Water Resources Engineering Specialist

Objective/Purpose of the Assignment:

The consultant will be responsible for supporting the Department of Water Induced Disasters and Planning (DWIDP) to revise its hazard mapping and review guidelines related to river training, and glacial lake outbursts.

Scope of the Work:

DWIDP implements a number of activities including the preparation of hazard maps, conducting community awareness programs & trainings, and management of transboundary rivers including inundation and flood management. These activities are important to protect infrastructure from damage due to flooding events greater coordination is needed between DWIDP and other Government agencies. DWIDP will review its hazard maps under this activity in order to update it to include climate change vulnerability. This will also provide useful information for other Government agencies. They will also undertake a review of flood control measures in place to identify how they can be targeted to protect key vulnerable infrastructure identified by other project stakeholders, such as the types and placement of embankments to protect communities against floods. Flood management measures may then subsequently be incorporated into draft concept papers. Further, during the period January 2011 to December 2011, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (through ADB financing under TA 7173) will downscale global and regional models and prepare impact scenarios for a 12- to 25-km grid in Nepal. This will provide improved information on how climate patterns have and may change and will be useful in updating the assumed water availability and flood risks for each sector and will be incorporated by DWIDP into its hazard mapping. Coordination with other experts hired under Component 1 of the SPCR will be required to draw in expertise related to water-source conservation and environmental measures, a need expressed by DWIDP.

Detailed Tasks to be performed by the consultant:

• Work with the Department and national consultant to identify case analysis scope, terms of reference.
• Provide support to the national consultant in undertaking the case analysis.
• Review and assess current review guidelines related to river training, and glacial lake outbursts
• Drawing from international experiences, provide recommendations on adjustments that can be made to the above in order to better incorporate considerations of climate change risks and natural hazards.
• Upon agreement with the Department, make changes to the engineering guidelines
• Review international experiences to indicate cost implications from existing case studies and models to follow.
• Review of flood control measures in place to identify how they can be targeted to protect key vulnerable infrastructure identified by other project stakeholders, such as the types and placement of embankments to protect communities against floods.
• Contribute to training and capacity building activities.
• In light of Nepal’s Climate Change Policy and the knowledge developed through the TA, assist DWIDP to review its policy and make recommendations for policy revisions.

Outputs:

• Revised guidelines related to river training, and glacial lake outbursts, recommendations and preliminary design for flood control measures for vulnerability reduction (related to task 6 above)
• Policy recommendations.

Skills required:

• Advanced degree in hydraulic engineering or related field of study.
• Training and experience in the development of river training and flood control guidelines and manuals.
• Extensive experience working in fragile mountain ecosystems, preferably in Nepal and/or region is sought.
• He/she must also have worked on previous river training projects and have at least ten years of experience.
• Some exposure to climate change risk management in the related field in needed.