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i Cover photo: For nearly 80 years, Nepal and India have applied engineering practices to solve cross border issues related to water management issues such as flooding. Some of the most successful have been those implemented by local communities on both sides of the border such as the riverbank stabilization shown here. Nonetheless, communities on the Nepal side feel that India is capturing a larger share of the benefits of the Lower Mahakali Watershed. Photo credit: USAID/PANI LOWER MAHAKALI WATERSHED PROFILE: STATUS, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVED WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Program Title: USAID/Nepal’s Program for Aquatic Natural Resources Improvement Project (PANI) DAI Project Number: 1002810 Sponsoring USAID Office: USAID/Nepal IDIQ Number: AID-OAA-I-14-00014 Task Order Number: AID-367-TO-16-00001 Contractor: DAI Global LLC Date of Publication: August 7, 2017 The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. I CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... III LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... IV LIST OF A .................................................................................................................... V EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................ 1 LOWER MAHAKALI WATERSHED: NATURE, WEALTH, AND POWER ....... 9 NATURE ..................................................................................................................... 10 WEATHER AND CLIMATE CHANGE ........................................................................................ 10 Temperature ..................................................................................................................................................... 10 Rainfall ................................................................................................................................................................. 12 Climate Change ................................................................................................................................................ 12 HYDROLOGY ........................................................................................................................... 14 Streams and Tributaries .................................................................................................................................. 15 Lakes .................................................................................................................................................................... 16 STREAM WATER QUALITY ...................................................................................................... 17 LAND COVER AND USE ........................................................................................................... 19 BIODIVERSITY .......................................................................................................................... 20 WEALTH .................................................................................................................... 24 SOCIAL CONSTITUTION .......................................................................................................... 25 FISHING COMMUNITIES ........................................................................................................... 25 TRANSPORTATION .................................................................................................................. 26 LIVELIHOODS OF PEOPLE IN THE WATERSHED AREA: ............................................................ 26 Agriculture ......................................................................................................................................................... 27 Capture fisheries .............................................................................................................................................. 29 RIVERBED MINING ................................................................................................................... 30 Flooding and Inundation ................................................................................................................................. 32 HOUSEHOLD WATER RESOURCE AVAILABILITY AND USE: ..................................................... 36 POWER/GOVERNANCE ......................................................................................... 38 RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................... 38 Transboundary Water Management ............................................................................................................ 38 Shuklaphanta NP and Pancheswor Dam ..................................................................................................... 39 NEPAL POLICY PROVISIONS AND AUTHORITY TO GOVERN .................................................... 40 IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLANS .......... 47 NATURE, WEALTH AND POWER INTERLINKAGES ...................................... 48 KEY THREATS TO MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES FOR MULTIPLE USERS ......................................................................................................................... 51 FLOODING .............................................................................................................................. 55 i RIVERBED MINING .................................................................................................................... 56 DECREASING FISH STOCKS AND UNSUSTAINABLE FISHERIES PRACTICES ............................ 57 TRANSBOUNDARY WATER MANAGEMENT ............................................................................ 58 RESOURCE USE REGIMES: FISHERIES, SAND MINING ............................................................. 59 CLIMATE CHANGE .................................................................................................................. 59 VISION STATEMENT FOR LOWER MAHAKALI WATERSHED ..................... 62 VISION ..................................................................................................................................... 62 MISSION .................................................................................................................................. 62 PRIORIZIED ISSUES IN MAHALAKI WATERSHED ....................................................................... 62 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 65 ANNEX 1: METHODOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING WATERSHED PROFILE .. 66 ANNEX 2: LOCATON MAP OF LOWER MAHAKALI WATERSHED ............. 69 ANNEX 3: MAP OF WHOLE MAHAKALI RIVER BASIN ................................... 71 ANNEX4: TOPOGRAPHIC MAP OF LOWER MAHAKALI WATERSHED ..... 73 ANNEX 5: RIVER NETWORK IN LOWER MAHAKALI WATERSHED ........... 75 ANNEX 6: ROAD NETWORK IN LOWER MAHAKALI WATERSHED .......... 77 ANNEX 7: BIOPHYSICAL MAP OF LOWER MAHAKALI WATERSHED....... 79 ANNEX 8: SECONDARY SOURCES OF LIVELIHOODS IN WATERSHED ... 81 ANNEX 9: VISION AND MISSION OF LOWER MAHAKALI WATERSHED . 83 II LIST OF TABLES [TO BE FINALIZED] Table 1: Stream Discharge of Some Waterbodies in Lower Mahakali Watershed ..................................... 16 Table 2: Water Bodies in Lower Mahakali Watershed ................................................................................ 16 Table 3: Water Quality Standard of Different Streams in the Watershed ................................................... 18 Table 4: Status of Fisheries in Lower Mahakali Watershed ........................................................................ 22 Table 5: List of Irrigation Projects in Lower Mahakali Watershed ............................................................... 28 Table 6: Access to Climatic Information in the Watershed ......................................................................... 36 Table 7: Policy Provision and Status of Enforcement ................................................................................. 41 Table 8: Representation of Women and Marginalized Community in Decision-making Body ................... 43 Table 9: Water User Groups in the Watershed ........................................................................................... 44 Table 10: Micro catchment identified by DSCO Kanchanpur within the area of the Watershed ................ 47 Table 11: Priority Issues, Linkages and Recommendations ....................................................................... 52 Table 12: Summary of Prioritized Issues by Municipality ........................................................................... 62 III LIST OF FIGURES [TO BE FINALIZED] Figure 1: Satellite Image of the Lower Mahakali Watershed ........................................................................ 2 Figure 2: Map of the Lower Mahakali Watershed ......................................................................................... 4 Figure 3: Location of Priority Issues Collected from Multi-stakeholder Consultation Workshops ................ 7 Figure 6: Maximum, Minimum and Average Long-term Monthly Temperature (⁰C) in the Watershed ...... 11 Figure 7: Annual Mean Temperature in the