Law for water
24 April 2009
The Water Act of Bhutan will be enacted after the draft act is amended during the National Assembly session in June, according to the National Environment Commission (NEC).
In a recent regional consultation meeting in Mongar, NEC Director Sonam Yangley said it was time Bhutan had a Water Act as water is the biggest asset of the country. “It’s important to manage our water resource sustainably though we have a large resource,” he said.
The Act, once implemented, will help protect water resources and the larger environment from increasing pressure from socio-economic development. It will also ensure safe human health through integrated water resources management by providing safe drinking water and sanitation.
Water shortage is a common and growing problem around the world. According to Sonam Yangley, water shortage will increase with the climate change and global warming. “The Water Act would help Bhutan tackle the growing water problem in future by using its water resources sustainably.”
The Water Act will delineate responsibilities to the agencies concerned which will bring responsible implementation. “There is no specific and comprehensive Act to manage water though mentions are made in some Acts like the Forestry Act. There is no central agency to look after the sustainable management of water resource in the country. The Water Act will fill this gap,” he said.
Water Act is required for equitable distribution of water and resources coordination. It will also help prevent melting of glacial lakes through programmes like reducing the water level of lakes in Lunana by the Department of Geology and Mines and the Ministry of Home.
The Draft Water Act includes the need for healthy and hygienic human consumption, agriculture, energy and water for industry and tourism and recreation. The draft act also upholds customary rights for water including its use for household purposes, agriculture, running mini-mills, non-commercial hydropower and digging of wells.
Agriculture intensification, hydropower and industrialisation are named as three avenues to be developed into sustainable water resource in the draft act.
Seventy-eight percent of Bhutan’s population, according to NEC, receives safe drinking water. However, water shortage in Bhutan is localised and seasonal. According to G. Karma Chhopel from the Water Resource Division of NEC, water shortage in Bhutan is because of improper use of distribution infrastructure like dams, barrages and storage of water like in the developed world.
The other reasons for the shortage are the topography of the country and customary rights. Most settlements in Bhutan are on mountaintops while the rivers flow down in the valleys. This has made it difficult for the people to get water.
In case of customary rights, households get water according to the size of their landholdings. The more land a household owns, the more water it gets. This practice, according to G. Karma Chhopel, is not based on equitable and fair distribution of water. However, he said the draft act would uphold such customary rights if there was equitable and fair distribution.
Emerging concerns like washing cars and clothes in streams and rivers, sand and water extraction, insufficient drinking water, degraded watershed and climate change were also discussed in the meeting.
By Tempa Wangdi
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Loading ...Zakar for Friday July 30 2010
20th Day of the 06th Month - Iron Male Tiger Year
Auspicious for: Carrying out daily chores and making offerings.
Inauspicious for: Starting construction of new house, sowing seeds, planting flowers, entering the new house, shifting houses, calling upon superiors, starting business, doing charity works in the name of deceased, taking out dead bodies, paying grain debts, undertaking long journey and holding discussion.
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To the government of bhutan,
What a wise step but it seems quite late to act on the water issue. most of the small springs are almost dried up. those springs from where we used to drink water are no more there. the problem with preservation of these spring was in fact the land owner are not willing to givelittle part of land on which people could plant big tree which can shadow and other plants around it which keeps water from drying. Even now there are many places that can be preserved and that will subsidize the challenge of drinking water crisis for tomarrow in the nation.
In my suggestion government while government is writing water law this aspect of preserving small springs in the village must be considered. With good rational government with local people should convince the landowners for contributing small part of land so that all the government with villagers who get benifit from such springs can make joint effort to preserve such water spring.
I believe this will help us to solve our water shortage problem now and in future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Couple of suggestions and comments:
I totally agree with the Director, NEC on water being biggest asset of Bhutan but it quite do not agree on water having large resources. It is not, our perennial rivers are fed but glaciers but as everyone is now aware off, our glacier stocks are diminishing year by year and so does our water resources. Global warming and climate change is serious threat to Himalayan water resources and I hope this act addresses those imminent threats.
I also disagree with G. Karma Chhopel, NEC’s view that water shortage in Bhutan is because of improper use of distribution infrastructure like dams, barrages and storage of water like in the developed world. It may be the case in developed world, but in Bhutan, I think the main cause of water shortage is due to lack of proper watershed management. Even such as deforestation, overgrazing, conversion of vegetated land into other land use, over-exploitation of water-sheds have led to drying of water holes, sources, and massive floods. Other contribution factors are lack of resources and capacity of rural people to transport water from the sources to user-end. Due to lack of proper irrigation or pipelines, there is so much of waste on the way leading to loss of water resources.
I hope unlike other Acts, which seemed more like a compendium of literature review of similar acts around the globe, would be pragmatic, sometime that is realistic, implementable and result oriented. It is always nice to have an act with impressive jargons but at the end if it is not implementable, it will be another booklet collecting desk on some selves.
“It will also help prevent melting of glacial lakes through programmes like reducing the water level of lakes in Lunana by the Department of Geology and Mines and the Ministry of Home.” – This is technically incorrect.