Priority River Basins Flood Risk Management Project (PRBFRMP) is a project that focuses on the flood risk management of the prioritized six river basins in the Terai region: (i) West Rapti; (ii) Mawa Ratuwa; (iii) Lakhandei; (iv) Mohana Khutiya; (v) East Rapti; and (vi) Bakraha. The project is formulized to improve the resilience of communities to flooding in the six selected river basins in the Terai. Collectively, 29,356 hectares (ha) of the priority river basins and 70,428 people are exposed to floods over 1-in-50-year return period. The project areas are susceptible to flood damage and erosion of lands in the absence of proper protection from floods. These areas are vulnerable to flooding due to in-migration of people in search of better livelihoods and insufficient flood protection infrastructure or early flood warnings and low community awareness on how to respond to flooding. Flood risk is expected to increase with climate change. The project will support Nepal’s National Water Plan to reduce social and economic losses from water induced disasters through blending structural and nonstructural measures. The project will protect agricultural land and households in priority areas from a 1-in-50-year flood by constructing flood embankments, spurs and outlet structures. The local response to flooding will be strengthened through the development of flood forecasting and early warning systems (FFEWS) and community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM). The direct project beneficiaries will be the local communities within the project area. The Department of Water Resources and Irrigation (DWRI) and the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) are the implementing agencies.

The project is jointly funded by Government of Nepal and Asian Development Bank.

Outputs:

The project will have the following outputs:

Output 1. Improved flood protection infrastructure.

       The project will reduce direct impacts from flooding through (i) construction of flood control infrastructure (embankments, spurs, and outlet structures); (ii) planning and implementation of bioengineering of river embankments for enhanced flood risk management, using suitable vegetative methods to prevent soil erosion; and (iii) development of maintenance manuals and an asset management system for flood protection infrastructure. The construction works are expected to generate employment for at least 10% of the affected households, including indigenous peoples, Dalits and women.

Output 2. Enhanced flood forecasting and response systems.

        The project will support the government and communities in flood-prone areas to improve early flood warning systems through (i) installing about 40 rain gauges and 30 hydro meteorological stations, (ii) developing about 5 flood forecasting and early warning system (FFEWS), and (iii) improving maintenance of FFEWS.

Output 3. Improved flood prevention and preparedness capacity.

           This will be delivered by (i) undertaking an organizational capacity building program on flood risk management and infrastructure planning for the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation (DWRI) and local governments (municipalities, village municipalities and provincial governments); (ii) developing the capacity of local communities on disaster preparedness; (iii) constructing about 48 flood shelters with gender-responsive features; and (iv) developing community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM)  plans, in consultation with community stakeholders (including women) and in line with local development plans and budgets that integrate disaster risk information.