National Water Plan (2002–2027).

This National Water Plan (NWP) implements and follows-up on objectives and measures of the Water Resources Strategy (WRS) of 2002. The broad objective of the NWP is to contribute in a balanced manner to the overall national goals of economic development, poverty alleviation, food security, public health and safety, decent standards of living for the people and protection of the natural environment. It is a framework to guide, in an integrated and comprehensive manner, all stakeholders for developing and managing water resources and water services. The NWP has developed a set of specific short-, medium- and long-term action plans for the water sector, including programme and project activities, investments and institutional aspects. NWP consists of a general Part (A), the actual Plan (B), a Part on investments and macro-economic implications (C), the Environmental Plan (D), and a Part on monitoring, evaluating and updating the NWP. The major doctrines of the NWP are integration, coordination, decentralization, popular participation and implementation of water-related programmes within the framework of good governance, equitable distribution and sustainable development.
Part A describes the physical, planning and economic context of water resources and defines water sector objectives and policy principles for the water sector. The WRS has defined ten strategic output, which are categorized under security, use and mechanism aspects. Effective measures to manage and mitigate water-induced disasters and the Environmental Action Plan on Management of Watersheds and the Aquatic Ecosystems fall within the security category, whereas the mechanism category includes, among other things, water-related information systems and appropriate legal frameworks. Use aspects include, among other things, irrigation, sanitation and hygiene and waters used for fisheries.
The country can be divided into five physiographic regions, viz High Himalayas, Lesser Himalayas (High Mountains), Middle Mountains (the Mahabharat Range), Siwaliks (the Churia Range) and the terai plains. Only a small part of Napal's available water resources has so far been utilized for economic and social purposes. Until now, Nepal has utilized mainly medium and small rivers for different uses such as drinking water, irrigation and hydropower. The larger and perennial Himalayan rivers, except for a few run-of the-river schemes, have been virtually left untapped. Since there is extreme seasonal variation in water availability in the Nepalese rivers, all future programmes will have to focus on storage of water during the rainy season and its utilization during dry periods. Expansion of irrigated agriculture is essential for meeting the food security requirement of the country. The Plan sets out key activities for the Integrated Programme for Irrigated Agriculture. Most of the irrigable land in the terai can be effectively irrigated by groundwater utilization.
The Environmental Management Plan (EMP) sets out, among other things: Implementation of Mitigation Measures at Strategic and Project Levels (Physical component); Implementation of Mitigation Measures at Strategic and Project Levels (Biological component); Implementation of Mitigation Measures at Strategic and Project Levels (Socio-economic component). It also concerns (various types of) environmental monitoring and environmental auditing.