By Areej Riaz
The devastating floods of 2022, and now the ongoing 2025 floods, are not isolated events. They are a recurring reality of our changing climate — one that Pakistan cannot afford to keep confronting with only emergency relief and reconstruction. Each disaster displaces millions, wipes out livelihoods, destroys infrastructure, and sets back development by years.
But what if floods could be managed differently — not merely as disasters, but as opportunities for renewal?
As someone who has studied at Harvard University and the London Business School, and worked on projects with the World Bank, the United Nations, and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), I have seen how forward-looking policy can transform challenges into opportunities. Today, from an academic position at a University in Scotland, I propose that Pakistan adopt a Climate Resilience Flood Management Strategy: a plan that could turn floodwaters into a long-term asset for water security, food security, and economic growth.
Building Flood Lakes for Water Security
The first step is to measure and map the hydrological volumes of the excess floodwater that overwhelm us each year. With this data, Pakistan can construct engineered “flood lakes” on the peripheries of cities and agricultural zones, designed to intentionally capture surplus monsoon water.
These lakes would serve as controlled reservoirs — protecting communities from devastation while creating a strategic water resource. With proper filtration plants, the captured water could supply safe drinking water to urban populations year-round. In a country where groundwater is rapidly depleting, this would help address Pakistan’s urban water security crisis.
The same reservoirs could also be linked to irrigation networks, supplementing canal flows and reducing dependence on over-extracted aquifers. This would safeguard crops, stabilize rural livelihoods, and partially offset Pakistan’s worsening national water scarcity challenge.
A Shift Toward Climate-Aligned Food Systems
Flood lakes also open the door to a structural shift in Pakistan’s food system. The poultry sector, which dominates our diets is heavily reliant on imported feed ingredients and agro raw material, often raise health concerns.
By contrast, fish farming is flood-resilient. Adjacent aquaculture facilities next to flood lakes could thrive with a steady water supply. With professional management, these fish farms could be integrated into modern supply chains, ensuring that fish are processed, packaged, and distributed to meet global quality standards.
Importantly, the government could subsidize or incentivize aquaculture development near these reservoirs, encouraging farmers and entrepreneurs to make the shift from vulnerable poultry operations to climate-aligned fish production.
This strategy would achieve two vital outcomes:
- Provide affordable, protein-rich food for Pakistan’s underprivileged communities, reducing hunger and malnutrition.
- Build a competitive aquaculture export industry, generating much-needed foreign exchange.
In short, fish farming can act both as a social safety net and an economic growth engine.
Investing Now to Save Later
Critics may ask: Can Pakistan afford such an ambitious plan? The better question is: Can Pakistan afford not to?
Every flood costs billions in destroyed infrastructure, humanitarian aid, and lost productivity. Redirecting a fraction of that cost into resilient infrastructure like flood lakes and aquaculture systems would break this cycle of destruction. International financing — through the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the Green Climate Fund — could support Pakistan in this transition, aligning with global priorities on climate adaptation.
Aligning with Global Commitments
This proposal also advances Pakistan’s commitments under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:
- SDG 2: Zero Hunger (affordable food through fish farming)
- SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation (urban water security)
- SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth (aquaculture value chains)
- SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities (flood protection)
- SDG 13: Climate Action (adaptation to extreme weather)
Pakistan would not only protect its people but also demonstrate leadership in innovative climate resilience.
A Call for Vision
Pakistan has lived too long in a cycle of devastation and relief. We need vision, discipline, and the political will to transform floods from a destructive force into a managed resource.
Floods, if harnessed properly, can indeed be a blessing in disguise — providing water for our cities, irrigation for our fields, to raise level of underground water resource, and food for our people. The choice before us is clear: either continue to drown in recurring crises, or rise above them by investing in resilience. The time to act is now.
Areej Riaz studied at Harvard University, USA & London Business School, UK. She served in projects of United Nations, World Bank, and UK foreign, Commonwealth & development Office (FCDO). Current she is serving at a British University, in UK.
