Transboundary rivers
Technical support to Nepal's standing mechanisms on shared rivers.
Nepal shares almost every one of its major rivers. That fact sits underneath a large part of what the ministry does, and it is handled through standing mechanisms that meet on a regular cycle.
My part is technical: assembling positions, checking the factual basis of what is put forward, and making sure an engineering claim in a negotiating document can survive contact with the other side’s engineers.
What is different about this work
In domestic file work, an error gets caught and corrected. In this work, a number you cannot defend becomes a precedent that constrains the next several rounds. The standard of evidence is higher not because the hydrology is harder, but because the document has a much longer life.
The other difference is that the technical and the political are not separable. Where a gauge sits, which years count as the record, and what counts as a normal flow are all technical questions with direct consequences for entitlement.
A note on detail
The substance of this work is not mine to publish, so this page describes the shape of it and nothing more. If you want to discuss the methods rather than the cases, write to me.