Policy Brief on “The Future of River Management” - Exploring how the COVID-19 crisis can help shape river management strategies of the future

On 1 May 2020, the National Institute of Urban Affairs, NIUA, (autonomous body under India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs) and the National Mission for Clean Ganga, NMCG, (under India’s Ministry of Jal Shakti) organized an Ideathon on “The Future of River Management”. The purpose of this Ideathon was to use the current COVID-19 crisis as a backdrop to brainstorm on the river management lessons that the crisis has taught us and the strategies that river management in the future should focus on.This policy brief is a succinct collection of the ideas discussed under each of identified themes. The brief is expected to provide useful insights to basin managers, government agencies, engineers, planners, researchers, and students for creating avenues to strengthen river management in the future.