5.1.3. Exploring and Evaluating Options with a Common Vision

Through the collaboration and use of the Basin Futures digital platform, a common vision for agricultural development could be attained by developing relevance and direction. Enabling cooperative, best-practice and efficient agriculture production systems to be designed. Channelling the efforts and knowledge of all stakeholders into the one platform can increase common understanding and agreements on priorities achieved through a fully inclusive, transparent and participatory process.

#### *5.2. Case Study 2: Negotiating Water-Sharing Agreements*

Water issues, hydrological boundaries and development impacts cut across administrative frontiers. Well-informed water management decisions and policies require effective communication and a shared understanding of the issue at hand between stakeholders. Communication and understanding between stakeholders can be difficult to achieve, especially in transboundary or politically contentious basins. Digital tools that are objective, transparent and cater to a range of abilities can pave the way forward to understanding issues and effective communication between stakeholder groups.

The purpose of Basin Futures is to digitally transform engagement processes and make accessible information and evidence for the majority, hence giving people voice and the ability to engage with the evidence for themselves and explore scenarios and their alternatives rather than just relying on more prescribed information. The use of digital platforms that can take into account global scale hydrological changes such as climate change and local scale water issues and developments and create tangible dialogues for action at appropriate national, regional, and local scales is a key to future stakeholder engagement processes. We selected the Mahanadi Basin to demonstrate a potential stakeholder engagement strategy for negotiating water-sharing agreements between the states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha using the Basin Futures platform.

#### 5.2.1. The Problem—Water Sharing in the Mahanadi Basin, India

The Mahanadi Basin in India is home to ~36 million people. The Mahanadi River begins in the state of Chhattisgarh and flows through to the state of Odisha. The river is essential for intensive agriculture in the region, not only for irrigation but for extensive fertile soil the river deposits along the 858 km river course. The construction of the large Hirakud Dam has greatly altered the flow regime and extent of flooding that occurs in the region. Water sharing practices in the Mahanadi Basin have been a source of conflict between the Indian States of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. The two states are in dispute over the construction of allegedly illegal barrages within the respective states that are damaging the ecological integrity of the river. The states also disagree on the use of the Hirakud Dam and the catchment area share each state has of the reservoir.
