[H-CG25] Cultural Hydrology

[HCG25-P07] Traditional small water sources in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

*Takashi Nakamura¹, Kei Nishida¹ (1.International Research Center for River Basin Environment, University of YAMANASHI)

Keywords:Nepal, Kathmandu, water resources

Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal which are located in central Nepal at altitude of 1,400 m. And surrounded by non-volcanic mountains over 2,000m. Due to the economic gap between the city and the rural areas, a rapid population influx into Kathmandu has continued, and it is currently estimated that about 3 million people live in the 664 km2 Kathmandu Basin. The water supply from the waterworks is half or less than the demand, and the shortfall is supplied by tanker trucks, bottled water for home delivery, and various other water sources such as traditional public water sources (Stone spout) and shallow wells in communities, which are widely distributed from the urban areas to mountainous areas. On the other hand, these traditional water sources are not able to meet the drinking water standards by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to water pollution caused by recent urbanization, and there are many water sources that drying up the dry season due to the decline of the groundwater table caused by excessive groundwater pumping in urban areas. This can be viewed as a loss of traditional water sources due to concentration of population.
On the other hand, there are many public water sources with stable water quantity and quality in the mountainous areas, where people still make use of the abundant water resources. This presentation will discuss the hydrological findings of groundwater in these urban and mountainous areas and the people of these areas.

This presentation is supported by Kurita Water and Environment Foundation(KWEF), Networking Grants (No.21T009-1).