Enhancement in the Irrigation Water Supply

The dam is designed to have a left bank canal, off-taking from the left bank high level outlet works of KBD. It will have a capacity of 15,000 cusecs, will be 170 miles long, and will lift about 6.65 MAF water annually from the Kalabagh Dam reservoir.
Through this canal, the province of Punjab wishes to irrigate its 371,000 acres of land, on both the banks, of Mianwali, Khushab and Jehlum Districts.

To meet the irrigation water requirements, the canal is planned to provide 0.78 MAF in Rabi and 1.23 MAF in Kharif to the new cultivated area, and will discharge the balance 4.64 MAF water into Jehlum at Rasul Barrage to meet shortage of Mangla command, thus fulfilling water shortages in the Mangla command.

Another canal was proposed on the Right Bank of the dam, to irrigate certain areas of NWFP (Pukhtunkhwa), but it has been discarded now, because WAPDA considers it unfeasible.