NATIONAL Water POLICY

Presented by:
Ashis Pokhrel
PUR074MSLWE001
 Policy
 A policy is a set of ideas or plans that is used as a basis for
making decisions.

 No policy means no control.

 No guidance on how to make decisions.

 Absence of policy leads to inconsistency in decision

making.
• Water is one of the major natural resources for economic development. Inspite
of many efforts made in the past, water resource development is slow in our
country.
• Available water 225 billion cubic meters annually
• Utilized water 15 billion cubic meters annually
• Groundwater resources are being used for irrigation purposes 756MCM
• Groundwater for domestic purposes 297 MCM
• Just over 700 MW of electricity generated and 400MW imported from India.
• Even less production in winter season
• Agricultural land relies on the erratic monsoon rains for irrigation, with only 20
percent of the land benefitting from a regular irrigation facility.
• Similarly, more than twenty percent people are far from getting access to
drinking water.
 History
In order to make water resource development comprehensive,
systematized and accelerate the process of development, Government of
Nepal issued Water Resource Strategy in 2002.

• To implement the activities indentified by the Water Resources

Strategy (WRS), the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS)
was started formulating the National Water Plan (NWP) in 2002 which
was approved by HMGN in September 2005.
 Organizational structure

Ministry of energy, Ministry of water

water resource supply
and irrigation

Department Department of
Department of
of water hydrology and
electricity
resource and meteorology
development
irrigation
 Water and energy commission
secretariat

 Established with the objective of developing water and energy resources in

integrated and accelerated manner

 Works under ministry of energy and water resources

 Assists in formulation of policies and planning of projects

National Water Policy
 The objective of the National Water Policy is to take cognizance of the
existing situation, to propose a framework for creation of a system of laws
and institutions and for a plan of action with a unified national perspective.

 Encompasses the policy-making processes that affect the collection,

preparation, use and disposal of water to support human uses and protect
environmental quality.

 Sets the rules for how water is allocated for different uses.

 Seek to make transparent arrangements for water sharing, based on

evidence and scientific analysis

 The water resources shall be developed and managed as per the integrated
water resource management principles.
 Lack of unified or integrated national water policy
 Different departments have their own policies:

 Hydropower policy
 Water supply and sanitation policy
 Irrigation policy

 Lack of communication between departments regarding a unified national

water policy.
 Hydropower Policy
Hydropower policy clearly reflects the direction on vital issues such as :

 Development of multipurpose plans for maximum utilization of the

available water resources,
 Appropriate sharing of benefits, role of public and private sector, utilization
of internal as well as external market
 Possibility of export of hydropower energy
 Possibility of foreign investment
 Commitment in environmental protection
Water supply and sanitation policy

 The Policy recognizes that the scope of water and sanitation services
extends beyond fulfilling the basic human needs, which aims towards
achieving improved quality of life through providing safe, reliable,
adequate and enhanced services at affordable prices to the consumers.

 The policy also aims to adopt measures to safeguard the environment and
emphasizes achieving a balance with other competing uses of water
through adoption of demand and discharge management measures.
 Irrigation policy
 Irrigation planning should be done to address the obstacles in the fields of irrigation
development including management of wetlands and basin areas at national and
local level.
 Lands facilitated with irrigation will be declared as irrigated areas by nepal
government. These lands would require permission from the government if used for
purposes other than irrigation.
 Government will fully cooperate with the NGOs and INGOs working in the field of
agriculture to increase agricultural productivity.
 Different types of irrigation methods would be applied for different forms of
geographical variations along with giving emphasis to study and research in these
areas.
 Integrated water resource management policies will be followed while making plans
for irrigation.
• Emphasis on reservoir type irrigation system for year round irrigation along with
conservation and development of groundwater resources.

• Provision of drainage facility in irrigated areas.

• National level water resource projects will be constructed utilizing country’s as

well as foreign resources.

• Private sectors and community based organizations will be integrated with

provision of participatory approach for the construction , operation and
management of irrigation projects.

• Provision for impact of climate change in irrigation.

• Improvement in present laws and organizational structure to abide by the

international criterias, treaties and laws.
Policy level problems seen in irrigation subsector can be enumerated as:

No extensive development in the past two decades.

Donors not interested in perennial streams and extensive irrigation.
Emphasized groundwater use
Protection not possible due to low purchasing power and porous border.
Land fragmentation

Suggested solutions to above stated problem:

Extensive irrigation should be preferred.

Initiate land consolidation program by taking up some pilot projects and
prepare necessary legal instruments.
Pull out underemployed labour from agriculture and create industrial
employment for them instead of pushing landless to overcrowded agriculture
sector
 Need for revised National water policy

 To form an integrated National policy including all aspects of hydropower,

irrigation, water supply and navigation.

 Gaps between policy targets and fulfillment.

 Climate change effects.

 Review transboundry water agreements and treaties with India .

 Water division between different provinces.

• The country needs integrated policy to exploit the water resources for various
purposes.

• Provide direction to the provincial and local administrations to frame their laws on
exploitation of water resources.

• The integrated policy will provide the guidance for holistic approach on water
resource management.
THANK YOU