THE PEOPLE’ S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH DATA COLLECTION SURVEY ON WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN HAOR AREA OF BANGLADESH FINAL REPORT December 2013 JAPAN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AGENCY NIPPON KOEI CO., LTD. 4R JR() 14-006 THE PEOPLE’ S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH DATA COLLECTION SURVEY ON WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN HAOR AREA OF BANGLADESH FINAL REPORT December 2013 JAPAN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AGENCY NIPPON KOEI CO., LTD. 4R JR 14-006 Exchange Rate: USD 1.0 = BDT 77.8 = JPY 99.7 （As of September 2013） N China Afganistan Nepal Bhutan Pakistan Myanmar Panchagarh India Bangladesh Lalmanirhat 26o N Thakurgaon Nilphamari Thailand Kurigram Dinajpur Rangpur KEY MAP Sri Lanka Gaibandha Sherpur Joypurhat 25o N Jamalpur Surma R. Sylhet Naogaon Bogra Sunamganj Jamuna R. Netrakona Nawabganj Kushiara R. Old Brahmaputra R. mymensingh Moulavi Bazar Rajshahi Baulai R. Kishoreganj Ganges R. Sirajganj Habiganj Natore Kalni R. Tangail Gazipur 24o N Pabna Narsingdi Kushtia Brahmanbaria Meherpur Gorai R. Manikganj Dhaka Narayanganj Rajbari Padma R. Chuadanga Jenaidah Meghna R. Munshiganj Faridpur Comilla Magura Shariatpur Chandpur Narail Madaripur Khagrachhari Gopalganj 23o N Jessore Lakshmipur Feni Barisal Khulna Noakhali Pirojpur Rangamati Bagerhat Jhalakati Satkhira Bhola Patuakhali Chittagong Barguna 22o N Bandarban Bengal Bay Legend 89o E 90o E 91o E Cox’s Bazar River National Boundary 21o N District Boundary Highway (Dhaka) Capital (Dhaka) 92o E 0 20 40 60 80 100 km DDistrictistric Capital Scale Study Area HaHaoror AAreas Location Map (Au (Augustg 2010） Data Collection Survey on Water Resources Management in Final Report Haor Area of Bangladesh Summary CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Objectives of the Study The objectives of the Study are: 1) To collect and review (i) contents of water resources management plans, such as “Master Plan of Haor Areas (the M/P, 2012)”, for the haor areas in the upper Meghna area and (ii) existing relevant data and information, 2) To conduct additional study on matters having hardly been addressed so far in the said plans, and 3) To propose possible JICA cooperation projects for flood measures and river management plan in haor areas. 1.2 Study Area The study area covers the river basins dealt with by the M/P (including their upstream and downstream areas required for the Study (limited to the Bangladeshi territory)). 1.3 Final Report This Final Report is submitted as the product stating the results and findings in the First to Fourth Works in Bangladesh, which were conducted from November 2012 to November 2013. CHAPTER 2 CURRENT CONDITIONS OF STUDY AREA 2.1 Physical Setting 2.1.1 Physiography and Topography The physiography of the study area is classified based on the combination of the geological material in which particular kinds of soil have formed and the landscape on which they occur. Seven districts comprising the haor area are placed on the following eleven (11) physiographic units, based on agro-ecological regions of Bangladesh prepared by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)1, as shown in Figure 2.1.1 (Page 2-3, Chapter 2). The units are Northern and Eastern Piedmont Plains, Northern and Eastern Hills, Sylhet Basin, Eastern Surma-Kushiyara Floodplain, Old Brahmaputra Floodplain, Young Brahmaputra and Jamuna Floodplain, Active Brahmaputra-Jamuna Floodplain, Old Meghna Estuarine Floodplain, Madhupur Tract, Middle Meghna River Floodplain and Akhaura Terrace. The study area forms such a low-lying basin compared with other regions of the country. Land below EL. 5m PWD extends virtually as far as the Meghlaya Foothills. Outside of this area, floodplain lands situated 200km from the sea are found at EL. 8 m to 20 m PWD. Approximately 25 % of the study area lies below EL. 5m and 50 % lies below EL. 8m. 1 Classification of agro-ecological zone in Bangladesh prepared by FAO http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/faobd/img/Agroecological_Zones.jpg Nippon Koei Co., Ltd. 1 December 2013 Data Collection Survey on Water Resources Management in Final Report Haor Area of Bangladesh Summary 2.1.2 Climate The Northeast Region of Bangladesh is located entirely to the north of the Tropic of Cancer, and hence its climate is characterized by the sub-tropical monsoon. The sub-tropical monsoon results in intense regional and orographic rains caused by the interface of the mist air masses incoming from the Indian Ocean through the Bay of Bengal with a predominant northeastern direction and the steep and high hills located at the foothills in the states of Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura in India. The hills in these states of India experience very severe precipitation. Some of the more intense precipitations in the world fall in the hilly areas, where the average annual rainfall is around 12,000 mm. The hydro-meteorological seasons of the Northeast Region are generally classified into: - Pre-monsoon season extending from April to May, - Monsoon season from June through September, - Post-monsoon season from October to November, and - Dry season from December through March. 2.1.3 River System Figure 2.1.3 (Page 2-6, Chapter 2) shows the river system for the upper Meghna River including the portion of the watershed inside India. The Barak River drains the Assam region and distributes the flow through a bifurcation near the border between Bangladesh and India. Data from 1980 to 2008 indicates that an average of around 40% flows into the Surma River channel and 60% inflows to the Kushiyara River during most part of the year. During the dry season, the Kushiyara River carries around 88% of the Barak inflow due to the physiography at the bifurcation. Because of the sediment deposition at the Surma River portion of the bifurcation, the tendency is that flow proportion increases with time into the Kushiara River while the Surma River is silted over. 2.1.4 Geology and Soil The Indian sub-continent has been formed by a collision between the northward moving Indian Plate and the static Eurasian Plate since the Cretaceous period. Part of the northeast Indian Plate has fractured and sank below the sea-level during the Oligocene period. Since then the Bengal basin has started to form subsiding tectonic basin slowly, filling up with deltaic sediment. The soils of the area are grey silty clay and clay on the higher parts that dry out seasonally and grey clays in the wet basin. Peat occupies some wet basin centers. The soils have a moderate content of organic matter and soil reaction is mainly acidic. About 74% of the top soil texture of the haor region is clay to silty clay, 21% is silt and the rest are clayey silt, sandy silt and sand. 2.2 Natural Resources (1) Water Resources It is reported in the M/P that the analysis of BWDB data (1960-2009) has shown the volume of water contribution into Bangladesh through the Meghna river system is 162,619 million m3. Water contribution from the transboundary rivers of the Barak, Meghalaya and Tripura Nippon Koei Co., Ltd. 2 December 2013 Data Collection Survey on Water Resources Management in Final Report Haor Area of Bangladesh Summary systems are 42,670 million m3, 30,376 million m3 and 15,716 million m3, respectively. (2) Vegetation In the haor basin, there are hill forests, social forests, fresh water swamps, reed swamp forests, bamboo and homestead vegetation, etc. In the M/P, ecologists have grouped the typical haor vegetation areas into nine classes, which are 1) Submerged plants, 2) Free floating plants, 3) Rooted floating plants, 4) Sedges and meadows, 5) Floodplain grassland, 6) Reed swamp, 7) Fresh water swamp forest, 8) Crop field vegetation and 9) Homestead vegetation. (3) Biodiversity and Wetland There are a large number of wetlands of significant national and regional importance and many sites have significant local value. The sites support biodiversity at all scales especially communities (species and within the species) and are home to several internationally threatened species. The biodiversity of haor wetlands is very rich. The most significant wetlands are Hakaluki Haor, Tanguar Haor, Hail Haor, Matian Haor, Pasuar Beel Haor, Dekar Haor, Baro Haor, Gurmar Haor, Sonamorol Haor, Baram Haor, Kalni Haor, Kawadighi Haor and Pagner Haor. In 1999, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) declared two haors as ‘Ecologically Critical Areas’ (ECA) in the haor area based on “Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act (1995, amended in 2000 and 2002)”, which are Hakaluki Haor (Maulvibazar/Sylhet Districts) and Tanguar Hoar (Sunamganj District). Tanguar Haor has been declared as a Ramsar site. (4) Mineral Resources The haor basin is a large, gentle depression, created by subsidence and tectonic adjustment. The geological setting and formations of the northeastern part of Bangladesh favors the deposit of various types of mineral and energy resources. The mineral resources discovered are natural gas, crude oil, limestone, white clay, glass sand, peat, coal, gravel and construction sand (see Table 2.2.4 (Page 2-14, Chapter 2)). About 90% of the total gas production of the country is obtained from the haor districts. 2.3 Socio-economy (1) Population Distribution The total population of the seven haor districts (Kishoreganj, Netrokona, Sunamganj, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj and Brahmanbaria districts) in the Northeast Region is 17.88 million as of 2011 Census compared to 14.94 million in 2001 Census (BBS, 2012). There are about 3.44 million households in the haor districts, which translates into an average household size of 5.2 persons per household. The sex ratio in the haor districts on average is 97.78:100, which indicates that there are 97.8 males per 100 females. The national sex ratio is 100:100. The overall population density in the haor districts is 894 per sq km, which is lower than the average population density in Bangladesh, which is 976 per km2.