In April 2016, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved the Regional Capacity Development Technical Assistance (R-CDTA) titled “Strengthening Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in Mountainous River Basins”. The main outputs of the Bhutan component of the project, and the proposed activities to achieve them, are to (1) Strengthen water resource institutions; (2) Enhance the technical capacity of water resource institution staff in Wangchhu basin and; (3) Disseminate knowledge and good practices for IWRM in Asia and the Pacific region using a general project factsheet, Wangchhu Basin Committee (WBC) performance benchmarking and the water security status of Wangchhu basin
WWSI Data Framework is prepared to assist the National Environment Commission Secretariat (NECS) and Wangchhu Basin Committee (WBC) in implementing the Wangchhu Water Security Index to the Wangchhu Basin.
It gives an understanding of the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder in the collection of data for the preparation of WWSI report. Furthermore, it provides a clear understanding of what data to be collected, at what level it should be collected and who should be responsible to provide the information. Finally, it also gives information on the TA budget and disbursement mechanism.
WWSI is an aggregation of the five dimensions, which makes the BWSI and applied to the Wangchhu Basin. Bhutan Water Security Index (BWSI) consists of five key dimensions, 11 sub-dimensions and 57 indicators. These have been adapted from the Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO) 2013 through a consultative process, represented by stakeholders and competent authorities. The dimensions and indicators make up the BWSI, which provides the framework for planning, monitoring and interagency coordination. The five key dimensions are listed hereunder:
- Rural drinking water supply and sanitation
- Economic water security
- Urban water security
- Environmental water security
- Disaster and climate change resilience