Experts underscore effective hydro diplomacy for robust water governance

KATHMANDU, JANUARY 13: Experts on diplomacy, hydro-engineering, environment and politics have underscored a need for effective hydro diplomacy for robust water governance. They did so during the recent webinar on ‘Hydro diplomacy: Pathways to enhance water cooperation’ organized jointly by Nepal Water Conservation Foundation (NWCF), Global Water Partnership South Asia, and Women for Water Partnership.

They argued hydro governance requires attention and engagement from multi-sectors. The broader consensus among stakeholders with credible information and relevant expertise helps in shaping effective hydro policy and laws that are beneficial to any country, they suggested.

Former Chairman of the Foundation and hydro expert, Dipak Gyawali, said, “Water is a trans-border issue. So, it warrants all sides’ debates. Conventional and siloed agencies are currently slow off the mark in understanding and managing water issues.” He made a presentation on the ‘cultural theory of hydro diplomacy’ at the event and expressed worry over the absence of water issues in the exchanges of bilateral visits and meetings. According to him, climate change affects each type of water very differently.

The water community must know it well, Gyawali suggested, categorizing water types in seven colours. Different colour waters have varied impacts in different communities. The former minister worried that though COP27 had accepted the climate problem as a water problem, the recent COP28 failed to explore further on it further. “Poor hydro governance is detrimental to Nepal’s security and economy,” he warned.

Similarly, former foreign secretary and permanent representative of Nepal to the UN, Madhu Raman Acharya, reminded that diplomacy is regarded as an art of making the impossible possible. So, even the hydro experts and negotiators have a role to dispel the fear of security and geopolitics and to convince policy and lawmakers of the value of water negotiation and governance. “Water issues are not only entangled to climate change but also to culture, trade and security. Water issues are complex and warrant all sides cooperation,” said climate change specialist from Pakistan, Ali Tauqeer Sheikh.

Another panelist Ambika Vishwanath, Director of Kubernein Initiative of India, said cross-border information flow could save lives during disasters and emergencies. She suggested that Nepal and India could save lives, especially at the border by adopting a mechanism to share disaster information. Moreover, an environmental specialist from Bangladesh, Bushra Nishat, also said information and data sharing are key to water management and governance. Misinformation creates distrust.

She suggested exchange visits of students to know better about disasters and water problems among the countries and building a shared model to minimize damages. Moderating the event, climate resilience and water security specialist for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), John Dore, viewed cooperation among water experts in the region as equally important to sort out problems. President of the Women for Water Partnership (WfWP), Mariet Verhoef-Cohen, stressed highlighting women’s role in water management.

Also speaking on the occasion, the regional Chairperson of Global Water Partnership, South Asia, Kusum Athukorala, pointed out the need to identify the people and communities who are at the receiving end of the water crisis. It should be linked to security issues, according to her.

Chairman of the NWCF and meteorologist, Dr. Ngamindra Dahal seconded Gyawali, and said, “In the absence of effective water diplomacy, we lag and get deprived of water benefits.”

He viewed that the time has come to foster multi-sectoral debates on water governance, thereby making laws and policymakers on this pressing issue. “Haphazard decisions and law and policy-making relating to water will lead to economic and environmental backsliding,” Dahal warned. Chairman Dahal also informed that the Foundation would continue such discussions to augment information and knowledge on multifarious issues of hydro governance.