Perceived Risk of Cooperation between India and Nepal on the Kosi River
01 Sep 2019-Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE))-Vol. 145, Iss: 9, pp 05019012
TL;DR: The very geography of Nepal and India is such that these two countries must engage with each other in social, economic, and political spheres; water resources is one of the most important s... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The very geography of Nepal and India is such that these two countries must engage with each other in social, economic, and political spheres; water resources is one of the most important s...
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TL;DR: In this paper , a detailed case study on the development and transformation of Finnish-Russian transboundary water interactions over the last 100 years, with an emphasis on Finland and its relationship with the Soviet Union/Russia after World War II, is presented.
Abstract: : This study combines the strengths of historical studies and analytical approaches on transboundary water interactions to establish an historical process perspective on transboundary waters. The study analytically separates transboundary water cooperation, water diplomacy, and their broader political setting, and analyses their interplay over a long period of time. The paper presents a detailed case study on the development and transformation of Finnish-Russian transboundary water interactions over the last 100 years, with an emphasis on Finland and its relationship with the Soviet Union/Russia after World War II. The setting remains relatively understudied despite its intriguing characteristics and its importance to the pioneering of water cooperation arrangements such as reciprocal compensation mechanisms. Using four distinct time periods, the study scrutinises how water diplomacy actors, institutional developments, broader political environs, and historical occurrences have ultimately led to the current cooperative setting. The findings emphasise the role played by societal trends in steering politics and water diplomacy as well as in the crafting of transboundary water cooperation. They also indicate how establishing an institutional basis for cooperation requires both political commitment and technical expertise, often over a very long period of time. The findings demonstrate how the institutions of cooperation, once they emerged, resulted in a rather self-governing operating body for everyday transboundary interaction, replacing water diplomacy as the dominant means of interaction in the studied context. Analysing historical trajectories helps to critically investigate our current discourses and practices and to understand the impact that broader societal trends have on transboundary water interactions. The study applies literary study methodologies to look at changes in the discourses of water diplomacy and cooperation in longitudinal materials and to see how they link with more general historical trajectories within the bilateral relations between Finland and the Soviet Union/Russia. The key research materials can be divided into two main categories: primary documents (bilateral agreements, official meeting minutes and decisions, working team reports, discharge rules, the Watercourses Commission’s website, introductory leaflets, and histories); and secondary documents (previous studies, reports, books, and other documentary materials).
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References
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TL;DR: The Register of International Rivers as mentioned in this paper was updated in order to reflect the quantum changes that have taken place over the last 22 years, both in global geopolitics and in map coverage and technology.
Abstract: It is becoming acknowledged that water is likely to be the most pressing environmental concern of the next century. Difficulties in river basin management are only exacerbated when the resource crosses international boundaries. One critical aid in the assessment of international waters has been the Register of International Rivers a compendium which listed 214 international waterways that cover 47% of the earth's continental land surface. The Register, though, was last updated in 1978 by the now defunct United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The purpose of this paper is to update the Register in order to reflect the quantum changes that have taken place over the last 22 years, both in global geopolitics and in map coverage and technology. By accessing digital elevation models at spatial resolutions of 30 arc seconds, corroborating at a unified global map coverage of at least 1:1 000 000, and superimposing the results over complete coverage of current political boundaries, we are able to...
399 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the Kosi project consisting of 150 miles of flood embankments, construction of a barrage, provision of irrigation of 2,600,000 acres and power generation of approximately 20,000 kw, has been completed.
Abstract: Despite attempts by several investigators to diagnose the instability of the Kosi River flowing in the Bihar state of India, a complete understanding of the river behavior had never been accomplished. The movement of the river, approximately 70 miles in 230 yr, could be explained by the understanding of the phenomenon of the inland delta building activity of the Kosi. The rate of building of the conical delta and of the westward movement of the river, estimated by using this approach, agree well with observed rates. Other characteristics of the river such as sudden change in the slope and systematic changes in the courses can also be satisfactorily explained. To provide relief to the areas affected by the river, the Kosi project consisting of 150 miles of flood embankments, construction of a barrage, provision of irrigation of 2,600,000 acres and power generation of approximately 20,000 kw, has been completed. Prediction of future trends of river regime is attempted and precautionary measures for safety of the project works are indicated.
141 citations
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TL;DR: The various ways in which the forest cover may influence the atmospheric and soil processes controlling the hydrological cycle are examined in this paper, where case studies of extensive deforestation affecting the rainfall pattern are reviewed.
Abstract: The various ways in which the forest cover may influence the atmospheric and soil processes controlling the hydrological cycle are examined. Case studies of extensive deforestation affecting the rainfall pattern are reviewed.
86 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used the SRTM-based digital elevation model and remotely sensed data coupled with field topographic mapping with a kinematic GPS and a Total Station to characterise a ~ 50 km-long stretch of the Kosi River.
Abstract: Models for river avulsions have identified the ratio between down-valley and cross-valley slopes of channels as the triggering factors for the sudden channel shift but have remained untested in the field. The August 2008 avulsion of the Kosi River at Kusaha, 12 km upstream of the Kosi barrage in Nepal, provided an opportunity to study a large-scale avulsion (~ 120 km) for its causal factors and driving mechanisms. We used the SRTM-based digital elevation model and remotely sensed data coupled with field topographic mapping with a kinematic GPS and a Total Station to characterise a ~ 50-km-long stretch of the Kosi River. We have computed reach-scale avulsion threshold index (ATI) integrating SRTM-derived slopes and planform dynamics on a GIS platform. We show that several reaches along the Kosi River are avulsion-prone, including the Kusaha point that is consistent with the August 2008 avulsion. We suggest that apart from cross-valley and down-valley slopes, planform dynamics such as thalweg shift, sinuosity variation, and channel multiplicity significantly influence the avulsion threshold in alluvial reaches of the rivers such as the Kosi.
49 citations
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TL;DR: The Ganges Strategic Basin Assessment (SBA) as mentioned in this paper was a 3-year, multi-disciplinary effort undertaken by a World Bank team in cooperation with several leading regional research institutions in South Asia.
Abstract: This paper summarizes the results of the Ganges Strategic Basin Assessment (SBA), a 3-year, multi-disciplinary effort undertaken by a World Bank team in cooperation with several leading regional research institutions in South Asia. It begins to fill a crucial knowledge gap, providing an initial integrated systems perspective on the major water resources planning issues facing the Ganges basin today, including some of the most important infrastructure options that have been proposed for future development. The SBA developed a set of hydrological and economic models for the Ganges system, using modern data sources and modeling techniques to assess the impact of existing and potential new hydraulic structures on flooding, hydropower, low flows, water quality and irrigation supplies at the basin scale. It also involved repeated exchanges with policymakers and opinion makers in the basin, during which perceptions of the basin could be discussed and examined. The study’s findings highlight the scale and complexity of the Ganges basin. In particular, they refute the broadly held view that upstream water storage, such as reservoirs in Nepal, can fully control basin wide flooding. In addition, the findings suggest that such dams could potentially double low flows in the dry months. The value of doing so, however, is surprisingly unclear and similar storage volumes could likely be attained through better groundwater management. Hydropower development and trade are confirmed to hold real promise (subject to rigorous project level assessment with particular attention to sediment and seismic risks) and, in the near to medium term, create few significant tradeoffs among competing water uses. Significant uncertainties, including climate change, persist, and better data would allow the models and their results to be further refined.
47 citations
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