International Seminar on Global Metropolitan Delta’s 2017: Strategic Basin Assessment of the Brahmaputra River in Northeast India

1. March 2017
prof. Dr. Ir. Renaat De Su7er
Ghent University and Antea Group
Strategic Basin Assessment of the
Brahmaputra River in Northeast India

2. Background
South Asia Water Ini0a0ve
• To support countries improve and deepen transboundary
dialog, enhance the basin and water resources knowledge
base, strengthen water insHtuHons, and support investments
that lead to sustainable, fair and inclusive development.
• 4 guiding principles : IWRM + climate change; transboundary
cooperaHon; parHcipaHon of stakeholders; focused debate to
ensure transparency, legiHmacy and accountability.
• Focus 2013-2017: Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra

3. • Area: 580.000 km²
• Transboundary
countries: China (50.5%),
India (33.6%),
Bangladesh (8.1%) and
Bhutan (7.8%).
• Length: 2.900 km
• Average annual
discharge: 19.820 m³/s
(10th in the world)
• Average annual sediment
load: 735 million metric
tons (3rd in the world)
Brahmaputra
Basin

4. Main challenges in the basin
• High interannual variability in flow ! catastrophic
flooding, channel migraHon, very complex
morphology of the river
• Long-held tension between the different riparian
stakeholders ! between countries + within India
• Climate change ! glacier melHng, increasing
intensity & frequency of flooding and drought
periods;
• “enough” water availability versus high (increase
in) demand for irrigaHon, drinking water,
industrial evoluHon, ….

5. Objectives
• IniHal objecHve : To gain a be7er understanding
of the dynamics of the Brahmaputra river basin
from a system-wide perspec0ve by creaHng a
knowledge base and a suite of analy0cal tools
that can be used to examine the poten0al
development and impacts in the basin to
support investments and an informa0on-based
dialogue (high level top-down, instrumental,
modelling, pilot study, …)
• EvoluHon towards bo7om-up, local results,
investments, with flanking instruments, …)

6. Components

7. Premise
• Lots of info is available;
sca7ered among people,
reports & agencies;
• FragmentaHon /
compartmentalizaHon;
no ‘big picture’
• Task: integrate the
exisHng info;
comprehensive
understanding at
conceptual level

8. Communication challenge and approach
How to communicate the funcHoning of such a vast, highly diverse, complex,
dynamic, mulH-faceted, unpredictable, transboundary, and important
system to relevant decision makers & stakeholders?
How can we let them embrace their basin and parHcipate in soluHons ?
1. Describe the discrete elements that comprise the Brahmaputra system
2. Explain how they are interconnected
3. Assess how they affect socio-economic development and the
environment
In a nutshell:
By means of:
Causal diagrams; associated narraHves; associated analysis

9. Example of causal diagram

10. Overview of the SBA

11. Strategic Basin Assessment
1. Prepare an inventory of current and an0cipated issues & challenges
(incl. risks), and development op0ons in the Brahmaputra Basin in India.
Interviews; literature review; meeHng and understanding each other
Building blocks of causal diagrams; it concerns both physical and
insHtuHonal/policy issues
2. Iden0fy and review relevant na0onal and state development objec0ves
and sector strategies
Anchors SBA within exisHng policy framework; provides direcHons to design/
evaluate possible intervenHons
Interviews; document review

12. Strategic Basin Assessment
• Assemble, organize and review
exis0ng knowledge products
(reports, maps, data, metadata,
standards)
• IdenHfy knowledge gaps
• Design knowledge base (somware
and hardware to store data and
provide the users with the required
funcHonaliHes)
• Populate the knowledge base
(spaHal data, temporal data,
themaHc layers...)
• Develop basic knowledge products
(digital basin atlas, exisHng reports,
data, metadata and river basin web
portal)
3. Develop and populate a “Knowledge Base”

13. Strategic Basin Assessment
4. Develop causal diagrams
Nested / inter-linked
Visualize & explain Brahmaputra system at conceptual level

14. Strategic Basin Assessment
5. Validate and improve causal diagrams
Validate causal diagrams; check the criHcal assumpHons; solicit
feedback; prioriHze issues & policy objecHves; generally improve the
analysis
Through highly interac0ve workshop(s)
AddiHonal benefits in terms of ‘process gains’: introducing new perspecHves,
aligning views, create ‘common understanding’, seeing ‘bigger picture’ of
mulH-faceted Brahmaputra system
6. Elaborate and deepen causal diagrams and associated narra0ves/
analysis
Interviews; literature review; selected analysis

15. Strategic Basin Assessment
8. Use causal diagrams as backdrop to answer key ques0ons
ExecuHve Summary of the report; partly addressing the ‘communicaHon issue’ associated
with such a complex & mulH-faceted system as Brahmaputra
Topical issues; key decisions that need to be taken shortly; policy prioriHes, etc
9. Iden0fy cri0cal knowledge and data gaps
Suggest analyHcal approaches for idenHfied knowledge gaps
7. Formulate key ques0ons
10. Prepare ToR to address selected knowledge & data gaps
11. Prepare SBA Report

16. Components

17. Investment Plans
1. Problem descrip0on and ini0al analysis
SituaHon analysis: problems, previous intervenHons and their performance,
present the ‘bigger picture’, local knowledge.
Interviews and literature review
Roadmap for investments in 5 hotspots
2. Detailed understanding of the processes
Several iteraHons are needed before a definite conclusion is reached. Hence this
phase may involve addiHonal field visits, data collecHon, and sub analysis.
3. Iden0fy measures and propose interven0ons
PotenHal structural and non-structural measures to address the problem situaHon.
List of all intervenHons that are potenHally effecHve, based on local pracHces and/
or on experience elsewhere in the world.

18. Investment Plans
4. Pre-select measures in consulta0on with stakeholders
Technical workshop to review the potenHal intervenHons, disqualify
obvious non-starters and evaluate feasibilty of starters
Local knowledge and experience are highly valuable at this point.
5. Elaborate iden0fied measures
6. Evaluate selected measures through a mul0-criteria analysis
Rank the proposed intervenHons to come up with the most
promising ones.

19. Investment Plans
7. Prepare roadmaps for investments in the 5 hotspots
• Conceptual DescripHon of the Selected IntervenHon Package
• Financial Plan
• ImplementaHon Plan
• InsHtuHonal Plan
• Capacity Building Needs

20. Example of hotspot: Majuli Island
Majuli is the largest inhabited river island in the world (1250 km² ! 350
km²).
Agriculture, densily populated (150.000 people ; > 300 / km²), wetland
Loss of land mass and periodical flooding make protecHng the island a
priority for the Government of Assam.

21. Stakeholders consultations and
workshops
Each of the interacHons from the start Hll the end
of the project will contribute to create awareness
and ownership.
ParHcipaHon of stakeholders should bring:
• Social benefits - equity
• Economic benefits - balance
• Technical benefits – informed decisions
• Management benefits – local iniHaHves

22. Main stakeholders
• Central Government
• Assam
• Arunachal Pradesh
• Meghalaya
• Nagaland
• Sikkim
• West Bengal

23. Capacity building
• Hands-on training
• Technical informaHon and user manuals
• InsHtuHonal capacity building framework
• ScienHfic disseminaHon:
• Basin InformaHon Centre (web portal)
• Workshops, seminars, conferences, papers...

24. 24
Thank you for your a^en0on