In February 2025, the Government of Assam launched a pioneering initiative—the State Water Resources Assessment (SWRA)—to tackle the region’s complex water challenges. Supported by the Australian Water Partnership (AWP) and the World Bank, this 10-month effort aims to address floods, riverbank erosion, contaminated groundwater, and urban water stresses by weaving together scientific data and community insights.
Assam’s rivers, like the mighty Brahmaputra and Barak, sustain millions but also bring devastation through annual floods and erosion. Led by the Floods River Erosion Management Authority of Assam (FREMAA), with support from the World Bank, the Assam Integrated River Basin Management Program (AIRBM) is a USD 500 million investment in water management infrastructure that seeks to harmonise these dual realities through long-term sustainable policy and planning reform to create the foundation for sustainable investment in water infrastructure.
Planning for sustainable water is a complex process. As an initial step, FREMAA is leading the development of Assam’s first State Water Resources Assessment (SWRA) to engage stakeholders and develop an integrated scientific evidence base documenting the status, trends and issues facing water management in the state.
The SWRA will serve as the flagship report on integrated water resources management. It aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of Assam’s water resources by integrating scientific, analytical, socio-economic, environmental, and administrative information on water and allied sectors. This assessment will help establish baselines, identify trends, and highlight major issues. It will be developed by RMSI Pvt. Ltd. (India) in partnership with HYDROC GmbH (Germany), with technical guidance from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG), and strategic advice from Alluvium’s Tarek Ketelsen. The findings of the SWRA Report will be used to inform a strategic water investment plan for the state, as well as to develop Assam’s first-ever State Water Policy.
Australian Water Partnership (AWP), together with Alluvium Group, has supported governments of Myanmar, Lao PDR, Vietnam and the greater Mekong to develop similar integrated baseline assessments and water policy and planning reform since 2015; and will leverage these experiences with Southeast Asian neighbour states to develop a process that is practical and useful for Assam.
In Assam, from the outset, the focus has been on developing a credible evidence base to inform future policy and plans and designing appropriate channels for stakeholder dialogue that bring together key water stakeholders for informed discussion around the trade-offs and opportunities.
During the SWRA kick-off mission (17-26 February), the SWRA team held an initial consultation with key water stakeholders working together to map the regulatory environment for water and identifying critical issues and trade-offs that need to be addressed.
Featured image: Group photo at the kick-off meeting. All images credit – Alluvium.