Governance of ‘long term delta planning’ in Bangladesh, Vietnam and the Netherlands

Governance of ‘long term delta planning’ in Bangladesh, Vietnam and the Netherlands

The Deltas in Times of Climate Change Conference II, taking place in September 2014, Rotterdam, presented a suitable occasion to discuss both delta challenges and interesting approaches to how ‘delta dynamics’ are being dealt with worldwide. Delta dynamics include here both environmental (including climatic) and socio-economic processes, and since relatively recent ‘long term delta planning’ is taking shape as an approach addressing these in an integrated manner. The long term delta planning projects taking shape in, amongst other deltas, Bangladesh, Vietnam (Mekong) and the Netherlands, bring up highly relevant (water) governance questions. During the conference’s ‘Bangladesh Delta Session’, centered around the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 project, two particular issues were discussed: first, how the BDP2100 works towards practical implementation of the long term vision, and second, which lessons learned in the field of institutional coordination and stakeholder participation can be drawn from delta planning in Vietnam and the Netherlands. Representatives from the three countries, all heavily involved in long term delta planning projects in their respective deltas, presented the state of affairs of the delta plan initiatives and shared their views.

Three long term delta planning cases selected

Noting that in all three countries long term delta plans have been developed earlier, in recent history, new initiatives materialized in the form of the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, the Mekong Delta Plan and the Dutch Delta Programme. These initiatives have picked up the challenge of grasping delta developments in the broadest sense, and are trying to come up with both long term delta visions and pathways towards sustainable futures.

The delta planning projects have now been on-going for a number of years, and this ‘phasing’, expressed by the number of years of experiences with long term delta planning, was an important reason to include the three deltas in the discussion. Besides this, the selection was based on the inherent dynamics in each of the deltas. Such dynamics, which include environmental processes (erosion, sedimentation, water flows and flooding, and climate variability), and socio-economic processes (urbanization, migration, rapid increase in economic activity), are materializing at different speeds in the three deltas.

	Bangladesh	Vietnam (Mekong)	The Netherlands
‘Phasing’ or number of years of experience with long term delta planning	3 years: 2012 (Feasibility study); 2013 – on-going (Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100)	5 years: 2010 – 2013 (start up and Mekong Delta Plan), 2014 focus on implementation	7 years: 2008 (Working together with Water); 2010 – 2014 (Delta Programme)
Contrasting environmental ‘delta dynamics'	Highly dynamic system, eg regular and extensive floods	Moderately dynamic system, eg regular floods	Relatively stable, eg rarely floods

Apart from those differences the Asian delta plans have in common that they are to a large extent inspired by the Dutch Delta Programme. This is demonstrated by the resemblance in terms of project objective, activities and supporting ‘tools’: the use of scenarios to outline and compare possible measures, explicit attention to uncertainty in decision-making and adaptive delta management as an overarching conceptual model. Some of these ideas are by hindsight captured in the framework of a ‘delta approach’ which was also put forward during the conference. Several renowned Dutch individuals and organizations are involved in the projects in Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Bangladesh: moving from visionary plans to reality…

With the launch of each ‘long term delta plan’ project, the question arises how to ultimately move from a visionary, attractively illustrated plan on paper, to the reality of programme financing and implementation on the ground. In the case of the Bangladesh Delta Plan, the institutional anchorage of the project lies with the same governmental institute that develops national investment plans: the Planning Commission formulates the so-called Five Year Plans. In this way, a cross-cutting institute, as opposed to a project being embedded in one particular ministry, has the ability to reach out to the numerous involved institutions, stimulate inter-ministerial collaboration, and to link long term vision development with (initially, five year) investment plans. Discussions are currently on-going between BDP2100 and the Planning Commission regarding the integration of BDP2100 activities in the 7^th Five Year Plan (2016 – 2020), which will be delivered next year. This exchange pursues that recommended no-regret measures will link to investment agendas, and materialize on the ground in the form of concrete projects.

… and synchronizing with on-going initiatives

From another perspective, already existing programmes, formulated by other actors, are being implemented while the long term vision is being developed. This became particularly apparent in the reality of hydraulic interventions in the southwest delta and ‘polder region’ of Bangladesh. The coastal zone is characterized as a highly vulnerable region, due to low-lying land, the occurrence of cyclones, floods and erosion, and a high population density. At the same time it is home to the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove ecosystem in the world in connection to India, acting as a ‘coastal green belt’ reducing the impacts of cyclones. Several initiatives have targeted the southwest delta as a region for continued investments in the water and agricultural production systems at field level. Besides the BDP2100 (approaching the region as one of the ‘hotspot’ areas), the Dutch Embassy in Dhaka (the Blue Gold polder development programme) and the World Bank (the Coastal Embankment Improvement Project) have recently launched large scale water management programmes.  Different ideas about polders, delta dynamics and long term delta planning all converge here, and it remains to be seen how to synchronize these parallel initiatives.

Insights Vietnam and the Netherlands: institutional coordination and stakeholder participation

During the session, questions were raised about who ultimately ‘governs’ the delta plan – is this a collective task of a wider project community, or should a Delta Commissioner be appointed to oversee all? In the Netherlands, the position of a Delta Commissioner was designed as having no particular ministerial affiliation. This was, however, no easy choice and debated heavily from the start. In the case of the Mekong Delta Plan, a regional steering committee was installed to guide the project. It was put forward that there should be not only a Delta Commissioner that takes the Mekong Delta Plan further, but also a Red River Delta Commissioner, to pull off a simultaneous development in the Red River delta, where the Vietnamese central government is located.

Involving the broader ‘delta societies’, beyond the project consortium and partners, was brought forward as an important aspect of long term delta planning. In case of the Mekong Delta Plan, it was raised that public involvement came rather late in the process, and that more attention should go to interaction with especially the businesses community, which is growing in importance in shaping delta activities. This discussion came back in the challenging question raised by a representative of a Bangladesh NGO about ‘which percentage of BDP2100 focuses on engineering, and which percentage on social affairs’ – of course, a very difficult question to answer, but the message was clear: emphasize the need of ownership of the plan with the people well on time.

Concluding remarks

What became clear from the session is that there is a huge scope for continued intra-delta comparison and exchange of experiences, especially because long term delta planning centres around a number of similar principles, approaches and ‘tools’. Although these could themselves be the object of closer scrutiny, long term delta planners in the different countries may be confronted by questions and dilemmas that have been dealt with earlier by their colleagues. This also concerns some of the (water) governance themes as discussed above. Being aware, however, that deltas differ enormously in terms of its environmental and socio-economic dynamics, is important to avoid that a blueprint approach to long term delta planning is being followed.

Delta dolphins

Dolphins have been spotted along the Dutch coast, something that had not happened for a long, long time. According to this website, dolphins disappeared from the Dutch delta after the closure dam in the Zuiderzee was constructed in 1932 and only after some accidental events in the 1940s and 2004, it took until now that the dolphins 'returned'. They were spotted near the southwest delta, close to the Westerschelde.

This is not some small fact, only of relevance to biologist or environmentalists. No - this means that the last piece of the puzzle has been found (and fits)! Because now, the Dutch delta finds itself among the ranks of a number of other dolphin-rich deltas: from the Amazon to the Irrawaddy, but mainly from the Ganges to the Mekong: the two other cases in our comparative research program.

A nice account of a researcher's interest in delta dolphins, something that made me actually notice the importance of the rediscovery of Dutch delta dolphins, is the novel written by Amitav Ghosh, the Hungry Tide. He describes the experiences of a researcher trying to locate the Irrawaddy dolphin, which is the name given to dolphins living in the estuarine environment in Southeast Asia, in the Sumdarbans of the Ganges. In his book, dolphins in the Ganges delta are the central figures around which the delta stories are told.

He describes the dolphin as a species that 'knows' how to deal with the tidal dynamics, both with ebb and high water, and both with fresh and saline water. At the same time it is put under pressure by human settlement in deltas. Traditional knowledge and 'hard science' come together when trying to discover the animals' habits. For many environmental protectionist, the dolphin is an 'indicator' of healthy and good functioning delta ecosystems; for others, a source of spiritual guidance; and for again others, of very little relevance and only a means to reach other ends.

Just to complete this theme - besides the Irriwaddy dolphin (orcealla brevirostris), Bangladesh is also home to the South Asian river dolphin (platanista gangetica): a much smaller cousin, living more (up to hundreds of kilometers inland, even in Nepal), with the habit of swimming sideways. In that way, the dolphin finds its way by touching the ground with one of its fins as a reference, because it can't see well.

Go, Flipper!

Presentation and Louise Fresco's statement on controlled flooding

Last month I had the opportunity to deliver a research presentation to the Wageningen UR Board of Directors. I immediately have to say that this opportunity arose not based on a first hand invitation, but because someone got ill and the organizers needed an alternative pitch - nevertheless, a great occasion to promote a number of research themes and trends in delta I'm working on!

The meeting was with a number of representatives of the Social Sciences Group as part of an 'introduction tour' of the new president of the board, Louise Fresco. Of course, most of you know that she has been one of the members of the 2008 Delta Committee and that initiated at least a few remarks, following the presentation. The link to the slides on Slideshare can be found here.

After the meeting I got in touch with mrs Fresco and she was willing to come up with a statement on controlled flooding: "In The Netherlands, a densely populated country with to two thirds of the inhabitants below sea level, we consider ourselves a living laboratory where infrastructure and a better understanding of controlled flooding coupled with a broad dialogue with society leads to a longtime approach of the challenge of living in an active delta." This would very helpful as a Statement of Support, for next research proposals on the topic!

rearviewmirror

I've just spent way too much time looking at the historical maps that are made available here: http://zldgwb.zeeland.nl/gw411sl/?Viewer=Cultuur%20Historie. Our project, and this blog, is called Dynamic Deltas. After visits to the Deltas of Bangladesh and the Mekong in Vietnam I often wondered if the designations 'dynamic' at all applied to the Dutch Delta. Strolling through times and locations on this website makes me realize it most certainly does, or maybe i should say, until the Delta works came in to the picture, it did. Below the growing together of the islands Tholen and st. Philipsland.

 1650

 1916

 1959

2014

New York going Dutch on CNN

http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2014/05/13/climate-change-dutch-netherlands-henk-ovink-new-york-rebuild-by-design/

From the Delta Works to the Göta Canal

While the Dutch have their Delta Works, the Swedish have their Göta Canal: a 190km long hydraulic engineering project, of which 87km are hand-made canals. During a short ‘field trip’ as part of the Sweden STS Summer School I attended (see another blog about this soon), I visited the Göta Canal ‘museum’ (two wooden barracks with some information about the project and its founding fathers) near Motala, central Sweden, and it was really worth it.

Because some similarities between the Dutch and Swedish ‘grand hydraulics’ are striking: where Johan van Veen can be said to be the intellectual mastermind behind the Dutch Delta Plan, Baltzar von Platen, a former navy officer and minister, has fulfilled the same role in Sweden by developing a master plan and bringing it into reality. During a 22-year period canal stretches and sluice gates were constructed at different project sites and the canal itself was inaugurated in 1832. Von Platen was one of the Canal Company Committee, which further consisted of Swedish and British hydraulic and navy engineers. The project gave a boost to the Swedish engineer industry, for example by Von Platen’s newly introduced forms of ‘wet excavation’ (based on British experiences) and the establishment of the Motala Verkstad, a large workshop where the required dredgers, excavators and other machinery equipment was produced.

The museum’s information leaflets presents another similarity in terms of hydraulic and nation-building discourse: the project was considered the ‘Swedish Structure of the Century’ and a project of ‘national importance’: arguments related to national defence and economic security were the most important ones that were used. The Göta Canal provides an alternative connection between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, thereby avoiding ships paying heavy toll to the Danes at Øresund. However, by the time the canal was completed the Danish tolls were lifted, and the developing railway transportation system provided an economically cheaper alternative for transporting goods and people within Sweden.

Some differences, on the other hand, are that the Dutch Delta and Swedish mountainous and hilly landscape, dotted with numerous large lakes, present different geographic settings. Coastal and riverine flood protection was not in high demand. Also, where the Dutch Delta Works were implemented following the 1953 flood, the Göta Canal was constructed based on non-disaster situation and brought forward as an economically interesting project.

The project now mainly fulfils a touristic and historic purpose, providing a nice and quiet water landscape.

meanwhile in the Netherlands

The deltaprogram in the media: we need higher dikes!

http://nieuwsuur.nl/onderwerp/681455-grootschalige-dijkversterkingen-nodig.html