Managing water scarcity via rainwater harvesting system in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: People's awareness, implementation challenges and way forward

Abstract

More than 750 million people in developing countries do not have access to better water sources and over 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation. Transition towards more sustainable urban water management is an urgent need because supply of water in rapidly urbanized areas like the Kathmandu Valley (KV) of Nepal is deficient. Supporting such a transition requires the development of alternative methods such as rainwater harvesting (RWH) system, recycling, desalination, wastewater reuse, etc. Using semi-structured questionnaires for 403 households (203 users and 200 non-users of the RWH system) of KV, this study critically examines the major developments taken place in Nepal in the RWH system, measures the RWH awareness index, identifies the implementation challenges and provides managerial solutions. Measuring the awareness index in users and the non-users of the RWH system in terms of the four dimensions (financial, socio-environmental, technical and institutional), we found that the user groups are more aware of the issues of water and climate change (CC) than the non-users. Around 70% of our respondents suggested that the scarcity of water, user's self-commitment and cost-friendly technology, among others can help to address the RWH system challenges. Possible reasons of differences in attitude, behaviors and perceptions of RWH system users and non-users are discussed and managerial solutions are provided. Promoting the use of rainwater harvesting in the KV would require a multi-stakeholder approach that involves collaboration between the government, NGOs, and the private sector to create an enabling policy environment and provide the necessary resources to promote and scale up rainwater harvesting initiatives.