A Presentation onAdaptation Measures to Reduce Drought Vulnerability due
to Climate Change in Barind Area of Bangladesh

By
Md Elias Hossain
Engineer Adviser
Ministry of Defence
Government of BangladeshGeo-physical setting

Key Points:
160 million population
1,47,570 km2 area offlat topography
57
riversenter
Bangladesh either fromIndia or Myanmar
92% of the catchment
areas
areoutsideBangladesh
Bangladesh drains waterfrom an area 12 times
larger than its own size

Brahmaputra, Ganges andMeghna Basin: Constitutes
80% of the floodplain

Indian River Linking

New threats to country’s WR:
River linking project by India
together with the impact ofclimate change
Desertification
Frequent natural calamities
Salinity intrusion
Sea-level rise

Impacts of
Climate Change

Desertification

Damage by SIDR

Homeless people

Bangladesh rivers receive runoff from a catchment of 1.72 million
sq-km, around 12 times its land area
Brahmaputra Basin
552,000 sq-km

NE

CHINA
PAL

INDIA
BHUTANAR

Ganges Basin
1,087,000 sq-km

MYANM

INDIA

BANGLADESH
Meghna Basin
82,000 sqkm

BAY OF BENGAL

3

Proposed Project Area

BARIND
AREAProject Covers 25 thanaof Rajshahi, Nawabganj& Naogaon Districts
Total Area = 750000 ha
Cultivable Area = 595760 haPopulation = About 2 million
Rainfall ~ 1250 to 1600 mm/Yr
Nos of DTW = 6047
Nos of STW ~ 70,000

NorthWestRegion

Topography

Elevation

9.00 mPWD 47.00 mPWDOVER ALL GOAL

Assessment of Climate Change Impacts onwater resources and adaptation measures
for sustainable water resourcesmanagement in Barind Area of Bangladesh







MAJOR ISSUESProject GWL goes bellow suction limit of STW & HTW and becomes inoperable,
thereby suffers for domestic as well as irrigation water problems in most of the area
during dry season
Proposed project area suffers frequent agricultural losses due to drought not only indry season, but also sometimes in monsoon
Present irrigation is mostly GW based thereby proper assessment of annual
recharge to examine the expansion of safe yield, drinking water supply andenvironmental issues to be address.
Scope of SW development is limited; almost no opportunity in dry season for
irrigation but significant potentials exist for supplementing the irrigation system.
Ganges water remains un-utilized whereas the proposed area suffers scarcity ofwater due to absence of proper infrastructure.
All these issues should be adequately addressed in an integrated manner consideringboth SW and GW including impacts of climate change for sustainable water resourcesmanagement.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT
Specific Objectives are:
 Assessment of the present state of water resources.
 Assessment of SW and GW availability under present and futureclimate change condition.
 Assessment of water demand for different sectors.
 Formulation of suitable options for sustainable water resourcesmanagement.
 Capacity building of related organization.

OUTPUT OF THE PROJECT
The probable outputs of the project are:
 Trend of groundwater level variation.
 Trend of river flow and water level variation.
 Assessment of water quality.
 Assessment of flooding characteristics e.g. floodduration, flood depth, areal extent etc.
 Assessment of SW availability at key location of theperennial rivers.
 Upazila-wise groundwater resources for the project area.
Contd..

OUTPUT OF THE PROJECT (Contd..)
 Present and future water demand assessment for different sectors
e.g. agriculture, domestic, industrial, forestry, fisheries etc..
 Impact assessment of different SW development options on GWresources.
 Socio-economic and environmental impact assessment of different
options.
 Automatic monitoring network of GW level in a pilot area.
 An Interactive Information System (IIS) to facilitate better resourcemanagement.
 Performance evaluation of artificial GW recharge in a pilot area.
 Trained professionals on mathematical modeling, use of IIS, water
demand assessment, water quality modeling, climate change
assessment etc.

ACTIVITIESCollection of different hydrological and hydro-meteorological data from different
organizations e.g. BWDB, BADC, BMDA, BMD, IWM etc.
Quality checking of the collected data.
Trend analysis of GW level, surface generation for pre and post monsoon season.
Statistical analysis of river Water Level and flow.
Collection and analysis of water quality data to assess seasonal and yearlyvariation.
Development and application of flood model to determine extent and duration offlooding.
Development and application of SW model using MIKE-11.
Statistical analysis of river flow data for different dependability.
Development and application of GW model using MIKE-SHE model.
Analysis of GW model data for GW resource assessment.

Contd..











ACTIVITIES (Contd..)
Collection and analysis of cropped, forest and fishery areas, soil properties,
population etc.
Identification of options in consultation with local people, professional
communities and review of existing reports
Technical evaluation of different options using mathematical model.
Collection and analysis of socio-economic and environmental data
Need assessment and installation of automatic GW level monitoring stations
Institutionalization of the automatic network.
Need assessment and development of the IIS
Installation of artificial recharge well.
Performance evaluation of the recharge wells using mathematical model.
Assess training needs.
Develop training modules
Design and implement training courses in collaboration with national andinternational institutions and organizations.

KEY LEADERS, CONTRIBUTORS & COLLABORATORS Lead organization: Ministry of Defence, Government of Bangladesh








Collaborators:
NASA, JICA and JAXA.
Ministry of Water Resources
Ministry of Environment and Forest
Bangladesh Water Development BoardBangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)
Institute of Water Modeling (IWM) etc.

KILLER FACTORS AND MITIGATION MEASURES
Killer Factors

Mitigation Measures

Timelyavailabilityofsufficient Several donors may be exploredassistance from the developing partners
Coordination and cooperation amongst A
steering
committee
comprisingdifferent agencies.
representatives from concerned agencies
may be formed.
Knowledge gap

Highly specialized knowledge required for
project implementation may be supported byexpert of various organizations.

Discontinuity of related activities.

Suitable organization may be employed tocontinue it.