Policy Dialogue on
Groundwater Security in Kathmandu Valley
(The Everest Hotel, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal)
Jointly Organized by
Water Security in Peri-urban South Asia Project
Nepal Engineering College- Center for Postgraduate Studies
and
Jalshrot Vikas Sanstha (JVS), Nepal/Global Water Partnership-Nepal
Date: 20th March 2012
I
|
ntroduction
Groundwater in Kathmandu Valley is
closely related to livelihood and wellbeing of the people. The dependence of
the people on groundwater has increased in the recent years to meet the ever
increasing domestic, commercial and industrial water needs. At present, nearly
half of the water demand in Kathmandu Valley is estimated to be met from
extraction of groundwater. Increasing scarcity of water has also encouraged
commercial use of groundwater that has led to water markets of different forms
to evolve in Kathmandu Valley. Increasing extraction of groundwater and
continually shrinking groundwater recharge zones have stressed the aquifer
systems in the valley. The rates of depletion in groundwater in many parts of
the valley have increased to the extent of undermining the water security of
the people. Regulated use of groundwater has drawn attention of Government of
Nepal (GoN), water sector agencies and water professionals; however there has
been lack of conceptual clarity and ambiguity relating to regulated groundwater
use and institutional arrangements for regulation. It is in this context that
Nepal Engineering College (nec) and Jalshrot Vikas Sanstha
(JVS) considered that an intellectual discourse on regulated use of groundwater
is timely and important.
This policy dialogue on Groundwater
Security in Kathmandu Valley brought together policy personnel and water
professionals from relevant government and development organizations,
academicians, researchers and students, to discuss the emerging issues facing
the groundwater security and regulated groundwater use in Kathmandu Valley. The goal of the workshop is to identify the
issues on groundwater and emerging water security concerns in Kathmandu.
Workshop Structure
The workshop was scheduled to include
two sessions. The first half included the presentations on state of groundwater
use and commercialization of groundwater by the researchers involved in
Peri-urban Water Security Project underway at Nepal Engineering College (nec), Nepal
Development Research Institute (NDRI) and Kathmandu Valley Water Supply
Management Board (KVWSMB). The second half was facilitated
discussion on the regulated groundwater use in Kathmandu.
Session-I
Session Chair: Dr. Hari Krishna
Shrestha, Principal, Nepal
Engineering College
· State of Groundwater Use and Groundwater Security
Issues in Peri-urban areas of Kathmandu valley- Mr. Rajesh Sada, Research
Coordinator, Peri-urban Water Security Project, nec-CPS
· Evolution
of Groundwater Market in Kathmandu Valley- Prof. Ashutosh Shukla,
Project Leader, Peri-urban Water
Security Project, nec-CPS
· State
and Services of Tanker Water Operators in Kathmandu Valley- Mr. Dibesh
Shrestha, NDRI
· Regulated
Groundwater Use in Kathmandu Valley: Perspectives of Kathmandu Valley Water
Supply Management Board – Mr. Hari Dhakal, Chairperson- KVWSMB
·
Chairpersons
Remarks (Synthesis and Issues for Discussion)
Session-II
Moderator: Dr. Dibya Ratna Kansakar, Visiting
Professor, nec-CPS
·
Facilitated
Discussion on Regulated Groundwater Use in Kathmandu
W
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elcome Note
In his welcome speech, he presented the objectives of
the program in the context of growing rampant ground water extraction in
Kathmandu valley and the relevance of policy dialogue on regulated ground water
use including the discussions on effectiveness and weaknesses of existing
ground water regulations and perpetuating the feedbacks to the relevant water
sector agencies and water professionals contributing to finalizing National
ground water policy.
With a concise note on the academic research from the
Master's students at nec, he stressed their significance in better
understanding of the ground water issues in Kathmandu valley and mentioned the
first session to revolve around these studies on the state of ground water use
and ground water security issues in Kathmandu as a foundation to initiate the
policy dialogue.
Speech on the Genesis of the Policy Dialogue Workshop
S
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ession – I
Presentation 1:
Groundwater Security Concerns in Peri-urban context of Kathmandu Valley
Presentation 2: State
of Private Water Tanker Operation in Kathmandu
Mr. Dibesh Shrestha, Master's
graduate on Interdisciplinary Water Resource Management at nec currently
working at NDRI presented
his findings on State and Services of Tanker Water Operators in Kathmandu Valley.
His presentations emphasized on the growing gaps in water service provided by
the water utility and the evolving water market in form of private tanker water
entrepreneurs. He also elaborated the
basic characteristics of water tankers operating in the valley and their water
extraction mechanisms which are in majority of cases from ground water through
dug well, shallow boring and deep boring. His findings showed the water service
provided from the private tankers operators cover a significant proportion of
water demand in Kathmandu valley supplying 12.58 MLD in dry season and 6.36 MLD
during wet and winter season which has been consistently increasing over the
years. He also shed light on the quality of ground water transported by the
private tanker operators failing to meet the national drinking water quality
standards with mostly iron and ammonia exceeding the permissible levels.
Presentation 3:
Evolution of Groundwater Market in Kathmandu Valley: Analysis of Actors, Market
and Regulations
Prof. Ashutosh Kumar Shukla on behalf of Ms. Shreya Bajimaya,
Master's graduate on Interdisciplinary Water Resources Management at nec
presented the study on evolution of ground water market in Kathmandu valley.
The study elaborated on the increasing
dependency on ground
water and the existing situation of demand supply gaps creating a niche for
water entrepreneurs to invest in commercial ground water extraction. The ground
water market has been progressively expanding in various forms ranging from small
scale vendors to community scale and commercial scale. The key concern raised
by the study was the need of distinguishing different forms and scales of
ground water extraction and reconsidering the ground water policy based on the
objectives of ground water extraction. The study also highlighted on the current
poor institutional coordination and weak execution of the regulatory mechanisms
and emphasized on the need of clarity on roles and responsibilities of
different responsible institutions and also the rules and regulations related
to ground water management.
Session chair, Dr. Shrestha
appreciated and thanked to all the paper presenters for bringing out the ground
reality of ground water related issues occurring in Kathmandu valley. Dr.
Shrestha then announced a break for high tea considering the request of
distinguished guests and delegates.
Presentation 4:
Problems and Challenges in Ground Water Management in Kathmandu Valley
He then talked about the highly expected Melamchi
Water Supply Project (First Inter-basin Water Transfer project in Nepal) which
is expected to bring 510 MLD of water to Kathmandu valley from Indrawati
sub-basin in three phases, each of 170 MLD among which first phase will be
completed by 2015 A.D.
He shared the growing dependency on ground water either
of KUKL or the private water service providers and therefore the serious need
of monitoring ground water to ensure the sustainability of ground water
security in Kathmandu valley. In this aspect, he elaborated the activities
being undertaken by the KVWSMB to regulate ground water extraction within
sustainable limit. The extraction of ground water started by private sector in
1975 and was only 1 MLD which then also started by Nepal Water Supply
Corporation and raised to 6.84 MLD in 1980 and 45.5 MLD in 1989. It started accelerating after 1990s
currently being 81.6 MLD (31.6 MLD by KUKL and 50 MLD by private sector).
KVWSMB has initiated the activities towards regulated
ground water extraction through licensing mechanism and 258 (78 existing and 15
proposed of KUKL and 165 private) ground water users have been come under this
mechanism. Additionally 120 private tube wells are in the process of obtaining
license and 440 new tube wells are further expected to come up for obtaining
license. KVWSMB is preparing ground water inventory which was started in
January 2012 and expected to complete by July 2012. Since 2006, it has been
monitoring ground water extractors at 41 deep tube wells of KUKL on a monthly
basis. Among the 41 monitored deep tube wells, 15 showed declining water tables.
The depletion being as high as 17 m in northern, 75.2 m in central and 8.42 m
in the southern ground water districts. He also stressed the rapid population
increase in the potential recharge zones further add threat to the ground water
security. Sharing the short term and long term vision of KWSMB, he showed the
commitment to maintain sustainable use of ground water by controlling
abstraction, promoting ground water recharge and conservation of potential
ground water recharge zones and further involving the monitoring of both
quality and quantity of ground water.
Dr. Shrestha thanked Mr. Dhakal for sharing the
ongoing activities and efforts towards regulated ground water extraction and
raised his query towards the possibility of public accessibility towards the
records of monitored ground water level which Mr. Dhakal informed to have the
provision for dissemination and expected to be more concrete after the ongoing
ground water inventory.
S
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ession II
Facilitated Discussion on
Regulated Groundwater Use in Kathmandu
The major points emerged during the
discussions are stated hereunder:
Dr. Khem Sharma, Director, nec- CPS drew attention on the contradiction
between the depleting water table and idea of adding new water extraction
points in Kathmandu valley to meet the escalating water demand. Similarly his
other query was regarding the procedure of policy formulation.
Adding to Dr. Sharma, Dr. Surya Nath Upadyaya,
Secretary General, JVS, questioned on the liability of government to ensure
fundamental right to water and equity to water service including the accountability
of KVWSMB, Government of Nepal (GoN) and KUKL to improve the water supply
within valley. He also pointed out the need of resolving existing contestation and
delineating the ownership of the water resource and regulating responsibilities
among different institutions. He doubted the applicability of licensing as a
tool to regulate ground water extraction and need to consider water security as
different social scales. He considered the need of exploring innovative water
management mechanism specifically for Kathmandu valley and execution and
implementation of existing laws and policies in co-ordinated form. He
recommended intervening in controlling unplanned land plotting to control water
demand and emphasized on improving supply from the authorized water service
providers which would ultimately contribute to control ground water
abstraction.
Mr. Sanjaya Dhungel, Senior Divisional Engineer at
Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS) emphasized the significance of water
quality on the public health and stressed on the need of strict monitoring the
water quality from both KUKL and private water supply and improving the water
supply service to control the unregulated ground water extraction.
Mr. Pratap Singh Tater from Ground Water Supply
Management Board,
suggested the researchers to extend the study for establishing database on the
existing water source which could be extremely useful for KVWSMB.
Mr. Ishwor Raj Onta, Chairperson, JVS emphasized the need of land
sustainability for sustainable ground water management and suggested to revisit
the expanding land transformation to achieve sustainable ground water
management. He also emphasized on the need of designing multi-purpose small
cascades and reservoirs for storing minimum water available and avoid wastage
of water during monsoons. Further added was the need of involvement of the
academic sectors such as Nepal Engineering College in these key areas.
Giving example of Japan of compulsory need of
incorporating rain water harvesting for approval of house construction, Dr.
Shrestha, Principal, nec stressed on the poor implementation status
of such strategies in the context of Nepal.
Congratulating the young researchers for taking up
research in key issues, Dr. Dibya Ratna Kansakar, visiting professor at nec-CPS
discussed on growing water demand due to the rapid urbanization in Kathmandu
and failure of the water service provider to complete the Melamchi project
within the projected time. In addition, he also brought forward the government
activities of promoting multi-storied buildings and the residential complexes
concentrating large population within a small area further increasing pressure
on ground water. With the rate of increase in water demand in Kathmandu valley
he doubted the most expected Melamchi Project to meet the growing water demand
thus agreed to the growing dependency on ground water likely to increase and
also expressed doubt regarding sufficiency of licensing practice in regulating
ground water abstraction.
He also raised point on the need to recognize and regulate
private water entrepreneurs but the problems and challenges within the issues are
to incorporate the sustainability of ground water as well as maintaining
equitable access to the basis of livelihood. He raised the issue on the
liability of Government in providing water service to its citizens and the
accountability of whole institutional set-up arranging for reliable water
service. Bringing the point of economic diversity within Kathmandu valley, he
directed the mass to brainstorming the possible burden to the consumers with
the rise in price of water as a result of ground water regulatory exercise. He
argued that the ground water abstraction could not be called illegal rather
there has to be clear demarcation between water requirement and water demand
and emphasized ground water regulation should adequately address the regulation
of service, price and the right to water.
Mr. Jeevan Lal Shrestha, freelancer supported licensing as a regulatory
tool being initiated by KVWSMB but pointed out the essence of co-ordination
with the drillers (deep borers) in identifying and updating the current database
on ground water extraction as the preliminary phase of ground water inventory. He
also drew attention towards the need of exploring innovative regulatory
mechanism for Kathmandu so as to avoid stress to the range of consumers such as
levying the tax based on the objective of ground water extraction.
Mr. Sagar Rai, Chief Hydrologist, Department of
Irrigation shared
the case of ground water recharge arrangement in Hongkong and pointed out the
immediate need of building internal capacity within KVWSMB and co-ordinating
with other institutions for the technical strengthening.
Mr. Pramod Raj Sharma, Executive Director, Ground
Water Resources Development Board (GWRDB) clarified that the responsibility of monitoring and
regulating ground water in the country has been on GWRDB based on the directive
of the Supreme Court and considering this, GWRDB have even drafted ground water
regulation through stakeholders’ dialogues and peer group discussions. He
admitted the weaknesses in the existing legislation on water and shared the
current status of having the draft mobilized for approval and enactment through
Nepal
Kanun Aayog.
Appreciating the discussions on ground water use and
ground water regulations, Mr. Hari Dhakal explained KVWSMB has been considering
Pre-Melamchi and Post –Melamchi conditions of water demand and supply and been
working accordingly. He explained delay
in Melamchi Project as the major cause of increasing water scarcity and
evolution of ground water market within Kathmandu valley. He added that as per
the research undertaken by the KVWSMB team, despite decline in the ground water
level, the ground water abstraction can still sustain to meet the water demand
prior to Melamchi Project (till 2015) and practiced licensing program may not
be self- sufficient tool to regulate ground water extraction but giving example
of Thailand added this could be an effective initiation. He also emphasized on
the need of strict monitoring of the license and implementing measure to keep the
price under control so as to maintain equitable water service to wide range of
consumers and clarified on the regulatory approach focusing on managing the
ground water use. He gave his
explanation on the process of framing ground water regulation as the attempt to
reduce the information gap on the socially concerned issue of existing ground
water extraction and will be reconsidered during finalizing the process. He
also pointed out the past consensus in affordability of water supply from
Melamchi project has been changed through the expanding water market and thus
with strict monitoring and the controlled pricing mechanism execution of ground
water regulation can be possible. However, he admitted on the need of
consulting the experts on the legal issue to finalize the ground water
regulations.
He explained that within Kathmandu valley, KVWSMB
holds the responsibility to monitor management of water service and thus in the
process of ground water resource inventory has incorporated both the concerns
on the quality and volume of water extracted which is expected to complete
within coming two years. Apart from the efforts to regulate abstraction, he also
informed about the “Recharge Kathmandu Campaign” promoting ground water
recharge at different levels such as Mahadev Khola Dam in Bhaktapur for dual
purpose of facilitating KUKL for water storage and ground water recharge. He
also emphasized on the need of conserving the potential recharge zones through
watershed conservation program and managing road runoff for ground water
recharge.
Mr. Dhakal shared his commitment to work in
co-ordination with different institutions working towards the same direction
and execute the institutional responsibilities of improving the water service
to the citizens whether through KUKL or any other organization legally
authorized to provide the water service. He appreciated the policy dialogue as
a platform to disseminate the ongoing activities and collect feed backs on the
activities towards ground water regulation within the valley.
The program ended with the thanking
notes from each of the presenters and organizing committee.
Major points emerged from the discussions:
1. The
increasing gap in water demand and supply from the authorized water service
provider forced to look for alternative reliable water source accelerating the
rate of ground water abstraction within a short period of time.
2. Apart
from commercial level, ground water extraction also occurs at household,
community and institutional level.
3.
Commercial
ground water abstraction has been expanding in diverse forms, scales and with
different motives and therefore should not be completely discouraged.
4. KVWSMB
has been currently working in establishing database on Ground Water Inventory
in Kathmandu valley and has initiated the regulatory exercise through licensing
mechanism.
5.
Regulatory
activities need be clearly defined in terms of right to water service and
controlled pricing to maintain the equitable water service to wide range of
consumers.
6. Regulatory activities should be in co-ordination
with other relevant and responsible organizations to control rapid land
transformation like sand mining and land plotting thereafter and rapid
urbanization or concretization in potential recharge zones in order to promote
ground water recharge.
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