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Case Study: Changing cryosphere and water resources management trend in mountain communities

Narku village is located at 29.07°N 82.55°Ewith an altitude of 2500m in Dolpa, Karnali, Nepal. Narku is a remote village and difficult to reach and it takes a 6-hour walk from Tribeni, a village junction at Bheri river corridor earthen road, to reach Narku.

Gyanendra Bahadur Shahi, headteacher of Shree Malika Secondary School, is closely observing the changes in his village. Mr. Shahi is uncertain about the exact date of his village's establishment, but he knows its ancient name 'Daar Gaun', which means 'Wood village'. According to him, the ancestors selected this location for human settlement due to the availability of a good source of water, a balanced amount of rain and snowfall over the years, forest woods, medicinal herbs, and wild animals. In the past, the snow used to reach up to half the height of the houses, and people would temporarily migrate towards the lower belt riversides. Before the use of pipelines, people used to take water from an earthen open channel that they connected themselves to the nearby snow-fed stream.

Narku village is home to 109 households, with a population of 584 people including 33 Dalit households. The situation of settlement has been changing day by day due to the changes in the environment and development activities. In 1996, the District Development Office in Dunai, Dolpa, provided support for the first time to the Narku community for water supply. Three years later, the Dolpa district water supply office constructed a water supply system with public tap stands for 10-15 households on average which served for a long period. During the period, the community changed the location of water supply intakes from time to time due to landslides, and changes in source yield. Later, the water supply remained partially functional due to a lack of regular repair and maintenance, cutting of pipes, and damages to taps and water tanks.

In 2022, the Sustainable WASH for All (SUSWA) project with funding from the Government of Nepal, the Government of Finland, and the European Union began its work in Mudkechula rural municipality including other seven local governments from five mountain districts Dolpa, Mugu, Jumla, Kalikot, and Humla.

Narku village proposed awater supply scheme construction from a new location above the previously used water sources and it has been completed with a one-house-one tap modality in alignment with government policy. The village has access to a safe water system with an inline chlorination connection. Now, they are focusing on wastewater management with options of a kitchen garden, soak-pit, safe drainage, and also hygiene awareness activities. Damages to water systems by disaster are common and different communities of Karnali were suffered from floods and landslides in the year 2022. Damaged water supply systems were repaired and reconstructed together with the local government to support vulnerable people of mountainous areas.

The experiences of working with communities in mountainous areas have exposed critical issues related to decreasing water sources, decreasing cryosphere and also increasing the number of conflicts over water-related issues or functionality of the water supply system.

Case study prepared by:
Narayan Singh Khawas
Technical Specialist
SUSWA/NIRAS