Bangladesh Integrated Water Resources Assessment

Location: Bangladesh

Contact: Mac.Kirby@csiro.au

Research question: How will changes in climate and in water use affect Bangladesh’s surface water and groundwater resources and how can these resources be managed sustainably while promoting equitable access to safe drinking water and enhance livelihoods?

The Bangladesh Integrated Water Resources Assessment is a joint project involving, in Bangladesh, the Water Resources Planning Organisation, the Bangladesh Water Development Board, the Institute of Water Modelling Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, the Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services, and CSIRO in Australia.

What is the project doing?

Climate change, increasing population and economic growth are expected to increase the demand for water resources in Bangladesh. The quantity and quality of its surface water and groundwater resources may also be negatively affected.

Access to safe drinking water and irrigation water could be reduced and groundwater could become contaminated by saltwater and polluted surface waters.

We are addressing knowledge gaps identified in Bangladesh’s National Water Management Plan (NWMP) in climate change impacts, groundwater resources at the national scale, and how surface water and groundwater resources interact.

Our integrated water resources / socio-economic assessment will provide a national overview of water resources and identify the impacts of development and climate change on surface water and groundwater resources, and on poor and vulnerable people.

We are assessing the amount of water that could be sustainably supplied to the different economic sectors—such as agriculture, fisheries, industry and navigation—and to the population for drinking and sanitation purposes, to promote economic growth and improve people’s livelihoods.

Bringing together hydrological, hydro-geological, socio-economic, climatic and social data into a spatial model, we are assessing the impact of climate change scenarios and exploring development scenarios.

When our assessment is complete, we will communicate policy options that underpin a more equitable and economically efficient use of Bangladesh’s water resources.

What will the project produce?

We are producing:

• an overview of both surface water and groundwater resources in Bangladesh
• an overview of the existing socio-economic and political constraints and limitations affecting the efficient and equitable use and distribution of surface water and groundwater in Bangladesh
• an estimate of surface water and groundwater demand for selected economic sectors of Bangladesh under scenarios of development and climate change
• an integrated framework of surface water and groundwater resources and their interactions with social and economic wellbeing

We are identifying potential hotspots:

• areas where there is high risk of contamination by saltwater or polluted surface waters,
• areas where there is high risk of lack of access to safe drinking water and irrigation water in rural areas.
• the most vulnerable region/area, economic sector, and population group due to water scarcity, quality, management scenarios and climate change

How can the project make a difference to development?

Our integrated assessment is helping to address the knowledge gaps identified in Bangladesh’s National Water Management Plan.

It will identify opportunities for detailed studies to develop management plans for hotspots of conflicting demand or potential contamination.

Management options identified will help Bangladesh authorities develop policy responses to equitably and efficiently allocate and use water.

We are increasing the capacity of local and national water institutions to:

• carry out an integrated water resources assessment
• downscale the future climate data and assess the impact of climate change
• apply advanced remote sensing technologies for water demand assessment
• assess large-scale groundwater resources

Project completion date – October 2013