Transnational Policy Dialogue for Improved Water Governance in Brahmaputra River

Water Cooperation for Water Governance

By

Malik Fida A. KhanDirector, Climate Change Study Division

Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services

Water is a basic human needs

Needs for environment, socio-economic development and poverty reduction

demands for water are increasing to satisfy the needs of a growing world population

Rapid urbanization, pollution and climate change threaten the resource

Water is unevenly distributed in time and space

Water is a shared resource and its management needs to take a wide variety of conflicting interests

Why Water Co-Operation is Needed

International Policy Directives for Co-operative Management

International Conference on Water and the Environment,Dublin, 1992

1st World Water Forum, Marrakech, Morocco, 1997

2nd World Water Forum, Hague, Netherlands, 2000

International Conference on Freshwater, Bonn, 2001

World Summit on Sustainable Development, Rio de Janeiro,2002

3rd World Water Forum, Kyoto, Japan, 2003

4th World Water Forum, Mexico City, Mexico, 2006

5th World Water Forum, Istanbul, Turkey, 2009

6th World Water Forum, Marseille, France, 2012

Recommendations for action at local, national and internationallevels to reduce the scarcity, through four guiding principles:

o Fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustainlife, development and the environment

o Water development and management should be based on aparticipatory approach, involving users, planners and policy-makers atall levels

o Women play a central part in the provision, management andsafeguarding of water

o Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should berecognized as an economic good

Major benefits to come from the Dublin recommendations will be:o Water conservation and reuseo Agricultural production and rural water supplyo Protecting aquatic ecosystemso Resolving water conflicts

International Conference on Water and Environment, Dublin, 1992

Sharing water resources: Promote peaceful co-operationand develop synergies between different uses of water atall levels througho Sustainable River Basin Management or other appropriate

approaches

Integrated Water Resources Management the forumconcluded that:o To achieve IWRM a need for coherent national and, where

appropriate, regional and international policies toovercome fragmentation, and for transparent andaccountable institutions at all levels

2nd World Water Forum, Hague, 2000

Ministers agreed that ten years after the UNConference on Environment and Developmentand the Dublin Conference, and

Several years after the global water conferencesin Paris and The Hague, there is still

o Need for greater commitment to implementcommonly agreed principles on water resourcesmanagement

International Conference on Freshwater, Bonn, 2001

Focus on two themes:o Green economy in the context of sustainable

development and poverty eradication; and

o Institutional framework for sustainable development.

Water providing a basic reference relating tointernational time-bound commitments in the areaof water, with a view to facilitating discussionaround water resources, management and quality

World Summit on Sustainable Development, Rio de Janeiro, 2002

Debate within the context of the newcommitments of meeting the goals set forth at

The Millennium Summit of the United Nations inNew York (2000)

The International Freshwater Conference in Bonn(2001) and

The World Summit on Sustainable Developmentin Johannesburg (2002).

3rd World Water Forum, Kyoto, Japan, 2003

Water management is facing increasingchallenges, including water scarcity, climatechange, urbanization and decentralization

Challenges require more capabilities of peopleand institutions strengthened at all levels

Two major reports were released by the WWC and its partners in 4th WWF-

o The right to water: from concept to implementation

o Enhancing access to finance for local governments and financing water for agriculture

4th World Water Forum, Mexico, 2006

Recommendations and commitments for action on bridging water divides

By the means of

oGovernance and Management

oFinance

oEducation, Knowledge and Capacity Building

5th World Water Forum, Istanbul, Turkey, 2009

6th World Water Forum, Marseille, France, 2012

The regional & cross-continental coordination: Asia-Pacific Targets

Develop a strategic flood risk-managementframework through appropriate policies and practices in the Himalayan region.

Enhance capacity of River Basin Organizations to implement IWRM including adaptation to climate change.

Ministerial declaration of 6th World Water Forum

Enhance cooperation across and beyond water, taking the interests of all riparian States to foster peace and stability.

Cooperative efforts in the field of transboundary waters

Promote and encourage coordinated, equitable, reasonable and optimal water utilization in transboundary basins

Deepening mutual trust among riparian countries and achieve sound cooperation.

Principles of the relevant international Conventions on water can be useful in this regard

There are 276 transboundary river basins in the world

Among them 60 are in Asia185 out of the 276

transboundary river basins, about two-thirds, are shared by two countries

46% of the globe’s terrestrial surface is covered by transboundary river basins

148 countries include territory within one or more transboundary river basins

Water: A Resource Without Borders

64 60 6846 38

Africa Asia Europe North America

South America

No of Transboundary River Basin

Nearly 450 agreements on international waters were signed between 1820 and 2007 (OSU, 2007)

Over 90 international water agreements were drawn up to help manage shared water basins on the African continent (UNEP, 2010)

International Agreements on Water Issues: Success Stories

Basin Information: South Asia

Ten large Asian river basins systems- AmuDarya, Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween,Mekong, Yangtse, Yellow, and Tarim

These basins spread over the countries-Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, NepalMyanmar and Pakistan

The river basins cover an area of about 9 million km2

Provides water, ecosystem services, and the basis forlivelihoods to a population of around 211 million peoplein the region

Basins of these rivers provide water to 1.3 billionpeople, a fifth of the world’s population

Amur China, Russia

Brahmaputra Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, NepalGanges Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal Indus India, Pakistan, China Irrawaddy China, India, MyanmarMekong Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam

Major River basins of Asia

Salwen China, Myanmar, ThailandTarim China, Kazakhstan, KyrgyzstanYangtze China Yellow China

Regional Basin Map: South Asia

climate change

• Receding glaciers• Increased floods• Incidents of glacial lake bursts over the coming decades• Much less water availability• Occurrence of climatic extremity and variability

Socio-Economic Developments

• Irrigation needs for food security• Supply and sanitation needs• Needs for urbanization and development• Power generation needs• Competing national priorities• Management mechanisms• Economic Issues• Poverty Reduction

Political Dimensions

• Political willingness• Conflicts

Challenges of Regional Co-Operation with Water: South Asia and the Himalayas

GBM Basins of the Region

India, Bangladesh, Nepal, China

India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China

India, Bangladesh

Catchment areas of Major Rivers

RiverCatchment Area (‘000 Sq. Km)

Catchment Area (‘000 Sq. Km)

India Nepal Bhutan China Bangladesh

Brahmaputra 552 195 (35%)

- 47(9%)

271(49%)

39(7%)

Ganges 1087 860(79%)

147(14%)

- 34(3%)

46(4%)

Meghna 82 47(57%)

- - - 35(43%)

Total 1721 1102(64%)

147(9%)

47(3%)

304(18%)

120(7%)

Transboundary River of Bangladesh

Hydrological Region

No of Rivers

(%) of total Trans flow

North West 17 7

North East 20 6

South West 5 0.1

South East 9 1

Eastern Hill 3 0.5

River and Estuary 2 86

North Central 1

South Central -

Water – Regional Co-Operation Needs

South Asia region is characterized by numerousinternational river basins, many of which are sharedwith countries beyond the region

Several countries have almost 100% of their territoryand population within international basins(Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan)

Seven countries share rivers in the Himalayas As the populations and economies of countries

grow, they will undoubtedly intensify.

Regional Water Co-operation: Watershed Management

To incorporate all of the physical, political and economic characteristics for a river basin, a process for co-operative watershed management is vital.

For this, water should be managed based on river basins, not only on administrative boundaries.

Equitable Sharing of Water in

transboundary issues

Co-operative basin based

management

Integrated Water

Resources Management

Cooperation needs for Bangladesh

World Water Forum recommended for building storage reservoirto store monsoon water which would help to

Moderate floods Augment dry season flows Generate hydro-power Improve navigation facilities Increase fish production Improve environment etc.

Bangladesh is holding discussion with the co-riparian countrieswith a view to jointly develop water storage projects at suitablelocations in the upstream regions to get the above benefits on anequity basis.

Being a lower riparian country it is quiteimpossible for Bangladesh to construct a hydropower plant in the flat topography

Bangladesh can purchase electricity generatedby Nepali and Indian hydro power plants

Bangladesh has already started negotiation withIndia and Bangladesh for hydro power market

The negotiation need to be done at basin level ascommon rivers are shared by the countries

Hydro-Power Generation: Regional Co-operation

Potential Hydro-power of GBM Basins Hydro-power : 1,89,000 MW

Ganges BasinBangladesh -India 17,859 MW (Installed capacity)Nepal 83,000 MW (Maximum potential)

42,000 MW (Project so far identified)Brahmaputra and Barak/Meghna BasinsBangladesh -India 58,200 MW (Installed capacity)Bhutan 30,000 MW (Potential)

23,760 MW (Technically & Economically feasible for immediate development)

After the devastating floods of 1987 and 1988, a JointNepal – Bangladesh Study was conducted on floodMitigation Measures and multipurpose use of WaterResources. The Joint Study Report was accepted by the twoGovernments.

The Study recommended 30 potential reservoir sites inNepal for-

o Moderation of floods

o Augmentation of dry season flows

o Generation of hydro power

Proposal for Reservoir Construction in Nepal: Regional Co-operation

Dry season flow augmentation

Ganges BasinBangladeshIndia Not quantifiedNepal 1,88,500 Cusec

Brahmaputra and Barak/Meghna basinBangladeshIndia 1,45,000 cusecBhutan Not available

Track I: Formal and

informal processes of governments

(Official)

Track II: Interactive forums but led by an

actor closely aligned with

States (Semi official)

Track III: Research, dial

ogue and advocacy

efforts led by civil society (unofficial)

Track IV: Civil society

organisations supporting locally-led

governance processes

(Unofficial)

Recent Development for Regional Cooperation

Dialogue is one of the important instruments to initiate cooperation and building trust

10-year consensus vision formulated in 2009of a 'cooperative and knowledge-basedpartnership of states fairly managing anddeveloping the Himalayan River systems'

Agreements on specific actions to advancethe water cooperation agenda are alsoincluded

Initiative of Abu Dhabi Dialogue

IUCN Initiative on Bangladesh-India Regional Co-Operation

1. Water productivity and poverty

2. Climate change

3. Inland navigation

4. Environmental security

5. Biodiversity conservation

16 Situation analysis papers from both countries have been synthesized to produce on five thematic area

What Bangladesh Should Pursue

Being the lowermost riparian country of the threemighty Himalayan rivers

Bangladesh is pursuing since long time to formo River Basin Commission oro River Basin Organization oro River Basin Institute

Bangladesh and India have signed a FrameworkAgreement on Cooperation for Development inSeptember 2011

Cooperation is essential to strike a balance between the different needs and priorities and share this precious resource equitably, using water as an instrument of peace

Promotion of scientific research among the transboundary countries which evolve the mutual trust for water cooperation

Dialogue should act as triggering instrument for initiation and building up consensus for water cooperation of transboundary rivers

Water sharing should not be limited between the tranboundary countries, a reasonable quantum of water should also be allocated to the river as “share of the river”.

Signed agreement/treaties should by revisited to revise the treaties as per changed environment.

Formulation of Win-Win Situation by all the countries by agreement of the political level on a common agenda

To achieve a realistic regional cooperation for long term and sustainable water resources management regional empathy and co-operation is necessary

Way Forward for Water Cooperation

Water Cooperation for Water Governance

Thank you

Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) was signed in early 1960 between India and Pakistan

IWT allocated exclusive use of three eastern rivers (Ravi, Sutlej and Beas) to India and three western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan

Regional Success Story: Indus Water Treaty

Mekong River Commission, 1995

In 1995 Mekong Agreement, which established the Mekong River Commission

Management responsibility to its four member Countries-Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam

MRC shifted the focus from development of large-scale projects to sustainable development and management of natural resources

Reservoir Locations in Nepal

Proposal of Seven Reservoirs in Nepal by Bangladesh: Regional Co-Operation

1. Pancheswar2. Chisapani3. Kaligandhaki-14. Kaligandhaki-15. Seti6. Trisulganga7. Saptikosi

In designating 2013 as theUN International Year ofWater Cooperation.

Cooperation is essential tostrike a balance between thedifferent needs and prioritiesand share this preciousresource equitably, usingwater as an instrument ofpeace

Needs and Priorities

Equitable Sharing

Peace

2013: the Year of Water Co-operation

Water Governance

Water governance is defined by the political, social, economic and administrative systems that are in place, and which directly or indirectly affect the use, development and management of water resources

Water sector is a part of broader social, political and economic developments and is also affected by decisions outside of the water sector

It can be done at local, national, regional, basin and international level.

DecentralizationMulti-stakeholder ParticipationRiver Basin ManagementCo-OrdinationGender Equity

Water Governance Issues

Policy Development and implementation

Knowledge Development and Capacity Building

Integrity, Transparency and Accountability

Assessment and Monitoring

Develop, disseminate, promote application of tools, methodologies and knowledge;Build knowledge platform to share experienceDocument and distribute good practice

Reduce mismanagement and corruption between and among

GovernmentCivil societyPrivate companies

Through practical tools, applied research, capacity development