Journal
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
Volume 283, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108287
Keywords
Climate change; Conjunctive use; Conjunctive management; Groundwater; Water policy
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Climate variability and insufficient irrigation pose significant challenges to agricultural productivity and food security in Nepal. Although integrating surface and groundwater use has been proposed as a strategy for enhancing efficiency and adapting to climate change, there is a lack of technical expertise in conjunctive management. This article presents a comprehensive framework for assessing conjunctive management from a systems-level perspective and suggests strategies for its implementation in Nepal, using a case study in Western Nepal as an example.
Climate variability and insufficient irrigation are primary constraints to stable and higher agricultural produc-tivity and food security in Nepal. Agriculture is the largest global freshwater user, and integration of surface-and ground-water use is frequently presented as an strategy for increasing efficiency as well as climate change adaptation. However, conjunctive management (CM) planning often ignores demand-side requirements and a broader set of sustainable development considerations, including ecosystem health and economics of different development strategies. While there is generic understanding of conjunctive use, detailed technical knowhow to realize the CM is lacking in Nepal. This article presents a holistic framework through literature reviews, stake-holders consultations and expert interviews for assessing CM and implementation prospects from a systems-level perspective. We demonstrate the framework through a case study in Western Nepal, where climatic variability and a lack of irrigation are key impediments to increased agricultural productivity and sustainable development. Results show that knowledge of water resources availability is good and that of water demand low in the Western Terai. Additional and coordinated investments are required to improve knowledge gaps as well as access to irrigation. There is therefore a need to assess water resources availability, water access, use and productivity, to fill the knowledge gaps in order to pave pathways for CM. This paper also discusses some strategies to translate prospects of conjunctive management into implementation.
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