The project (a regional capacity development technical assistance) was designed to accelerate and expand the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) principles and approaches in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya (HKH)region, delivering improved water security and enhanced efficiency and productivity. The project assisted in implementation of IWRM at all levels i.e. grassroots / farm; sub-basin; basin; national; and, transboundary level.
The project (a regional capacity development technical assistance) was designed to accelerate and expand the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) principles and approaches in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya (HKH)region, delivering improved water security and enhanced efficiency and productivity. The project assisted in implementation of IWRM at all levels i.e. grassroots / farm; sub-basin; basin; national; and, transboundary level.
To achieve this overall objective (impact), the TA helped implement the IWRM approach in target river basins in three countries in the HKH – Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal. These countries (and basins) were identified based on:
Their vulnerability to climate change having been identified as those countries most vulnerable to the negative impact of climate change (being reliant on glacial snow melt and precipitation) and consequently to a large seasonal variability of availability of water;The willingness of the respective governments to adopt the IWRM approach and the demand for further support to river basin planning and institutional strengthening of RBOs in the respective river basins; andThe opportunity to build on and act in synergy with past, current and future IWRM interventions.
These last two points are of particular importance. The TA resources were limited and the requirements to establish an IWRM framework substantial. In all three countries the governments had already taken steps, with support of ADB and other donors, to establish an IWRM framework, including the establishment of an enabling environment, the set-up of RBOs and other institutions, and the use of tools as management instruments. The TA thus did not start from scratch but rather was able to provide added-value by focusing on support to the strengthening of RBOs in each of the basins as follows:
In Afghanistan, the TA focused on the IWRM approach in the Panj-Amu river basin, where a River Basin Agency has been established, and six Sub-Basin Agencies. The TA built on work undertaken with support from the EU from 2004-2016 (with TA undertaken by Landell Mills), and worked in parallel with the ADB/EU Panj-Amu River Basin Project (P-ARBP) that started in 2017 (the design of which was undertaken by Landell Mills).In Bhutan, the TA worked in the Wangchhu river basin, where a River Basin Committee has been established, building on work undertaken under the ADB TA "Adapting to Climate Change through Integrated Water Resources Management" (2014-16); and,In Nepal, the TA worked in the Bagmati river basin, where a River Basin Organization has been established by Presidential Order in the Upper Bagmati with support from the ADB Bagmati River Basin Improvement Project (2014-20) (with TA provided by Landell Mills).
The TA built on recommendations from the ADB TA for 'Managing Water in Asia's River Basins: Charting Progress and Facilitating Investment' implemented in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Water Forum and Network for Asian River Basin Organizations (NARBO) from 2008-2014, including the piloting of a roadmap advisory service in river basins, and the use of performance benchmarking tools for RBOs.
The outputs of the TA were:
Output 1: Water resources institutions strengthened – this included the introduction and customisation of an institutional framework for RBO performance benchmarking, using the NARBO benchmarking tool;Output 2: Technical capacity of staff of water resources institutions in target river basins enhanced;Output 3: Knowledge of and good practices for IWRM broadly disseminated in Asia and the Pacific Region.
These outputs were integrated. For example, benchmarking against best practise using the NARBO toolkit (Output 1), helped RBOs to assess their current status against their mandate, and what they needed to do to improve through increased technical capacity (Output 2) and so on. Such benchmarking tools can then be integrated into RBO monitoring and evaluation systems, so future performance can be assessed against the baseline. Outputs from the benchmarking exercise helped to set the framework for the establishment of human resources development plans, with implementation of these plans where practical.
The scope of services against each of these outputs differed in each country based on the specific context of each river basin. For example, in the Panj-Amu basin, the main requirement was to effectively allocate water use between upstream and downstream irrigation water users; in the Wangchhu basin key issues included the need for improved flood risk management given expected climate-change induced changes, and the need to balance use between users, particularly given the high demands from hydropower in the basin; while in the Bagmati basin the water management issues are more complex and pressing, with the need to effectively allocate water between domestic and industrial users in Kathmandu; to protect the city from flooding; and, to improve the extremely low level of water quality.
Various study tours were undertaken and a Regional Knowledge Product was produced to identify lessons learned and to showcase how best practise under the project could be replicated in other basins, both in the three target countries and in other countries in the Asia/Pacific Region.
The ADB Technical Assistance Completion Report rated the project as Successful and the Technical Assistance as Relevant, Effective, Efficient and Likely Sustainable