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UC Santa Cruz UC Santa Cruz Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Inter-Basin Transfers, Ancient Ingenuity, Water Justice? Assessing the Impacts of the Melamchi Water Supply Project in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/29f8244f Author Sepaniak, Stephen Andrew Publication Date 2021 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 4.0 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ Inter-basin transfers, ancient ingenuity, water justice? Assessing the impacts of the Melamchi Water Supply Project in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Stephen A. Sepaniak June 2021 The Dissertation of Stephen A. Sepaniak is approved: ____________________________________ Professor Chris Benner, Chair __________________________________ Professor Hiroshi Fukurai __________________________________ Ruth Langridge, PhD ____________________________________ Quentin Williams Acting Vice Provost, Dean of Graduate Studies Table of Contents Introduction: Situating context: research questions 1 Literature review 5 Methodology 27 Overview of Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) 32 Social and demographic characteristics of study area 39 Overview of dissertation 44 Chapter 1: Indigenous water systems and social relations in the Kathmandu Valley: A critical social and political history Overview of chapter 52 Indigenous ingenuity, external influences: ancient water systems of Kathmandu 60 Social relations, inequalities and water infrastructure: a brief history 87 Social transformations and infrastructure: transition toward a unified Nepal 98 Stratification in unified Nepal:, European influences and codification of inequalities 105 Chapter 2: Daily water practices and micro-politics of household access in Kathmandu: An ethnographic approach Overview of chapter 133 Urban households with piped municipal water access 139 Whither hiti?: Traditional water systems in dense urban neighborhoods 158 Daily water practices in an urban squatter community: Geography & informality 163 Peri-urbanization: Household water practices beyond the urban core 178 Ancient infrastructure restoration and groundwater recharge ` 200 Informal water economies: tanker drivers, livelihoods and water security 208 iii Chapter 3: Elite-driven infrastructure planning: Melamchi water, political change and pressures from above and below Overview of chapter 224 Searching for supplemental water: Scarcity in a growing metropolis 229 Revolution, democracy and market reforms: A renewed focus on urban infrastructure 241 Structural adjustments meet Maoist movements: Political conflict and the MWSP 249 Peace, democracy, an earthquake and the diversion of Melamchi water 272 Between past and future: Waiting for Melamchi 285 Drilling tunnels, capping dissent: A turn toward China and geopolitical implications 298 Conclusion Review of findings / follow-up with core research participants 321 Paths that lead forward: directions for subsequent research and equity 334 Works Cited 347 iv List of Figures Introduction Figure 0.1: Phase I and Phase II (proposed) of Melamchi-Kathmandu tunnels 34 Figure 0.2: Wards of Kathmandu Valley to be served by imported Melamchi water 37 Figure 0.3: Administrative districts of the Kathmandu Valley 40 Chapter 1: Figure 1.1: Water flows from an ancient hiti, or public tap in Kathmandu 60 Figure 1.2: Major language families of South Asia 65 Figure 1.3: Schematic of an ancient water system of the Kathmandu Valley 67 Figure 1.4: Photo of Manga Hiti: Oldest public tap still in use in Kathmandu Valley 70 Figure 1.5: Map depicting Kirata lands, as described in epic Mahabharata 74 Figure 1.6: Timeline of key events in Kathmandu prior to Nepalese unification (1769) 76 Figure 1.7: Photo of surviving rajkulo canal system 79 Figure 1.8: Map of contested territories between Nepal and India 112 Figure 1.9: Table of five, hierarchical status categories of Muluki Ain of 1854 120 Chapter 2: Figure 2.1: Map of Kathmandu Valley depicting sites of ethnographic fieldwork 137 Figure 2.2: Photo of dense urban neighborhood with piped water access 141 Figure 2.3: Photo of area where interviews with homeowners were conducted 150 Figure 2.4: Large water storage tanks line the rooftops of many houses 155 Figure 2.5: Residents of Bhaktapur collect water from ancient hiti 160 Figure 2.6: Areas with unregistered housing remain excluded from piped network 166 Figure 2.7: Map of urban/peri-urban boundaries in Kathmandu Valley districts 179 Figure 2.8: Map of Mahalaxmi Rural Municipality – field site 182 Figure 2.9: Photo of community wells in peri-urban Mahalaxmi 186 Figure 2.10: Map of existing and planned ring-roads in Kathmandu Valley 195 Figure 2.11: Before and after photo of ancient pond restoration 200 Figure 2.12: Photo of a tanker delivery during participant-observation 211 v Abstract Inter-basin transfers, ancient ingenuity, water justice?: Assessing the impacts of the Melamchi Water Supply Project in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. By Stephen A. Sepaniak This research examines equity and justice impacts of inter-basin water transfers and urban water provision in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal, providing new insights into how ancient water technologies and contemporary infrastructure projects not only can co-exist, but can also provide additional layers of household water security against the specter of a changing climate. Excavating the deep and hidden histories of the Kathmandu Valley’s native water systems illuminates how development is and can be much broader and more expansive than a mere transition toward industrial modernity, emphasizing instead the multiplicity of pathways that can create the enabling conditions for human societies to lives of meaning and value. Moving from water transfers toward greater water justice, however, will require a more wide- ranging, multi-faceted approach to water provision, one that better links new infrastructure projects with existing dimensions and networks of water use and where a wider range of voices are heard and respected. This research draws on ethnographic interviews, critical social histories and a polymorphous approach toward investigating (geo)political actors to illuminate the challenges of implementing new water mega-projects, while also emphasizing how the existence of multiple modes of water access and diverse forms of governance carries the potential to achieve greater water equity and justice. vi Acknowledgments: In Memory of Ben Crow (1947-2019) I cannot express enough gratitude and thanks to my late adviser and mentor, Professor Ben Crow, who expressed steadfast support for my work and encouraged me strongly to pursue international research on questions of water justice and development. I will never forget his willingness to chat on the phone anytime of the day, or from anywhere in the world, to discuss big picture issues related to my research, nor will I forget his tireless advocacy for his students and all those who participated in his research. I am also deeply grateful for the advice and wisdom of my dissertation reading committee: Professor Chris Benner generously filled the role of committee chair during the last couple years of this research, assisting me in transforming my writing into a (hopefully) more polished final product; Dr. Ruth Langridge also played a pivotal role in helping me articulate the broader contributions of this work more clearly; Professor Hiroshi Fukurai also served as an invaluable participant on the committee, not only aiding me in completing the work, but also introducing me to further contacts in the field. I also want to thank the Sociology Department at the University of California-Santa Cruz, more generally, for their support and their patience throughout the scope of this fieldwork. This research would not have been possible without the support and sponsorship of numerous faculty and staff at Tribhuvan University in Kirtipur, Nepal. I am especially grateful to the staff at the Centre for International Relations at Tribhuvan University, including Vinod and all of the office staff who assisted with their time and energy in guiding me through the process of applying for a Nepal Study Visa to conduct independent research, not once, but vii twice during the fieldwork period. I am also especially grateful to Dr. Mrigendra Bahadur Karki at the Centre for Nepali and Asian Studies (CNAS) at Tribhuvan University for his support in reading my research proposals and guiding me through the process of turning my plans into action. I want to thank further the numerous other faculty, staff and students at Tribhuvan University who assisted me in conducting this research. This fieldwork would not have come to fruition were it not for the countless friends and contacts in Nepal who assisted with the research, participated in interviews, and helped me arrange housing and contacts. In particular, Dhiren, Lopsang, Sunita, Bhoj Raj, Maya, Vinayak, Kumar, Sonam, Faisal, Ram, Suresh, Kabi and Ramesh all were indispensable for their roles in ensuring I had everything I needed to carry out the fieldwork and for their assistance in introducing me to a wider network of contacts. Finally, I want to thank the much wider group of people who participated in the research, many of whom will remain anonymous for the purposes of this public work. Finally, I want to thank everyone in my family for their support in encouraging me to pursue my dreams throughout the years. This work is only possible because of