Managing river basins under the federal system of governance in Nepal

In Nepal, problems related to water resources management can be attributed to fragmented sectoral development leading to sub-optimal use and exploitation of river basins, institutional pitfalls in river basin management, lack of cooperation and coordination among relevant authorities and institutions, and technological gaps. Moreover, this is directly linked to the disaster management challenges that the country faces on a regular basis. By now, there should be a clear roadmap for how to manage our water resources within the federal system of governance. However, the debate has not yet begun after the establishment of a federal system in the country. We firmly believe that the establishment of Integrated and Participatory River Basin Authorities (IPRBAs) is essential to improve the governance, management, and regulatory aspects of river basins in Nepal. It even became inevitable in light of the newly established federal system of governance.

RBAs in Spain

The peculiarity about Spain's governance system is that it is de jure not a federal state but decentralized autonomous regions that have more independence than some of the countries with federal system. Nearly two-thirds of Spain is the mountainous area, and the rest is lowland fluvial and coastal areas. Water is sufficient in northern region, whereas it is scarce in the southeastern region. Therefore, the effective management of water resources is vital for the country.

The Spanish Constitution divides duties, roles, and rights, including the development, construction, and management of infrastructures in river basins, between central and autonomous communities, depending on whether the river basin is within one or more autonomous communities. Organized water management in Spain has a rich history dating back to the 8th to 15th centuries during the reign of the Arab kings. The Technical River Basin Offices were first established in 1903, while the River Basin Authorities (RBAs) were established in 1926. There are RBAs for major inter-regional basins, Regional Water Authorities for small rivers, and Water Authorities for islands. Some river basins are also shared with France and Portugal. The RBM model, its structure and management in Spain has been evolved in accordance with the social, political, and economic development from the authoritarian to the liberal and commercialized models.

After the adoption of the 1978 constitution, the role of the autonomous communities in the RBAs has increased significantly from a centrally controlled to a more democratic and participatory system. In addition, it has gone through the adaptation process of the European Union Water Framework Directive.

Rationale and proposition for the IPRBAs in Nepal?

There are two essential pillars of the river-basin governance, namely INTEGRATION of multiple sectors and functions (e.g., drinking water supply, irrigation, hydropower, ground water, inland waterways, ecology, tourism, recreation etc.) for optimal use of a river basin; and PARTICIPATION of river-basin authorities (federal, provincial, and local), all the basin users and stakeholders for the effective management of a river basin.

The rationale behind the establishment of strong IPRBAs in Nepal is multifaceted, viz. providing an effective river basin governance and management system with science- and community-based policy development and decision-making; facilitating conflict resolution mechanism, especially within a federal and decentralized system where political boundaries do not coincide with those of river basins; facilitating cooperation and coordination between federal, provincial and local authorities, public and private developers and users, communities, technical support departments, knowledge institutions, think-tanks and other stakeholders; enabling proper planning, functional river-basin development, infrastructure building and management; establishing unified and efficient monitoring system and a joint regulatory mechanism; enhancing disaster preparedness, management and response system to ensure the safety of people, environment and critical infrastructures.?

In Nepal, three major IPRBAs can be established, namely Eastern, Central and Western RBAs. The basins and provinces in each RBA are divided as depicted in the map above (this is not set in stone and needs to be discussed extensively).

Based on the experience and practice of Spain, the organizational structure of the envisaged IPRBAs in Nepal could be constituted, which would include a governing body composed of representatives from the provincial and local authorities, basin users and stakeholders within the boundaries of each RBA, as well as federal authorities. For protection, management, monitoring, inspection, consumption, licensing, quality control, etc., a Basin Management and Safety Commission, consisting of officials and representatives of federal, provincial, and local governments, may be established. For the construction, management, and operation of infrastructures (water supply, energy, agriculture, water transport, etc.), a Technical Directorate may be created, which may consist of various commissions and user assembly. A planning advisory body should be established with federal, provincial, and local government representatives, basin users and stakeholders to develop, expand, update and monitor river basin plans. An Emergency Commission may be established to approve and agree on decisions taken during emergencies such as man-made and natural disasters.

Existing federal, provincial and local organizations, departments, committees, user associations can be effectively reorganized for the institutional arrangement of each RBA. Federal and regional support and investment in favor of innovative technologies, specialized research centers, think tanks, dedicated educational institutions and capacity building centers should be at all levels to provide technical assistance to the RBAs.

The strong RBAs would play a key role in creating a balance between the exploitation of natural resources, the development of infrastructure in river basins, environmental protection, and the well-being of the population. Ultimately, this will enable negotiations with our neighbor India on issues related to transboundary river basin management and infrastructure development.?

The author acknowledges the contribution from Dr. Nagendra Kayastha