Preserve hydro-geological data

Bangladesh urgently needs an effective hydro-geological database to manage and preserve its water resources, experts told a workshop in the capital yesterday.

"Preservation of these valuable data is very essential. WARPO has developed a National Water Resources Database. Still there are more hydro-geological data available in different organisations," said SM Shah-Newaz, an official of the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM).

The director of IWM's Irrigation Management Division said collection, preservation and analysis of these data were needed for judicious use of valuable water resources.

IWM in collaboration with Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO) and Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) organised the research workshop on Determination of Hydro-geological Parameters for different regions of Bangladesh at a hotel.

The agencies mainly responsible for collection of hydro-geological data in Bangladesh are BWDB, DPHE, Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) and the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) but the data are not properly maintained, while some data have already been lost.

Shah-Newaz said it needed to be understood that unplanned withdrawal of groundwater would cause depletion of groundwater and enhance the likelihood of salt water intrusion in coastal regions.

"For sustainable groundwater development and management plans, hydro-geological information such as hydraulic conductivity, specific yield, depth and extent of geological layers has profound importance," he said.

He said IWM undertook a collaborative research project to collect hydro-geological data from different organisations and determine hydro-geological parameters for helping decision-making for the country's future groundwater development.

Speaking as chief guest, Water Resources Secretary Dr Zafar Ahmed Khan said there was no alternative to research in taking development projects in Bangladesh's water sector, as it was one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

BWDB Director General M Ismail Hossain also spoke.