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Implementing conjunctive management of water resources for irrigation development: a framework applied to the Southern Plain of western Nepal

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Title Implementing conjunctive management of water resources for irrigation development: a framework applied to the Southern Plain of western Nepal
 
Creator Pandey, V. P.
Shrestha, Nirman
Urfels, A.
Ray, A.
Khadka, Manohara
Pavelic, Paul
McDonald, Andrew J.
Krupnik, Timothy J.
 
Subject water resources
water management
water use
conjunctive use
irrigation systems
climate change
groundwater
surface water
water availability
water demand
water productivity
water policies
food security
agricultural productivity
sustainable development goals
planning
strategies
monitoring
energy sources
water governance
stakeholders
gender equity
social inclusion
awareness
capacity development
case studies
 
Description Climate variability and insufficient irrigation are primary constraints to stable and higher agricultural productivity 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, stakeholders 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.
 
Date 2023-06
2023-04-12T03:44:44Z
2023-04-12T03:44:44Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Pandey, V. P.; Shrestha, Nirman; Urfels, A.; Ray, A.; Khadka, Manohara; Pavelic, Paul; McDonald, A. J.; Krupnik, T. J. 2023. Implementing conjunctive management of water resources for irrigation development: a framework applied to the Southern Plain of western Nepal. Agricultural Water Management, 283:108287. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108287]
0378-3774
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129950
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037837742300152X/pdfft?md5=6f8d1ca8970d974f2d0db5580c2c4dc1&pid=1-s2.0-S037837742300152X-main.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108287
H051837
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-4.0
Open Access
 
Format 283:108287. (Online first)
 
Publisher Elsevier BV
 
Source Agricultural Water Management