Enhancing Resilience of Water Resources Systems through Knowledge Generation & Efficient Use

Brisbane, Australia | 20-24 October 2019
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Vishnu Prasad Pandey, PhD
International Water Management
Institute (IWMI), Nepal
[E: v.pandey@cigar.org;
vishnu.pandey@gmail.com]
22nd International River Symposium
20-24 October, 2019 | Brisbane, Australia
Enhancing Resilience
of Water Resources
Systems through
Knowledge
Generation &
Efficient Use

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Contents
• Resilient Systems – What does it mean?
• What Makes Water Resources (WR) a
(Climate)Resilient System?
– Emphasis on knowledge generation;
promoting efficient use; & management/
governance
• IWMI’s Experience in Western Nepal
– Digo Jal Bikas (DJB) Project [USAID]
– BCRWME Project [Nordic Fund/ADB]
– Anukulan/BRACED Project [UKAid]
• Concluding Notes
• Acknowledgements
(Source:
https://littleleprechau
ns.blogspot.com/201
7/05/rivers-river-
basin.html)

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(Climate) Resilient systems – Another Buzz word!
IWRM
Climate
Change
Nexus
IRBM
Adapt
ation
RESILIENCE
Gover
nance
• Trigger for discussion on RESILIENCE?
– Changing weather pattern, long-term climate,
and associated impacts
• What does it mean – in general?
– Resilient – able to be happy, successful, etc.
again after something difficult or bad
happened [Oxford Dictionary]
• How can we achieve it?
– Understand the system (status, root causes)
 For informed decision-making on strategies
– Design & implement policies, strategies
– Develop adequate capacity & awareness
SDGs
MDGs
Green
Growth

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What Makes WR a Resilient System?
• Emphasis on knowledge generation;
– Better understanding of the system, its dynamics, interconnections, stressors & impacts
• Emphasis on promoting efficient use;
– Demand-side management:
 Enhancing productivity (benefit per unit of water use), e.g., MUS (multi-use Water
System); water-efficient irrigation technologies; collective farming; etc.
– Supply-side management:
 Assessment of WR availability & sensitivity under various scenarios
 Enhancing water availability - ground(spring) water recharge, etc.
• Emphasis on water resources management/governance;
– Integration, trade-offs, at a system-scale, etc.

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IWMI’s Experience in Western Nepal – Why Western Nepal?
• Western Nepal has
– high Water Availability (per
capita); a lot of natural resources;
potential for tourism
– has high potential to contribute to
“National Prosperity”
• The region, however,
– is relatively under-developed in
every development indicators
– has higher vulnerability to
Climate Change
– has less scientific studies so far Therefore: IWMI is focusing last few
years in Western Nepal

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IWMI’s Experience in Western Nepal – DJB Project
Sites for local scale studies
• Project: Digo Jal Bikas (DJB)
• Goal: Promote sustainable WRD&M in
western Nepal
• Duration: 2016-2019
• Funding: USAID
• Scale: Basin (3 basins) & Local (3 pilot sites)
• Objectives:
– Generate knowledgebase
– Develop & apply tools/models/approaches
– Contribute in developing integrated WRD & M
guidelines for policy & practice

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IWMI’s Experience in Western Nepal – DJB Project
Inflow input for
Hydro-economic model
Impact of Climate Change – P & T
Inflows input to
Western Nepal E-Flows Calculator
Hydrological Model
Climate Future
Matrices
E-Flows Calculator
– Using Holistic
Approach
Techno-Social
Interventions
• Hydro-economic model
• Gender assessment framework
for water sector
INPUTS

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OUTPUTS
• The outputs can be accessed through
DJB website: http://djb.iwmi.org/
• All data/models will be available
at IWMI Water data Portal
(http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/2018/
06/water-data-portal/)
• DJB’s relevance to resiliency
– Enhancing knowledgebase
– Testing/piloting techno-social
interventions for enhancing water
use efficiency
– Identifying & evaluating various
water development pathways for
future water mgmt./ governance
IMPACTS: The project results are used
in National Irrigation Master Plan

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IWMI’s Experience in Western Nepal – BCRWME Project
• BCRWME (Building Climate Resilient of Watersheds
in Mountain Eco-Regions) was designed with the Goal
of “Improving climate resilience of springs”
– Duration: 2015-2019 | Funding: NDF/ADB/CIF
• IWMI (i.e., NDF-2) is responsible for
– generating scientific evidence on springshed
hydrology of 2-Watersheds.
BANLEK
SHIKARPUR
Shikharpur Banlek
Catchment (km2) 3.74 1.43
No. of Springs 3 4
Elevation range (m) 1812 - 2470 770 to 1215
Slope (degrees) 0.8 to 63 5.8 to 48.4
Spring water usage Drinking, micro
hydro, agri.
Drinking, cattle
SpringRecharge
Areas?

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SpringRecharge
Areas?
• Isotope tracer study for identifying dominant
spring recharge zones.
• Over 422 samples collected in during Mar
2016 – Mar 2017; & analyzed for isotopes
• Findings:
– Existing recharge pond (interventions) are
outside the delineated recharge zones
– Recharge zones could be beyond the surface
watershed boundary
– Springs in this study are recharged by a mix of
surface & groundwater.
– Banlek has higher resident time, therefore, fed
primarily by deeper groundwater system ?
Catchment
Springs
Sample δ18O
(‰)
Sample δD
(‰)
Recharge Elevation (m
asl)
ID
Elev. (m
asl)
Derived
from δ18O
Derived
from δD
Shikharpur
SS-1 2086 -8.94 -59.77 2598 2597
SS-2 2183 -8.95 -61.02 2601 2683
Banlek
BS-2 822 -9.10 -64.61 1075 -
BS-3 832 -9.18 -65.56 1105 -
Next Step: Baseflow
Analysis

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Parameters Unit Winter
Pre-
Monsoon
Monsoon
Post-
Monsoon
Annual
Rainfall (P) mm 53.4 324.2 1748.7 18.1 2144.4
BASEFLOWATSQ1
Streamflow
SQ1-Total flow
l/min 1560.5 1018.0 5686.3 2881.1 2786.4
Streamflow
SQ1-Baseflow
l/min 1207.0 609.6 2426.5 2209.9 1613.2
mm 41.8 21.6 114.0 51.9 229.3
% of P 78.3 6.7 6.5 286.8 10.7
Baseflow Index
(BFI) – SQ1
% 77 60 43 77 58
Parameters Unit Winter
Pre-
Monsoon
Monsoon
Post-
Monsoon
Annual
Rainfall mm 24.5 153.4 829.4 8.7 1,016.0
BASEFLOWatBS1
Spring BS1-
Total flow
l/min 5.4 4.7 5.1 5.6 5.2
Spring BS1-
Baseflow
l/min 4.9 4.4 4.6 5.0 4.8
mm 0.37 0.34 0.47 0.25 1.4
% of P 1.5 0.2 0.1 2.9 0.1
Baseflow Index
(BFI) – BS1
% 92 95 90 89 91
• Shikharpur:
– P = 2,144 mm; ET =46%; Runoff
=18.5%; Recharge/Δ storage=35.5%
– Baseflow = 58% of runoff; varies across
the seasons from 43% to 77%; 3-fold
higher than P in post-monsoon (?)  fed
by P as well as groundwater
• Banlek:
– Baseflow = 91% of runoff; almost
consistent across seasons  fed by
deeper aquifer system, rather than P.Findings are Consistent with that from isotopes study –
Banlek has higher residence time !
Hydrological Model developed: in RRAWFLOW

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IWMI’s Experience in Western Nepal – BCRWME Project
• Key Messages:
– Springs @ Shikharpur are fed by both rainfall & GW
system; whereas in Banlek, fed primarily by GW
 Interventions in Shikharpur are likely to be successful than
in Banlek
– Due to complex nature of recharge augmentation
process, spring management interventions should
incorporate a large integrated landscape
management approach.
• Connection to resilience WR systems
– Enhance supply-side management through recharge
augmentation  contribute to water use efficiency.
SpringRecharge
Areas?

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IWMI’s Experience in Western Nepal – Anukulan/BRACED Project
• Multiple Use Water System (MUS)
– enhances water use efficiency and
productivity as the same source is used for
multiple uses; therefore
 Contributes in resiliency of WR systems
• >1,600 MUS are operating in Nepal
– At various level of performance; however,
they are yet to get INSTITUTIONALIZED!
• Anukulan/BRACED project, among other
aspects, looked on institutionalization of MUS
– Focused on 6 districts in West Nepal
Kailali
Surkhet

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• Institutionalization refers to -
– a process of embedding of some conception
(for example, beliefs, norms, social roles, value
or mode or behaviour) within an organization,
social system and society as a whole (Tolbert
and Zucker, 1996)
• Institutionalization is a necessary but NOT
sufficient conditions for “UP- & Out-Scaling”
– Other conditions – technical feasibility, funding,
demand from the communities – also matters
• Approach used
– Literature review; Field study; Interviews
Kailali
Surkhet

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• Following aspects of MUS Institutionalization observed from the study
– Strong demand from MUS from communities
 Willingness to share cost
 Have realized increase in HH income as well as nutritious & health benefits of MUS
– MUS is recognized as an adaptation mechanism in Harmonized LAPA
– MUS Network established in 2016
– Technology Transfer – INGOs & NGOs
• Challenges
– Lack of adequate information on MUS among new local government leaders/officers
– Difference in budget cycle between local gov. & Development Organizations
– New governance structure in Federal Nepal offering challenges & opportunities

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• Recommendations
– MUS approach can be integrated in formulation process of
Water Use Master Plan (WUMP) of Paliks (the new Local
Governments)
– Streamlining MUS/WUAs registration in Government agencies
legitimizes MUS system at the Government level
– Palikas are autonomous in development planning,
policymaking & budgeting
 It is an opportunity for the inclusion of MUS in Government Plans
and budget
– The nutritional benefits of MUS is yet to understand better and
needs further research

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Concluding Notes
• Investment on research & evidence-generation is a pre-requisite for
devising strategies to enhance resiliency
• A successful resilient building program is expected to keep people’s
livelihood at the center & have capacity strengthening component
• Both demand-side & supply-side measures should go hand-in-hand for
enhancing resilience of WR systems
• Resilience is difficult to measure, however, government’s leadership
[Institutionalization & Governance] may help build resilience
• Resilience building takes long time; therefore, funding for resilience
building should go in PROGRAM-model rather than PROJECT-mode

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Thank You!
• Co-Authors
– Sanita Dhaubanjar; Bhesh Raj Thapa; Emma Karki; Alok Rajouria; Luna
Bharati
• Funding Support
– USAID (for Digo Jal Bikas, DJB, Project)
– NDF/ADB/CIF (for BCRWME Project)
– UKAid & iDE (for Anukulan Project)
• Communities in Western Nepal
• Various government & non-government agencies for varying level of inputs
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Enhancing Resilience of Water Resources Systems through Knowledge Generation & Efficient Use

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