Pakistan, Sept. 19 -- When people speak about Pakistan's water crisis, the conversation almost always begins with scarcity. We point to shrinking freshwater resources, rapid urbanisation, climate change, and a growing population, all of which have placed undeniable pressure on the country's water systems. Yet after spending time working alongside policymakers and technical experts within Pakistan's Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector, I found myself asking a different question. Is Pakistan's greatest challenge really that it has too little water, or is it that we have not yet built institutions capable of managing this increasingly scarce resource effectively?

The distinction matters because it shifts the conversation away from w...