Integrated River Basin Planning – Replicable ... - India Water Portal

Integrated River Basin Planning: India and the EU share experience on policy and practice
Conclusion and Recommendations
This study has brought together the experiences obtained from various projects
conducted abroad. A clear methodology was used to develop the Roadmap and
is suitable for replication in other states. First of all, a participatory assessment of
the water resources situations was conducted using the WRIAM tool. This tool
has been developed to assess, in a participatory manner, the physical problems
of the river basin. Based on the physical problems identified, management issues
within the sectors governing water and sectors affected with water quality and
quantity problems were identified and outlined. The data gathered in those
participatory workshops allowed the experts to conduct a SWOT analysis which
led to the recommended actions in the Roadmap. The approach used to develop
this Roadmap has been positively received in a number of countries, but the
momentum and continued commitment towards the implementation of actions
will depend entirely on the commitment and willingness of the sectors involved to
engage in further reforms.
The actions for implementation identified in the current IWRM Roadmap will assist
decision-makers with an agenda for future prioritization of activities. Stakeholder
engagement was assured throughout the project. The identified water related
issues were ranked by representatives of a selection of different sectoral
government representatives as well as NGOs.
An important management issue encountered is the enforcement of existing
legislation. It was perceived that while there is no lack of proper legislation
addressing water, its enactment and enforcement is poor. The inter-sectoral
silos may prove to be difficult to demolish but, with the implementation and
operationalization of the Authority, a platform for inter-sectoral coordination
of different interests can be brought on the table. However, it is imperative to
ascertain the Authority’s proper mandate. Follow-up and proper attention to the
IWRM Roadmap process, and a willingness to embark upon reforms within the
enabling environment, institutional framework and management instruments, will
be decisive for its long-term success.
Several legal and institutional challenges exist in the creation of an inter-sectoral
mechanism dealing with pollution control and reduced availability of water. Those
mechanisms are needed as part of the basin-wide control measures that need to
be taken with reference to the
(i)
(ii)
lack of adequate enforcement of environmental legislation;
fragmentation of responsibilities among the water, environmental and
agricultural authorities; and
(iii) limited integration of environmental requirements into economic
development policies.
An additional urgent need is for the elaboration of a full assessment of the water
quantity and quality based on integration of available data from the numerous
departments involved in monitoring of the resource, for which sharing of data is
imperative.
IWRM and the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) are largely based on the same
principles, but the issues they deal with are very different. IWRM focuses on peoplecentered
management, sectors and economy, poverty, lowest appropriate level,
Pamba Pilot Project, Final Dialogue
on IWRM, 29th October 2010
gender sensitivity, public participation and decentralization.
All these elements are of great importance to India, but less
so to the EU WFD, which uses keywords such as protection,
good status of waters, river basin management, water
pricing, emission limits, streamlining legislation, and citizen
involvement in planning 1 . This supports the choice to base
the Pamba pilot on IWRM principles and not on the EU WFD.
Nevertheless, there is still potential for India to review the EU
WFD for elements that have proven their merit, such as a
trans-boundary policy framework, institutional arrangements,
and integration of sector-based interests. For purpose of
reference, a summary of the EU WFD is provided in Annex 3.
11.2 Recommendations
Obviously, the actions identified in the Roadmap must be initiated, which for a start
should be supported by a detailed budget estimate to conduct these actions and
financing sources and specifics on who will implement the Roadmap elements. It
is of high importance that the implementation of actions identified in the current
roadmap commences immediately to ensure that the momentum created is kept
up. It is unfortunately often seen that the momentum created as part of a given
IWRM project slowly ends after the project has been finalized. As indicated in
the Roadmap, some of the identified actions will need external funding and may
require technical assistance. A way to ensure that funds are allocated for the
continuous IWRM process is for the Government of Kerala to call, in the near
future, for a roundtable meeting involving state and national actors to discuss
funding possibilities with potential external partners.
A key factor of further progress is the continual involvement of relevant stakeholders.
A starting point may be to invite the stakeholder forum already established as
part of the present project and perform regular consultations whenever major
achievements or decisions concerning the IWRM implementation process in the
Pamba River Basin are in place. In order to reach a broader stakeholder forum,
the involvement of the press should also be considered in the future, which
could be combined with IWRM capacity building of the media to ensure a better
understanding and, thereby, coverage of the IWRM process in Kerala as such and
in the Pamba River Basin.
Of special importance is the effort needed towards operationalizing the Pamba
River Basin Authority, especially at the basin level. Suggestions for organizational
set-up, staffing and areas of responsibility have been provided as part of the
present project. However, as stated in the Act, the Authority shall prepare
implementation plans, budgets, financing plans, etc., which presently are absent.
Setting up the PRBA should be in line with the preparation of the IWRM Action
Plan; a proposal for the structure of this Plan has been provided as part of this
project. The IWRM Plan should include a full situational analysis, a strategy on
how to obtain the vision stated in the water policy and a portfolio of actions with
1 As explained in: EU Water Framework Directive versus international principles concerning IWRM:
the seven mismatches, Muhammad M. Rahaman, Olli Varis and Tommi Kajander: http://www.euwi.
net/files/euwi/niki_tmpphp23UK4Y.pdf.
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