Philanthropy Support Services, Inc. Assessment Bringing skills, experience, contacts and passion to the worlds of global philanthropy and international development of Water Resources Management & Freshwater Biodiversity in Nepal Final Report George F. Taylor II, Mark R. Weinhold, Susan B. Adams, Nawa Raj Khatiwada, Tara Nidhi Bhattarai and Sona Shakya Prepared for USAID/Nepal by: United States Forest Service International Programs Office, Philanthropy Support Services (PSS) Inc. and Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI) September 15, 2014 Disclaimer: The views expressed in this document are the views of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government ! ! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Assessment Team wishes to acknowledge the support of: ! The dynamic USAID Environment Team and its supporters across the USAID Mission and beyond, particularly Bronwyn Llewellyn and Shanker Khagi who provided exemplary support to all phases of the Assessment process. ! USAID/Nepal senior staff, including Director Beth Dunford and SEED Acting Director Don Clark for allowing Bronwyn, Shanker and SEED Summer Intern Madeline Carwile to accompany the Assessment Team on its full five day field trip. Seeing what we saw together, and having a chance to discuss it as we travelled from site to site and during morning and evening meals, provided a very important shared foundation for the Assessment exercise. ! NDRI, including the proactive support of Executive Director Jaya Gurung and the superb logistical support from Sona Shakya. ! The United States Forest Service International Programs Office staff, particularly Sasha Gottlieb, Cynthia Mackie and David Carlisle, without whom none of this would have happened. ! Nepal Desk Officer Carolyn Hricko for setting up the meeting at USAID/Washington and for the inputs from staff in the Asia, E3 and BFS Bureaus. ! All of the people we subjected to questioning in Nepal, the US and around the world, and ! The many individuals and groups who went out of their way to show and explain their work to us during our field visits in Nepal. ! Finally, this Assessment Team would like to commend a team that preceded us: the ECODIT team led by Terry Allendorf that produced the Nepal Biodiversity and Tropical Forestry Analysis in September 2012. This “118/119” analysis was unusually thorough and well done. It has provided a firm foundation both for this Assessment and for USAID/Nepal’s plans for future investments. DEDICATION This assessment report is dedicated to Jon Breslar for his leadership of USAID/Nepal’s engagement on water resources management in Nepal the last time ‘round in the mid-1980s. As a junior Foreign Service Officer, Jon was deeply involved in the design and then managed the Irrigation Management Project (IMP) and supported the International Irrigation Management Institute (IIMI – now IWMI, the International Water Management Institute) in their pioneering work on Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems (FMIS). An anthropologist in a world dominated by engineers, he insisted on careful attention to the social and institutional dimensions of these programs. He was passionate about donor coordination, and developed strong and effective collaboration with both the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Echoes of his work continue to this day. After leaving Nepal, Jon rose rapidly into the senior ranks of USAID management, but he never forgot where he had come from and always had a special place in his heart for his early work with farmers, government counterparts and USAID and other donor colleagues in Nepal. He passed away in 2005 at the much-too-young age of 56.! ! ! Table of Contents1 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................... i List of Figures ...................................................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................................... iii List of Boxes ....................................................................................................................................................... iii Acronyms ............................................................................................................................................................ iv Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................................... vii Section I. Introduction/Setting the Stage ...................................................................... 1 A. Setting and Context for the Assessment .................................................................................... 1 B. Water & water resources management in Nepal, the Hindu-Kush Himalaya and South Asia .................................................................................................................................................................. 2 C. USAID/Nepal support for water resources management & biodiversity conservation .. 5 D. Lenses for thinking about water resources management and freshwater biodiversity ... 6 E. Boundaries/ limitations of the assessment ................................................................................... 12 F. Key Findings and Recommendations ............................................................................................. 13 Section II. Water Resources Management ................................................................... 20 A. Status Overview ............................................................................................................................ 20 B. Institutional Framework ................................................................................................................... 21 C. Priority Areas for USAID Support ............................................................................................ 23 1. Hydropower Sustainability .......................................................................................................... 23 2. Watershed Management ............................................................................................................. 25 3. Urban Water .................................................................................................................................. 27 D. Knowledge Gaps and Associated Research Agenda ............................................................. 28 Section III. Freshwater Biodiversity ............................................................................ 29 A. Status Overview ............................................................................................................................ 29 B. Threats to Freshwater Biodiversity ............................................................................................... 36 C. Priority Areas for USAID Support ............................................................................................ 39 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! 1 Note: Annexes F (Persons Contacted & Schedule of Field Visits) and G (Statement of Work) have been deleted from this version of the report. Page | i ! ! D. Knowledge Gaps and Associated Research Agenda ............................................................. 40 Section IV. Recommended Themes and Program Ideas for USAID Support of Water Resources Management and Freshwater .......................................................... 44 A. Understanding Water Resource Management (WRM) and Freshwater Biodiversity (FWB): Critical Knowledge/Research Gaps ......................................................................................... 44 B. Re-invigorating the Policy and Program Framework for Water Resources Management 48 C. Promoting Hydropower Sustainability ..................................................................................... 49 D. Addressing the Impacts of Infrastructure Development (other than dams) on Water Resources Management and Freshwater Biodiversity ........................................................................ 51 E. Developing Watershed Management Best Practices ................................................................. 52 F. Urban Water: Harnessing the Private Sector ............................................................................. 53 G. Water and Sanitation for Health/Hygiene (WASH): Linking into the Natural Resources Management (NRM)/Water Resources Mainstream .......................................................................... 54 H. Supporting Gender and Social Inclusion in WRM & FWB .................................................. 54 I. Incorporating Support from Across the USG & Weaving Water into Ongoing USAID Programs ....................................................................................................................................................... 55 Annexes ............................................................................................................................. 59 Annex A. Synopsis of Institutions, Legislation, Policies, Strategies, Plans and Programs Relevant to Water Resources Management and Freshwater Biodiversity in Nepal .................................... 59