

The User-interface will guide the users through the utility of the database and how it can be used effectively to analyze the dataset. The Database program will be generating results for the type of queries, most frequently used for data processing.

The computerized database will provide a user-friendly environment for data handling, checking the quality of data entry and retrieval system.

The following 10 main datasets have been identified and include in the database: -

Ø      Climatic Data
Ø      River and Tributary Inflow
Ø      Channel-wise Releases at Barrages and Headworks.
Ø      Inflow / Out flow of Reservoirs
Ø      Surface Drains Data
Ø      Hydrogeology
Ø      Agriculture
Ø      Water Supply to Urban Areas.
Ø      Water Quality
Ø      Soil Salinity