2015 UN-Water Annual International Zaragoza Conference

Water and Sustainable Development: From vision to action

Zaragoza, Spain, 15-17 January 2015

Civil society dealing with water scarcity and allocation session: main case study (Myanmar)

Dealing with scarcity through effective water management and allocation: Civil Society as agent for Change (NWRC and ARBRO et .al.)

Presented by Prof. Dr. Khin Ni Ni Thein Secretary of Expert Group and Member of the National Water Resources Committee (NWRC), Myanmar Fellow, ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology, Visiting Professor, Yangon Technological University, Steering Committee Member, Global Water Partnership, Stockholm, Sweden. 1

1 Global Context: Post 2015 SDGs and

Dedicated Water Goals

Dealing with scarcity through effective water management and allocation:

Civil Society as agent for Change (NWRC and ARBRO et .al.)

Global Context: Myanmar NGOs participation in formulation of Post-2015 SDGs

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Myanmar has participated in three Post-2015 SDG consultative meetings so far.

1. Stockholm

2. South Korea

3. New York • By 2030, substantially increase water use efficiency across

all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity

• By 2030, implement IWRM at all scales, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate

*Understanding context specificity will be key

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National Context: Promotion of Green Economy

and Role of Water in Green Economy

Dealing with scarcity through effective water management and allocation:

Civil Society as agent for Change (NWRC and ARBRO et .al.)

Myanmar Overview

• Location: 9° 32’ N & 28 ° 31’ N, 92 ° 10’

and 101 ° 11’E

• Land area - 677,000 Sq Km

• Administratively divided into 7 Regions & 7 States – Population over 50 million

• Agriculture based country (40.2 % of GDP)*

• Tropical climate with three seasons

Rainy season (mid-May to mid-Oct.)

Winter season (mid-Oct. to mid-Feb.)

Summer season (mid-Feb. to mid-May)

• Large variation in average precipitation

Coastal (4000 mm to 5600 mm)

Central dry zone (600 mm to 1400 mm) 5 1

Ayeyarwady River

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Ayeyarwady River Basin

• 61% of the total land area of Myanmar

• 100 million Acre • 99.70% flows in national

territory • 2170 Km long • 413, 674 Sq. Km • Sub-basins with area in

sq.km are shown in the picture

• 26 million peoples live in the basin

• 3000+ towns and villages • Most important commercial

water way

Land Cover and Land Use Variables in the Ayeyarwady River Basin Area

Percent Forest Cover: 25%

Percent Grassland, Savanna and Shrubland: 9.7%

Percent Wetland: 6.3%

Percent Cropland: 3.4%

Percent Dryland Area: 4.4%

Percent Urban and Industrial Area: 1.9%

Percent Loss of original Forest Cover: 60.9%

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Big Social Issues and Conflicts

• Based on water scarcity and need for fair allocation of Water and Water Resources

• Accumulated past time discontents and broken promises resulted in mistrust among various stakeholders including the Government • Sadly, it is a multi-layered mistrust!

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Myanmar Government’s Commitment in Nov. 2012

• Myanmar believes in Green Economy and Green Growth as a new development policy. • The age of “Growth first, Clean up later” is over. • Once efficient use of fresh water is neglected, then the stress will be more severe leading to conflicts among some nations in the final stage.

Quotes from the opening speech of the Vice President 1 at the 2nd GEGG Conference

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Myanmar Government’s Commitment in 2013

1. The vision of the National Water Resources Committee (NWRC) is

Myanmar to become a Water Efficient Country by implementing

Integrated Water Resources Management System together and to bring

benefits of income generation, better quality of life, greener environment

and peace and stability for Myanmar people. ( Vice Present 2, Chairperson

of NWRC)

2. As population growth and economic development in urban and rural

areas increase water demand in the country, it is important for all water

related ministries to collaborate and coordinate to set up strategies and

action plans to implement for Integrated Water Resources Management

(IWRM). (Minister of Transport, Vice Chairperson of NWRC)

Quotes from the National Water Policy Book by Vice President 2 (Chairperson of NWRC), Minister of Transport (Vice Chairperson) and Secretary of NWRC (DG of DWIR, MoT)

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Myanmar Government’s Commitment in 2013 (Contd.)

3. River Basin Organisations (RBOs) are needed to be established in order to

enable the active participation of all peoples of Myanmar in the

implementation process of the Integrated Water Resources Management

(IWRM). (Director General, DWIR, MOT, Secretary of WRC)

Quotes from the National Water Policy Book

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Myanmar Expert’s Commitment in 2013

Quotes from the Water Policy Book by Chairperson and Secretary of the Expert Group of NWRC (EG of NWRC)

1. Water is the natural legacy, we received from our ancestors. We must also leave

behind us natural legacy to our future generations, clean and potable water

guarded by National Water Policies and lawful practices. ( Chairperson of the

Expert Group of NWRC and Member of NWRC, Former Deputy Minister of

MOAI)

2. Water belongs to all of us. We have responsibility and right to water. Water is

everybody’s business and especially women play a vital role in Integrated Water

Resources Management. Myanmar National Water Policy provides fairness,

practicality, sustainability and intergenerational principle in theoretical term.

Successful implementation of this policy depends on all of us. (Secretary of the

Expert Group and Member of NWRC, Founder and President of water NGO,

WRTC) NB: Myanmar experts are in a way non-state actors who act as a bridge bettwen Government and

Communities and can be projected to Public at large

3 Reality Check: Water Management in Myanmar

Dealing with scarcity through effective water management and allocation:

Civil Society as agent for Change (NWRC and ARBRO et .al.)

Water (non-) Allocation in Myanmar

Water use distribution in 2009

Domestic use 6.0 %

Industry use 3.1 %

Agriculture use 90.9 %

Industrial water use will be increased by the further

economic developments. NB: Water Allocation, Chapter 4 of the National Water Policy may change this ratio

and develop more water resources. The volume for Agriculture use will increase while

the percentage of the whole will decrease to 50%.

Source: ID, YCDC and WRUD, from U Hla Baw’s presentation, 2011

The 4 pillars of Sustainable Water Use

1. Standards/Compliance

2. Information/Decision Making

3. Services/Products

4. Education/Training

Overall reality check => 1. Lack, 2. Weak,

3. Weak, 4. Weak

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• “Water, energy and food security have always been interlinked and interdependent. However, as we get to better understand the planetary limits of growth and consumption in an environmentally constrained world, this nexus has acquired new and more vigorous dimensions. Achieving water, energy and food security has thus become more urgent and yet ever more difficult and complicated.”

Asad Khan

Vice-Chair of the Bureau for the Rio 2012 Preparatory Process

“…Any strategy that focuses on one part of the water-food-energy nexus without considering its interconnections risks serious unintended consequences...”

World Economic Forum Global Risk Report 2011

Why NWRC is promoting IWRM in this context?

National Water Resources Committee to find solutions for increasing Water, Energy, and Food Demands

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• Myanmar in transition: changing consumption patterns, climate change and population growth, rapid increase of economic activities may increase local water demand by 100% or more and energy demand by 80 to 100%

• In Myanmar, rapid development of special economic zones and agriculture expansion, water and energy demand began to increase unprecedentedly

• Heavily depending on the availability of water resources, water supply, energy and food security will face difficult decisions to be made in the near future

• Hence series of conflicts may cause crisis and instability if we don’t put “Good Water Governance “ and implementation of IWRM in place

• National Water Resources Committee (NWRC) was born out of necessity and created by Presidential decree on 25 July 2013 followed by the establishment of the Expert Group on 6 Aug 2013

4 Civil Society: catalyst for change and change agent

Dealing with scarcity through effective water management and allocation:

Civil Society as agent for Change (NWRC and ARBRO et .al.)

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• While the NWRC develops democratic National Water Policy, National Water Framework Directive and Drinking Water Standard at the Union Level, five public consultative meetings were held in 5 key cities across Myanmar.

• Ayeyarwady River is the main life line of Myanmar which basin area covers 61% of the total land area of Myanmar.

• In different locations along the River Ayeyarwady, riparian communities expressed different needs and priorities that NWRC has to reconcile.

• Following questions were raised among participants of the consultative meetings, Expert Group of NWRC (now Advisory Group of NWRC) and NWRC itself.

Deliberations based on five following questions: 1. What is the appropriate level of intervention? 2. Who are the different relevant stakeholders; and what are their roles? 3. What tools do they need to implement IWRM in their area and within the national framework directive? 4. How does the government stimulate cooperation between the different stakeholders? 5. How to use the opportunity to participate most effectively and maximizing the impact by all stakeholders?

Civil Society gaining space to practice IWRM

• Up to 50% of water is lost in irrigation water supply and drinking water supply systems

before it reaches the actual consumer, mainly due to poor infrastructure.

• Upgrading the Pumping systems efficiency, Dam safety, and control of sedimentation/siltation into impounding reservoirs are urgently needed as short-term improvement.

• The high percentage of water losses directly affects the energy costs of the service providing line agencies such as Irrigation Department, Water Resource Utilization Department, and various Municipalities, increasing the costs of water supply. This lead to increase in water pricing.

• High price of basic water and energy supply will hit the poorest of the poor population in many ways: not only direct costs but also indirect costs hidden in the food price and transportation expenses, health care expenses, etc. etc.

• In the long run, good water governance and integrated water resources management is necessary as prerequisites for water-energy-food security nexus.

Water Use Efficiency (?) in Myanmar

Policy Advocacy for a new approach in

Myanmar

•Alleviating water scarcity for vulnerable people requires changes in:

•1. Policies

•2. Laws and institutions

•3. Sustainable Water Management

•4. Water control technologies

For technology to serve the poor, it needs adequate incentives and institutions. (www.FAO.org)

5 Concerted efforts of Ayeyarwady River Basin Research

Organization (ARBRO) and sister organizations

(ARBRO, WRTC, Water Mothers, Women for Water

Partnership Myanmar Chapter, Soroptimists

International Myanmar Chapter and World Youth

Parliament for Water Myanmar Chapter)

Dealing with scarcity through effective water management and

allocation: Civil Society as agent for Change (NWRC and ARBRO et .al.)

Myanmar NGOs delegation to Zaragoza Conference

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• The professional wáter women founded the Water, Research and Training Centre (WRTC - 17 years old), Ayeyarwady River Basin Research Organisation (ARBRO – nearly 3 years old ), Water Mothers (WMs – nearly 3 years old).

• Both men and women of wáter professionals in Myanmar then created the Institute

for Civil, Earth and Water Engineering (ICEWE – nearly 4 years old) together.

• Moreover, with the help of International Community, Women for Water Partnership Myanmar Chapter (WfWP-MM), World Youth Parliament for Water Myanmar Chapter (WYPW-MM), and Soroptimists International Myanmar Chapter (SI-MM) were established in order to help the sister organisation, Water Mothers in Myanmar.

• These Civil Society Organisations consolidated themselves to speak with one voice, to promote IWRM implementation in Myanmar and network with other CBOs and partner organisations in the wáter sector.

• Government of Myanmar created the space for all NGOs and giving recommendations upon request. For example, ARBRO obtained recommendation from the Minister of Transport to join NARBO based in Japan.

Water Governance Dimensions (Diagram)

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Water Governance Dimensions (Text)

• The social dimension refers to the equitable use of water

resources. • The economic dimension informs on efficient use of water

resources and the role of water in overall economic growth. • The political empowerment dimension points to granting

water stakeholders and citizens at large equal democratic opportunities to influence and monitor political processes and outcomes.

• The environmental sustainability dimension shows that improved governance allows for more sustainable use of water resources and ecosystem integrity.

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Our first step towards Effective Water Governance through NWRC

Working with NWRC in the following elements: • Policy development : people-centered – done – we have participated together with

other CBOs and NGOs! • Primary and secondary legislation: has begun => water law drafting process; draft

national water framework directive (comprehensive version) • Regulation : to come after drinking water standard and effluent standard declared. • Planning : in principle only – need practical implementations and steps • Decision-making : World Bank supported decision support system creation soon to

be established – room for Civil Society is significant enough due to Stakeholders Forum

• Control: monitoring, policing, enforcement and sanctioning : NGOs are encouraged to promote neighbor-watch-system, once soft measures of social sanctioning takes place, use of hard measures such as punishments, fine, jailing, etc. will be reduced and gross national happiness will emerge.

• Word of Caution: Things are not easy and rosy yet – needs many improvements, however, as a beginning stage it is a very good condition. We hold the attitude of “Learning by Doing”.

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How do we reach the water cooperation with the Government of Myanmar and among us?

Conceptual framework and operational structure for IWRM

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Challenges and tools • Our Challenges are:

– The awareness, understanding and commitment of citizens to the goal of sustainable water stewardship,

– The human resources available to be educated and trained in the principles and practices of sustainable water stewardship,

– The financial resources needed to pay for the development and operation of the capacities and enabling systems, and

– The commitment of the political system to the goal of sustainability and the continuity needed to achieve that goal.

• Our tools are:

-- Capacity building (taking care of by ARBRO, NWRC, YTU, MTU, KMSS and

many others)

-- Technology (taking care of by WRTC, RDE, REAM, FREDA and many others)

-- Governance (taking care of by WMs, NWRC and many others)

-- Finance (experience from Lift Trust Fund in Myanmar and FSWG) 29

Lessons learnt from the challenges 1. Development, governance and sustainable conservation and IWRM are intertwined. It is even more challenging a country and its populace unknowingly tackled the Water-Energy-Food Nexus with silo solutions.

2. Stakeholders' full participation based on in depth understanding of Water-Energy-Food Nexus in conservation and water resources programmes' design, implementation and monitoring is essential.

3. Knowledge is KEY for informed decision-making processes around water and environmental issues and in building consensus and shared vision among all stakeholders.

4. The "governance" context largely impacts and determines conservation and IWRM interventions' successes and achievements.

5. Old school of thought which is stuck in Top down approach is the biggest challenge/obstacle.

6. Declaration of the national water policy is a big achievement, however, implementation of such a comprehensive and democratic policy need public participation with understanding and trust. Policy enforcement should be based on friendly discussions and frequent consultations.

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We promote: Necessary Spiritual/World View changes

for all water stakeholders including the Government of Myanmar

• Be informed • Involve • Concern • Learn • Apply - PLAN AND IMPLEMENT PUBLICLY

• Disseminate – transparency guaranteed • Do good – accountability guaranteed • Respect the law and take active part in law

enforcement activities – Eg. neighbour-watch-system

Water Stakeholders => citizens, local governments, state and provincial governments, national governments, the private sector and civil society organizations

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6 Solutions and evidence-based improvements

Dealing with scarcity through effective water management and

allocation: Civil Society as agent for Change (NWRC and ARBRO et .al.)

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Ayeyarwaddy River Basin Research Organisation ARBRO as pioneer RBO in Myanmar since mid 2012 Understanding challenges and

Pressing Issues in in the Myanma Water Sector

Training of the trainers by

NARBO IWRM

Identifying priorities for

feasibility studies

Policy recommendations

& suggested initiatives

Our [ARBRO + WRTC + WMs + EG of NWRC + NWRC] Collective Activity: Advocacy, Awareness and Implementation of

IWRM

Our [ARBRO + WRTC + WMs + EG of NWRC + NWRC] suggested initiatives: Nationwide Rainwater Harvesting

Campaign; to introduce Water Education into national curriculum as early as at the primary and secondary school levels; to establish “vocational training schools” to produce skill workers to meet the demand from water sector reform and selective sub-sector privatization and foreign direct investment and ASEAN free trade zone activation in 2015.

Environmental Flows for the Sustainability

of

Water-Food-Energy Security

Presented at the “Dialogue on Water-Food-Energy Security as a major contributing constituent for Sustainable National Development”

IBC, Yangon, Myanmar

8:30 hr-12:30 hr, Thursday, 30th Aug 2012

Organized by Myanmar Water Partnership (MmWP)

Presented by Prof. Dr. Khin Ni Ni Thein, Founder and President of WRTC GEGG Convening Group Member B.E. (Civil) R.I.T., M.E. (WRDE) R.I.T, Dip.H. Delft, the Netherlands M.Sc. (Computational Hydraulics) Delft, the Netherlands, Ph.D. (Hydroinformatics) Delft, the Netherlands

Counteracting Climate Change Impacts

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1. Climate change mitigation

2. Climate change adaptation

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• “If our global energy habits are the focus for mitigation, the way we use and manage our water must become the focus for adaptation”

(Global Water Partnership, 2007)

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The Next Step in Water Accounting: Virtual Water, Water Footprint & Water Neutrality

Dealing with scarcity through effective water management and

allocation: Civil Society as agent for Change (NWRC and ARBRO et .al.)

The concept of ‘virtual water’

Virtual water is the water ‘embodied’ in a product, not in real sense, but in virtual sense. It refers to the water needed for the production of the product.

Global trade in goods and services brings

along global trade in ‘virtual water’

Source: www. waterneutral.org

The Water Footprint

Tiger Brands Environmental Strategy: Confidential : October 2009 40

► The Water Footprint is an indicator of freshwater use that

looks at both indirect and direct water use of a consumer or

producer. It consists of three components:

BLUE wf + GREEN wf + GREY wf

Source: www. waterfootprint.org and www. waterneutral.org

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Reminding Panellists 1/ Identify how your organisation helpes in WRM implementation for achieving SDGs 2/ Pinpoint specific tools 3/ Clarify challenges and solutions

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Contacts http://www.wrtcmyan.org/ARBRO http://www.wrtcmyan.org/WMs http://www.wrtcmyan.org/ICEWE Emails: EG.NWRC@gmail.com aiweb.lead@gmail.com