Browsing by Author "Pant, Dhruba"

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Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in Nepal
(2010) Bartlett, Ryan; Bharati, Luna; Pant, Dhruba; Hosterman, Heather; McCornick, Peter
"The impact of climate change (CC) on water resources is likely to affect agricultural systems and food security. This is especially true for Nepal, a least developed country, where a high percentage of the population is dependent on agriculture for its livelihoods. It is thus crucial for Nepal’s leaders and resource managers to draft and begin implementing national adaptation plans. This working paper aims to create a more comprehensive understanding of how the impacts of CC will be realized at different scales in Nepal, from household livelihoods to national food security, and the many institutions governing the ultimate adaptation process."
Implications of Bulk Water Transfer on Local Water Management Institutions: A Case Study of the Melamchi Water Supply Project in Nepal
(2008) Pant, Dhruba; Bhattarai, Madhusudan; Basnet, Govinda
"To mitigate a drinking water crisis in Kathmandu valley, the Government of Nepal initiated the Melamchi Water Supply Project in 1997, which will divert water from the Melamchi River to Kathmandu city's water supply network. In the first phase,the Project will divert 170,000 cubic meters of water per day (at the rate of 1.97M3/sec), which will be tripled using the same infrastructure as city water demand increases in the future. The large scale transfer of water would have far reaching implications in both water supplying and receiving basins. This paper analyzes some of the major changes related to local water management and socioeconomics brought about by the Project and in particular the changes in the local water management institutions in the Melamchi basin. Our study shows that traditional informal water management institutions were effective in regulating present water use practices in the water supplying basin, but the situation will vastly change because of the scale of water transfer, and power inequity between the organized public sector on one side and dispersed and unorganized marginal water users on the other. The small scale of water usage and multiple informal arrangements at the local level have made it difficult for the local users and institutions to collectively bargain and negotiate with the central water transfer authority for a fair share of project benefits and compensation for the losses imposed on them. The process and scale of project compensation for economic losses and equity over resource use are at the heart of the concerns and debates about the Melamchi water transfer decision. The Project has planned for a one-time compensation package of about US$18 million for development infrastructure related investments and is planning to share about one percent of revenue generated from water use in the city with the supplying basin. The main issues here are what forms of water sharing governance, compensation packages, and water rights structures would emerge in relation to the project implementation and whether they are socially acceptable ensuring equitable distribution of the project benefits to all basin communities. In addition, these issues of the Melamchi project discussed in this paper are equally pertinent to other places where rural to urban water transfer projects are under discussion."
Integrated Development and Management of Water Resources for Productive and Equitable Use in the Indrawati River Basin, Nepal
(2002) Bhattarai, Madhusudan; Pant, Dhruba; Mishra, V. S.; Devkota, Hari; Pun, Shuku; Kayastha, R. N.; Molden, David
"This paper on the Melamchi water transfer project which is being carried out in the Indrawati river basin,3 is a summary and synthesis of four detailed case studies conducted earlier, in relation to the project. The case studies were conducted in Nepal by the IWMI and Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS)/Nepal team, funded by the Ford Foundation/India."
Integrated Management of Water, Forest and Land Resources in Nepal: Opportunities for Improved Livelihood
(2005) Pant, Dhruba; Thapa, Sabita; Singh, Ashok; Bhattarai, Madhusudan; Molden, David
"This paper is aimed at furthering understanding of if and how communities co-manage forest and irrigation activities with a view to gain insights about integrated natural resource management. The main question addressed is whether the management of these two resources can be better integrated for enhanced livelihood opportunities and for reduced vulnerability of the rural poor. It uses case studies from the hills of Nepal, where both water and forest resources are integral to poor people’s lives. The results of the case studies show that water and forest resources are managed separately. The decision-making processes for the management of these two resources are independent from each other. Importantly though, informal interaction between management groups does exist. The reasons for the separation of the two management groups are that the boundaries and people involved in managing forest and irrigation water resources overlap but do not coincide, and problems and issues in management of both resources are distinctly different. Furthermore, government policy and programs support these different groups separately. Programs to support the forest users group and the irrigation users group have met with a degree of success. For forestry, while there are no infrastructure interventions, there are strong policy and legal interventions providing support for the management of forest resources. Community forest programs directly benefit poor users through improved access and use of forest products, and indirectly through investment of forest user funds in community activities that generate income. Benefit sharing was found to be more equitable in the forest users group than in the irrigation users group. However, women’s participation in formal activities of both forestry and irrigation groups was negligible. The supported irrigation systems showed marked gains in yields, income and employment. Support to irrigation systems include physical infrastructure combined with financial and technical assistance, but there is weaker enforcement of policy and legal provisions. Thus there appears to be ample opportunity to learn and share experiences from one another. The study indicates that there are opportunities for the integration of both activities. Because changes in land use impact the water source for irrigation, a starting point could be resolution of conflicts around water and land, and managing forests to protect catchments. The existing informal contacts, especially where there is an overlap of membership, could serve as a platform for future integration. While the two groups do not need to be combined, better interaction can only be constructive. This is an area for future research and action."
Local Water Management Institutions and the Bulk Intersectoral Water Transfer: A Case Study of the Melamchi Water Transfer Project in Nepal
(2004) Bhattarai, Madhusudan; Pant, Dhruba
"To mitigate drinking water crisis in Kathmandu city, the Government of Nepal has recently initiated Melamchi water transfer project, which will divert water from the Melamchi River to Kathmandu city's water supply network. In the first phase, the project will divert 170,000 cubic meters of water per day (@ 1.97M3/sec), which will be to triple-using the same infrastructure- as city water demand increases in the future. This paper analyzes some of the major local water management related changes brought by the water transfer project, and the changes in local water governance and CPR institutions in the Melamchi basin. Our study showed that traditional informal water management institutions were effective in regulating present water use practices, but the situation will vastly change because of this scale of water transfer decisions, and inequity in bargaining power due to the involvement of organized public sector at one side and dispersed and unorganized marginal waters users and FMIS institutions at the other end. This has made it difficult for the local farmers (users) and institutions to collectively bargain and negotiate with the central water transfer authority for fair share of the project benefits, and/or, due compensation of the losses imposed to them. The process and scale of project compensation for economic losses and equity over resources uses are at the heart of concerns and debates about the Melamchi water transfer decision. The Melamchi project has plan for one time fixed type of compensation package and about one percent of revenue sharing package from the city collected water revenue with the basin of water origin. The main issues here are what forms of compensation packages and water rights structures would emerge in relation to the project activities that are socially acceptable and also ensure equitable distribution of the project benefits between the two water sharing basin-communities. This paper illustrates some of these issues exclusively in the case of Melamchi water transfer project in Nepal, but these issues are equally applicable to wider regions of other developing countries where such rural to urban water transfer decisions are in discussions."
Multiple Use Schemes: Benefit to Smallholder
(2007) Pant, Dhruba; Gautam, Kamal Raj; Shakya, Sabita Dhakhwa; Adhikari, Deepak Lochan
"This study has tried to look into the various aspects of introduction and use of MUS and its effect on the household and the community to identify factors for up-scaling. Due to the unavailability of benchmark data, the assessment of the schemes is based on the information obtained from the respondents for the before and after situations."
Synthesis of IWMI Work in Nepal
(2010) Pant, Dhruba; Samad, Madar
"The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has been working in Nepal since 1986 with the objective of undertaking research in water management and to strengthen the research capabilities of concerned government agencies. The research helped to develop appropriate mechanisms for providing support to Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems (FMIS) and the initiation of participatory irrigation management (PIM). The river basin studies helped policy formulation for integrated planning and management of water resources besides the methodological contribution through the development of appropriate tools for water management studies. It also contributed to enhancing the capabilities of agency officials and local researchers through their involvement in research activities."