Bhutan’s relationship with water is growing uncertain. Climate change is putting increasing pressure on its water resources, threatening drinking water supplies, agriculture, hydropower, and increasing the risk of floods and glacial lake outburst floods. Against this backdrop, the government has put forward one of its detailed answers, the Climate Adaptation Investment Plan for the Water Sector. The plan, launched last evening, is expected to secure the country’s water for the decades to come, and works out what protecting it will cost.
At the centre of the new Climate Adaptation Investment Plan are 187 adaptation activities under 11 strategic investment packages that reach directly into everyday life.
They cover the drinking water in people’s taps, the irrigation that feeds farms, protection from floods and glacial lake outburst floods, and the watersheds and hydropower the whole country leans on.
“Sometimes we might get more rain that is unnecessary. Sometimes when we need the rain, we will not have the precipitation. So, these are the things that we have. So, looking from that angle, we must try to prepare for now what will be the future scenario. So, the current Bhutan climate adaptation plan for the water sector is trying to look at the whole investment sector in the water as a coordinated approach so that we have national ownership and national standing,” said Tenzin Khorlo, Chair, Inter-Agency Working Group, Dept. of Water, MoENR.
The plan estimates around USD 850 M will be needed over the next 15 to 20 years to implement these measures. The government hopes to raise the money from domestic and international climate funds, development partners, the private sector, and blended financing.
Rather than trying to do everything at once, the plan sorts the work by urgency.
“All the packages are important and needed for our climate adaptation for another 15 to 20 years. Nevertheless, what is more important is that we have to see which are the ones can be done immediately, which can be done maybe for another 10 years, or which can be done in another 15 years. So according to our plan, we have categorically mentioned what can be done immediately, in another 5 years, another 10 years, another 15 years,” said Tenzin Khorlo, Chair, Inter-Agency Working Group, Dept. of Water, MoENR.
For ordinary people, the promise behind the numbers is steadier water in the tap, more reliable irrigation for farms, and better protection for communities living downstream of swelling glacial lakes, while safeguarding the hydropower that pays for much of the country’s development.
The Climate Adaptation Investment Plan for the Water Sector was developed through a whole-of-government approach involving 13 agencies to ensure national ownership and coordinated implementation. It will also be introduced at regional and global platforms, including the upcoming Climate COP, to strengthen partnerships and mobilise investment for its implementation.
Namgay Wangdi
Edited by Sonam Wangdi
