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For mountains and people
People in the Hindu Kush Himalaya face economic and institutional water scarcity in areas where water is plentiful, but inaccessible. The inaccessibility is caused by a lack of rural electrification or irrigation infrastructure in the plains and because springs are increasingly drying up in the Himalayan mid-hills.
With the support from the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) on Water Land and Ecosystems (WLE), the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is leading the initiative ‘Reviving springs and providing access to solar powered irrigation pumps through community based water use planning with multiple approaches to solving agricultural water problems in the mid-hills and Terai in India and Nepal’.
The goal of this project is to ensure affordable and sustainable access to drinking water in the mid-hills of Nepal and Uttarakhand in India and to agricultural water in Terai region of Nepal. Firstly, the initiative aims to address water insecurity in mid-hills and plains of Nepal and India. This is done by reviving springs in the mid-hills of Nepal and Uttarakhand through improved understanding of localised spring hydrogeology along with appropriate technical interventions and policy interventions.
Secondly, it also aims to test the use of solar powered irrigation pumps (SPIPs) as a clean, climate resilient, and pro-poor solution to tackling issues related to the nexus between water, food, and energy security in the plains of Nepal. The programme will work to ensure that these tested strategies are incorporated into community-led water user master plans (WUMP). Through a consultative process, maps are created for existing water sources and detailed surveys are undertaken to assess the current conditions of springs within a given administrative boundary.
To ensure affordable and sustainable access to drinking and agricultural water to the populace in mid hills and terai of Nepal as well as Uttarakhand in India.
Two districts (Sindhupalchowk and Dailekh) from the mid-hills and one district (Saptari) from Terai for Nepal. Water Use Master Plan and spring revival activities will be extended to the hill state of Uttarakhand in India.
Start date: 1 Jan 2015 End date: 31 Dec 2016
Building partnership to ensure there's an affordable and sustainable access to drinking and agricultural water.
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Capability for the Hindu Kush Himalaya (REEECH) works to increase the adoption of green energy solutions among HKH’s communities and enterprises.
The DFAT Brahmaputra and Energy Special Project, supported by the Government of Australia under the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), is promoting research, and generating and documenting knowledge about the extent of water and equity issues in the HKH region.
