NHP Phase III

In December 2015 the AWP committee approved a proposal from the World Bank to facilitate technical support for the third phase of a National Hydrology Project in India. Under this National Hydrology Project Phase III, the World Bank proposed $1,150,000 of AWP funding over 24 months to support the project in seven areas of Australian expertise, including surface-groundwater interactions, river basin planning, water information systems, water accounting and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA). During June 2016, AWP partners from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Access Water Management and Alluvium consulting traveled to India for Activity scoping missions. The teams met with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in India, the World Bank, the Indian Ministry of Water Resources and technical counterparts in the Central Water Commission of India.

Activity Plans have now been developed for further collaboration between these Australian and Indian organizations to conduct a review of India’s National Water Resource Information System (WRIS) and to develop a guideline for river basin planning and institutional reform for India. These scoping missions and the implementation of the work plans they have developed, represent very successful progress of AWP towards its strategic objective to develop collaborations that focus on sharing of key Australian water reform experiences, policies, practices and tools.  These collaborations will facilitate the sharing of Australia’s learning and experience from its water reform journey, in key areas including water information management and systems, complex interjurisdictional river basin planning and water resources management and lessons in vital institutional implications of water management reform.