Transboundary cooperation on infrastructure and institutions for flood risk management in the Koshi River basin in India and Nepal

Challenges in the Koshi River basin include a cascading multi-hazard environment as well as climate change and variability, while opportunities include possibilities for harnessing water resources for agriculture, energy, and navigation. Upstream-downstream linkages within countries and across borders play an important role in addressing both challenges and opportunities. To address these challenges and benefit from the opportunities, there is a need for cooperation among the stakeholders in the basin, particularly across borders. The focus of this paper is on transboundary cooperation in building infrastructure and institutions for flood risk management. This paper reviews and analyses existing institutional mechanisms for transboundary cooperation in the Koshi basin utilizing Ostrom's framework of design principles and uses the lessons learned to suggest a way forward. It also reviews mechanisms on the Gandak and Mahakali rivers for analysing the changes over time.