Transboundary Water Sharing in the Ganges River Basin: Influence of India’s Farakka Barrage on Agricultural Water Security in Bangladesh
Open Access
- Author:
- Klink, Ava
- Area of Honors:
- Environmental Resource Management
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Christopher Scott, Thesis Supervisor
Robert David Shannon, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Transboundary
Ganges River
India
Bangladesh
Water
Water Scarcity
Agriculture
Rice - Abstract:
- The construction and management of the Farakka Barrage, a low dam on the Ganges River to divert water, has been a point of social and political tension for over five decades. The barrage was designed to improve the navigability of the Hooghly River and Kolkata Port, but it has resulted in water availability and salinity concerns along the main branch of the Ganges River in downstream Bangladesh. This thesis explores how the Farakka Barrage exacerbates existing water scarcity problems (resulting chiefly from climate change, population growth and irrigated land expansion) in the dry season and how that scarcity impacts agricultural production in southwest Bangladesh. This review seeks to synthesize and relate literature at the international negotiation scale with the lived experience of farmers along the Ganges. Despite the challenges in relating these two different scales, it is important to identify relationships and patterns between international decisions and local experiences for decisionmakers to consider in the future. The timing of this review is particularly relevant given that the current Ganges Water Sharing Treaty is due to expire in 2026 after 30 years of implementation. This review finds that 1) management of the Ganges is determined by high-level politics and institutional factors within the two countries more than internationally recognized transboundary principles, 2) the river basin is heavily influenced by complex anthropogenic and environmental factors that are often oversimplified, 3) both experts and the public have continued to express discontent with the management of the Farakka Barrage throughout history and 4) there are opportunities for greater stakeholder engagement in the renegotiation of a Ganges water sharing agreement in 2026.