NEXUS Gains
Ganges Basin
Background
The Ganges is one of the most important river basins on earth, generating a considerable share of global food production. The basin currently supports more than 650 million people and 90 percent of its waters are diverted to irrigation. The Ganges is also an important source of clean energy through hydropower, mostly in the mountainous region.
However, the basin faces many challenges, including unsustainable water use – particularly groundwater depletion – and water scarcity and pollution, as well as soil erosion and land degradation. Climate change is making the basin more vulnerable by increasing the frequency of extreme droughts and floods. The lack of inter- sectoral coordination stresses water–energy–food–ecosystems (WEFE) across the basin and will potentially affect the livelihoods of more than 1 billion people by 2050.
Sustainable, integrated approaches to water storage and productivity, rural energy, and food systems are needed to improve food security and achieve more inclusive socioeconomic development. NEXUS Gains works with stakeholders at multiple scales and across multiple sectors in India and Nepal to build on existing knowledge and institutions for improved system-level productivity.
Our work
Work Package 1: Trade-off analyses and foresight methodologies
NEXUS Gains has conducted an extensive review of WEFE policies and programs in India to better understand efforts to attain policy goals. The identified policy scenarios are being simulated by integrating surface and groundwater models with the FABLE model, which simulates food- and land-use systems pathways to 2050. The results will support policymakers and investors to make informed decisions to implement context-sensitive nexus interventions. In addition, water modeling in Nepal’s Karnali River Basin has provided critical information about the spatial and temporal availability of water resources. NEXUS Gains has also launched a community of practice for WEFE modeling in Nepal, which comprises stakeholders across WEFE sectors.
Work Package 2: Water productivity and storage
NEXUS Gains is developing a suite of tools and approaches to boost water productivity and operationalize integrated storage management in the Ganges Basin. Using advanced satellite technology, researchers have established the first digital inventory of 6,500 small water bodies in Bundelkhand, India and illustrated the significance of their intra-annual variability in land use management.
Underground Transfer of Floods for Irrigation (UTFI) is a form of managed aquifer recharge that helps boost storage in depleted aquifers while reducing seasonal flooding and building resilience to droughts. NEXUS Gains is supporting the Government of Moradabad and Rampur, India to scale UTFI by optimizing efforts to recharge groundwater linked to multiple national water conservation programs, including the Amrit Sarovar program.
Direct seeded rice (DSR) – when compared with transplanted rice – can potentially save irrigation requirements by up to 18 percent. However, not all landscapes are suitable for this approach. To map areas with potential for DSR in Haryana State, India, NEXUS Gains used geospatial modeling including data on soils, land use, climatic variables, land types, irrigation, and soil moisture, and is working with farmers to better understand how potential savings can be made a reality.
NEXUS Gains has also developed an online Water Productivity Atlas for India that analyses water and crop data to reveal temporal and spatial variations in water “productivity” (physical, economic, and nutritional) and “footprints” (blue and green) that can be used to identify gaps and potential for increases in water productivity to address the nexus challenges.
In Nepal, NEXUS Gains surveyed three irrigation systems in western Nepal (Mahakali, Rani Jamara, and Kulariya and Babai) to evaluate the challenges related to irrigation and agricultural management from an interdisciplinary perspective. The research emphasized the interconnected nature of the challenges, encompassing socioeconomic, physical, agricultural water management, GESI, and governance issues. The study highlights the need for a holistic approach to planning, implementation, and management to ensure reliable irrigation water for sustainable agricultural production.
Work Package 3: Energizing food and water systems
Solar irrigation has the potential to transform agrifood systems by improving energy access while reducing irrigation costs and greenhouse gas emissions. However, financing is a major hurdle for this and other clean energy technologies. NEXUS Gains is examining alternative financial and business models that work for poorer and women farmers. The work draws on case studies on financing and promoting clean energy technologies such as solar irrigation pumps, biogas, processing, and rural lighting in other parts of India.
Researchers have studied the processes of design, dissemination, and implementation of gender equality and social inclusion policies – or lack of – within Nepal’s energy sector.
They also conducted qualitative studies on the challenges and opportunities of solar lift irrigation and deep tubewells to guide development planning and investment in energizing water systems for agriculture. The results have been shared in national and global level policy workshops and a peer-reviewed journal.
Work Package 4: Strengthening nexus governance
NEXUS Gains works on improving the management of groundwater resources in the Ganges Basin. This includes engagement with Atal Bhujal Yojana – the Government of India’s flagship participatory groundwater program on experiential games to encourage behavior change and collaboration among stakeholders.
NEXUS Gains co-convened multistakeholder science-policy- practice dialogues on WEFE nexus challenges and opportunities with federal level parliamentarians, provincial and local assembly members, government, and non-state actors. We have seen a resulting uptake of WEFE nexus thinking in irrigation policies and government papers in the province. In addition, in Nepal’s Madhesh province, NEXUS Gains focused on demand-driven research with local governments on strengthening evidence- informed multistakeholder groundwater governance. The groundwater governance toolbox was, moreover, piloted with local communities and stakeholders, creating opportunities for participatory groundwater monitoring.
Work Package 5: Developing capacity for WEFE actors, including women leaders
A variety of WEFE nexus training has been developed in Nepal. Tribhuvan University has introduced a course on the WEFE nexus as part of its MSc curriculum, in partnership with NEXUS Gains. The Initiative completed a scoping study on the challenges women professionals face in influencing, negotiating, and implementing nexus solutions – resulting in a journal article. Building on the study, the WEFE Nexus Leaders’ Program, which focuses on women professionals, was developed and piloted with 22 professionals, including 17 women. Three additional nexus courses (for practitioners, government, and graduate students) were co-developed with partners and piloted.
Contact us
Manohara Khadka, Country Representative, IWMI Nepal
Email: m.khadka@cgiar.org
Alok Sikka, Country Representative, IWMI Delhi
Email: a.sikka@cgiar.org
Find out more
Read about the Initiative’s work in other target basins: