G3-Overall Progress Report

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G3: Water Governance and Community Based Management

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G3 Progress ReportG3: Water Governance and Community Based Management

Date: 21/03/2012


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Introduction

The Ganges Basin Development Challenge (GBDC) commissioned by the CPWF, aims to increase

resilience of agricultural and aquaculture systems in the Ganges delta focusing water and food security.

There are five projects namely G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5 having different objectives under Ganges BasinDevelopment Challenge (BDC) program. The Project G3 is titled Water governance and community

based management. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is the lead institute for the

G3 research project and is responsible for coordinating all research activities under G3 and its partners

with the aim to produce high quality research outputs. Inundation, salinity intrusion and severe flooding

in the coastal areas are frequent occurrences in Bangladesh. This leads to loss of life and property as

well as severe impacts on livelihoods. The government of Bangladesh has invested steadily in coastal

zone management through construction and rehabilitation of polders. Involvement of communities in

management of polders is now enshrined in Bangladeshs Water Policy. This project tries to understand

various aspects of water governance and communities based management of polders in coastal zones in

Bangladesh and then suggest implementable policy options for improving polder governance in

Bangladesh.

Research Questions

1. Is community management the best way of managing coastal polders in Bangladesh? If so,

under what circumstances is it likely to work best?

2. If community management is indeed the way forward, what are the constraints that

communities face in polder management?

3. What kind of policies and institution are needed so that communities can indeed actively

participate in management of polders?

Study Area

The study area is located in the coastal zone of Bangladesh, i.e. the southern part of the country

adjoining the Bay of Bengal. A polder is a man-made structure consisting of mud walls surrounding a

hydrological unit. In earlier decades when polders were not constructed, low-lying areas of coastal zone

were frequently flooded by salt water during high tide and most of the area remained fallow and

cropping intensity was very low, livelihood opportunity was also poor because of less intensive

economic activities. In order to increase agricultural production by preventing the land of coastal area

from frequent tidal flooding and salinity intrusion the Coastal Embankment Project (CEP) wasimplemented in accordance with the Master Plan adopted in 1964. Under this program Bangladesh

Water Development Board (BWDB) had built a series of polders enclosing the low-lying coastal areas.

Coastal polders are the first large scale human intervention in the coastal area. Over the years it is

learned that efficient water management involving active participation of local community is a

prerequisite for polder management in enhancing agriculture and aquaculture production.

The study area of G3 is within the Ganges basin of the coastal zone of Bangladesh, which is, shown in

Figure 2.1. The study area includes five BWDB polders namely P-3, P-31, P-30, P-43/2f and P-24G and

four LGED sub projects namely Bhagirabad-Jainkathi, Jabusha Beel, Baganchra-Badurgacha, Latabunia.


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Map 1: Research polders

PolderSubprojects Location(Upazila) Agency Level ofSalinity WMOs (Yes/No)and project Managementchallenges

Polder 3 Debhata &Kaliganj

BWDB High No informal

management

Shrimp- paddy

conflict

Polder 24G Keshobpur BWDB Increasing Yes KJDRP Water loggingand salinity

Polder 31 Daacope BWDB Average toHigh

Yes 4th Fisheries Salinity and

river erosion

Polder 30 Batiaghata BWDB Low toAverage

Yes IPSWAM Water logging

Polder 43-2F Amtoli BWDB Low Yes IPSWAM Water scarcityLatabunia Dumuria LGED High Yes- SSWRDP Disaster

vulnerability

Jabusha Rupsha LGED Average to

High

Yes SSWRDP Salinity

Jainkathi Sadar LGED Low Yes SSWRDP Water scarcityBaganchra-

Badurgacha Dumuria LGED High Yes SSWRDP Decliningshrimpproductivity

Table 1: Project sites and descriptions


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G3 Research Framework

Objective and concepts

The main objective of the G3 project is to increase understanding of different key institutions and actors

involved in water governance in the coastal polders so as to suggest implementable policy

recommendations for better governed polders. Water governance is in itself a broad concept and

includes water for agriculture, water for fisheries and water for domestic purposes (drinking, cooking,

and bathing), while polder management is related to water use connected to polder infrastructure. The

focus is on understanding the role of formal and informal institutions in such water governance and

polder management; conflict resolution and productive uses of land, with particular attention to

different concepts of community participation or peoples participation. Formal institutions could be

government agencies such as BWDB, LGED, Union Parishad, Upazila Nirbahi Officer or District

Commissioner, while informal could be influential elites, muscle men or traditional village structures.

Community participation and better managed polders

G3s main point of departure for community participation is that of formally created Water

Management Organizations (WMOs). In the National Water Policy (NWP, 1999), National Water

Management Plan (NWMP, 2000) and Guidelines for Participatory Water Management (GPWM, 2001),

the Government of Bangladesh has enshrined community participation in the management of polders

through such WMOs that are to be created in connection or prior to any water interventions. Our

research sits consists of Polder 3 with no formal WMOs, and remaining WMO interventions such as

BWDBs IPSWAM, LGEDs Small Scale Water Resources Development Project (SSWRDP), ADBs Khulna

Jessore Drainage Rehabilitation Project (KJDRP) or World Banks 4th

Fisheries project on aquaculture.

See Table 1. G3 will look at what community participation tried to achieve in theory and how it is

practiced on the ground, while also looking at other major challenges in polder management. The

causal logic of this research is that by understanding that does now work and what does work in termsof polder management, we will be able to identify the mechanisms driving better managed polders.

Better managed polders would lead to better outcomes in terms of food security and livelihoods and

this in turn would contribute to longer term resilience among communities living in coastal Bangladesh.

Methodology

During Phase 1, G3 commissioned literature reviews on key policies, gender, WMOs and sustainable

agriculture-aquaculture practices to better understand the issues arising from the literature and

research debates. This was complemented by base maps by IWM to better understand the

infrastructure of the polder, identifying areas with well versus poorly functioning polder management

and potential conflicts in terms of unauthorized sluice gates and illegal cuts. Based on these polders,

Shushilan has been conducting a qualitative survey based on 70 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and 70Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), where G3 will be able to systematically understand the different

problems, solutions and challenges on the ground through situation analysis reports. By this time, IWM

will also have completed participatory mapping of land and water use, for us to have better visual grasp

of the various conflicts and tensions on the ground related to the use of land and water. Based on

situation analysis and findings from the participatory mapping exercises, G3 plans to commission in-

depth case studies to better identify causal mechanisms and social processes for certain themes in

Phase 2. In particularly, G3 aims to use findings from the qualitative phase for quantitative research that

models different livelihood impacts based on different governance modes and structures. In order to

assure uptake and capacity building, G3 would during Phase 2 and 3 organize stakeholder interactions

to disseminate findings from the problem identification phase, from community level to senior policy

levels.


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Activities

Data&CasesDetailed infrastructure

and resource maps

Inundation modeling

Detailed problem

identification through

FGDs and Kis

In-depth case studies

Participatory Research and

Capacity buildingCollaboration with local universities

Focusing on PRA methods and extracting

different opinions from different groups and

stakeholders

Policy Analysis &CommunicationsInternational quality

research papers and

journal articles

Policy briefs and

dissemination workshops

Shushilan, IWM,

local universities,

CGIAR centers

Coastal

communities, local

government

institutions

Regional and

national policy

makers

Partners

Outcomes

Better

management

of polders

that helpsimprove food

security and

livelihoods

IMPACTContribute to building up longer term

resilience among the communities who live in

coastal areas in Bangladesh

Policyimpact

Informedscientificresearch

Capacitybuilding


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Progress to date

Literature reviews

IWMI has written a variety of different literature reviews. One is an analysis of the National Water

Policy of 1999 and the Guidelines for Participatory Water Management by Camelia Dewan, which

covers the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats arising from these policies and relating it to

G3s research agenda on community participation. She has also drafted a summary of the research

polder characteristics, mentioned above. By end of May she will have written a comprehensive

literature review of the historical evolution of water policies and projects in the coastal areas, relating

to community participation, donor intervention and the different institutional characteristics of BWDB

and LGED. Mr. Sanjiv Da Silva has written a literature review on WMOs in Bangladesh, which serves as a

critical reflection on how they came into being and the challenges they may face. Dr Floriane Clement

has written a literature review on gender issues in water management, identifying key gender issues inthe coastal areas to be further explored in the in-depth case study to be commissioned in Phase 2. Mr.

Ulrik Horn, IWMIs one month volunteer has drafted a literature review on sustainable and community

based agriculture cum aquaculture practices to be used to better understand the issues between the

land and water use conflicts. Overall the literature reviews have been progressing according to time and

will provide deeper insights to be used with the findings from the qualitative survey.

KIs with senior officials to understand official perspectives on community

participation and polder management

From 26th February to 2nd March 2012, the Project Leader and Research Manager conducted 15 KIs

with senior officials from government agencies and donors such as ADB, Dutch Embassy, LGED, BWDB,JICA, South-West, IPSWAM, SSWRDP, World Bank, as well as academics from BCAS, CEGIS and BIDS.

Through this exercise IWMI was able to gain better understanding of the contextual and historical

issues shaping coastal water policies and projects, as well as the evolution of community participation.

Through discourse analysis, we can attempt to critically reflect on what community participation

entails for different institutions and we are better enabled to understand the differences between

BWDB and LGED. We learned about several challenges and success stories and came across several

insights on what needs to change in order for better polder governance to happen. One main finding is

that there are severe problems of sustainability of maintenance after an intervention stops. Community

based management of polders consists of two main concepts, operation and maintenance (O&M).

Operation tends to mean the mechanisms on how to decide when to close and open the sluice gate,

who will do this and how this will be paid and by whom. Maintenance involves that sluice gates andpolders need to be maintenance and repaired, while silted khals need to be re-excavated to allow for

proper drainage and water storage. In many instances O&M are used as one single word, however

peoples incentives to participate in operation where they can derive visible and direct benefits, may be

different from maintenance that is a more costly public good with not as tangible individual benefits.

However, the difference between operation and maintenance is not reflected in most community

based water management designs, rather project designs speak of O&M. What we have seen over and

over again is that attempts at organizing farmers to maintain infrastructure tend to fail with very little

results. This has led to a vicious cycle of moral hazard, where maintenance deteriorates to the point

that the government must step in due to lack of incentive/collective action problem. This is exacerbated

by the fact that the government does not have enough maintenance funds or manpower to match the

requests. In sum, after an intervention stops there are problems of sustainability of maintenances dueto lack of incentives among the community and little resources from government to match the

maintenance requests.


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Qualitative Field Work by Shushilan

Shushilan was engaged as a G3 partner to conduct a qualitative problem identification through FGDsand KIIs in order to understand the actors, communities and institutions in the nine research sites.

Based on 70 FGDs and 70 KIs, Shushilan will produce Situation Analysis reports that in a systematic way

identify the different problems and solutions in each polder/sub-project. They will be interviewing a

variety of stakeholders, such as Union Parishads, Upazilas, LGED, BWDB, DoF and DoAE on water

management in the polder areas, as well as different types of WMOs in order to compare different

models of community participation (IPSWAM, SSWRDP, KJDRP and Fourth Fisheries, informal). Most

importantly they will meet with different community members, paddy vs. shrimp, high vs. low

elevation, landless and single female headed households. This will allow them to capture different

perspectives of the needs and suggestions across different segments of the communities.

Study instrumentsShushilan in collaboration with IWMI has finalized the study instruments based on pre-testing

(completed in polder 5, Satkhira on 17th February 2012). The instruments include 3 FGD checklists for

the general community, WMOs and Landless, as well as 3 KI checklists BWDB/LGED/Union Parishad,

WMO executive committee members and individual community members.

Training of field team

The study team has trained and confirmed 20 field team members. The team includes a team leader,

academic supervisor, research coordinator, field coordinator, five facilitators, five note takers, four

translators and three videographers. Three extra study team members including two women joined in

mid-March and conducted fieldwork in polder 31. IWMI organized a one day workshop with Shushilan

on 25th

January to introduce G3 research objectives and the role Shushilan is to play as a partner.

Thereafter, the Shushilan study team organized a five day training session on G3, to become familiar

with study instruments, questionnaires, FGD and KII checklists. The sessions of the training include G3

study brief, objectives of the study, outputs, outcomes, report building techniques, familiar to study

area, steps of conducting FGDs and KII, quality data collection process, demonstration of FGD, KII, note

taking and translation etc. Of 24 participants that attended the training sessions, 18 were selected due

to their potential and interest to stay in the field for long time. The pre-testing from 8 to 15 February,

2012was also used a training process, as the 18 members were able to practice and become more

familiar with the study instruments. Each day, the team leader, research coordinator and field

coordinator have taken feedback after backing the field team in the afternoon. The field team also

exercised social map and IWMI Map for making the FGD session interesting. IWMI Research Manager

C. Dewan and Mr. Shamim from G5 also participated during pre-testing for providing necessary

feedback. All of these feedbacks from them have been incorporated in the checklists and disseminated

to field team members.

Criteria of village selection:

The study team has primarily selected the villages of polder 3 and polder 31 through studying base

maps created by IWM, visiting field, transect walk and consultation with local BWDB officials and the

community people. The following criteria have been used to impartially select relevant research sites

within the polder.


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1. Sluice gates constructed and managed by BWDB or private individuals/ groups/UP

(public)

2. High or low concentration of private pipe inlets and polder cuts

3. Sluice condition and problems4. Geographical location (East, West, South, North)

5. Location along main river or minor river/ canal

6. Bagda/golda culture and agriculture practices

Selection of venues and participants for FGDs and KIIs

Through consultation with team leader and research coordinator a three member advance team,

consisting of Mahanambrota dash, Rabiuzzaman and Subrata Saha/Siddik Ahmed would visited the

upcoming polder site to transect walk, visit UP officials, local community of Upazila officials, so far this

has been completed for Polder 3, 31 and 30 the three biggest research sites. During these advance

visits, the team would also collected secondary information and consult with community people to

understand the social and religious context, livelihoods, connecting canals, sluice gates, water

management practices, peoples participation, conflicts, transparency and accountability etc. During

consultation with UP, BWDB and community people, the team also finalized the venue, time and

participants for conducting FGD and KIIs. This advance team also presented the necessary findings

among the members of the field team to make them aware and familiar on issues prior to arriving to a

polder. The content of the presentation includes polder area, number of unions, sluice gates, canals,

population, illegal cuttings, land use pattern of the polder, agriculture and fish culture, livelihoods,

water management institutions, operation and management status of polder, about LCS and Landless

groups etc. The findings of the advance team will also be incorporated in the field report and situation

analysis report of polder.

Completed FGDs and KIIs

The fieldwork and transcription is completed for Satkhira polder 3 and Shushilan has submitted a field

report, the same will be the case for polder 31 by the 24th

March. Advance team has visited polder 30

and selected venue and participants. Overall fieldwork in all nine research sites will be finished at the

end of May. Below is an example of completed fieldwork in a polder, this one from Polder 3.

Group Name Village andUnion

Date & time Contact person Status

Completed Yes/No

Transcribing intoBangla(draft)

Translation intoEnglish(draft)

General Group Suelpur, VaraShimla ofKaliganj

17 February2012

Gazi MohammadCell:01940258500

Completed

Completed -

General group Nichintapur,Parulia ofDebhata

17 February2012

Mr. Kader, UpmemberCell:01917431735

Completed

Completed -

General Group Bashirabad,Parulia ofDebhata

17 February2012

Mr. Mukarram,Member, UPCell: 01712259852

Completed

Completed -

General Group Tarali of Kaliganj 19 February2012 Israel Gazi, UPmember, TaraliCell:01718849777

Completed - -


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Group Name Village andUnion

Date & time Contact person Status

Completed Yes/No

Transcribing intoBangla(draft)

Translation intoEnglish(draft)

General Group Rangashisha,Parulia ofDebhata

19 February2012

Shuvnkar,Cell:01714515109

Completed

Completed Completed

General Group Batuadanga,Tarali of Kaliganj

19 February2012

Mr. MozaffarHossainCell: 01921477859

Completed

Completed Completed

LCS/Landless,Male

Nichintapur,Parulia ofDebhata

17 February2012

Mr. Mukarram,Member, UPCell: 01712259852

Completed

Completed Completed

LCS/landlessMale Rangashisha,Parulia ofDebhata

19 February2012 Shibpada,Cell:01748670488

Completed Completed Completed

LCS/landlessfemale

Adorshogram,parulia

19February,2012

- Completed

Completed -

LCS/landlessfemale

Trali, Trali 20February, 20

- Completed

- -

Union level watermanagementcommittee(WMC)

Trali union 20February,2012

Md. MainulHossain Chuto

Completed

- -

Union level water

managementcommittee(WMC)

Debhata union 20

February,2012

Riazul Islam Complete

d

- -

Sluice gatecommittee

Boshontopur,Debhata union

23 February Liton/Jamuna - - -

Sl No Category of KII Status

Completed Bangla English

1. President WMC, Debhataupazila

Completed - -

2. Female headedhousehold

Completed - -

3. Female headedhousehold Completed - -

4. Big Paddy farmer Completed - -

5. Small Paddy farmer Completed - -

6. Big shrimp farmer - - -

7. Small shrimp farmer Completed - -

8. Affected person Completed - -

9. Illegal cutter/pipe inlet - - -

10. Case hanging person Completed - -

11. Gateman, BWDB Completed - -

12. Gateman, private (gatecommittee)

- - -

13. SO, BWDB, Kaligonj - - -


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Collection of video footage for video documentary

A four member team has collected video footage for making documentary on the nine polder sites. The

team member includes Mahanambrota Dash, Subrata Saha, S.K. Siddik Ahamed, and Md. Masud. The

team has developed a script to collect necessary video footage based on objectives and outputs of the

study. The video script includes polder situation, water management related problems and solutions in

the area. It also will include polder structures and situation, comparative good and poor management

practices, food security issues, poverty situation, livelihoods, environment, community involvement,

conflicts issues, transparency and accountability of water management institutions etc. Each

documentary will be 15 minutes. In the mean time, the study team visited different hotspots of the

polder 3 to necessary video footage and community comments. The team also will incorporate

important comments of the participants of FGDs and KIIs. Shushilan will develop and submit 9 video

documentaries on 9 polders. Voice of the video documentary will be Bangla (genuine voice of the

community people) with English subtitles. Photos are also submitted to IWMI that characterize the

main issues in each polder.

Infrastructure and participatory mapping by IWM:As one of the partners of G3 Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) has been entrusted to carry out the

following activities); literature review of coastal polders, preparation of baseline GIS maps, inventory

and condition of drainage sluices & structures, land inundation map with land type (F0,F1,F2, F3 .. ),

participatory resource mapping, GIS map showing Mouza area, Mouza population & Population density

for 5 BWDB polders and 4 LGED subprojects. The main purpose of these activities are to understand the

structures and land water uses in the polders. This section contains progress of field survey and data

collection work, data processing and preparation project base maps and GIS maps for each polder of

the study area of G3 and inventory of structures.

Baseline and infrastructure mapsIWM has made a comprehensive field survey using state of the art survey technology to collect quality

information on infrastructure of the polders. The field survey work started 15 November, 2011. The

field data collection for four BWDB polders (3, 30, 31, 42/2f) and four LGED subprojects (Bhagirabad-

Jainkathi, Jabusha Beel, Baganchra-Badurgacha, Latabunia) has been completed. The summary of the

activities carried out for data collection campaign is shown in Table-3.1

14. Upazila Engineer, LGED,Kaligonj

- - -

15. Sub-assistant AgricultureOfficer, Kaligonj

- - -

16. Fisheries officer, Kaligonj - - -

17. UP member, male,Parulia

Completed - -

18. UP member, female,Parulia

Completed - -


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Table-3.1: Summary of survey activity

Sl.No.

Events Specification Location Progress of work Remarks

1.Inventories of

regulator

Location, no. of vents,

vent Size, silt & soffit

level, type of Structures,

Active/ Inactive, Fall

board/Flap Gate

Picture

Polder 3, 30, 31,

24G, 43/2F and 4

LGED subprojects

All data collection

except 50% work of

24G which will be

completed by25th

March-2012

RTK GPS and Level

machines are used for

this survey

2.

Inventories of

Unauthorized

Structures

Location

Type

Size / Pipe Diameter

So So So

3. Alignment ofKhal

All the existing drainagekhal along with name

All the planned

polders and LGED

subprojects

Completed

Conducted by hand

GPS and by using

existing google image

4.Alignment of

Embankment

Surrounding the polders

mentioning the existing

condition

All the planned

polders and LGED

subprojects

All data collection

except 50% work of

24G which will be

completed

Hand GPS

5.

Location of

important

features like

educational

institution,

religiousInstitution,

Important

Office, Hat-

bazar etc

Geographical

coordinates of the

feature

Inside all the

polders and

subprojects

All data collection

except 50% work of

24G which will be

completed March

2012

Hand GPS


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The inventory surveys of

existing structures are

conducted for the Polder 3,

30, 31, 24G, 43/2F and 4 LGEDsubprojects. For the structure

inventory the main features

survey are location (GPS &

also village name), type of

structure (Pipe, regulator, Box

culvert), no of vent, size of

vent or dia, silt level, sofit

level, deck level, Fall

board/flap gate,

active/inactive, condition

(good, minor problem, majorproblem), interviewing of the

local people if it is adequate or

not. RTK GPS has been used to

establish the reduced level on

the deck level of the each

structure with respect to IWM

existing nearest BM/TBM

values. Then the another team

measure the silt level, soffit

level, structure dimension by

using level machine and tapeand made interview of the

local people for necessary

information. During this data

collection, inventory of the

unauthorized structures

constructed by the people for

the own purpose also

conducted. The alignment

survey of embankment, Khals

and roads and the

Geographical coordinates of the feature inthe polders and subprojects have been

taken with Hand GPS.

These maps identify the existing

structures and who has created them

(BWDB or local community people), while

in a systematic way evaluating their

current condition. We see especially in

polders 3 and 31 that many informal sluice

gates and pipes have been made on the

embankment, G3 partners can then askthe people close to these areas why these

structures have been made. Is it related to


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the changing function of the polder and the original design is ill-suited for these purposes? Or are there

other reasons?

Example of detailed BWDB structure information

Review of policies and practices for coastal zone management

Two extensive review reports 1)BWDB Initiatives Experiences towards Participatory Water Resources

Management and 2) Review of Policies in Water Sector and Related Sectors that relate to Coastal

Zone Management have been prepared and submitted.BWDB Initiatives Experiences towards

Participatory Water Resources Management analyzed and describes the chronological development of

participatory water resource management practice under BWDB since 1972. The report also evaluated

how the experiences and lesson learned were internalized within BWDB and the Government policy.

Review of Policies in Water Sector and Related Sectors that relate to Coastal Zone Management

reviewed the existing water sector policies and those of the related sectors that relate to Coastal Zone

Management. The report reviewed as many as 18 policies and analyzed and outlined their relevancy to

the Coastal Zone Management.

Preparation of GIS map showing mouza dataThe Mouza data (shape files) for all the Polders and Subprojects has already been collected form LGED

and found some mismatch in the data. With discussion with LGED it is now being corrected. After

correction this Mouza map will be superimposed to the baseline GIS map. The Mouza map will have the

information of Mouza area, Mouza population & Population density.

Drainage modelling and preparation of inundation map

The regional model for the coastal area has been updated based on available data. The calibrated and

validated drainage model for the existing system will be applied to assess the existing drainageperformance of the present drainage networks in the selected polders and sub projects

Sl no. Structure name Khal name Village Union Easting NorthingVent

nos

Vent

width

Height

(m)

Pipe dia

(m)Gate type

Length

Barrel (m)

Sill

Level

Sofit

levelCondition

Active/

Inactive

1 Per Batiaghata Sluicegate Per Batiaghata Khal Per Batiaghata Gangarampur 445167 514210 0.75 Lift Gate 4.80 -0.13 0.89 Good Active

2 Per Batiaghata Regulator Batiaghata Khal Per Batiaghata Gangarampur 445686 513410 2 1.50 1.80 0.00 Lift Gate 5.00 -1.37 0.43 Good Active

3 Aushkhali Regulator Kalar Khal Aushkhali Gangarampur 445862 511587 1 1.50 1.80 0.00 Lift Gate 5.00 -0.85 0.95 Good Active

4 Titokhali Sluicegate No khal Titokhali Gangarampur 446396 509982 1 0.90 0.90 0.00 Flap Gate 18.00 -0.19 0.71 no gate Active

5 Kholishabunia Regulator Kolatola khal Kholshibunia Gangarampur 446530 508654 2 1.50 1.80 0.00 Lift Gate 4.80 -0.76 1.05 Good Active

6 Sukdara Sluice No khal Sukdara Surkhali 447121 506929 0.50 Fall Board 13.00 1.32 1.82 Good Active

7 Sukdara Sluice No khal Sukdara Surkhali 447885 506522 1 0.90 0.80 0.00 Fall Board 13.00 0.03 0.83 Good Active

8 Amtola Regulator Amtola khal Gondamari Gangarampur 448292 505857 2 1.50 1.80 0.00 Lift Gate 4.00 -0.75 1.05d/s silted, gate broken,

ironcap brokenActive

9 Kashidanga Sluice Kashidanga sluice Kashidanga Gangarampur 448844 504755 0.45 Fall Board 13.00 0.98 1.43 no fall board Active

10 Kaimkhola Hula Sluice No khal Kaimkhola hula Gangarampur 449452 503210 0.55 Fall Board 13.00 0.94 1.49 no need, no board Inactive

11 Mosherdanga Regulator Mosherdanga khal Mosherdanga Gangarampur 449930 502988 1 1.80 1.50 0.00 Lift Gate 4.00 -0.84 0.96 good, iron cap broken Active

12 Barunpara Sluice Barunpara khal Barunpara Gangarampur 451059 503417 1 0.00 0.00 0.90 Lift Gate 16.00 -0.05 0.08 good, no wheel Active

13 Gopalpur Sluice Gopalpur khal Gopalpur Gangarampur 451663 505162 1 0.80 1.15 0.00 Flap Gate 7.30 0.46 1.61 no gate Active

14 Katiangla Sluice Katiangla khal katiangla Gangarampur 451922 506468 1 1.50 1.20 0.00 Lift Gate 4.00 0.08 1.28 good, iron cap broken Active

15 Khejurtola Sluice Khejurtola doani Khejurtola Gangarampur 451821 507879 1 0.90 1.10 0.00 Flap Gate 18.00 -0.31 0.79 barrel dammage Inactive

16 Andaria Regulator Khoria nodi Andaria Gangarampur 451855 508887 2 1.50 1.80 0.00 Lift Gate 3.70 -0.49 1.31 iron cap broken Active

17 Gagramary Sluice No khal Gagramary Gangarampur 451950 509412 1 0.90 0.95 0.00 Flap Gate 14.00 0.97 1.92 no gate Active

18 Fultola mot Sluice No khal Fultola Batiaghata 451638 511173 1 0.90 0.95 0.00 Flap Gate 15.00 -0.05 0.99 good Active

19 Kismot Fultola Regulator Batiaghata Khal Kismot fultola Batiaghata 451015 512834 1 1.50 1.20 0.00 Lift Gate 4.30 -0.32 0.88 railing broken Active

20 Kismot Fultola Sluice No khal Kismot fultola Batiaghata 450895 513117 1 0.60 0.90 0.00 Fall Board 14.00 1.23 2.13 d/s silted, good Active

21 Shoilmary Bheeler Khal Shoilmary Batiaghata 446199 516295 1 1.07 1.22 0.00 Lift Gate 5.00 -0.32 0.90 good Active

22 Shoilmary Kata khal Shoilmary Batiaghata 446878 517738 1 0.90 1.22 0.00 Flap Gate 7.30 -0.22 1.00 good Active

23 Khalishabunia Thakuntole Khal Khalishabunia Batiaghata 445780 515561 1 1.50 1.80 0.00 Lift Gate 7.70 -0.59 1.24 good Active

24 Chak Shoilmary Chak Shoilmary Chak Shoilmary Batiaghata 447280 517752 1 0.90 1.10 0.00 Fall Board 16.00 0.00 0.00u/s and d/s silted,barrel

damageInactive

25 Hoglabunia Sluicegate Hoglabunia khal Hoglabunia Batiaghata 449704 515434 2 1.50 1.80 0.00 Lift Gate 4.65 -0.52 1.28 good Active

26 Hatbati Sluicegate Hatbati khal Hatbati Batiaghata 450517 514985 0.95 Fall Board 15.00 -0.31 0.65 no gate Active

27Hoglabunia Moddhopara

SluicegateBalar khal Hoglabunia Batiaghata 449430 516277 0.75 Lift Gate 15.00 -0.04 0.71 good, c/s siltation Active

28 Uttar Hoglabunia Sluice No khal Uttar Hoglabunia Batiaghata 448126 517445 1 0.90 1.10 0.00 Fall Board 15.40 -0.63 0.45 good, no gate Active


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Participatory resource mapping

The participatory mapping for the selected polders and subprojects will be started after finishing the

baseline map. Participatory mapping for drainage problems, cropping pattern and land use map for

Kharif-I, Kharif-II and Rabi/Boro for the year 2010-2011 has already been started. The drainage

subsystem delineation will be done consulting with the local people. In polder 3, there are some

locations where conflicts between farmers and fishermen are present due to rice and shrimp

cultivation. These conflict spots will be located by discussing with the local people and then will be

updated in the GIS map. In essence the participatory resource mapping will lead to development of

inundation maps, participatory assessment of the condition of internal canals, development of cropping

pattern for the year of 2010-2011, delineation of drainage sub-system in the maps, development of

Maps showing conflict hot spots and historical development of land and water use in selected villages.

In-depth case studies by BAU MSc Students

TopicsAs part of G3 capacity building, IWMI has signed an MoU with the Bureau of Socioeconomic Research

and Training (BSERT) at the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) in Mymensingh to have four MSc

Students in Agricultural Economics doing their theses work on water governance and food security

under the G3 project. The main focus is on understanding livelihood impacts of different agricultural

choices. The 4 selected students are

Name of research fellow Research topic

1. Ms Kanij Fatema An Economic Investigation into the Dilemma of Rice versus Shrimp Farming

in Selected Areas of Dacope Upazila under Khulna District of Bangladesh

2. Md Faizul Kabir Economic Analysis of Shrimp and Paddy in Two Selected Villages in Polder 31

of Dacope Upzila in Khulna District3. Ms Afsana Zaman Comparative Study on Livelihood Adaptation of Disadvantaged People in

Some Selected Areas of Polder Number 29 and Latabunia Union in

Dumuria Upazila of Khulna District

4. Md Chhiddikur Rahman Economic Study on Paddy and Prawn Farming in Polder 31 ofDacope Upazila

in Khulna District

Fieldwork

All of them have started their formal research activities (i.e., review of literature, selection of research

topic, preparation of questionnaires, selection of study villages, etc) from 01 January 2012 under the

direct supervision of Prof. Tofazzul Miah. He has been working as Principal Investigator of the BAU

component of G3 and is supervising the research activities of the fellows. It may be noted here that theduration of fellowship of serial Nos. 1 to 3 is 6 months, while this is 12 months for Md Chhiddikur

Rahman. Fieldwork and data collection was completed in February 2012.

Challenges

Data collection from the respondents of remote villages in Khulna district was really challenging tasks

for both male and female research fellows/enumerators. Transport and communication were the

biggest problems for the researchers. All of them had to travel everyday from Upazila headquarter to

the study villages by motor bike. But in the villages, walking was the only means of communication

from one house to another respondents house and it took on an average 20 to 30 minutes. However,

Dr Rayan Hayat Sarwer of WorldFish, Mr Aminul Islam, Dacope Area Manager of HEED, Bangladesh, Mr

Subir Kumar Banarjee, Dacope Upazila Ag Extension Officer, Mr Amal Krishna Roy (retired worker ofHEED, Bangladesh) of Batiaghata and Mr Sheikh Akhter Hossain (Honours final year student of Khulna

University) of Latabunia under Dumuria Upazila extended the whole-hearted cooperation to arranging


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accommodation, transport and field level data collection. Despite the fact, the researchers had to face

tremendous difficulties to obtain accurate information from the respondents since they did not

maintain any written records for farm business transactions and/or household consumption. In other

words, the enumerators had to rely on their memories and sincerity.

Other in-depth case studyG3 has commissioned an institutional case study for polder 3 and 31 with Rizwana Hasan, independent

consultant, with team. Field work started mid-March and the final report will be submitted in May. This

report will try to understand the motivations of the people creating extra sluice gates and cutting the

embankment, as well as understand what informal conflict resolution mechanisms are in place and

understand the impact/non-impact of formal legal cases. G3 was to sign a contract with gender

consultant Prof. Farhana Sultana, Syracuse University, U.S.A (Gender and water specialist, PhD

Geography) for our in-depth gender study and fieldwork was planned 11-14th

March with G3 research

manager. However, due to CPWF funding constraints we were unable to sign the contract and the case

with Farhana is on hold. This case study would be investigating the gender dynamics of IPSWAMs WMA

and LGEDs SS1s WMCA. It would explore what real decision making and interest women have in

participating in formal WMOs and what are the effects on livelihoods? University with focus on capacity

building of MSc students and an in-depth case study on WMOs. Proposals were submitted by KU 17th

March but funding uncertainties does not let us go ahead with it.

Research insights developed so farOur insights can be divided into three main types: things that we know already know about, things that

we know something about, but need to know and things we do not know much about yet. The following

sections sum those up.

1. Things that we already know about polders in Bangladesh and about community management

a. South Western parts of coastal Bangladesh is a part of an active delta, is ecologically

fragile and prone to natural disasters. Polders were constructed in 1960s to protect

coastal communities against natural disasters and daily tidal surges. Since then, in

response to changing times and demands, polders have also been used for productive

purposes (both agriculture and aquaculture) as well as for flood protection.

b. Global experience of involving local communities in management of irrigation/water

resources has been pretty dismal till date. Much of the effort has been geared towards

training communities without sufficient re-orientation of the implementation agencies.

c. The government of Bangladesh has enshrined community management as one of the

pillars of its Water Policy. Several donors, starting in mid-1980s, have tried toincorporate principles of community involvement, but success is at best mixed.

d. While community participation works well as long as projects are funded, they mostly

die a natural death (or at best remain inactive) after completion of projects.

Sustainability of community involvement is an issue and long term maintenance of the

infrastructure is always a collateral damage, such that projects which have been

rehabilitated and communities organized become ready for another round of

rehabilitation and community organization few years down the line. And this cycle

continues.

e. Conflict of interest in water use (for example between paddy farmers and shrimp

farmers as well as upland and low land farmers) is widespread and often determines

the course of water management in a polder.


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f. In Bangladesh, there are two organizations in the water sector that implements water

sector projects. These are LGED and BWDB. Both their projects incorporate

participatory principles, but the way they actually operationalize it differs.

2. Things that we know a little about, but need to know morea. We know that polders now serve more functions than they were originally designed for.

We also know that there have been design changes (either authorized or un-authorized,

or what we will call informal changes) in terms of location and number of sluice and

flushing gates and pipe inlets and outlets. But to the best of our knowledge, there is no

comprehensive database of these design changes. Nor do we know how local

communities negotiate and re-negotiate these changes and how it affects their day to

day activities and their productive and non-productive uses of water.

b. We know that there are formal and informal rules and institutions in place and thesedictate norms of water use within polders, but we do not know enough about how

these institutions and policies get affected by local power structures and by physicalcondition of the infrastructure.

c. We know that conflicts are widespread, especially among powerful shrimp farmersand paddy farmers. We also know that there are environmental concerns regarding

shrimp farming and the Supreme Court has recently ruled against shrimp farming. In

some polders, criminal cases have been registered against those who have made

unauthorized pipes. But we do not know enough about reasons for these

unauthorized structures, the way court cases have been pursued and overall impact of

these court cases.

d. We know that landless contracting societies are an integral part of implementation ofparticipatory water projects in Bangladesh, but we do not enough how they actually

work and the impacts these have on landless people in the area.e. We know that LGED and BWDB differ in its approach to community participation in its

water projects. But we do not know enough about how this difference gets translated

on ground and how it affects outcomes in terms of both community participation and

overall success of schemes.

f. We know and it is also widely acknowledged that maintenance of infrastructure (gates,sluices, canals etc.) in the post project period is poor and communities are often

unwilling to shoulder this responsibility. The donors and the governments too are

unwilling to make adequate allocation for maintenance in the post project period. This

syndrome of deferred maintenance is at the heart of built-neglect-rebuilt cycle of

infrastructure development. What we do not enough is how do communities cope in

face of deteriorating infrastructure and what can be done to reverse this vicious cycle ofbuilt-neglect-rebuild?

g. We know that formal institutions created for polder management, such as WMGs,WMAs and WMCAs are only partially successful. But we do not know the conditions

under which they are more likely to be successful and conditions under which they are

most likely to fail.

3. Things we do not know about:

a. The guidelines for participatory water management make it mandatory to includewomen in executive committee of WMAs and WMCAs. However, we do not know

anything about the experiences of those women and the impact of their participation

on their own lives and that on the functioning of WMA and WMCAs.

Documents

G3-Overall Progress Report