South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI)

Indus Basin

The Indus Basin is one of the most vulnerable river basins with complex water challenges, glacier dependency, and growing per capita water scarcity.

SAWI focused on activities where client demand was clear. One focus was providing technical assistance at the national level to enhance transboundary (including inter-provincial boundaries) water resources management capacity. A second SAWI focus was supporting the Indus Basin dialogue that began in 2013 to promote cooperation, and developing joint research on climate change impacts by basin stakeholders. 

Ganges Basin

SAWI worked to improve Ganges River basin management and resilience to climate change. Technical dialogues for stakeholders in the basin sought to increase trust through information exchanges and capacity building. For example, in India, improvements in data sharing between the central government and the states is a necessary precursor to broader public and international transparency.

SAWI supported clean-up of the Ganges to improve flows for river health, cross-sectoral water allocation, and inland navigation. Work also included the design and implementation of the World Bank-financed National Hydrology Project in India.

SAWI helped improve flood forecasting in the Baghmati sub-basin and strengthened Bihar and Nepal cooperation in flood management. In Nepal, SAWI supported river basin and hydropower planning with related watershed management for sediment control.

Brahmaputra Basin 

SAWI activities addressed flooding and riverbank erosion, and assessed economic opportunities such as hydroelectric power and inland navigation. SAWI sponsored knowledge exchanges, study tours, workshops, and assessments to help stakeholder countries build a case for regional cooperation that leads to economic benefits.

SAWI helped develop a knowledge base to support Brahmaputra basin investment planning. Work included modeling, decision-making tools for policymakers, and capacity building activities in government agencies to operationalize the tools. SAWI's adaptive management framework helped build community resilience to water and climate risks and invested in early warning systems and flood mitigation measures. The Brahmaputra dialogue provided a platform for stakeholders to discuss common challenges, build trust, and promote collaboration.

Sundarbans

The Sundarbans is the world's largest delta where the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers come together and spill into the Bay of Bengal. The fragile wetlands is shared by Bangladesh and India and faces challenges that include extreme poverty, frequent natural disasters, and salinization of drinking water. The Sundarbans would benefit if both countries agreed on a joint conservation and development policy, and worked together on programs.

SAWI supported work to implement bilateral agreements for collaboration on international waters, information sharing, disaster management, and climate change adaptation. SAWI developed a strong foundation of research about the Sundarbans environment and its impact on human health to help governments move toward integrated management.

Blogs and feature stories about our Sundarbans work:

Increasing salinity in a changing climate likely to alter Sundarban’s ecosystem

Climate change drives up river salinity in Bangladesh

When cyclones strike: Using mangroves to protect coastal areas

Protection from cyclones: Benefits of integrating green and gray infrastructure

Bangladesh: Can mangroves mitigate catastrophic consequences of cyclone-induced storm surges?

Will availability of fish decline in Sundarbans with climate change? (in Bengali language)

May our children always have fish and rice (in Bengali language)

The Bangladesh India Sundarban Region Cooperation Initiative (BISRCI), supported by the World Bank, created a web site with news and information generated by EnGIO and The Third Pole.