Economic analysis of community based water supply in the Kathmandu valley

Abstract

Acute water shortage in the Kathmandu Valley is the aggregate effect of uncontrolled city development, in-migration, and overexploitation of shallow and deep aquifers, climate change, and low effectiveness of water supply from the utilities. A private water market has emerged, offering trucked water and bottled water. The government has responded by initiating the much-awaited Melamchi project. The local communities responded by establishing water user associations and rehabilitating the traditional water supply system of stone spouts and public wells, supplemented with rainwater harvesting. In spite of the fact that community water supply projects are successful in providing water to thousands of households, they do not address the issue of groundwater extraction rights and permits. The paper examines the viability of an “ideal” project based on the elements of community water supply projects supplemented with a municipal level regulation of water rights pertaining to groundwater in the Lalitpur Metropolitan Area of the Kathmandu Valley with the methodology of economic analysis of water projects applied at the Asian Development Bank.