Abstract
Groundwater has been noted as a major resource for irrigation water in Nepal Terai. The development of different methods of groundwater withdrawal has been promoted in Rupandehi District. Open dug wells were a major source for domestic water use in the 1980s due to cost and ease of construction. But in later years, the promotion of tube wells, access to diesel pump sets, low yield and the deterioration of water quality from the open dug wells have caused a decline in usage and their abandonment in favor of shallow tube wells. This study was conducted in Mahuwari Village, Rupandehi District to assess the feasibility for the rehabilitation of abandoned open dug wells by reassessing access to irrigation water during the dry season, in areas with limited conductivity of aquifer hydrogeology. The yields of the wells were observed to be too low for large-scale irrigation, especially with the rice paddy cropping system. An assessment of well storage and recharge patterns offer an opportunity for off-season supplementary irrigation of home gardens for establishing vegetables and seedlings, with good water management practices. The potential yield of the open dug wells at the peak of the dry season was 4 m3day-1 (0.44 mm-ha), suficient to irrigate 0.12 ha of a tomato ield, satisfying 25% of a currently fallowed field for home gardening.
Highlights
Agriculture in Nepal is a major contributor to the nation’s GDP with a contribution of nearly 40%
The Government of Nepal (GoN) has a policy to intensify the number of deep and shallow tube wells in Terai in order to provide assured irrigation, but access to groundwater is constrained by the rising diesel prices and an unreliable supply of electricity [5]
A comparative study showed that farmers in Nepal are in an unfavorable situation for using groundwater because of lack of subsidy and rising fuel costs [6]
Summary
Agriculture in Nepal is a major contributor to the nation’s GDP with a contribution of nearly 40%. Suboptimal water use, especially in the dry season, has been a constraint for increasing the productivity of priority crops [2], eventually having negative consequences to the GDP. Nepal has tremendous groundwater potential to be a viable alternative water source for irrigation in rainfed areas and during the dry period, even in surface irrigated [3,4]. The Government of Nepal (GoN) has a policy to intensify the number of deep and shallow tube wells in Terai in order to provide assured irrigation, but access to groundwater is constrained by the rising diesel prices and an unreliable supply of electricity [5]. A comparative study showed that farmers in Nepal are in an unfavorable situation for using groundwater because of lack of subsidy and rising fuel costs [6]
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