AAArrrssseeennniiiccc TTThhhrrreeeaaattt aaannnddd IIIrrrrrriiigggaaatttiiiooonnn MMMaaannnaaagggeeemmmeeennnttt iiinnn NNNeeepppaaalll Preliminary findings from the Narayani Irrigation Command Area The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. 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Applications for such permission should be addressed to the Chief, Publishing Management Service, Information Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to [email protected] © FAO 2004 AAArrrssseeennniiiccc TTThhhrrreeeaaattt aaannnddd IIIrrrrrriiigggaaatttiiiooonnn MMMaaannnaaagggeeemmmeeennnttt iiinnn NNNeeepppaaalll Preliminary findings from the Narayani Irrigation Command Area By Suman Sijapati, Nepal Bandana Pradhan, Nepal Umesh Parajuli, Nepal Funded by FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Through the FAO Netherlands Partnership Program (FNPP) Rome, July 2004 TABLE OF CONTENT Pages Preface v Executive Summary vii List of Acronym and Abbreviation ix INTRODUCTION 1 Preamble of the Study 1 The Study Area 1 Methodology 3 Organization of the Report 6 ARSENIC ISSUE AND WATER PLANS IN NEPAL 9 Documents on Arsenic and its Occurrence and Effects in Nepal 9 Plans and Programs for Irrigation Development in Nepal 13 ARSENIC STATUS OF TERAI AND NARAYANI COMMAND AREA 17 General Overview of the Country’s Arsenic Status 17 Arsenic Status in the Command Area of Narayani Irrigation System 19 Surface Irrigation Water Availability in NIS command area 21 Flooding versus the Level of Arsenic 23 Level of Arsenic and the Cases of Arsenicosis 24 Mitigation Measures and the Cases of Arsenicosis 25 Discussion 26 CHALLENGES TO NEPAL’S IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT AND THE NEED TO MODERNIZE IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT 27 Present Status of Irrigation Development and Challenges to it 27 The Policy Reform 28 Need to Modernize Irrigation Management 30 YEAR ROUND IRRIGATION AND ARSENIC THREAT IN GROUNDWATER: COPING STRATEGIES FOR THE FUTURE 33 Arsenic Threat in Groundwater for Year Round Irrigation 33 Coping Strategies for the Future 34 Perspective for Future Investigation 36 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 37 Conclusions 37 Recommendations 38 BIBLIOGRAPHY 40 ANNEX 1 43 ANNEX 2 44 ANNEX 3 46 ANNEX 4 48 ANNEX 5 50 ANNEX 6 51 ANNEX 7 52 ANNEX 8 54 iii LIST OF TABLES 1. Arsenic Sample Tests in Nepal by Different Agencies 3 2. Targets set by NWRS 15 3. Arsenic Status of the Different Districts of Nepal 17 4. Number of VDCs and Arsenic Tests 19 5. Arsenic Level in the NIS Districts 20 6. Arsenic Status by Agencies in the NIS Command Area 20 7. Arsenic Contamination in the Tube wells in the NIS Command Area 20 8. Status of Arsenic and Arsenicosis in NIS Districts and Command Area 25 9. Impacts of Arsenic Mitigation Options 26 10. Irrigation Development by Type the Country’s Land Resources 27 LIST OF FIGURES 1. Location Map of NIS Command Area and the Concerned Districts 2 2. Layout Map of NIS Depicting the Different Blocks 2 3. Process of Analysis of the Status of Arsenic and Arsenicosis Patient 4 4. Schematic Diagram of Study Methodology 6 5. Spatial Distribution of Arsenic Level in Nepal Determined through Water Sample Tests 18 6. Spatial Distribution of Arsenic Level in the VDCs of NIS Command Area 21 7. Percentage of Samples Above WHO Benchmark versus WAI 22 8. Percentage of Samples Above Nepal Standard versus WAI 23 9. Maximum Arsenic Level versus Level of Flooding 24 10. Irrigation Development by Types 27 iv PREFACE The FAO Netherlands Partnership Programme (FNPP) seeks to support FAO’s worldwide efforts to improve food security and to eliminate poverty. This is realized through assisting FAO’s member countries in formulating national level policies and strategies. FNPP adopted three main areas of interest: 1) food security; 2) agro-biodiversity; and 3) forestry, whereas “water” is a cross-cutting theme and is embedded in all the three main themes. In 2003, a sub-theme on “Integrated Water Resources Management with a focus on Vulnerable Groups” (IWRM-VG) was formed with the aim to assist the selected countries in their efforts to formulate policies and strategies regarding integrated water resources management to improve water productivity at the national and sub-national level and to promote IWRM approach. This sub-theme was led by FAO’s Agriculture Water Resources, Development and Management Service (AGLW). Four countries facing difficulties in food security and where FAO-AGLW had already been actively involved in the water sector were chosen for intervention. These countries include Cambodia and Nepal in Asia and Burkina Faso and Tanzania in Africa. In Nepal, AGLW-FAO has been involved in the implementation of several projects and programmes including On Farm Water Management Pilot Programme (OFWMPP), Women, Irrigation and Nutrition (WIN) Project and Irrigation Modernization programme. OFWMPP, a sub-component of Nepal Irrigation Sector Project (NISP), was initially developed by AGLW-FAO. AGLW-FAO has also been providing technical backstopping to the project. The project commenced in 1999 on a pilot basis and will be completed in June 2004. OFWMPP seeks to achieve sustainability and improvements in irrigation sector by introducing effective measures in on-farm water management. WIN project that started in 2000 was an international project, which was implemented in Cambodia, Nepal and Zambia. Although the project was completed in December 2003, Nepal Government has provided some funds for the bridging up phase until July 2004. The main objective of the project was to increase women’s capacity to participate in and to influence water resources management and increase their access to productive resources. AGLW, together with other Divisions of FAO, has been part of the core-team that developed and implemented the project. In Nepal, WIN project has closely been working with the OFWMPP, Department of Irrigation (DOI) and Department of Agriculture (DOA). FAO has also recently been involved in capacity building of DOI staff in order to develop strategy to modernize irrigation systems, which aims at increasing productivity of water and promoting service oriented approach. In this regard, FAORAP organized an in-service training workshop on “Irrigation Modernization, Management Improvement, and Benchmarking” in Sunsari Morang Irrigation Project in 2003. The workshop targeted the irrigation and agriculture professionals to help shift their mindsets from the present form of “fixed” and “hardware” oriented management of irrigation systems to the “software” and “service” oriented Irrigation Management. Taking advantage of the above mentioned initiatives, experiences, and collaboration between the different FAO projects in Nepal, FNPP sub-theme on “IWRM-VG”, in November 2003, jointly organized a workshop on “Modernization of Irrigation Management for Integrated Water Resources Management, Women’s Participation, and Vulnerable Groups Development” with WIN and OFWMP projects. This workshop was initially planned to be conducted in the western Terai in one of the WIN project sites, however because of security v situation in the country the workshop was shifted to the central Terai and was held in Narayani Irrigation Scheme (NIS) that is facing water scarcity and management problems such as highly fluctuating water supply and Head-Tail difference in water availability. The workshop aimed at improving the understanding and knowledge of the Irrigation and Agricultural Engineers of concepts of Integrated Water Resources Management and Modernization; Service oriented approach in irrigation management; Stakeholders governance set-up; and addressing water demands of vulnerable groups including women and poor; and environment. The main outcomes of the workshop included modernization plan for NIS and an outline of national priorities and strategies for the modernization of irrigation projects in Nepal. The workshop also highlighted a major problem of Arsenic contamination in water, specifically in the Rautahat district, which is at the tail of the system and practically receives no surface water. Water users in this district rely mainly on groundwater extraction to fulfill irrigation as well as domestic need. This is also one of the districts with highest Arsenic levels in groundwater in Nepal. These findings have implication on the modernization strategy of NIS and the country in general and any new policy/strategy must address this problem. The findings of the workshop triggered this preliminary study to look at the Arsenic threat in the groundwater and its implication on the irrigation strategy and modernization plan, specifically when the country’s irrigation strategy is based on conjunctive use of surface and groundwater. The study aims to shed light on the extent and acuteness of Arsenic contamination of groundwater and to initiate a debate