Nepal’s History of Water Management Institutions: Is there a Role for them in Adapting to Water Scarcity? - Dr. Hari Krishna Shrestha, Nepal Engineering College

1. NEPAL’S HISTORY OF WATER MANAGEMENT
INSTITUTIONS: IS THERE A ROLE FOR THEM IN
ADAPTING TO WATER SCARCITY?
Dr. Hari Krishna Shrestha
Nepal Engineering College
hari@nec.edu.np
Water Security in Peri-Urban South Asia
Inception Workshop
August 16-20, 2010

2. WATER MANAGEMENT INSTITUTIONS IN NEPAL
Rajkulo
Guthi for management (including maintenance) of Dug wells, Ponds,
Springs and Stone spouts
FMIS/WUA
Dept. of Water Supply and Sewerage/WSC/KUKL
Water Management for productive use:
Nepal Electricity Authority (formerly Dept. of Electricity)
Dept. of Electricity Development
Department of Irrigation
Dept. of Agriculture
Dept. of Hydrology and Meteorology: Data collection and
dissemination for better management of water resources
Dept. of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management
DWIDP for water management to reduce disaster risk

3. WATER SCARCITY – A GROWING PROBLEM
Is water scarcity real?
Per capita water needed for agriculture, industry, energy, environment: 1700
m3; less than 1000 m3 : water scarcity; less than 500 m3 : absolute scarcity
(UNDP, 2006)
Annual total water available: 207 km3
Per capita water availability in Nepal: 7600 m3 (so how come scarcity?)
However,
Per capita water consumption: less than 10% of availability
Access to drinking water in Kathmandu: 57% wet, 32% dry (up to 89% nationwide)
Load shedding due to water shortage in HEP plants
Water requirement for irrigation: 50 km3 for all irrigable area (with current
irrigation methods)
Water available for irrigation: less than 20% of irrigable area
Water scarcity despite water abundance? Economic water scarcity?
Water shortage or water scarcity? Does it matter?

4. Regmi, A.R., 2007

5. Long water queue in a country
with abundant water
Boulton, C., 2010
Matthew R., 2007

6. Condom et. al , 2009

7. Condom et. al , 2009

8. Prospect of future water shortage
Condom et. al , 2009

9. Shortage, yes. Scarcity, no (in national scale).
However, too much water than needed in
monsoon; too little water in dry season.
Needed: better water management for right
amount of water at right time at right location
to avoid scarcity
Adaptation strategy/roles for better
management

10. ADAPTATION ROLES OF TRADITIONAL
INSTITUTIONS
Rajkulo:
Rajkulo Community based management of the water flow and
distribution in the canals for optimum use of water
Guthi: re-model itself for adaptation to changed socio-cultural
Guthi
context; adaptation roles: conservation of existing infrastructures,
better coordination with related line agencies for (a) preventing
damage to existing infrastructure, (b) source protection, (c) optimizing
water use
Knowing the time and space variation of available water, relationship
between recharge and discharge etc. needed for proper planning of
water use schedule. Use of indigenous knowledge.
FMIS:
FMIS reservoir/pond construction, recharge gallery, management for
augmentation of water supply in scarce time by groundwater,
Multifunctional WUA: drought resistant variety agricultural produce
WUA

11. GENERAL ADAPTATION ROLES FOR FORMAL-
NEWER INSTITUTIONS
Investment in management and efficiency
Promotion of community water management
Improvement of water management
Proper value of water
Promotion of water recycling
Storage capacity expansion
Improved crop planning
PPP of local water utilities

12. INSTITUTIONS SPECIFIC ADAPTATION ROLES
HIGHEST (96%) USE OF FRESHWATER IS IRRIGATION/AGRICULTURE
Dept. of Agriculture:
Water Demand management through: 1% ~ 30%
Development of low water demanding crops
Technology development: promotion of greenhouse based production
Use of vertical space
Development of better planting techniques
Training and involvement of farmers in pre- and post-harvesting
techniques
Development of less water demanding food processing techniques
Use of wetlands and waste lands for producing improved grass for cattle
Weed control without flood irrigation
Weed resistant crop variety
Promotion of soil coverage with plastic film to reduce soil moisture
evaporation and weed control
Promotion of zero-till growing method
Use of mulch for water conservation

13. Dept. of Irrigation 1% ~ 30%
Development and promotion of more efficient irrigation
techniques
Promotion of drip irrigation
Community based irrigation management
Community/farmer-researcher (2-way) training on better use
of water
Waste water/grey water irrigation
Bubble Irrigation
“More from Less” Campaign
Promote reduction in water leakage from irrigation canals

14. ADAPTATION ROLES FOR NEWER INSTITUTIONS
BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE NEEDED TO REDUCE WATER MISUSE
DWSS/WSSC/KUKL:
Reducing leakage (technical and non-technical)
Promotion of motion detecting and/or time sensitive taps/faucets
Promotion of household rainwater harvesting
Municipality based rainwater use
Artificial recharge galleries/fields along river banks and designated
areas: use of flood plains/ecotones as groundwater recharge area
Cascade of reservoirs
Differential/Equitable water tariff
Promotion of small scale water treatment plants: personal or
community ownership of plants
Less water demanding sanitation techniques
Promotion of Ecosan Toilets

15. Merz et. al. 2003
Merz et. al. 2003

16. ISRAEL EXPERIENCE
Israel has a 75 percent water-recycling rate, making it the world's
number one water recycler. The second-largest water recycler is
Spain, with a rate of 12 percent.
The Israeli-invented drip irrigation system has helped achieve one of
the highest water efficiency rates in the world.
The world's largest Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) desalination
plant is in Israel, producing 100 million m3 at the cost of
approximately $0.52 per m3 of water, making it also the most-cost
efficient plant of its kind.
Israel creates close to 25 percent of its consumed water.
The country's total water consumption has remained the same since
the 1960, despite a growing population, increasing water
requirements, and growing agricultural production.
Israel has demonstrated the ability to adapt economically and socially to
overcome many of water scarcity issues.
Arlosoroff, S. 2009

17. DSCWM
Soil conservation practices to be linked to
income generation for farmers
Right of way as community based productive
land for sustainability of right of way along
highways

18. DHM
Development of better long term weather
prediction methodology and sharing the
information with the farmers for better selection of
the crops based on expected water availability
Better estimation technology for snow melt runoff
and sharing of information with farmers and
hydropower developers in March/April for better
selection of crops/turbine operation based on
expected water availability in the streams

19. Glacial lakes as part of a solution to the water
scarcity problem rather than part of a problem
related to GLOF
Each of the adaptation role will play a small role in
solving water shortage problem.
Thank you.