Twin giants
"Although the delta is named after the Ganges River, the Brahmaputra actually brings more water through it. These two enormous rivers converge west of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and regularly cause huge floods. Cyclones also frequently submerge the delta," Tom explains. Within Bangladesh, the estuary in the Bay of Bengal is called the Meghna. The latest deadly storm took place in November last year, when the formidable cyclone Sidr claimed almost 4000 victims.

Managing sedimentation
Although climate change is placing huge pressure on the Ganges delta, Tom points out that an opportunity is created by the enormous amounts of sediment brought down from the Himalaya by the main rivers. "If it were possible to increase sedimentation and reduce erosion at the same time, more land would be created. While this is already happening on a small scale thanks to the piecemeal construction of cross dams, something much more extensive would be required in order to deal with rising sea levels."

Comparison with other deltas
Tom hopes that this issue will be discussed with experts on other deltas at Aquaterra 2009. There is, among other things, already an agreement with specialists from the Mississippi delta. The Dutch water expert, who spends a lot of time in Bangladesh, hopes to provide advice in the field of water management to the Bangladeshi government.

Aquaterra 2009 will focus mainly on the following estuary and delta regions:

• Missisippi
• California Bay
• Rhine
• Yellow River
• Ganges-Brahmaputra
• Ciliwung
• Mekong
• Nile

Click here to view the Aquaterra programme