GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT A CASE STUDY OF NEPAL

Abstract

Nepal is considered as one of the richest countries in the world in terms of available water resources. Its immense water resources, if properly utilized, can be the biggest source of national wealth. Agriculture is the backbone of Nepalese economy with over 80% of rural population actively engaged in agriculture as a profession for their living. It is well understood that irrigation can play a catalytic role in increasing agricultural productivity. Irrigation increases agricultural productivity and enables to cultivate multiple crops, reduces the risk of crop failure due to drought and stabilizes the food production by minimizing rainfall induced fluctuation. Nepal has 26,000 km2 of land which is cultivable but only 18,000 km2 of land is irrigable. In today‟s context 13,900 km2 of land is receiving irrigation facility. The running interim three years‟ plan for 2016/017 to 2019/020 has taken a target of increasing the irrigation facilities to plus 860 km2 of land and out of which 590 km2 will be through ground water irrigation. The present groundwater development constitutes only a small fraction of the total potential. This condition of unused huge groundwater potential is due to lack of deep analysis, lack of motivation and subsidies for the farmers, lack of adequate supporting policies etc. From the case study, it has been found that the Morang District holds a good amount of ground water resource which can be utilized for the overall development of the district. At present, the ground water utilization is far below the available amount. It seems that mostly the water extraction is only for meeting the domestic needs. There is a huge scope for the governmental programs which can make environment for the utilization of ground water resource to accelerate the agricultural productivity and industrial growth of the district. The public water supply and sanitation facilities can also be improved and increased with proper supply of water which ultimately will enhance the district‟s overlook and hygiene status