Water poverty in upper Bagmati River Basin in Nepal

Abstract

Water Poverty Index (WPI) is a simple and transparent tool to measure water stress at the household and village levels so that local an'd national water agencies can manage problem of access to water, quality and variability; water uses and capacity for water management considering environmental aspects. The research aims to calculate WPI in the upper Bagmati river Basin of Nepal in order to analyse the real water situation in the project area. WPI was estimated using five key components through the consultation with wide range of stake holders, policy makers and scientists for resource, access, capacity, use and environment.The WPI was calculated for the upper Bagmati river Basin together with High–Medium–Low category scale and interpretations. WPI intensity scale depicts Sundarijal and Lubhu are in a range of very low water poverty, which means the water situation is better in these two areas. Daman region has a medium level, meaning this region is located into poor-accessible water zone. Kathmandu, Sankhu and Thankot have a low to medium low WPI, what characterize them as neutral. WPI can be used as an effective tool in integrated water resources management and water use master plan for meeting sustainable development goals. Based on the observation, the water agencies required to focus over water-poverty interface, water for sanitation, hygiene and health, water for production and employment generation, sustainable environmental management, gender equality, and water rights.