State of the Kamala River Basin, Nepal

Government of Nepal Water and Energy Commission Secretariat Citation contributed time, information, and resources to This publication contributes to the South Asia WECS and CSIRO, 2020. State of th e Kamala the development of this document. At least 200 Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio River Basin, Nepal. 68pp. people from local and federal government and supported by the Australian aid program. https://doi.org/10.25919/10mp-bc20 communities representatives met with the Further details on CSIRO’s SDIP projects are team to provide advice and support and to available from http://research.csiro.au/sdip Contributors participate in local workshops to share their Important disclaimer applied for CSIRO Chief Edi.tor: Al Auro C meida local perspectives and view about the Basin. In CSIRO advises that the information contained Editors: David J. Penton, Maheswor Shrestha particular, we would like to recognise support in this publication comprises general Authors: Auro C. Almeida, David J. Penton, from Kamalamai, Katari and Dudhouli mayoral statements based on scientific research. The Antonia G. Rocha, David Fleming, Sreekanth office, Groundwater Irrigation Division Office reader is advised that such information may be Janardhanan, Tanya Doody, Tira Foran, Basistha in Lahan, Kamala Irrigation Project staff, incomplete or unable to be used in any specific Adhikari, Susan Cuddy, Maheswor Shrestha, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology situation. No reliance or actions must therefore Yingying Yu, Emily Barbour, Perry Poulton, staff in Kathmandu and Biratnagar. be made on that information without seeking Ram Devi T. Shah, Shahriar Wahid, Saumitra We acknowledge the work of Jalsrot Vikhas prior expert professional, scientific and Neupane, Sanju Koirala, Som Nath Poudel, Sanstha and Policy Entrepreneurs Incorporated technical advice. To the extent permitted by Tejendra GC, Neha Basnet, Deep N. Shah. who undertook data gathering, synthesis, law, CSIRO (including its employees and Reviewers: Peter Wallbrink, Susan Cuddy, analysis, logistics, organised workshops and consultants) excludes all liability to any person David Fleming, Ram Bastakoti, Andrew Johnson supported the team in innumerable other ways. for any consequences, including but not limited Proof reading: Karin Hosking Nepal Development Research Institute undertook to all losses, damages, costs, expenses and any Graphic design/layout: Beverly Waldie a significant amount of preliminary work. other compensation, arising directly or Print: PML, Hobart, Tasmania Contribution received from Keshab Adhikari and indirectly from using this publication and any Photo credits Ram Bastakoti who also provided expert advice. information or material contained in it. Auro C Almeida: Fig 8, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28 We thank the Nepal-Australia Joint Advisory Copyright Dept of Hydrology and Meteorology: Fig 7 Committee on Water Resource Management © WECS and CSIRO, 2020 Tanya Doody: Cover photo, Fig 13, 14 Sreekanth (JAC) for their guidance and support. As well as With the exception of the government crests Janardhanan: Fig 19 significant support from the Australian and logos included in the cover and in this Antonia Gamboa Rocha: Fig 9, 30 Embassy in Nepal – former Ambassador Glenn page, all material in this publication is provided Acknowledgments White during establishment of the JAC and the under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 We would like to thank the people of the current Ambassador Peter Budd for continuing International Licence http://creativecommons. Kamala Basin for hosting many visits and inter-governmental engagements. org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode explaining their situations. The political representatives and their administrators at municipal, provincial and federal levels all 2 Contents

Summary...... 4 1. Introduction...... 6 1.1 Outline and objectives...... 6 1.2 Basin planning in Nepal...... 7 1.3 Water Resources Management background...... 9 2. Basin characteristics...... 11 2.1 Location, geopolitical, physiographic regions and soils...... 11 2.2 Climate...... 14 2.3 Geomorphology and geology related to sediment erosion and river instability...... 16 2.4 Current land use and recent land use change...... 19 2.5 Socio-economic conditions and trends...... 22 2.6 Biodiversity ...... 28 3. Water availability and sources...... 30 3.1 Surface water...... 30 3.2 Floods...... 32 3.3 Groundwater...... 34 3.4 Water quality...... 38 4. Water use and water demand...... 40 4.1 Socio-economic dependence on water...... 40 4.2 Agriculture, irrigation and livestock...... 42 4.3 Human water consumption ...... 51 4.4 Synthesis of water use in the Basin...... 52 4.5 Sediment mining...... 54 5. Governance related to water management activities...... 57 6. Issues and challenges for achieving sustainable use of water resources ...... 59 References...... 62 Abbreviations...... 66

3 Summary

The Kamala Basin in the south-east of The workforce is transitioning from Flooding of the region causes Nepal has been chosen by the agricultural subsistence to non- significant damage during monsoon Government of Nepal as a pilot basin agricultural occupations, with 33% season. The districts of Siraha and to develop capacity in basin planning. of the households having a member Dhanusha were particularly affected The Kamala Basin Initiative is jointly who has migrated for employment in Nepal’s 2017 flood. The National supported by the Government of opportunities outside the region or Planning Commission estimated that Nepal and Government of Australia to overseas. Nepal’s recovery would cost USD 705.1 further scientific cooperation around million (NPC, 2017). Monsoon floods More than 70% of the population water resources management. are predicted to increase under a work in the agriculture sector, mainly changing climate (Scott et al, 2019). The Kamala Basin is important in producing rice, wheat and maize. The terms of agricultural production, but Terai region, with its flat plains, is Studies are showing that under likely has complex issues related to high extensively used for food production future climate conditions, monsoonal levels of poverty, flooding, sediment through the Kamala Irrigation precipitation is projected to increase erosion, and water resources schemes; in the fertile valleys there by 4–12% in the near future in the distribution and availability during are farmer-managed irrigation region. Intensification of extreme the year. systems; while the Middle Mountains precipitation events is inconclusive and Chure areas are predominantly between studies but increased air The Kamala Basin is a densely used for terraced agriculture and temperature is already evident (MoFE, populated part of Nepal intersecting forestry. 2019, Wester et al, 2019), which may three provinces, four districts, 15 demand adaptation actions to municipalities and eight rural Agricultural production is strongly traditional agriculture. municipalities. The mix of castes, tied to water availability through ethnicities, and religions varies from irrigation using surface water and the Middle Mountains, to Chure and groundwater, but surface water is the Terai region. only adequately available during the monsoon, even in the large irrigation systems.

4 Damage from floodwaters is Synthesis of main issues in the compounded by landslides, mainly Kamala Basin in the Chure region, produced by high level of soil erosion causing Monsoonal floods are impacting accumulation of sediment in communities and infrastructure irrigation infrastructure. Additional High sediment loads in the river to a natural phenomena, human system are increasing flood risk and activities are exacerbating the damaging infrastructure impacts of floods and landslides. Water availability is constraining As part of the ongoing process of agricultural production developing strategies that will Infrastructure design, construction improve the welfare of communities and maintenance are not meeting in Nepal, this state of the basin current needs provides information of the current condition of water resources in the Labour is scarce, land per household Kamala Basin, including how water is is limited and agricultural used, water quality and trends in how profitability is low the water resource is changing. Institutions need stronger integration Potable water for domestic purposes is not uniformly accessible Knowledge about key issues and available primary data are limited

5 1 Introduction

1.1 Outline and objectives

The local and regional economy of the This document presents up to date The main objectives of the State of the Kamala Basin has a high dependence water resources related data and Kamala River Basin are to: on water. Water availability is trends for the Kamala Basin. The • make water resources data dependent on monsoon climatic document intends to support the available to a broad audience patterns, where heavy rainfall mainly development of the Kamala Basin concentrates in four months (June to Water Resources Development • describe local characteristics September). Strategy, which seeks to support related to water resources effective actions to obtain the most management and their influence Much of the rainfall becomes runoff, feasible and effective use of water on the development of the region with streamflow and water resources, considering present and availability in the basin varying • identify issues and limitations of future demands, stakeholders’ needs, substantially during the year, ranging water resources management to be and potential limitations to provide from floods to drought. These addressed in the strategy in order water across the basin. conditions limit water access during to improve economic, the dry season (around the months of environmental and social November to March). An effective conditions integrated water resources • collate the necessary information management is needed in order to to support the Kamala Basin Water support water access for agricultural Resources Development Strategy. and industrial activities, environmental sustainability and human consumption.

6 1.2 Basin planning in Nepal

Internationally, basin planning has The Government of Nepal is In the Kamala Basin, the Government emerged as a key tool in water supporting basin planning initiatives of Nepal, in collaboration with the resources management, especially across every Basin in Nepal. Through Government of Australia, is where the benefits from water these initiatives, and subsequent supporting the development of the resources need to be shared among activities, the Government aims to ‘Kamala Basin Water Resources different economic sectors and the harness Nepal’s rich water resources Development Strategy’. This strategy environment, or shared between user to improve water distribution in the is being developed with the groups, such as those upstream and country and support social, economic participation of key stakeholders of downstream in a basin. and environmental benefits. the Kamala Basin to ultimately improve the welfare of people and By considering all impacts of communities across the basin in a development, basin planning sustainable way. provides a useful tool for supporting sustainable development.

The vision of the ‘Kamala Basin Water Resources Development Strategy’ • Improve the welfare of the communities in the basin through changes to the way water is managed and distributed. • Build a new road away from the business as usual with challenges of ageing infrastructure towards improved water and food security in the long term (Figure 1).

Figure 1 The vision of the Kamala Basin Initiative

7 The Strategy will not identify specific While the plans anticipate increasing The State of the Basin collates the detailed projects, but will provide certainty for people and organisations relevant information to examine the high-level guidance and evaluate who might invest in Nepal, they also current situation and dependency of development pathways. aim to be adaptable to new water resources. In consultation with knowledge and changing stakeholders, a range of preferred The Strategy is a key step in circumstances, especially in the face future pathways are identified and developing the Basin Plan which is of the potential effects of climate compared in order to assess different being established under Nepal’s change in the region (Wester et al, development options. National Water Resources Policy and 2019). the National Water Act – Water These are discussed and agreed to Resources Legislation, which are establish a desired development under development. strategy that provides elements and directions for the basin plan and respective changes to improve welfare (Figure 2), (Foran et al, 2018).

Figure 2 The State of the Basin in the context of the Basin Plan

8 1.3 Water Resources Management background

The welfare of people in the Kamala construction of embankments, all The reasons include scarcity of Basin is strongly tied to the contributed to a transition from a financial resources and water user availability of water. The water natural system to a human controlled associations that have become resources of the basin support and altered system. inactive. Local assessment shows that environmental health, industrial water availability will be a persistent The development of infrastructure activity and household needs such as problem across the basin, as in most contributed to improving agricultural drinking water for people and of the medium-sized basins of Nepal production and reducing risk of flood livestock, and irrigation for crops and (Pandey et al, 2012). in the basin. Further water pasture. The water requirements are management developments have With this in mind, including growing due to the need for water for been proposed: (i) to supply water stakeholders in the process, irrigation. This becomes more critical from the Sunkoshi River to the considering a wide range, and using considering the variability in Kamala River and across larger areas the best available information are precipitation and increase in of the Terai; and (ii) to build additional crucial to the development of the groundwater use. embankments in areas more ‘Kamala Basin Water Resources The first major irrigation susceptible to floods and erosion and Development Strategy’. infrastructure constructed in the sediment control measures on the Kamala Basin was the Kamala Kamala River and tributaries. Irrigation Project (KIP) in the 1970s. The local population has welcomed The Kamala River surface water these developments and desire more supported canal systems and interventions (CSIRO, 2017). However, irrigation expansion across 25,000 ha JICA (2016) identified a series of of the districts of Dhanusha and problems, such as the amount of Siraha. In addition, increasing mining sediment accumulated in canals in for sand and gravel, clearing of forest the irrigation development, and that on the edge of the Chure and the parts of the KIP were incomplete.

9 “Our settlements are prone to flood. Our municipality is surrounded by three rivers. Gagan and Mainavati River in addition to Kamala have surrounded this municipality. And as it is border area, we need to think how we can save this area when it floods.” – Dr Namita Yadav, Deputy Mayor of Siraha Municipality

“Our municipality has allocated a budget of NPR 1 crore for the preparation of detailed project report (DPR) to build check dams at Gwang Khola and collect water. The Kamalamai Municipality is also working on check dam preparation for the protection of Chure Area. We have also requested that existing Forest Committees take on afforestation activities.” – Khadga Bahadur Khatri, Major of Kamalamai Municipality

“Kamala has ample water during the planting season but it rains during the same season. But during offseason, the water is scarce and there is a problem in agriculture. Farmers will benefit if we can arrange an underground irrigation system.” – Nuthari Yadav Agriculture section Kalyanpur Municipality

10 Basin characteristics 2

2.1 Location, geopolitical, physiographic regions and soils

The Kamala Basin is located in the The topographic characteristics have The Kamala Basin covers three south-east of Nepal, close to the border a strong influence on the economic physiographic zones: Middle with India, and has a drainage area of activities and population distribution Mountains (20%), Chure or Siwalik about 208,446 ha, which is equivalent in the basin and in neighbouring (64%), and Terai (16%) (Figure 5), to 1.42% of total area of the country. districts. embracing areas of 41,181 ha, 133,647 ha and 33,618 ha, respectively. Administratively, the basin area intersects three provinces and four The Middle Mountains zone is districts. The district of Udayapur concentrated in the north part of the occupies 20% of the basin in Province Basin with elevation varying from 800 number one, Siraha district covers to 2,200 masl, bedrocks composed of 19% of the area and Dhanusha 14% phyllite, quartzite, limestone. and both are in Province number two, and Sindhuli district occupies 47% of the total area of the basin and is in Province number 3 (Figure 3). The basin has elevation ranging from 70 masl in the south part to 2,180 masl in the north-east. The Kamala River originates from the Mahabharat Range or Middle Mountains, and flows through Chure to the Terai plains before entering India. About 67% of the basin area lies below 600 masl and 27% lies between 600 masl and 1,200 masl, while the remainder, 6% of the area, lies above 1,200 masl (derived from USGS, 2004) (Figure 4). Figure 3 Kamala basin location in Nepal and province boundaries

11 Figure 4 Kamala Basin elevation classes Figure 5 Districts and main (in metres above sea level, masl), administrative physiography of the Kamala Basin districts in the Basin and river network

Its fertile soil is used for terraced Predominantly composed of tertiary Its soils are highly susceptible to farming to produce mainly rice, conglomerates, sandstone, siltstone erosion and forests play an important wheat and maize crops, and fruit and mudstone, the physiography has role in soil and water conservation (MOAD, 2017). been impacted by progressive (MFSC, 2016). The lower part of Chure, processes of erosion and degradation also known as Dun valleys, has fertile The Chure or Siwalik zone is located of vegetation aggravated by selected soils suitable for agriculture. in the central part of the basin and deforestation. includes all four districts; the elevation varies from 150 to 1,200 masl.

12 The Terai is where most of the people Soil texture influences the capacity of To illustrate, the estimated soil water live and economic activities happen. the soils to retain water. The ability of holding capacity of the soils in the Due to the predominantly flat soils to hold water is critical for plants Kamala Basin is shown in Table 1 and topography and fertile floodplain soils, and the water holding capacity of a reflected in Section 4.2. this part of the basin is where most of soil can be estimated from its texture. the irrigated agriculture occurs. This information is important to estimate water demand for irrigation. The Kamala River flows through all three physiographic zones. It originates from Sindhuli Gadi in Table 1 Soil type in the Kamala and estimated soil water holding capacity Sindhuli district in the Middle % area in Estimated mean soil water holding Mountains zone, and initially goes to Soil type the basin capacity (mm water/mm soil depth) the south then changes toward the south-east near Maithan, parallel to Clay 4.3 0.12 the Chure hill. Clay loam 12.3 0.14 The river makes a U-bend in the Fragmental/skeleton 11.2 - middle of the basin and enters into Loam 34.8 0.14 the Terai at Chisapani. Loamy sand 0.0 0.06 Within the Chure and Terai zones, the river is successively joined by the Sand 1.0 0.04 Chadaha Khola and Thakur Khola in Sandy loam 20.3 0.10 Sindhuli, the Tawa Khola in Udayapur, the Sualaha Khola in Siraha, and the Silty 0.0 0.25 Charnath Khola in Dhanusha (Figure 4). Silty clay 0.7 0.14 The soil texture in the basin is Silty clay loam 0.4 0.17 predominantly loam (35%) mainly in Silty loam 12.3 0.18 the Chure and part of the Terai (DOI, 2017). Water body 2.4 - Source: Land Resources Mapping, DOI, 2017 and Saxton and Rawls, 2006

13 2.2 Climate

The Kamala region is hot and humid A number of studies have examined during the summer monsoon (June to historical changes in climate across September) and dry and temperate in all or parts of Nepal, and have the winter (December to February). indicated a general trend of For much of the basin, rainfall is increasing temperature, while greater than 1,000 mm during the changes in precipitation are less clear summer monsoon, and less than 100 with high variability between mm in winter. locations and indices (Duncan et al, 2013, Neupane et al, 2017, Ichiyanagi Figure 6 shows that the highest et al, 2007, MoFE, 2019, Scott et al, 2019, rainfall occurs in the north-west, Wester et al, 2019). followed by the north-eastern ranges. This results in an annual pattern of An analysis of data from flooding in monsoon months, and meteorological stations closest to the drought during winter. Kamala Basin supports these findings. There is global concern that changes Global studies of future climate across to climate might increase Nepal indicate that temperatures and temperature and extreme events of monsoon precipitation are likely to rainfall causing adverse impacts, such rise (OECD, 2003; IPCC, 2007; GoN, 2008; as increased mortality, increase risk NCVST, 2009). to crop production, flooding and soil erosion (Dunne et al, 2013, Parmesan et al, 2003, Hirabayashi et al, 2013, Yang et al, 2003).

Figure 6 Rainfall and temperature during summer (top), and winter (middle) and annual rainfall (bottom) in Kamala Basin

14 Rainfall (mm) 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 A recent study of climate J F M A M J J A S O N D change scenarios for Nepal (MoFE, 2019) shows that: Temperature (°C) 40 • average annual rainfall is 30 likely to increase 2-6% by 2045 20 Tipping bucket rainfall gauge at • average annual mean 10 Chisapani Bazaar (above). temperature is likely to rise 0 The Department of Hydrology and J F M A M J J A S O N D 0.9 to 1.1 ºC by 2045 Meteorology is progressively • Rainfall pre-monsoon is replacing older rainfall gauges Solar Duration (hours) 10 projected to decrease by with automatic weather stations 8 4-5% for the same period but that send real-time weather 6 projections of rainfall have a information across the mobile 4 large degree of uncertainty networks. 2 • More events of intense 0 rainfall and extreme warm J F M A M J J A S O N D days are likely to occur creating more water-related Potential Evapotranspiration (mm) 200 hazards in the future. 150

100

50

0 J F M A M J J A S O N D

Figure 7 Mean monthly rainfall, temperature, hours of sun and potential evapotranspiration at Chisapani Bazaar meteorological station

15 2.3 Geomorphology and geology related to sediment erosion and river instability

High sediment loads in the Kamala Natural sediment processes Influenced by slope and river Basin cause issues for river stability Natural sediment processes include transport capacity, coarse and mixed and flood protection. Following a big erosion, transport and deposition. texture sediment creates braided river flood more than 30 years ago, Sediment and soil erosion are channels (anastomosing) in the valleys streambank erosion along the Kamala influenced by rainfall patterns, with multiple in-channel features, River forced the Chisapani Bazaar geology, hill slope and density of such as sand and gravel bars. settlement to be relocated. The river vegetation cover (Figure 8). The river channels in the basin are had been progressively eroding its The hills of the Chure are susceptible composed of boulders and gravels, bank toward the village as the river to soil erosion and landslides because sands and finer sediments, with a mix changed course. of loose rock formations and fragile of sediment across the river corridor. The causes of sediment issues are a strata (GoN, 2017). The rock formations Progressing downstream, the mix of combination of natural processes are mainly composed of sandstone, particles changes in proportion, exacerbated by human activities such mudstone, conglomerate, shale and transitioning from sand and gravel to as deforestation and agriculture. claystone, with Karst systems in the a higher proportion of sand and silts Management responses are Middle Mountains. downstream. Part of the sediment is particularly expensive. temporarily deposited along the river During rainfall events, sediment in corridors, including stream banks. The GoN in collaboration with the the form of loose inorganic rock Government of India invested in material and topsoil from the upland When the Kamala River enters the infrastructure projects to manage areas are transported downstream. Terai, the river slope reduces and the sediments and river instability in During heavier events, landslides can river tends to change shape and Dhanusha and Siraha with the contribute particularly large course frequently during the wet construction of gabion embankments quantities of sediment. season. to control erosion in the Chure and The Chure region has been identified Sedimentary deposition and river embankments around the Kamala as being one of the main contributors meandering occur naturally across River and tributaries. of sediment load to the rivers the Gangetic plains which includes originating from the southern region the Terai region (Chakraborty et al, of the Basin (Adhikari, 2013). 2010).

16 Human disturbance of sediment These problems have been observed processes particularly in the Kamala and Tawa rivers. Downstream, channel-floodplain Human activities in the Kamala connectivity has progressively been region disturb the natural sediment reduced through the construction of and soil erosion processes, affecting raised levees and modification of the the river shape and movement and river channel dimensions and shape. causing pathways for deposition. Three main disturbances contribute Sediment management responses to sediment erosion and loss of Given the susceptibility of the Middle topsoil: 1) intense sediment mining Hills and Chure to erosion, the for the construction industry in Nepal Rastrapati Chure Conservation and India, 2) degradation of vegetation Program was created in 2014. The in the Chure Hills and along the program focuses on conservation and riparian areas, and 3) expansion of the protection projects of recharge areas, unsealed road network. vegetation improvement, habitat conservation, erosion reduction and These disturbances contribute to irrigation support, with the lateral river migration and marked involvement of the local community. river widening with streambank erosion, and are often associated with Some recent erosion-reduction works Figure 8 (Top) Unstable hills causing bed rising (aggradation). Due to the involve streambank stabilisation, erosion and sedimentation combined causes to higher sediment roadside erosion mitigation and Figure 9 (Bottom) Gabions built to load, river bed levels have risen different types of bioengineering protect the river banks significantly, and around 2 metres of works, which may often involve the accumulation have been reported construction of gabions. over the past 50 years in some stretches of the Chure rivers (Adhikari, 2013).

17 Awareness exists of the streambank Additionally, streambank erosion has The associated flooding may have protection needed in order to reduce been reported in combination with resulted from combined and the vulnerability of villagers and overbank flooding and riverbed cumulative effects of local lands to the risk of rapid river aggradation. Considering the context disturbances affecting sediment migration (avulsion). of disturbances, it is likely that influxes from tributaries, or increases changes in river course might not be in the sediment load, or from local In the Terai, the Kamala River has solely triggered by intense rainfall changes in channel slope (Jones and been modified after construction of and high energy flooding. Schumm, 1999). engineered infrastructure such as channel embankments and raised levees. Since 2002, infrastructure Factors affecting stream stability, other than rainfall works have narrowed the river and increased its banks through levees in • Slope of gullies in part of the catchment, potentially formed after order to reduce bank instability and landslides, road construction or land degradation. overbank flooding. • Poorly and discontinuously vegetated stream banks. The project, implemented in Dhanusha • Intense mining of river material, including boulders, gravels and sands and Siraha districts, created around 65 from stream banks, beds and other geomorphic features. km of river embankment, and constructed levees and revetments in • Uncontrolled access to streams by people, livestock and motorised the form of gabions, piled geo-bags or vehicles, disturbing riverbeds and banks, and even weakening sandbags, and porcupines (Figure 9). constructed levees. Despite these flood control measures • Expansion of unsealed road construction, altering the nature of contributing to reduce the impact of sediment delivery paths and overland flow in forested environments monsoon precipitation, the risk of and potentially triggering gullying and land sliding processes. recurrent floods continues to threaten • Deforestation in the Chure and material and sediment extraction in the some of the weaker sections of the hills and the plains. embankments.

18 2.4 Current land use and recent land use change

Land cover in Nepal over different In 2010, the coverages of forest and Agricultural Land periods (1990, 2000 and 2010), was agricultural areas were about 59% and Agricultural land is located in the estimated by ICIMOD (2013) using 35%, respectively (Uddin et al, 2015), Middle Mountains, Chure and Terai. Landsat satellite images with a spatial with forest predominantly happening The cultivation of sloping lands in the resolution of 30 m. in the Chure and Middle Mountains hills is common practice in Nepal and zones and agriculture in the Terai and Land use in the Kamala Basin was occurs in the Kamala Basin using valleys of the Chure. In the upper estimated using these land cover terracing. The type of terrace is a basin, areas are terraced for shapefiles. Changes in land use were function of water availability for agriculture. determined by comparing land covers irrigation, physical constraints and between 2000 and 2010. The agricultural area in the Chure is cropping possibility. generally developed along the Kamala In addition to land cover from the The main area of agriculture is River and Tawa River. ICIMOD (2013) study, the global forest concentrated in the lower part of the change dataset from Landsat 2000– The land use classification shows the Chure and the Terai plains with access 2017 (Hansen et al, 2013), global following attributes. to water for irrigation. human built-up and settlement extent Forest Land Shrubland and Grassland dataset from Landsat 2010 (Wang et al, The shrubland and grassland 2017) and Google Earth historical Forests are mainly composed of vegetation exists in all four districts imagery were also applied to verify hardwood species, with a and occupies about 2.3% of the basin changes of land use in the basin. predominance of broad-leaved trees with a range of crown densities, and land area. include protected and non-protected forests.

19 Other Lands Land Use Change Figure 10 shows the current land use classification and the canopy cover The settlement or residential areas Nationwide changes in land use and density in 2000 and 2010 from (including rural and urban), barren land cover have been reported in ICIMOD’s regional database (Uddin et land, land covered by water bodies, several studies (GoN, 2017, NAST, 2012). al, 2015). Comparing the forest cover sandbars and other wasteland are However, there is no study showing in 2000 and 2010, it is estimated that classified under ‘other land’. The total detailed land use change patterns in 2,800 ha of forest was changed to area covered by the other land the Kamala Basin. One of the major other types of land use in the basin category is about 7,500 ha, which is areas where land use change has over this period, which represents about 3.6% of the total basin area. occurred is in the Chure range. Some 1.3% of the total area of the basin. Within this category, barren land of the common threats identified comprises about 2.4%, residential area through local community There are some places where about 0.4% and water bodies around consultation and workshops are significant loss of forest has been 0.8% of the total basin area (JVS and overgrazing, forest fire, over occurring in the Kamala Basin, as PEI, 2018, Uddin et al, 2015). exploitation of resources, shown by comparing land use in-migration, flooding and between 2000 and 2018 in the images encroachment (Karna, 2007). of three selected spots in the basin. In most cases, forest and river terraces The main observed changes are have been impacted for agricultural expansion from forest to agriculture and settlement purposes (Neupane and human settlement in the basin. and Dhakal, 2017), which have At Spots 1 and 2, for example, land historically posed additional flooding conversion has taken place along the threats from the Kamala River. river stream. Evidence of forest loss has also been found between boundaries of forest and agriculture regions, as shown in Spot 3.

20 SPOT 1 SPOT 2 SPOT 3

Figure 10 Land use cover (Uddin et al, 2015) in 2010 (top left map and pie chart), tree cover in 2010 (top right map) and examples of forest loss in three spots in the Kamala Basin between 2000 and 2018 (Landsat imagery is courtesy of United States Geological Survey)

21 2.5 Socio-economic conditions and trends

Demography and settlements reported a male head, with an average Land tenure The Kamala Basin had a population of age of 49 years, and 5.8 household Across the four districts of the Kamala approximately 610,000, with members. Female household heads Basin, there are more than 270,000 approximately 120,000 households, in were on average 43 years old and led land holdings. Of these, approximately 2011 (CBS, 2019). households of 4.7 members. half of the holdings have 0.5 ha or less, Approximately one third of male which clearly reflects the importance Settlements happen across the four household heads, and half of the total of small agriculture and strong districts of the Kamala Basin: Siraha, female household heads, were economic limitations. Sindhuli, Dhanusha and Udayapur illiterate. districts. Table 2 presents the For large agriculture, communities in population, municipalities and other Ethnicity, caste and religion the district of Siraha have the largest statistics of the basin across each of The Kamala Basin comprises a share of larger farms (over 3 ha), with these districts. heterogeneous mix of caste and ethnic 4% of district landholdings. In contrast, communities in the district The Kamala Basin is a densely groups. With regards to caste, the of Sindhuli only have 0.1% of farms populated basin. In 2017 the density Brahmin, Chhetri, Janajati of hill, Newar with area of 3 ha or more. In terms of was approximately 290 people per and Dalits dominate the population of tenure, most holdings are owned by km2 (CBS, 2019); in contrast the the hilly regions while Terai/Madhesi the farmers, with approximately 10% population density of Nepal as a dominate the population in the Terai of the land being rented (CBS, 2019). whole was 204 people per km2 in 2017 regions, followed by Janajati of Terai (CBS, 2019). (World Bank, 2019). Migration Data from two of the Poverty and In terms of ethnic and caste groups, in Often young family members out- Vulnerability Assessment (PVA) the hill districts the main groups are migrate in the search for better jobs, surveys conducted with 544 randomly Chhetri, Magar, Rai, Tamang, Brahmin either in cities in Nepal or in foreign selected households located across 11 and Newar. In the Terai districts the countries, in particular Malaysia, different municipalities in the Siraha, major ethnic and caste groups are the Japan, South Korea and the Gulf Sindhuli and Udayapur districts of the Yadav, Muslim, Koiri/Kushbaha, countries. Kamala Basin in the period 2011–2012 Mushar and Teli (CBS, 2019). (ICIMOD, 2019) show that approximately 82% of households

22 As an example of the level of This rate, however, seems to have Employment and Income migration in the Kamala Basin, the increased in recent years as it has The main source of employment and PVA data show that in the sample of been estimated that out-migration is income in the Kamala Basin is two Sindhuli municipalities, in much more widespread, In 2014 alone, agriculture, which occupies more 2011–2012, 33% of the households had more than half a million people left than 70 percent of the workforce. at least one member who had Nepal to work in foreign countries Out-migration for foreign migrated to look for work (Shrestha, 2017). employment has enhanced opportunities elsewhere. Of those, remittances and consequent half migrated to a foreign country. economic activities in the basin, but has contributed to a shortage of labour for agriculture activities.

Table 2 Key indicators across the four Kamala Basin districts

District Dhanusha Sindhuli Siraha Udayapur Total Number of urban municipalities 5 2 6 2 15 Number of rural municipalities 1 3 2 2 8 Number of wards 30 42 62 23 157 Number of households 22,214 57,544 42,913 17,511 119,535 Number of land holdings 96,006 51,233 88,527 54,919 290,685 Land holdings below 0.5 ha 41,250 28,979 31,554 31,868 41,250 Total population 118,933 179,911 224,264 85,137 608,245 Female population 59,771 94,459 116,042 45,030 315,302 Multi-dimensional poverty rank 1 n.a. 8 12 9

Sources: CBS (2019) and Gerlitz (2015). 1 The higher the ranking, the higher the multi-dimensional poverty incidence in the district. Ranking constructed out of a total of 23 analysed districts (the PVA data does not record observations from households in the district of Dhanusha, so it is not possible to measure its multi-dimensional poverty).

23 The other employment opportunities This information, although not In the Terai districts of Dhanusha and in the Kamala Basin are jobs in specific to the Kamala Basin since the Siraha, attainment of secondary schools, governmental offices, non- existing data covers the whole education or further studies is twice governmental offices and in the districts and not just communities in as likely for men than for women. In private sector, such as labour for the basin, indicates that the incidence comparison, in the districts of construction, materials transportation of poverty is still relatively high in the Udayapur and Sindhuli, secondary and construction of roads, water basin, in comparison to other regions education is less unbalanced. supply, building and irrigation works. of the country. Due to poor economic conditions and Remittances are another important Workforce, education and gender a scarcity of colleges and universities source of revenue for households. It is in the basin, most students do not Based on national statistics, the United difficult to estimate the real level of have the opportunity to acquire Nations Development Programme remittances received by households higher education in their preferred (UNDP) ranked Nepal 118 out of 189 in the basin as these range from very areas. Female students are mostly countries on its gender inequality little to the majority of the income of affected in such circumstances, index. In practice, gender can a household. A PVA sample of 232 because their parents hesitate to send influence participation in programs, households in two municipalities of them away from home, or because access to health care, education and Sindhuli shows that a quarter of the early marriage is still prevalent in credit, control of household and households received remittances, and many communities, which increases community resources, and influence within this the average household school or college dropouts. political processes (Kadel et al, 2017). received approximately half of its Women can spend an hour or two total income from remittances. Nepal has embraced many policies to each day fetching water for drinking empower women in each of these In terms of poverty, using the PVA data, and other household purposes in areas (e.g. including political Gerlitz et al (2015) provide a detailed Chure and Middle Mountains areas representation as part of the analysis of multi-dimensional poverty such as Katari Municipality, Udayapur. constitution). Challenges remain in across the country and rank the districts Likewise, they also spend hours at educational attainment, division of of Udapayur, Siraha and Sindhuli within public taps, tube wells, wells, and domestic chores, access to resources the top half in terms of multi-dimen- rivers washing clothes and utensils. and representation. sional poverty in Nepal (Table 2) – Dhanusha was not covered in the study.

24 Young women complained that despite being educated they are involved only in household tasks, while they would prefer to undertake work in small and medium-sized enterprises (CSIRO, 2017). As discussed earlier, large numbers of people migrate out of their home districts. The majority of the migrant workforce are men (typically 20–44 years old) and with low levels of education, skills and qualifications.

Access and control of resources Irrigating farm land is a major challenge faced by women in the Kamala Basin, especially during the dry seasons when the groundwater level and the flow of water in the Kamala River and its tributaries are low.

Figure 11 Working age and gender in the basin and surrounds

25 70%

60%

50%

40% from Karjhana Municipality, it was found that Dalit women face more 30% challenges in competing with male as Secondary well as upper caste groups to irrigate Dhanusa Male Siraha Male Udayapur Male Sindhuli Male their farm lands. They stated that they Dhanusa Female Siraha Female Udayapur Female Sindhuli Female would get to irrigate the farm lands only after the upper caste groups irrigated theirs. Figure 12 Secondary education in the districts by gender Representation Increasingly, representation of women is being mandated at a number of In such situations, women farmers In such circumstances, women levels. Supported by quotas in Nepal’s were found to be more vulnerable. farmers in the Kamala Basin have no constitution, at the 2017 local elections For example, in some places, farmers other option than to wait for rainfall. 40 per cent of elected officials were who had access to electricity near In addition to this, during wet female. Likewise, quotas exist for their farms are able to use electric seasons, in places where water is Water User Group associations (33%) motors to extract water from the tube distributed through the irrigation and a range of similar groups. wells nearby. However, this was not channels, women find it difficult to feasible for most, and especially for Key positions are still held mainly by access water for their farm lands as women farmers, who lack technical men. For example, most mayors in the they have to compete with men to skills and hesitate to speak to others districts of the Kamala Basin are men, channel water to their farm lands. and ask for help. all the members on the KIP’s main The prevalence of a patriarchal committee are men (JICA, 2016), and Some farmers also buy water from system sets boundaries on women’s domain experts are far more likely to deep boring suppliers. This option is behaviour, making them less be men. JVS and PEI (2018) report that feasible to only those women farmers competitive and too shy to request women in the community feel the need who can afford to pay 300–400 NPR equal rights in water distribution for better avenues to voice their problems per hour to irrigate 1 Kattha (0.34 ha) from irrigation channels. Further, as if they are to take equal benefit from of land. per the conversation with Dalit women the managed irrigation systems.

26 Cultural The Kamala River is used as a site for religious events such as cremations and festivals. In particular, the river is considered holy just downstream of Kamalamai Temple, Sindhuli. The Triveni Ghat in Dudhauli is a significant location in the local community for festivals and rituals.

Environmental flow Figure 13 Cultural water Environmental flows ‘describe the quantity, timing and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater or the minimum required as identified 2003, Lytle and Poff, 2004). and estuarine ecosystems and the in the environmental impact Environmental flow assessments human livelihoods and well-being assessment study report (MoWR, provide an understanding of the that are dependent upon these ecosys- 2001). Determination of this value is required flows in river systems tems’ (Brisbane Declaration, 2007, derived using a hydrological method considering seasonal flows, natural Arthington et al, 2018). which calculates a fixed percentage of high flows, extreme low flows, floods the mean monthly flow or minimum and inter annual variability that The concept of environmental flow mean monthly flow in a section of the determine the flow regimes of river has been applied elsewhere to river. This method however, does not systems. Substantial effort is needed understand the link between river account for the natural variability of to better understand environmental flow characteristics and ecological flow in the river (Alfredsen, 2015). flow requirements across the Kamala components. It is however, less Basin and in Nepal. developed in Nepal. Currently, It is recognised that variable water provision shall be made to release regimes are required to maintain a water which is higher of either at dynamic river system where natural least 10% of the minimum monthly biodiversity and ecological processes average discharge of the river/stream are preserved (Postel and Richter,

27 2.6 Biodiversity

Many livelihoods in Nepal and the These studies describe the Kamala Local faunal studies undertaken with Kamala Basin, such as farming and Basin as being predominantly of the the basin indicate key mammal fishing, depend on biodiversity, while Tarai-Duar Savanna and Grasslands species such as Asiatic Elephant are culturally, the environment and ecoregion with the northern section present as well as grassland species biodiversity support large festivals, occupied by the Himalayan such as hog deer and barking deer. requiring clean water and abundant Subtropical Broadleaf Forests Studies suggest there are up to 29 fish food. ecoregion including churia forests species, one of which is near (Paudel et al, 2012). threatened (Shrestha 2008); 26 reptiles Species diversity is very high across and amphibians (Shah and Tiwari, Nepal, with the country supporting A study reported across Nepal’s churia 2004, Aryal et al, 2010), three of which 3.2 and 1.1% of Earth’s known flora forest zone indicates substantial are vulnerable; 65 bird species and fauna, respectively, with a high biodiversity in this zone with 281 tree (Parajuli, 2016) including the globally level of endemic species (Ministry of species, 186 shrub species and 322 threatened Lesser-adjutant stork Forests and Soil Conservation, 2014). herbaceous plant species (DFRS, 2014). (Leptoptilo javanicus); and 46 This is significant when Nepal as a It is difficult to pinpoint whether mammals, with two endangered, two country only occupies 0.1% of global these species are all present in the vulnerable and six near threatened. land area. Kamala Basin. Across Nepal, many species of flora Kamala Basin biodiversity Sal forest, tropical deciduous riverine and fauna are vulnerable. The Kamala forest and tropical evergreen forest There are very few studies that Basin is both flood and drought occur within the Savanna and identify the species of flora and fauna affected, impacting freshwater fish Grasslands ecoregion. Tall grasses that are present in the Kamala Basin. and other aquatic species such as grow in riverine grasslands and Some data on presence or absence of frogs and invertebrate species, as well forests (Paudel et al, 2012). fauna exist, but information on native as terrestrial animals and their vegetation species can only be drawn Again, it is unclear which species habitats. from broader ecoregion studies. within these vegetation types grow within the basin and thus if any species are threatened.

28 Figure 14 Frog species (left) and Kingfisher (right) at Kamala Basin

Other threats include habitat loss A study undertaken by Doody et al The Lesser-adjutant stork, for from deforestation, invasive species, (2016) uses conceptual models to example, occurs in the basin and wildlife poaching, fishing methods highlight some of the key indicators requires trees higher than 30 metres harmful to other animals/plants such of ecological change that might occur tall in order to successfully nest. as electrofishing and poisoning, in relation to river or wetland regime Deriving baseline ’flow-ecology’ landslides and damage caused by changes. The relationship between relationships and improving floods and landslides. ecological assets such as birds, fish conceptual models provides a means and macroinvertebrates and flow by which to monitor ecological In-stream aquatic ecology is impacted regime changes is likely transferable flow-related changes in the future by river mining for construction and to ecological assets in the Kamala (Doody et al, 2016). associated erosion. A significant Basin. threat is posed to both flora and fauna However, more detailed surveys are with river flow regime alteration or required to understand species diversion related to irrigated presence and function across the agriculture, and climate change. Kamala Basin.

29 3 Water availability and sources

3.1 Surface water

There is limited available data on The minimum, mean and maximum However, even in the monsoon surface water in the Kamala Basin. monthly flows over this period are season, these rivers change water Discharge was measured at the shown in Figure 15. The data shows flows a few hours after rainfall Chisapani (26.421 N, 86.175 E) extreme monthly streamflow caused events. hydrological station in the Dhanusha by rainfall quantity and intensity. Due to the high level of infiltration district during operations from 1956 During the dry season the rivers that and permeability in the rivers to 1970 and 2000 to 2004. originate in the Chure have either a corridor the level of the rivers rise The mean monthly flow data of the very low volume of water or no and decline quickly. Kamala River obtained from the Koshi perennial surface water flowing. Basin Master Plan Study (JICA, 1985) In contrast, during the wet season, from 1956 to 1970 at Chisapani station rivers carry high volumes of water (station 598) was 44.70 m3/s. and sediments, varying with rainfall intensity during the monsoon season (Hannah et al, 2005).

400 350 ) -1 s

3 300 250 200 150

Discharge (m 100 50 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Min Max Mean

Figure 15 Minimum, maximum and mean monthly discharge of Kamala River at Chisapani station (1956–70) Figure 16 Kamala River during monsoon season

30 Surface Water

Streamflow has been across the Kamala Basin measured in the past at shows: Chisapani, Ranibas and • Spatial variability: As Inarwa (border with with most India). Technical issues catchments, although from the high sediment rain is predominantly loads make it difficult to in the hills, the water measure streamflow is accumulated in the and to maintain rivers as the water measurement stations. travels downstream. The longest records of flow are from • Flood variability: The Chisapani, though the volume of water in a records are mainly from flood in a wet year is German-supported more than twice the studies in the 1960s streamflow of an (Muehlbauer, 1977). average year. Since 2018 the DHM has • Dry winters: The installed two new water flowing during automatic hydrological the winter cropping and precipitation season (December to stations in the Basin: March) is a small Ranibas (86.03E, 27.70N) fraction of the and Titriya (86.22E, monsoon flow. An 26.89N). average of 61 MCM is From past existing insufficient to meet measurements and water demands in the applying hydrological Kamala Irrigation Project. models, a historical Figure 17 Annual and winter streamflow estimations, across the sequence of streamflow Kamala River, in millions of cubic metres (MCM) in average wet, mean and dry years (top figure) and winters (bottom figure)

31 3.2 Floods

Flooding in the Kamala Basin and The heavy rainfall leads to several • Build-up of waters flowing down surrounds threatens people’s lives types of floods: the Kamala River, changing the and causes major damage. Three river’s course and spilling over • Flash flooding from local rainfall in people died in Dhanusha in the 2017 banks, especially at the confluence the Chure or Middle Mountains. flooding, and the Ministry of Home of the Kamala and Tawa Khola and Affairs estimates around 127,000 • Temporary waterlogging on the the Terai plains (e.g. floods in 2007). people were displaced from Terai plains.. • Failure of infrastructure such as Dhanusha and Siraha (NPC, 2017). embankments, drains and culverts. The total recovery needs are anticipated to be in the order of USD 40 million, with housing (53%) and Flood impacts irrigation infrastructure (24%) the The villages along the Kamala and the river flowed along largest expenses. River’s edge in the Terai were badly alternative courses in Dhanusha Flooding is unavoidable due to the affected by a flood in 2007. and Siraha districts. In 2008 the intense monsoon rainfall (e.g. >0.3 Kamala River flowed changing the On July 24, the Himalayan Times metres of rainfall in 24 hours) channel direction as shown in the reported that the floodwaters, (NPC, 2017). satellite imagery. ‘swamped houses, plantations, roads, markets, government offices The damage on the Indian side in and schools in the district the same flood event was reported headquarters of Siraha’. to be severe, particularly due to the wider area under influence and About 1.5 km of embankment was flatter slope resulting in the water destroyed and there was severe taking a longer time to drain riverbank erosion. (MOAC and FAO, 2011). In the 2007 floods, the waters inundated the flood plains for about a week due to overbank flow

32 Figure 18 Communities affected by floods in the Kamala Basin in 2007 and change in the river channel from 2006 to 2008

33 3.3 Groundwater

Groundwater forms a significant Annual groundwater recharge in the and Siraha districts suggests that component of the total water Siraha and Dhanusha districts was shallow groundwater occurs across resource in the Terai plains. In estimated to be in the range of 122 to the Terai areas of the Kamala Basin Dhanusha and Siraha, groundwater 279 MCM/a for Siraha (Kansakar, 1992) and water levels come close to the supplies 85% of household domestic and 145 to 352 MCM/a for Dhanusha ground surface after the rainy season. water needs and around 70% of (Shrestha, 1992). Over the period 2004 to 2013 the households use groundwater for The GWRDB (2019) estimates annual observation bores indicated that irrigation (Okwany et al, 2013). consumption of groundwater across groundwater levels varied in the range GoN (2017) reports that there are 6,293 the whole Terai in Nepal at 756 MCM 0.1 to 7.5 m below ground, with shallow tube wells in Dhanusha, and for irrigation and industrial purposes seasonal patterns of filling during the 5,932 shallow tube wells and 48 deep and 297 MCM for drinking water use. monsoon and drying during the winter. tube wells in Siraha. The current rate Estimates of groundwater This indicates that water is available of extraction is considered consumption for the Kamala Basin to be used. Based on the observed sustainable and expansion is being were not available. Analysis of data minimum and maximum water levels, promoted widely. from observation bores of Dhanusha it is estimated that annual The major factors that determine sustainable levels of groundwater use Table 3 Estimated number of shallow (STW) and deep (DTW) tube wells are the volumes of recharge and constructed for the purpose of irrigation within districts of the Kamala extraction. Basin (GoN, 2017).

The Groundwater Resources District Number Area in STW No. of Area in DTW Total irrigated Development Board (GWRDB) of STW (ha) DTW (ha) area (ha) estimates recharge of the Terai plain Dhanusha 6,293 17,576 88 3,049 20,625 at 8,800 MCM per year (GWRDB, 2019). Other studies have estimated the Sindhuli 164 412 0 0 412 recharge for the Terai plains in the Siraha 5,932 20,495 48 1,228 21,723 range 5,800 MCM/a to 10,745 MCM/a Udayapur 632 1,909 0 0 1,909 (Mukherjee, 2018). Total 12,921 40,390 136 4,277 44,667

34 replenishable groundwater could support irrigation of at least 9,250 ha of land in the Kamala Irrigation Project area. Increased usage may also favour availability of more storage for groundwater recharge. Recorded discharges of the shallow tube wells in Dhanusha district range from 9 l/s to 16 l/s while it was 11 l/s in the Siraha district. This indicates a high groundwater yield, favouring extraction using irrigation tube wells and pumps.

Pumping IFPRI (2016) reports that most shallow tube wells in Dhanusha use a 4.8 HP Figure 19 Open well and hand pump used for extracting water for domestic needs diesel pump. One pump costs approximately 20,000 NPR and could service around 4.8 ha. Sugden (2014) reports that inequalities In Dhanusha around 30% of farmers Farmers rent out their pumps to other in landlord-tenant relations also owning 3 ha of land also own a pump farmers and on an average one pump affect the capacity of farmers to set. For tenants, they typically rent serves about 9 farmers within a radius access groundwater from shallow the well and/or pump set from the of 1.8 km. Operating hours vary across tube wells. Typically, a landlord landlord to irrigate their crops. The seasons and districts. For example in owning a larger landholding bores a inequality reveals itself as increased Dhanusha a pump runs for an average well to access water and buys a pump usage costs for renters compared to of 81 hours during Kharif season, 104 set to extract the water (though some owners and an increased capacity for hours during Rabi and about 17 hours bores are collectively managed). owners to pump groundwater in summer. compared to renters.

35 Prospects Kamala hydrogeology Despite opportunities to profitably irrigate land using shallow tube wells, The hydrogeology of the Terai plains in the Kamala Basin is IFPRI (2016) shows that the composed of two major depositional units – the Bhabhar purchasing of pumps in Dhanusha zone (towards the north) and the Terai (Shreshta et al, 2018). appears to have plateaued since 2010. The Bhabhar zone is situated in the foothills of the Chure, The water to diesel price ratio is much consisting of alluvial and colluvial coarse sediments. higher than in neighbouring countries (3.2 for Nepal vs 2.2 for Bihar The Bhabhar zone has an unconfined aquifer with a or 2.0 for Bangladesh). Use of deep generally deep watertable. Intersection of the Bhabhar zone tube wells is also limited because of and the Terai plain marks the northern boundary of the the equipment required for drilling as Ganga basin. well as the high costs involved in The Southern Zone is underlain by recent alluvium with an maintenance. average thickness of 1,500 m formed by the deposition of Construction of deep tube wells is sediments in the rivers running from the North. subsidised by the Government with The rivers and streams frequently shift along the plain, 0 to 5% of the total costs paid by the sometimes over kilometres. Consequentially, the sediments farmers. The Government’s allocation are cross-bedded, eroded, reworked and redeposited, of funds to the deep tube well scheme resulting in aquifers that provide valuable groundwater is insufficient to meet all requests for resources. new projects. The small number of The depth profiles in the region, comprising alternating operational schemes means that sand and gravel of various sizes mixed with clay, favour maintenance costs remain high, and high groundwater potential (Figure 20). most schemes fall into disrepair.

36 Figure 20 Hydrogeology representation in the Kamala Basin (adapted from GDC, 1994)

37 3.4 Water quality

Surface water quality The Kamalamai municipality has In terms of damage to infrastructure, Surface water contamination can responded to try to reduce the risk the greatest issue is the high levels of cause sickness, ecological decline and through becoming a ‘no open sediment. When mobilised, sediment damage to infrastructure. defecation area’ and undertaking can fill storages and complicate the measures such as building latrines. design of irrigation infrastructure. The In terms of sickness, although there largest sediment loads are transported have been few studies in the Kamala In terms of ecological decline, during the monsoon season. Basin on water quality, there is measurements by Shah (2019) in the evidence of human and animal faecal Kamala River show raised nitrate Groundwater quality levels (1.1–3.2 mg/L) and phosphate contamination. For groundwater, the main challenge levels as high as 6.8 mg/L. The raised In one study of the Ghwang Khola that has been identified is arsenic levels indicate that some fertiliser (Kamalamai) river, in the north-west contamination. Arsenic from farming is entering the river of the Basin, total coliform counts contamination is linked to many network as organic pollution, which were >300 CFU/100 ml – well above long-term health problems, e.g. stimulates the growth of plants and World Health Organization (WHO) cancers, infant mortality and algae. guidelines of nil contamination developmental delays (WHO, 2001). Based on counts of macroinvertebrates, (ITECO et al, 2015). Between 1999 and 2004, three major Shah (2019) report the river health is The contamination increases systematic studies were undertaken ‘good’ in Chiyabari (in the upper downstream, with records above 1,100 to measure arsenic concentration in reaches of the Basin), deteriorating CFU/100 ml in India (CPBC, 2013). As a groundwater samples in the Terai downstream to ‘fair’ by Dudhuali, consequence, all water needs to be region (Department of Water Supply according to the GRSbios/ASPT scale treated before it can be used for and Sewerage, Nepal Red Cross and (Nesemann et al, 2007). drinking or cleaning purposes, to National Arsenic Steering Committee). Given the observation of algae, avoid gastrointestinal diseases. Further scientific studies have been uncontrolled waste dumping and risk These diseases can lead to diarrhoea conducted to assess the causes of factors such as low flows and rising and vomiting, and in children can arsenic contamination (Bhattacharya temperatures, water quality contribute to malnutrition and et al, 2003, Shresta et al, 2003, Shrestha, monitoring should be established. cognitive delay (Rodríguez et al, 2011, 2004, Pokhrel et al, 2009, Thakur et al, Guerrant et al, 2008). 2011).

38 These studies show different values of arsenic contamination in ground water indicating that arsenic is non-uniformly distributed across the Terai with one study suggesting about 27.3% of total tube wells in the Terai contaminated with arsenic above the WHO guideline value of 10 ppb. However, based on the National Arsenic Steering Committee study (NASC, 2007) of all 56,531 shallow tube wells in Dhanusha, a lesser (but significant) 4% of tested shallow tube wells were contaminated with arsenic above 10 ppb, and 0.7% of tube wells measured arsenic above the Nepal Interim Standard of 50 ppb. The district profile for Dhanusha suggests that the highest concentrations of arsenic are close to the Kamala River (ODDC, 2008).

Figure 21 (top) Algae and litter in the Kamala River downstream of Sindhuli Figure 22 (bottom) Surface water in the irrigation canal affected by waste

39 4 Water use and water demand

4.1 Socio-economic dependence on water

Economic drivers and limitations Water social conflicts In terms of energy sources for Given that agriculture is the main Based on the PVA surveys, 70% of lighting, 72% of households reported economic activity, livelihoods in the households reported no social conflict access to electricity from connection Kamala Basin are heavily dependent as consequence of water disputes to the national grid, while 10% of on the availability of water. As within the same village, while 24% households reported renewable solar/ mentioned above, around 70% of all reported that conflicts occurred only wind/turbine energy as their main employment in the basin relates to occasionally. electricity source. agriculture, which creates high Around 6% of households in the The data also show that households in economic dependence on water. sample reported frequent social the district of Sindhuli spent on However, precise data does not exist conflict emerging within the village, average 8,000 NPR per year, while regarding how many rural households as a consequence of water disputes households in Udapayur and Siraha have access to irrigation water. with households in other comunities. spent approximately 4,200 NPR per Available data indicates that year on energy needs. Energy approximately half of the total suitable cultivable agricultural land, From the PVA data it can be observed approximately 54,000 ha, have been that 70% of households report using irrigated (JVS and PEI, 2018). wood, baked cow dung, sawdust, grass or other natural materials as In terms of modern irrigation systems, their main fuel for cooking. The in the sample of the PVA data fewer remainder of households used mainly than 1% of households claimed to cylinder gas and other systems. have invested or bought assets related to irrigation systems.

40 Observed and understood social conflict • Where people are forced to relocate to new land due to flooding, cutting trees creates conflict regarding the share of natural resources. • Low efficiency of irrigation due to high water loss and low water availability has resulted in conflict around water sharing among farmers. • Upstream deforestation, especially in the Chure, leading to erosion and sedimentation in the river, has caused difficulty in the livelihoods of indigenous people depending on fishery for their survival. • There has been conflict regarding unfair sharing of compensation and benefits among the basin people during cases of

flooding due to embankment and other Figure 23 Water use by the community at interventions. the Kamala Irrigation Project canal • There is also a problem of water scarcity during the dry season for women and girls who, due to the lack of access to drinking water, have to travel a longer distance for water collection.

41 4.2 Agriculture, irrigation and livestock

Agriculture is the main economic limited by the workforce, land size In some parts of the basin, where activity and occupation for the people and water availability during the dry irrigation systems or access to water living within the Kamala Basin and its season. are available as in the Kamala four districts. Crop production Irrigation Project areas, it is possible Rice is planted at the beginning of the through irrigation is the major water to observe the production of monsoon season, followed by wheat. use in the basin. Crop production is vegetables, mustard, peas, millet and This last crop depends on the predominantly done by smallholders, potatoes as diversification. availability of water for irrigation. with subsistence farming mainly However, the production of these producing traditional crops of rice, Farmers show a desire to have access commodities still happens on a small wheat and maize. to water all year round in order to be scale and is generally localised in the able to produce a third crop during Agricultural practices are based on vicinity of urban settlements. More the dry season if water for irrigation farmers’ experience and tradition, recently, farmers have increased access becomes available.

Figure 24 Paddy field cultivated with rice during the monsoon in the Terai

42 to chemical fertilisers, insecticides and In the Terai, rice-based cropping Other crops such as potato and improved seeds. Mechanised practices occurs on irrigated low lands while mustard are also grown during winter. are growing but still limited. maize-based cropping patterns are Maize is grown in both irrigated and practised in uplands. Early paddy rice rain-fed areas but its coverage is Different practices are applied on is also grown in low-lying areas and comparatively low (MOAD, 2017). each different land type and are its coverage area is fairly small. dependent on water availability. The Cropped area distribution cropping practices of the Chure and After rice, wheat is grown to a large The area cultivated in the four Middle Mountains regions are based extent in irrigated fields during winter districts of the basin is shown in on terraced farming since access to (November to March). Farmers Table 4. irrigation is much more limited than reported that it is becoming more in the Terai. frequent to lose production of wheat due to the lack of water for irrigation Alternative crops such as barley and at the end of the winter season buckwheat are more common in (CSIRO, 2017). these regions.

Table 4 Estimated crop areas in the four districts of the Kamala Basin

District Cultivated area (ha) Rice Maize Wheat Millet Oilseed Sugarcane Potato Vegetables Dhanusha 65,540 2,019 40,000 300 3,373 3,605 2,320 8,054 Sindhuli 14,900 24,815 5,650 11,700 5,174 17 2,140 2,474 Siraha 51,575 1,750 15,210 640 7,046 2,200 1,900 4,961 Udayapur 13,380 17,388 5,100 2,760 5,511 15 760 1,290 Total 145,395 45,972 65,960 15,400 21,104 5,837 7,120 16,779

Source: MOAD, 2017

43 Irrigation systems and main projects There are several irrigation schemes in the Kamala Basin and its districts that allow farmers to produce, in general, two crops per year. The largest system is the KIP. The KIP was constructed between 1975 and 1980 to provide irrigation water to the southern part of the basin. The infrastructure is designed to irrigate 25,000 ha in the Dhanusha and Siraha districts, (JICA, 2016). The water is diverted to two main canals (West and East) and is distributed in eight branches in the Eastern canal and four branches in the Western canal. The GoN is responsible for the Figure 25 Management Irrigation distribution, operation and schemes in Kamala Basin and maintenance to the main canal and surrounding districts branch canals, and the water user associations are in charge beyond that. per year, which is collected from 60% The most recent study on the KIP was of users with a distribution of 80% to undertaken as part of the JICA (2016) The budget for the operation and local committees and 20% to the GoN examination of irrigation scheme maintenance of the KIP in 2016/2017 (JICA, 2016). The share of the fee is 50% maintenance. The report shows that was 18,545,000 NPR (red book from to the main committee, 25% to the around 36,000 households benefited JICA, 2016). The irrigation service fee second level committee and 25% to from the irrigation system. varies from 150 to 300 NPR per hectare tertiary committees (JICA, 2016).

44 However, the report identifies factors that limit the effectiveness of the irrigation scheme, including: • When the project was completed, there were no canal sluice gates at the farm scale (on tertiary canals) so farmers used improvised ditches (JICA, 2013). Without infrastructure to deliver water to specific farms, farmers often flood irrigate. This leads to delivery of water that is not based on crop requirements. • Shoals are forming on both the upstream and downstream sides of the weir, which are related to the width (span) of the headworks and the siting of the scheme. Trees have grown over the shoals, indicating that maintaining the river regime is not part of the maintenance schedule.

Figure 26 Kamala Irrigation Project command area (top) and irrigation canal branch (bottom)

45 • The maintenance budget or • Allocation is rostered between Further irrigation through operating arrangements are users. However, it seems that farms groundwater is estimated to support insufficient to adequately maintain closer to the main canals and additional irrigation of 13,240 ha of the infrastructure, resulting in headworks have greater and more land in the Kamala region in 2013/14: deterioration of the headworks and reliable access to water. 12,710 ha in the Terai and 529 ha in the canals. In the main canals, the lack Dun valley bottoms (assuming the • The water user associations are not of maintenance is evident from the wells reported in GoN, 2017 are evenly well organised, and are becoming establishment of trees and bushes. distributed across irrigable land in inactive due to a lack of tertiary Secondary canals also suffer from Dhanusha and Siraha districts). canal infrastructure to manage siltation problems and collection of (JICA, 2016), as well as pressures of This gives a total estimated irrigable debris and are partly labour out-migration. area of 44,537 ha, with 37,710 ha in the malfunctioning (JICA, 2016). The bounds of the KIP. The area planted amount of sediment accumulated There are several small and medium within this command area varies with in canals is too large to be removed farm management irrigation schemes year and season. Based on satellite manually (JICA, 2016). providing surface water irrigation imagery (LandSat), the winter season across the basin. • In order to avoid sedimentation cropping within the KIP is estimated build-up, the barrage is not used to In the Kamala region, a series of to be 23,385 ha in 2014 with a growth store water. Hence, water scarcity projects have constructed 32 farmer rate since 1988 of around 2% per year. during the dry season remains a managed irrigation schemes covering Crop production, diversity and yields problem, with an irrigation an area of 6,297 ha. The production and yield in the duration around 6 weeks ending Projects from the Department of Kamala Basin varies between the four between January and mid-February. Irrigation’s database (JICA, 2013) districts and is influenced mainly by • Some areas within the command included the Irrigation Sector Project irrigation availability. It is also area do not have access to 1989 (ISP), Second Irrigation Sector influenced by other factors such as irrigation water. One Farm Project 1997 (SISP), Community precipitation, temperature, and the Management Irrigation Scheme Managed Irrigated Agriculture Sector quality of inputs (such as improved (FMIS) in the command area Project 2006 (CMIASP) and Medium seeds), use of fertilisers and effective receives water from spring sources. Irrigation Project (MIP). control of pest and diseases.

46 The average agricultural yields of the main crops in the basin districts are presented in Table 5. New non-traditional activities are emerging, showing that some diversification is occurring in the region. This is more frequent in the steeper part of the basin in Sindhuli and Udayapur, where mushroom farming and beekeeping is growing. Agroforestry is also significant, with 25% of households in Dhanusha and 18% in the other districts having planted trees, mainly for wood production. Table 6 shows the number of holdings per activities and Districts.

Crop water and irrigation demand Crops have different requirements for water and these are strongly influenced by the weather conditions, the soil’s capacity to retain water, and the phase of the crop production.

Figure 27 Irrigated crop production in the Dhanusha district

47 Table 5 Yields of major crops in the Kamala Basin

District Crop Yield (t/ha) Rice Maize Wheat Millet Oilseed Sugarcane Potato Vegetables Dhanusha 3.4 2.7 2.6 1.0 0.6 42.0 13.1 12.4 Sindhuli 3.6 2.8 2.5 1.0 0.9 37.0 9.7 10.0 Siraha 3.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 0.4 45.5 13.0 14.9 Udayapur 3.9 2.0 2.4 1.3 0.8 43.1 12.1 12.4 Mean 3.5 2.4 2.4 1.1 0.7 41.9 12.0 12.4

Source: MOAD, 2017

Table 6 Ancillary agriculture and agroforestry in the total area of the four districts in the basin

District Total Approximate number of holdings holdings Mushroom Sericulture Beekeeping Fishery Forest for Forest for Forest for farming wood herbal soil/water conservation Dhanusha 96,006 43 172 215 23,958 86 - Sindhuli 51,233 673 122 1,467 31 9,079 61 61 Siraha 88,527 83 83 124 498 16,130 - - Udayapur 54,919 515 - 377 137 9,433 172 686 Total 290,685 1,314 205 2,140 881 58,600 319 747

Source: CBS, 2019

48 Estimates of crop water demand are Livestock In Sindhuli and Udayapur more than crucial to design irrigation systems Livestock is an important source of 94% of households have some livestock, able to supply the necessary volume income and protein to households in compared with 86% in Siraha and 82% of water, and calculate the time when the districts of the basin. The main in Dhanusha. The average numbers of irrigation is required in order to livestock are cattle, buffalo, goat, livestock owned by households in optimise production and increase sheep and pig. Sindhuli and Udaypur districts are 10 water use efficiency (amount of dry and 9 compared with 4 in Dhanusha The livestock not only produce meat matter produced by volume of water and Siraha (Table 8). and dairy products but also provide used). There are models that estimate organic manure for farming that in the volume of water necessary for many cases is the only source of irrigation that consider local fertiliser used on plantations. characteristics, crop variety, and management adopted. Estimations of complementary irrigation for the main crops growing in the Dhanusha district, using the Table 7 Estimation of the minimum, maximum and mean complementary Agricultural Production Systems irrigation requirement for the main crops planted in Dhanusha (values in Simulator (APSIM) (Holzworth et al, mm per rotation considering the climate which occurred from 1991 to 2014), considering the climate 2016 and 30% inefficiency in delivering the water) occurring from 1991 to 2016, are shown in Table 7. Crop Irrigation (mm) The estimations vary between years, Minimum Maximum Mean depending on rainfall distribution, Rice 0 208 150 but also depend on the irrigation Wheat 132 307 231 systems and efficiency. Maize 53 274 170 Total 185 789 551

49 Table 8 Livestock populations in households of the four districts of the Basin

District Total Holdings Approximate number of livestock heads holdings with livestock Cattle Buffalo Goat Sheep Pig Others Dhanusha 96,006 78,834 99,934 51,445 126,605 1,751 1,965 - Sindhuli 51,233 48,669 133,144 57,030 264,019 2,542 18,357 2,507 Siraha 88,527 76,533 115,513 56,920 132,482 2,100 2,245 249 Udaypur 54,919 51,629 130,021 37,597 267,810 2,701 30,017 172 Total 290,685 255,665 478,612 202,992 790,916 9,094 52,584 2,928 Source: CBS, 2019

Women’s participation in agriculture Women have started to perform some Agricultural and livestock production jobs traditionally done by men such is strongly dependent on women. as water transporting and They are mainly responsible for management. Agricultural women several activities related to crop workers are involved on a permanent livestock production. basis, occasional basis and exchange of labour basis. The women’s tasks include seed selection, transplanting, weeding, The involvement of women as harvesting and feeding livestock. permanent workers is less common Due to extensive out-migration of than for men, while on an occasional young men to foreign countries the and exchange of labour basis workload for women has increased women’s involvement is higher in all and they are spending more time in districts. The role of women is still farming activities, including limited in decision-making processes around agricultural activities. Figure 28 Woman in the paddy field responsibilities related to irrigation.

50 4.3 Human water consumption

Domestic water use Estimates of Nepal’s domestic water consumption vary from 36 to 104 litres of water per person per day depending on access to water and household wealth (Raina, 2017). In urban areas most households have access to a piped water supply and the per capita consumption is about 60 to 75 litres per day. In areas that do not have a piped water facility, the per capita consumption decreases to 40 to 50 litres per day (Frérot, 2011).

Figure 29 Population density in the Kamala Basin and four main areas of domestic water consumption

In the Kamala Basin, domestic water • Dudhouli municipality (B) supplies tube wells to access around 2.5 consumption is mainly concentrated water to 65,000 people through and 4.6 MCM of water annually. in four areas: open and shallow wells. They need Population growth is greatest in around 1.4 MCM of water annually. • Kamalamai municipality (A) centres such as Lahan and Janakpur, supplies water to 36,000 people • East (D) and West (C) irrigation which are supplied from deep tube through a piped system. The command areas have populations wells. Therefore, domestic water use system uses around 1.0 MCM of of 114,000 and 209,000 people, is likely to remain a small, but water annually. respectively. They use shallow important, consumer of water.

51 4.4 Synthesis of water use in the Basin

Water availability in the Kamala Basin Irrigated agriculture uses The estimated volume used during is highly variable and dependent on approximately 183 MCM which is the dry season in the KIP is 40 MCM, the monsoonal pattern of precipitation. equivalent to 93% of the water used in with 61% of the volume being The Basin is consequently vulnerable the Basin, estimated to be 197 MCM. extracted from surface water and 39% to both flooding and water scarcity. Water supplied to households is from groundwater. estimated to be 9.5 MCM, livestock Historical measurement at Chisapani With respect to the FMIS, most is uses around 3.2 MCM and industry streamflow station (1956-80) shows an irrigated through surface water (5,877 around 1.0 to 2.0 MCM per year based annual average streamflow of 1,410 ha). Remote sensing in this region on estimation of number of livestock MCM/year, with 1,288 MCM occurring identified about 1,230 ha of this land and water consumption of cement during the monsoon (May – October) cultivated in the winter (with a high industries in the region respectively and only 122 MCM during the dry level of uncertainty). Most of the area (Figure 30). season. is assumed to be cultivated during Within the KIP command area, water pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons. The current water use in the Basin has for irrigation is primarily supplied Given these assumptions, the FMIS been estimated using hydrological through canal systems with some would require a volume of 16 MCM modelling, recent local measurements farmers supplementing surface water during the year, with 1 MCM during of streamflow and secondary data of with groundwater (Bastakoti et al, the dry season. groundwater extractions. However, a 2019 reporting up to 25% of farmers lack of more recent long-term Although irrigated agriculture is the for winter crop), and some using accurate measurements has required largest consumer of water, water groundwater entirely (survey data a number of assumptions to be made, availability is still a major limitation from Sugden et al, 2014 showing and the values provided should be on crop growth and productivity, between 10% and 80%). considered as preliminary estimates especially during the dry season. only. During the entire year, it is estimated that the mean volume of water used in the KIP is around 168 MCM, with 136 MCM from surface water and 32 MCM from groundwater.

52 31.5

15.2

24.3 136.3

Surface water Groundwater

200.0 183.3

150.0

100.0 MCM

40.5 50.0 9.5 3.2 1.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 3.2 1.1 0.0 Household Irrigated Industry Hydro Livestock agriculture

Water usage per year Water usage during dry season

Figure 30 Surface and groundwater volume (MCM) estimated usage in the KIP in all year (top left) and during dry season (top right) and estimated water use by sectors in the Basin (bottom).

53 4.5 Sediment mining

The Chure region is one of the major In relation to river material Part of these extraction restrictions sources of construction materials, extraction, more attention has been prohibits sediment mining from including sand, gravel, stone and given to restrictions for boulder-size downstream of the Kamala embank- forest products. Dolomite and extraction, and it is recognised that ment to near the border with India limestone are also mined from the this activity is only partially during the wettest months. However, basin. It is estimated that about 6.5 controlled and not consistent across there are at least 50 known extraction million cubic metres of sand, gravel the basin. Due to these challenges in sites upstream of the embankment of and boulders are supplied annually fully controlling river material the Kamala River, and several more from the Chure region to fulfil extraction, a complete inventory of that may have not been approved. construction demands in the country, quantities and the corresponding River sediment mining modifies the and to export to India. location of all sites, are not well shape and structure of in-channel known. The current river sediment extraction geomorphic features, which are natural that occurs in the basin affects river The data available on mining activity river-channel controls. If it is done in stability and this alteration poses show a total of 33 riverbed material an uncontrolled manner and without risks related to flooding and extraction sites reported in the considering its effects on both flow inundation (Adhikari, 2013). Sindhuli and Dhanusha districts (JVS and sediment movement, it can greatly and PEI, 2018). However, it is affect the river’s natural capacity to There is no precise information about recognised that this figure is adjust to those rapid disturbances. the location and number of mining incomplete and the number of sites sites in the basin. The GoN, at the local This type of mining may increase and the actual extracted amounts level, has focused on regulating the sediment mobilisation as these may exceed the recommendations sediment produced by mining activity natural control features are provided in previous environmental in the basin, but some trends suggest weakened, ultimately affecting the impact assessment studies. that this activity is increasing as the relative stability of a river (Erskine et GoN also permits export of this al, 1985). material to India (Adhikari, 2013).

54 Uncontrolled mining of river Even more so, river bed deposition sediments modifies the natural has been identified as being naturally sediment transport, erosion and more accentuated along the Terai, deposition processes and respective given its topographic setting and its frequency of occurrence and spatial marked decrease in slope, with a distribution. gradient between 0.2 and 1% (Jain and Sinha, 2003, Sinha et al, 2005, Adhikari, In combination with intense rainfall 2013). and flooding, sediment mining can accelerate local erosion and river bed Sediment mining represents a scouring. Mining activity also significant source of disturbance in increase river bed sedimentation in the Kamala River and large amounts nearby locations or downstream of of sediments are reaching the Indian mining sites. As consequence, it may border. increase susceptibility to overbank However, as several controls are flooding, river lateral migration and altering the river systems in the basin occurrence of avulsion (Erskine et al, at once, and can change 1985). simultaneously, it is difficult to isolate The braided segments of the rivers are the effects of one single control (Hicks likely to have large sediment loads et al, 2007), as all these occur relative to transport capacity, as this simultaneously and are contributing is a known common characteristic of to increasing sediment sources in the braided systems, but additional basin. accumulation may be occurring as a result of sediment disturbance, or changes in the flow regime.

55 Sediment mining facts • The construction industry is the main user of the extracted material. This includes road construction and river engineering works, erosion control or irrigation-related works. Part of the material is also exported to India. • Sediment extraction could be exceeding quantities licensed by the District Development/Coordination Committees, based on yearly Environmental Impact Assessments. • No boulder extraction is allowed during the monsoon season from the Kamala River within the river segment, starting from the embankments constructed for flood control. • Outside of the monsoon season, the four districts in the Basin have different control measures – some allow heavy machinery. • Data collection on sediment extraction quantities would help in establishing best practices for this activity in order to minimise negative impacts that affect the Figure 31 A small-scale sediment-mining site (top) and a large-scale capacity of the rivers for self-adjustment. extraction site (bottom) that uses heavy machinery

56 Governance related to water management activities 5

Broadly speaking, governance refers River basin governance cuts across A major challenge for all levels arises to how society decides to address an many domains and issues. These from inadequate financial and human issue of concern. Governance involves include: sustaining watershed resources to implement plans specific rules (formal and informal) resources; reducing water- and (interview with manager of a and instruments which attempt to watershed-induced hazards; as well as groundwater development office in balance the interests and ideas of meeting sectoral demands in a the Kamala Basin, November 2018). different groups. context of constrained natural and The democratic governance of river human resources. Nepal’s 2015 Constitution establishes a basin planning, and water allocation, three-tier system of government – Not all of these reside within any poses additional challenges. River federal, provincial, and local – which single agency, and so the shift to a basin planning faces the challenge of devolves power to lower levels of multi-level government structure uneven distribution of water and land government, from the previous increases the need for efficient resources, needs, and human unitary state. The transition to a coordination across sectors as well as capability – of planners as well as of federal system is necessarily complex. between different tiers of water users – at different geographic For example, it includes the government. scales. One example of uneven reassignment of some previously distribution of capability to express State actors differ with respect to central government agencies and interests and to plan is the priority their capability to govern water. personnel to fall under the jurisdiction given to some water resource Planning resources and capability and authority of provincial and local development options over others. were previously concentrated at the governments. These changes are federal level. (This is reflected in the Complex inter-basin diversion has intended to make governance more 2005 National Water Plan, 2015 dominated planning discussion accountable and representative. It is Agricultural Development Strategy, around the Kamala Basin, compared also the aspiration that this devolution 2017 Disaster Risk Reduction Strategic to discussion over options such as hill and decentralisation will deliver more Action Plan, and 2018 draft Irrigation irrigation systems, water use equitable development outcomes. Master Plan, all prepared at the efficiency, and groundwater (Kamala The Kamala Basin now encompasses national level). As provinces prepare Basin Initiative consultation three provincial governments and 23 baseline reports and development workshops, Janakpur and Lahan, 2018). local governments (15 Municipalities plans, planning capacity is emerging and eight Rural Municipalities). at the sub-national level.

57 Looking forward, it is likely to see Existing institutions (policies and The Initiative is promoting diverse pressure from Nepali society for river legislation) provide only general interests to evaluate and formulate basin planning processes to become guidance on water resources cooperative water resource more technically accessible, and to development planning. The 2018 draft development options. This may further aspirations at the sub-basin Water Resources Policy intends to contributes to reduction of potential level. Allocating water among govern water and land resources so as future water conflicts between multiple uses in multiple locations in to accrue ‘optimal’ economic, social different levels of government. a fair and accountable manner poses and environmental benefit. particular challenges in basins such The draft Policy states that sectoral as the Kamala, which are seasonally strategic plans (master plans) shall be water-scarce. consistent with river basin plans. The One set of challenges arises because draft Policy does not yet provide recently elected local and provincial guidance for how optimal portfolios governments are now responsible for of benefits should be defined. In spatial planning and infrastructure response to this gap, the Kamala Basin programming within their Initiative aims to offer specific jurisdictions, leading to a possibility technical and process guidance to that their water-related interventions address the challenge of ‘optimal’ will be uncoordinated. In order to social choice. meet diverse needs with constrained The Kamala Initiative is using water resources and public finances, scenario analysis and multi-criteria several local governments in the analysis to guide the strategic basin have expressed an interest in prioritisation of water resource collaborative planning (Kamala Basin development options. Initiative consultation workshop, Lahan, 2018). It appears that no organisational platform exists to support such collaboration.

58 Issues and challenges for achieving 6 sustainable use of water resources

Synthesizing the main issues related • The effectiveness of these controls • Sediment mining and road to water resources management in is not fully quantified or under- construction increase transport of the Kamala river Basin. In doing so, stood, and is likely to be mixed and sediment and riverbed instability. the authors recognise that the to depend on local situations and ISSUE 3 Water availability is community, and all levels of the severity of the rainfall events. constraining agricultural production government, are already working to ISSUE 2 High sediment loads in the address many of the issues of • The agricultural sector is the largest river system are increasing flood risk concern. An ongoing process to consumer of the water available, and damaging infrastructure establish a strategy is underway to which is supplied by a mix of identify development goals and • The Kamala Basin naturally surface water and groundwater actions to improve the welfare of the generates high sediment loads. This schemes. drives the river to change shape and community in the Kamala Basin. • With the current infrastructure, migrate as it dynamically responds there is insufficient surface water ISSUE 1 Monsoonal floods are to the floods and sediment. available for farmers to meet their impacting communities and • The dynamic nature of the river winter and summer irrigation infrastructure system can be difficult to live with requirements. This reduces • Floods are primarily a consequence – causing villages and towns to be productivity and yields, as well as of heavy rainfall events, which may relocated, with water (and limiting crops to a maximum of increase in intensity in the future. sediment) swamping agricultural two crops per year. • Flooding in the basin can endanger land. • While there has been an increase of life and causes significant • Sediment is deposited in barrages groundwater consumption, it economic and infrastructure damage. and canals, contributing to high appears to have plateaued. • There are a range of flood controls maintenance costs. Groundwater diesel pumping in place including gabions, check appears significantly more • Clearing vegetation along slopes, dams and embankments. expensive than in neighbouring riparian zones and floodplains Terai regions in India. increases sediment transport and causes extreme changes in the river channel form.

59 • Balancing the temporal and spatial • Water treatment plants are not all • Understanding and adoption of the distribution of water in the Kamala operational. technical aspects of modern Basin could increase the value of agricultural practices are generally • Low quality roads impact on agriculture through the ability to low. transport costs. support year-round cropping, or • Land holdings are very small (half diversifying to higher value crops. • There is a lack of adequate storage of holdings have 0.5 ha or less) and for crops. ISSUE 4 Infrastructure design, hence production is fragmented construction and maintenance are ISSUE 5 Labour is scarce, land per and limited. household is limited and agricultural not meeting current needs • Agricultural products such as rice profitability is low • Water resources infrastructure in and wheat are, in general, more the basin includes water supply • The Kamala Basin is densely expensive to grow in Nepal than systems, sediment control populated (290 people per km2), India due to different input costs, structures, flood control levees, with a rich mix of castes and ethnic subsidies and policies. farmer-managed irrigation systems groups, which varies between the ISSUE 6 Institutions need stronger and the jointly managed Kamala hilly regions and the Terai. integration Irrigation Project (KIP). • Working age men are out-migrating • Coordination between agencies is • The KIP is deteriorating due to its to earn remittances as unskilled being built at each tier of age and the need for machinery to labour. They are mostly unavailable government. conduct maintenance, as well as to work when there is peak the overall cost of general agricultural demand for labour. • Organisational platforms to support collaboration between maintenance and declining level of • There are proportionately more local governments, or between collective action among the women of working age involved in local and provincial governments beneficiary farmers. agriculture, however their are needed. • There is insignificant industry representation at committee level support to economically fix deep appears to be low. • The financing commitments from groundwater bores when the GoN are variable. pumps fail or require maintenance.

60 • There are limitations of Issue 8 Knowledge about key issues information, monitoring and and primary data is limited evaluation systems and human • This report, and others quoted here, resources at all levels. often rely on a single source of • The coordination of interests, and primary information, which is dispute resolution processes, often 20+ years old (e.g. between different sectors and groundwater studies). Provinces requires development • There was no information about and testing in the contemporary sediment quantities or sediment context of Nepal. control effectiveness. ISSUE 7 Potable water for domestic • There was a lack of continuity in purposes is not uniformly accessible the monitoring of streamflow, • Several schemes are underway to command area irrigation operation improve access to water, water and water quality. treatment and hygiene practices. • There is limited information about • In the hill regions, women can water use in irrigation systems and spend an hour or two each day best practices to increase water use fetching water for drinking and efficiency. household purposes, reducing the time for other activities. • Open wells are widely used and have high potential for water contamination. • There is evidence of contamination of waters with faecal matter and arsenic.

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65 Abbreviations

CFU colony-forming unit KIP Kamala Irrigation Project CMIASP Community Managed KRB Kamala River Basin Irrigated Agriculture Sector masl metres above sea level Project 2006 MCM million cubic metres CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research MCM/a million cubic metres per Organisation annum cumec cubic metres per second MIP Medium Irrigation Project of DOI DHM Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, OECD Organisation for Economic Government of Nepal Co-operation and Development DPR Detailed Project Report NPR Nepalese rupee DOFE Department of Foreign Employment PEI Policy Entrepreneurs Incorporated DOI Department of Irrigation, Government of Nepal ppb parts per billion DTW Deep tube well ppm parts per million FMIS Farm management PVA Poverty and Vulnerability irrigation schemes Assessment GCMs Global Circulation Models SISP Second Irrigation Sector Project 1997 GoN Government of Nepal STW Shallow tube well GWRDB Groundwater Resources Development Board UNDP United Nations Development Programme ha hectare USD United States dollar HP horsepower WECS Water and Energy IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Commission Secretariat, Climate Change Government of Nepal ISP Irrigation Sector Project WHO World Health Organization 1989 JVS Jalsrot Vikas Sanstha

66