Located in the world’s largest delta, Bangladesh is dominated by its water resource system. The Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna all flow through Bangladesh. The combined flow of the rivers makes it rank among the largest river systems of the world. Yet Bangladesh covers only 8% of the total catchment area. This raises difficulties in the planning and management of water resources (WR).
With support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Swiss Red Cross (SRC) is implementing an Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) Project for the Barind Tract area in Bangladesh in collaboration with the Development Association for Self-reliance, Communication and Health (DASCOH), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO). The project has two components, at a national and sub-national level. At the national level, the Water Resources Planning Organisation (WARPO) is implementing an IWRM plan, as well as at sub-national level in the Rajshahi and Chapai Nawabganj districts. The overall objective of the project is to help local government institutions to contribute to increasing availability of water for disadvantaged people in the Barind area through sustainable, effective, and inclusive management and usage of water resources.
The Barind Tract region is located in the North-West Hydrological Region in Bangladesh, and covers the districts of Natore, Sirajganj, Naogaon, Nawabganj, Pabna, Rajshahi, Gaibandha, Jaipurhat, Dinajpur, Rangpur and Bogra. It consist of three physiographic sub-divisions: i) the Level Barind Tract, occupying 5,048 km2 or 65% of the whole unit; ii) the High Barind Tract, in the west, covering 1,600 km2 or 21%; and iii) the North-Eastern Barind Tract, covering 1,079 km2 or 14% of the whole unit (Brammer, 1997). The hotspot also includes the Meander floodplains, High Ganges River Floodplain, and the Lower Atrai Basin.
Tonkin + Taylor has been engaged as a consultant to assist in the project to:
- Advise and recommend measures for mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in IWRM framework.
- Recommend cost effective and economically efficient 4R-aligned (reduction of over-abstraction and water pollution; reuse of rainwater; recycling of water resources; restoration of water supply) water measures, and assess their comparative advantages and disadvantages from social, financial and technical perspectives.
- Examine the incentive based regulatory system developed by the project and recommend water management practices in respect to CCA and DRR.