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This “Integrated Water Resources Management Handbook for Small Farmers of Nepal” was prepared by the Nepal Agricultural Cooperative Central Federation Ltd. (NACCFL), an umbrella organisation of more than 8,600 Small Farmers Agricultural Cooperatives Ltd (SFACLs) representing over 825,000 small farmers across the country. This handbook contains a series of cases studies on water resource management interventions based on the shared experience of seven different SFACLs. This document is aimed at small farmers of Nepal, water resource professionals, practitioners, and, of course, policy makers or anyone who wish to implement an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) strategy or simply learn more about its principles.
The case studies presented in this handbook bring in concrete examples of IWRM interventions while highlighting the successes and failures for each attempt. This handbook reveals the challenges that come with trying to manage and develop water resources in ways that maximize socio-economic welfare and ensuring the sustainability of the environment and of water related ecosystems at the same time. The examples shed light on different aspect of water management, including: how harvest and collect water resources more responsibly; how to allocate water efficiently and equitably between different use; and how to guarantee the long term financial or technical sustainability of water infrastructure projects.
The information presented here was gathered over two months of fieldwork during November and December 2017. The case studies are situated in Province No. 3 and 4 in the central region of Nepal. The case studies of this handbook capture the main type of topographies which are present in Nepal: flat lowlands (Chitwan District); undulated terrain (Dhading and Makwanpur Districts) and; hilly to mountainous areas (Ghorkha District). Comparisons are drawn to show the differences and similarities between the water challenges for each of these respective topographies.
The case studies are all presented in a simple standard format. The first section presents some background information on the area, thus providing the reader with a basic sense of the socioeconomic reality and of the water situation prior to the intervention. The second section details the actions that were taken and their associated outcomes. The third and last section shares comments on the lessons to be learned and on the replicability of the intervention. While there is value in reading handbook in its integrality, case studies can also be read separately according to the reader’s needs and specific interests.
