Communities and Institutions for Flood ResilienceTurning Tides?

Tidal River Management

On sinking sediments and sentiments

Jan van Minnen

Leendert de Die

September – December 2012

Outline

• What is Tidal River Management (TRM)?

• The research area

• Jan: historical and physical introduction

• Leendert: perspectives of TRM

• Conclusion

Jan – research objective

• To understand TRM from a historical physicalperspective.

Methodology

A dynamic history

CEP 1960

Research Area

Khulna

Jessore

Research design

Dynamics

5

5.5

6

6.5

7

7.5

8

8.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

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0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8

velo

city

co

un

ts/

me

ters

time

velocities and water levels

Tidal Basin

River Upstream

water level

Preliminary findings

• Tidal Basins are crucial for the Hari river

• Only siltation is possible, no redirection

• Increased siltation due to reclamation on newfloodplains

• What is Tidal River Management?– Water management?

– Sediment management?

– Flow velocity management?

– Tidal volume management?

Leendert – research objectives

• To map current water management practices in Hari-Mukteswari river.

• To find how different stakeholders perceive “TRM”

• To find current problems regarding water management in Hari-Mukteswari river.

Design: river focus

Methods 1: Interviews in the field

Methods 2: Participatory map drawing

Methods 3

– “Detective style”

– Data triangulation

Water is controlled by elite – not by WMG / WMA

Preliminary results

WMGs & WMAs are in identity crisis

99% of people want TRM & regard it essential to their livelihood

Communities and Institutions for Flood ResilienceTurning Tides?

What happened?

• BWDB & MPs at Kapalia to open tidal basin

• Demonstrators prevented the opening

• 12 cars burned

• BWDB and govt. officials fled for their lives

Why?

• Peripheral embankments construction

• Compensation:– Bureaucratic procedure

– Land inheritance

– Enemy land

• Beel Khuksia experience:– Initial plan: 3-4 years

– Now: 6 years

• Low trust in government

Common conclusions

• Tidal basins are crucial for the Hari river

• “Scaling” is essential in understanding “TRM”:

– Focus on entire river and delta, not tidal basin

• Challenges pertaining to TRM are politicalrather than physical