Water Governance must move beyond engineering solutions: Experts

Experts at the 11th international water conference on Wednesday called for a fundamental shift in Bangladesh's water governance, urging policymakers to move beyond engineering-heavy "techno-fixes" towards a framework grounded in social justice, gender equity and ecological rights.

The two-day virtual conference, titled "Reimagining Water Governance for Just and Sustainable Futures," was organised by ActionAid Bangladesh, coming shortly after Bangladesh's accession to the UN Water Convention in 2025 — the first country in South Asia to join the framework.

The opening session began with a musical tribute to the late renowned artist Farida Parveen. Speaking at the inaugural session, ActionAid Bangladesh Country Director Farah Kabir said water governance is ultimately about power, survival and inequality.

"Water decides people's lives long before policy does," she said, sharing an anecdote from a coastal village.
"A woman once told me, 'Water decides my day before I do.' If the pond turns saline, she walks further; if floods arrive, work stops. This is governance in reality — who decides, who adapts and who bears the cost."

While calling Bangladesh's accession to the UN convention a milestone, Kabir cautioned that legal commitments alone are insufficient.
"Accession is not transformation. People's voices must be engaged from the beginning, not merely consulted at the end," she added.

Delivering the keynote address in the first session titled Water Justice and Governance, Professor Imtiaz Ahmed, Executive Director of the Centre for Alternatives, identified five global "water dystopias," ranging from national misgovernance to ecological collapse.

"Water is not just H₂O," he said. "We should define it as W = H₂O + P4 — pollution, power, politics and profit."

He further argued for reimagining rivers as Nodi — a living entity encompassing Pran (life), Atma (soul) and Shakti (power). Proposing institutional accountability, he suggested a 'river–lake chief' system in which local officials would be personally responsible for water quality, with performance evaluations tied to environmental outcomes.

The scale of Bangladesh's river crisis was outlined by Sakib Mahmud, Assistant Chief of the National River Conservation Commission. He said that although 1,415 rivers have been identified nationwide, many are facing severe degradation.

"In urban areas such as Dinajpur and Naogaon, we have detected 'dead zones' where dissolved oxygen levels are too low to sustain aquatic life," Mahmud said.

He also pointed to mismanagement in government-led dredging projects, particularly in Kurigram. "In many cases, dredged soil is dumped back into rivers, creating new shoals. Geo-spatial tracking and community-based monitoring are essential to stop this cycle," he added.

Gender and social exclusion in water governance featured prominently in the discussions. Dr Champa M Navaratne, Professor Emeritus at the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, said technical solutions often fail because they ignore structural inequalities.

"Women and marginal farmers must be included as a mandatory requirement in governance structures," she said.
"Without secure water rights or joint land titles, and without access to credit, technology becomes another barrier rather than a solution."

Addressing urban water challenges, Farhad Reza, President of Build Bangladesh, warned against treating water merely as a commodity.

"Urban water systems are on the frontline of climate change," he said. "Future planning must move beyond supply-focused engineering to integrated, inclusive and adaptive governance."

Dr Yang Wei, Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Dhaka, echoed this view while presenting China's Dianchi Lake restoration as a case study.

"The key lesson is a shift in mindset," he said."A city is not built beside a water body; it is part of a living water system. Institutions and governance 'software' matter more than clean-up technology alone."

The day also featured digital showcases coordinated through the Global Network of Water Museums, including Morocco's Oasis Ecomuseum and Bangladesh's Chakaria Water Museum. Artistic performances, including a water-themed drama by girls from Happy Home, explored the intimate relationship between rivers, culture and lived experience.

The conference will continue today with discussions on the blue economy and transboundary river cooperation and will conclude with the presentation of the Dhaka Statement on Accountable Water Governance, calling for transparency and responsibility in the water sector.

The first day ended with a call for adopting a 'hydro-social' approach that integrates water management with land use, industrial development and population planning to ensure just and sustainable water futures.

The event drew participation from more than one hundred river experts, researchers, policymakers and climate advocates from several countries, including representatives from universities and research institutions in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, the Philippines and the United Kingdom.