Back to news
20 Jun 2018 | HICAP

Government of Nepal allocates public investment to Shardu Khola as a priority national urban watershed

1 min Read

70% Complete

In 2018, the Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management (DSCWM) under Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Environment listed Shardu Khola watershed in east Nepal as one of the country’s seven prominent urban watersheds. This comes as a result of four years of engagement between the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), municipalities, and the central government. The DSCWM has allocated NPR 10 million (USD 917,000) to implement low-cost, innovative watershed management solutions that were identified through research by ICIMOD and others. The DSCWM and municipal government acknowledged ICIMOD’s role in identifying the five primary investment areas in urban catchment management: a) sediment management structures; b) green technology development and implementation; c) Spring recharge and water source protection and catchment restoration; and d) study of water sources and availability.

In 2014, ICIMOD’s Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Program (HICAP) began investigating incentive schemes and watershed management options to provide drinking water to upstream communities in the Shardu Khola watershed. Following findings that such schemes were feasible and best carried out by municipal governments, ICIMOD deepened its engagement with municipal governments and the DSCWM in 2016–17. ICIMOD’s Koshi Basin Program (KBP) and government partners established a local multi-stakeholder platform to conserve the upstream area, as the primary source of water to Dharan, and devolved responsibilities to the municipality to incentivize upstream communities to better manage the watershed.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related content

Continue exploring this topic

17 Aug 2016 News
Research Crucial to Irrigation Development in Nepal

Research on Nepal’s irrigation sector should be a priority of the Government of Nepal, irrigation experts said during the national ...

13 Jan 2020 Cryosphere
International forum spotlights need for collaborative, transdisciplinary cryosphere research in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

One hundred and twenty leading experts, practitioners, and stakeholders from the region and beyond attended the three-day forum. They discussed ...

2 Jun 2016 News
Building Local Capacities for Managing Springsheds and Reviving Springs

Springs are the primary source of water for many communities living in mid-hills of Nepal.  Changes in social and economic ...

30 Sep 2015 News
Community leaders from Kavre District learn about innovative livelihood techniques at ICIMOD’s Godavari

  Increasingly, many areas of Kavre suffer problems with water;  frequently there is not enough. As a result, many community members ...

2 Jan 2015 News
Asia-Pacific Youth Forum and Training Workshop on Mountain Adaptation

Participants included high-level bureaucrats, youth leaders, researchers, and tech innovators from the region. They engaged in capacity building, ...

6 Feb 2015 Cryosphere
Master Programme Thesis

Florencia Matina Tuladhar completed her thesis on “Determination of factors influencing recession ...

8 Jan 2016 News
Himalayan Water Tower

Water generated in the high mountains of the Himalayas plays a critical role in ...