Planning for sustainability of water use in Nepali basins
On World Water Day, the CSIRO team involved in the Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio (SDIP) highlight the work of one of the project teams in Nepal. For the full range of SDIP projects please visit our website.
Basin Planning is a key policy direction in Nepal.
While, the Government of Nepal is committed to undertaking nation-wide Basin Planning it has limited experience in this process.
CSIRO and the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat, Nepal (WECS) have been undertaking, under the auspices of SDIP, a Basin Planning capacity strengthening program.
This program is exposing the stakeholders to the concept of Basin Planning and its delivery in a highly strategic basin (Kamala) – a learning through doing exercise.
The Kamala River Basin is situated in the eastern part of Nepal and supports agriculture based livelihoods for about 600,000 people. The people of the Basin face challenges such as drought, floods, landslides and riverbank erosion and wish to improve water management while conserving the environment.
Stakeholder concerns
(Transcript available (i) for video basic information)
Stakeholder concerns relating to gender
(Transcript available (i) for video basic information)
A Kamala Basin Stakeholder workshop was held in July 2018. A team of senior water policy officials and technical advisers of CSIRO and its partner the International Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Management (ICEWaRM) brought together stakeholders from WECS, four Nepali districts (Dhanusha, Siraha, Udayapur and Sindhuli) and 12 local governments.
The meeting explored plausible inclusive water management scenarios that are guided by the nation’s water policy and good practice examples from Australia.
The Government of Nepal is applying the information and learning gained in this process to prepare strategic basin plans across all the river basins in Nepal.
About the meeting
(Transcript available (i) for video basic information)
Stakeholder solutions
(Transcript available (i) for video basic information)
About the project
(Transcript available (i) for video basic information)
About SDIP
This work is part of a portfolio of investments supported by the Australian Government addressing the regional challenges of water, food and energy security in South Asia.
The SDIP Phase 2 aims to improve the integrated management of water, energy and food in the Himalayan river basins, addressing climate risk and the interests of women and girls. It seeks to:
- strengthen practices for regional cooperation
- generate and use critical new knowledge to enhance regional cooperation
- improve the regional enabling environment for private sector engagement.
Find out more about SDIP in CSIRO by visiting our website
Find out more about the Nepal work in SDIP
Find more information about international water research at CSIRO