Drought, a slow phenomenon, increases severity in agriculture that is directly or indirectly linked with water. Livelihood of rural people in Nepal mainly depends on agriculture, therefore, drought either results in diversification of livelihood or most likely increase poverty. Thus, severity of drought leading to migration (permanent and seasonal) as a common livelihood strategy was studied in Pakarbas (Khadadevi Municipality) and Chisapani (Manthali Municipality) of Ramechhap District in Nepal. From the trend analysis of recorded data, the total annual rainfall was found to be decreasing whereas May, June and July were found to be the hottest months observed in temperature trend and the year 2009 had the maximum recorded temperature (32.6 °C). Similarly, the number of dry months was observed to have slow but increasing trend. For drought assessment and mapping, remote sensing analysis was adopted for three years using

Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) system for the domestic needs in Daugha Village Development Committee (VDC), after its installation in 1996, has become a “unique water culture” with altogether 1,238 water harvesting jars and storage tanks of varied sizes at present in 663 households. The paper presents the sustainability of the RWH implemented 18 years back at the household level of Daugha VDC, Gulmi District. Various participatory tools like household interviews, key informant’s interviews and field observation along with water quality test of the stored water were carried out. The sustainability of the rainwater harvesting system was assessed based on the four key sustainability dimensions- Technical, Socio-environmental, Institutional and Cost recovery. The core factors and sub-factors were given weightage following the Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) method. Daugha community has accepted RWH as an appropriate and effective alternative to meet the domestic water demand making the systems life savior, where water drudgery was at the peak and mostly women and children shared the responsibility of water management. On an average, 6.35 hours per family per day is saved because of installed RWH system in their homestead which is being utilized in some economic, social and child-care activities by the women. However, the best utilization of saved time for economic growth through various Income Generating Activities (IGAs) and mobilization of local funds to improve income level of the people seems lacking. Similarly, capacity and skills of local people to upgrade and improve their RWH systems have been observed as a gap. RWH systems have imparted very positive effect on sanitation and hygiene front. Significant progress was seen in terms of construction and use of toilets, increased knowledge about the importance of sanitation and hygiene issues, and changes in sanitation and hygiene behavior in the communities. This has resulted in decrease of water borne and water washed diseases recorded in the local sub-health post. These indicators portray the strong technical and socio-environmental acceptance of the system. In contrast to this, the study revealed that institutional and cost-recovery dimensions of sustainability are weaker, which pulls overall sustainability of RWH system under “sustained but at risk” when compared to sustainability ranking practiced by WaterAid.

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The study was carried out to assess the performance and management analysis of Pasthali Water Supply System. Various data collection tools such as questionnaire survey, field observation and key informant interviews were used along with water quality analysis at the source, treatment plants, point of delivery and use. The filter bed media analysis was also carried out to assess the uniformity in the bed media. Mcrobial contamination in treated water was found due to improper sand granular used in filtration unit that hinder efficient removal of the microbes, lack of chlorination in the unit caused increase in microbial contamination at the point of delivery along with the unhygienic environment at the distribution tanks. Manual chlorine addition for three days was found to be effective in reducing microbial contamination drastically, but the water is recontaminated once delivered and stored at the household level. Improper handling and unhygienic storage location were found to be the major causes of increased contamination at households. The status of the water source is not safe either and seeks intermediate attention. The operation and management of Pasthali Water Supply System solely depends on water tariff and bears financial loss annually. The study also concludes that there is surplus of treated water termed as non-revenue water in the system. Proper granulation of the sand in the filtration unit and chlorination are must to ensure the safe water along with the awareness on the water management at the household levels. Supplying of non-revenue water to the nearby villages could be a potential to generate resources that ultimately strengthen financial aspects of the system and build resilience to financially break-down in the future.