The proposed Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project will enhance rural household incomes in Gopalganj and Madaripur districts of Bangladesh by improving climate-resilience, productivity, effectiveness and sustainability of existing flood control, drainage and irrigation (FCD/I) schemes through participatory water resource management (WRM) for economic purposes and create sustainable livelihood opportunities. The project will improve drainage across some 55 ha benefitting about 460,000 people by addressing constraints in agriculture, fisheries and livelihood development through participatory planning and digitization of WRM and focus on digital transformation of grassroots organizations through unique farmer database and digital early warning systems. The project will also support preparation of a follow-on project in consultation with the government, reflecting ADB’s Strategy 2030, past lessons to scale-up climate financing by climate change adaptation through a national programmatic approach to climate resilient integrated WRM. Community Resilience Partnership Program and digital transformation will be integral to the follow-on project.

Key staff of Delta Context has supported ADB in the preparation of the loan documents, and provide expert advice for water resources management and design of selected interventions, taking into account the geographical situation of the project (tidal influences) and the climate change impacts.