Comparative Analysis of Water Sector Reforms
Tracking Progress in Asia and the Pacific
Phase 1- Assessing Water Sector Policies and Reforms - Country Briefs
Nepal
Nepal's political and security situation has presented difficulties in recent years for orderly reform, but nevertheless policy development in the water sector has seen progress in many areas. Nepal is a land-locked and "upstream riparian" country located between two very much larger nations, which brings particular issues which must be dealt with, in the context of shared water resources.
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NATIONAL POLICIES AND REFORMS
Good progress has been made in sector review and strategic planning, with policies in some areas being revised and adopted. The legal foundation exists but is undergoing review. Water sector strategic and action planning is progressing well. Mechanisms for coordination exist, but mandates and scope need strengthening.
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WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
The situation is somewhat mixed, with good progress being made in areas such as environmental/social impact assessment and mitigation, and in forest/catchment/wetland protection and rehabilitation. Other areas show less progress, particularly the effective management of water quality and wastewater discharges/nonpoint source pollution, and the use of both non-structural and structural flood mitigation measures. Water allocation mechanisms are not widely applied, and the information base needs to be extended.
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IMPROVING WATER SERVICES
Good progress is being made in transferring management responsibility of irrigation systems, and ongoing projects promote user-responsiveness and full cost recovery in WSS. Increasing accountability and autonomy of public providers is at an early stage; there has been little progress in encouraging private sector investment. The condition of much infrastructure is such that service levels are unsatisfactory.
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CONSERVING WATER
There is a high level of subsidy for access and regulatory systems are weak, although at the same time user awareness of demand/supply conditions is high. Tariffs for irrigation waters are levied on an a real basis which does not encourage efficient use; tariff structures for drinking water are designed to encourage conservation, but the effects are not yet seen.
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PROMOTING REGIONAL COOPERATION
Awareness of issues related to shared waters is high among decision makers. Collaborative frameworks are in place to an extent, and Nepal's development of waters generally takes account of downstream interests, particularly with regard to inter-basin transfers. There are cases of international coordination in some major river basins, but relations are not always amicable.
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FOSTERING PARTICIPATION; CAPACITY BUILDING; NETWORKING
There is strong stakeholder participation in some irrigation systems, and excellent progress is being made in introducing consultative processes, taking account of gender-related issues, and partnership between government and civil society in the planning of water supply and irrigation developments. All these are still developing, and implementation needs further strengthening. Capacity building is progressing, in the context of internationally-funded projects and regional activities. International networking is rather limited at present, enabled particularly by international organizations such as GWP and ADB.
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