The contested common pool resource: Ground water use in urban Kathmandu, Nepal

Shrestha, Shobha

doi:10.3126/gjn.v10i0.17396

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Lalehzari and Krachian (2020) even envisioned a framework for agricultural regions for day-to-day allocations. Recent CPR examples on water management from South Asia include Bangladesh (Newaz & Rahman, 2019), India (Sarker et al, 2009) and Nepal (Shrestha, 2017). In this regard, a potential strategy could be to ‘exploit’ farmers’ perceptions and apprehensions about economic losses due to climatic anomalies, which are largely responsible for their willingness to take on various adaptive strategies (Findlater et al, 2018a, 2018b).…”

Section: Gwua: a Cognitive Exercisementioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater Markets in South Asia: A Bibliometric Assessment of Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Irrigation Development

Parakh

Chaudhuri

2023

Journal of South Asian Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Uninhibited drafting and plummeting groundwater levels have entailed a slew of eco-environmental and socio-economic crises across vast swathes of South Asia, leading to social turmoil over the demand-supply gap in the irrigation sector. We adopted a mixed-method approach, combining systematic bibliometric assessment with contextual analysis, to highlight to the regional water authorities (RWAs) the core tenets of groundwater markets (GWMs), already operating in various capacities and forms in different parts of South Asia, as a potential option to address the crisis. GWMs, occurring along a farmer-water-irrigation continuum, have mixed impacts on groundwater-dependent socio-ecologies, ranging from beneficial to counter-productive. Given the dire projections of groundwater depletion in the near future and the inadequacy of the state machineries to meet surging irrigation demand, a critical policy question that we approached in this narrative was: Can GWMs be institutionalized as a regulatory tool for ‘supply-side’ management of irrigation resources? To that end, we helped RWAs grow a deeper understanding of the complexity and interdisciplinarity associated with the vast network of actors and agencies interlocked within GWMs. By the same token, we urged the RWAs to consider a collective space—potentially in the form of a groundwater users’ association (GWUA)—as a prerequisite to imagining GWMs in an institutional mould. We present a critique of current world experiences with GWUAs and reflect on the socio-environmental barriers of establishing a functional GWUA. We outline tentative means for RWAs to build credibility and increase acceptability of GUWAs at the grassroots, including capacity building, value-based standard operating procedures and harnessing solidarity and social responsibility. In conclusion, we offer RWAs a simple system of a ‘reality’ check, to evaluate the ground conditions and feasibility of contemplating GWMs in the first place.

show abstract

Section: Gwua: a Cognitive Exercisementioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater Markets in South Asia: A Bibliometric Assessment of Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Irrigation Development

Parakh

Chaudhuri

2023

Journal of South Asian Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The Melamchi Water Transfer Project which was supposed to supply about 170 million liters of water per day (MLD) in the urban areas of Kathmandu to provide relief from drinking water scarcity to residents of the capital city, is yet not completed and started distribution of water (Phuyal et al, 2020). Thus, the scarcity and irregularities in water supply urge alternative sources in the valley (Shrestha, 2017), which led private sectors to promote infrastructure including rooftop tanks, drinking water containers and dispensaries (Rest, 2018). Unfortunately, even today, the water demand and supply are not adequate in KV.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying determinants of sustainable water management at the household level through rainwater harvesting systems in Nepal

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The urban water supply systems around the world are highly stressed at present due to growing water demand caused by rapid population growth and unplanned urbanization. The growing environmental awareness and water supply restrictions have made, rainwater harvesting systems (RWHS) a priority as well as a necessity in many countries. To improve urban water security, the practice of an RWHS is increasingly being adopted in the cities and towns of developing countries. This study aims at identifying the factors affecting the adoption of rainwater harvesting for household uses in the Kathmandu valley (KV) of Nepal. The results were drawn from a survey of 405 respondents who reside in the KV. To explain the determinants of adaptation, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used. Results show that independence for water access and system sophistication are significant for the adaptation of RWHS and relative advantage plays a moderating role that has partial mediation among dependent and independent variables with a significant relationship. Thus, variables like independence for water access, system sophistication, relative advantage and sustainable use should be highlighted for a sustainable supply of water. For this, we recommend effective policy interventions at the local and national level for the adoption of RWHS and its advantages in terms of safeguarding water in the long run at the present changing climate scenario.

show abstract

“…More important to note, scarcity and irregularities of water supply, in Kathmandu valley has forced people to look for alternative sources of water supply (Shrestha, 2017). Such water supply irregularities in valley, thus, have led to the privatization of cities water infrastructure including rooftop tanks, drinking water containers and dispensaries (Rest, 2018).…”

Section: Water Demand Scenario In Kathmandumentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of Financing, Governance and Socioeconomic Benefits of Melamchi Water Supply Project in Nepal: Lessons Learnt

Phuyal¹,

Bhattarai²,

Devkota³

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study assesses the dynamics of multi-sectorial benefits of a top-flagship project which bears tangible benefits of the project and benefits earned by the beneficiaries through nonrelated water pricing mechanism. The paper is based on content analysis and consultation with the stakeholders concerned and beneficiaries. The result reveals huge tangible benefits from the project; however, poor project governance and institutional weakness in managing the project all contributed to delaying the project by nearly 15 years than its scheduled completion date. This has resulted loses of over tens of millions USD annually only due to missing opportunity to obtain water revenue of transferred water, leaving aside other indirect benefits of water scarce urban households of Kathmandu. The lessons learnt from this project provide valuable information and insight for addressing governances and institutional factors in infrastructural project development and project execution in Nepal and also in other developing countries in the region.

show abstract

The contested common pool resource: Ground water use in urban Kathmandu, Nepal

Cited by 9 publications

References 7 publications

Groundwater Markets in South Asia: A Bibliometric Assessment of Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Irrigation Development

Groundwater Markets in South Asia: A Bibliometric Assessment of Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Irrigation Development

Identifying determinants of sustainable water management at the household level through rainwater harvesting systems in Nepal

Dynamics of Financing, Governance and Socioeconomic Benefits of Melamchi Water Supply Project in Nepal: Lessons Learnt

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About