LUMS event closes ADB satellite irrigation project phase three
A three-year Asian Development Bank project has moved a satellite-based water allocation tool from a Balloki–Okara canal pilot to the full Lower Bari Doab Canal system in Punjab.
A satellite-and-math water allocation module now covers the Lower Bari Doab Canal (LBDC) system in Punjab, serving about 675,000 hectares (13.3 million kanals).
The work began as a pilot on canals in the Balloki–Okara division before expanding to all LBDC rotation channels.
The three-year project, backed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), uses satellite Relative Water Deficit estimates to guide irrigation rotations.
A LUMS workshop marked the end of the project’s third phase, with Punjab irrigation and agriculture officials and other federal agencies present.
Speakers said the focus is modernising allocation rules—the “software” of irrigation—not only canal construction.