By Jibesh KC and Surendra Phuyal
Water experts have called for renewed efforts to ensure adequate environmental flow (E-flow) allocations in Nepal’s rivers, which are increasingly being harnessed to generate hydroelectricity, or are being diverted for irrigation or drinking water.
Nepal is home to nearly 6,000 rivers, most of them fed by Himalayan glaciers. Most of the water in these rivers has already been harnessed or will be used for hydropower development. Yet, studies have found few developers caring about the minimum 10 percent E-flow required by the country’s National Hydropower Policy drawn up 23 years ago.
This means little to no fish and other aquatic species or water for irrigation in the dewatered sections downstream of several hydroelectric dam sites. These include the Trishuli and the Marshyangdi rivers which boast cascades of hydroelectric power plants.
There is a lot to do to ensure adequate E-flows to protect the health of the country’s rivers. This was the main highlight of two workshops on E-flows, organized by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Kathmandu on August 29 and 30. IWMI collaborated with the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation to convene the workshops which were supported by the CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains.
Nepal, heavily reliant on hydropower, has already developed 160 hydropower plants with an operation capacity of about 3000 MW. An additional 10,000 MW capacity is already under construction, and around 8,000 MW is under survey.
Deep Narayan Shah, Assistant Professor at the Central Department of Environmental Science at the Tribhuvan University, expressed his concern saying almost 80 percent of hydropower projects in Nepal don’t apply rules relating to E-flow requirements. An ongoing study by IWMI has found that continuing non-compliance stems from a lack of clear guidelines and monitoring systems.
“We surveyed 50 hydroelectric sites recently, and the result is scary: most plants have not ensured the minimum E-flow they are required to maintain,” Shah said.
Ram Devi Tachamo Shah, Assistant Professor from Kathmandu University noted that river health integrity must be respected, but for that to happen, awareness and training are a must.
IWMI introduced various tools for E-flow assessment. Nishadi Eriyagama, Regional Researcher at IWMI, emphasized that E-flows should ideally mimic the natural flow of rivers. Noting that there are over 200 methods available globally for calculating E-flows, Eriyagama introduced IWMI’s suite of E-flow calculators, which are designed to assist in the assessment and implementation of E-flows in diverse contexts.
Experts also called for a comprehensive, sustainable approach for hydropower planning that prioritizes both environmental and socio-economic needs, including through the new Water Resources Bill. Making hydropower or other river diversion schemes more sustainable requires “indigenizing” all Environmental Impact Assessment reports by prioritizing locals’ concerns.
