Water Environment Partnershipin Asia (WEPA) -Nepal Dialogue
Kathmandu
December 14, 20101

Groundwater Depletion inKathmandu Valley
Need for Management

By Hari P Dhakal
Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board(KVWSMB)2

Contents of Presentation
12345

Existing Situation of Groundwater
Effects of GW extraction
New Policy for GW Management
Challengers For Groundwater Management
Recharge-tool for GW management31. Existing Situation of Groundwater4

Map of Kathmandu Valley

5Groundwater Zones
1 NorthernRich

2 CentralMedium

3 SouthernLow6

Hydrogeological Division-JICA 19907

Northern Groundwater Zone
North of Maharajganj, Boudha and west ofGokarna to the western and northern foothills
comprises the unconfined aquifers. UDLE
 Coarse to medium sand , thin layer of clay
 Effective thickness of 60m
 Low ele. conductivity (100 to 200 microsimens/cm)
 Transmissivity of the aquifer ranges from 83
to 1963 m2/day
8

150
BhaktaKirtipur
LalitpurThankot
MadhyaSipadol
Chapali
BalkotKathmaMahadeBalambu
IchangBudanil
Mahankal
SainbuSitapaila
Tinthana
Satungal
KhadkaKautunje
Manmaiju
Dhapasi
KapanJorpati
GonggaAGR%

More Population Growth in North Zone
Annual Population Growth Rate
(1991~2001)

1059

Groundwater Storage
North Zone
Q = Aq. Thickness x Area x Sp. YieldThickness = 60m, Area= 156km 2
Sp. Yield for sand = 28%( Todd, )The total volume of groundwater storage = 60mx 156 x 106 m2 x0.28= 2620.8 x 106 m3
Central and South Zone = 410.4x106 m3
Total= 3031.2x106 m3

10

Estimated Groundwater Abstraction
Year

Estimated abstraction(mld)
NWSCPrivate

DMGTotal

1975

01.001.01980

3.6

3.2406.84

1981

4.8

2.4

0.4

7.6

1982

6.8

3.4

0.6

10.8

1983

5.8

3.5

1.0

10.3

1984

4.4

3.6

1.2

9.2

1985

5.3

4.5

1.4

11.2

1986

17.6

6.6

1.4

25.6

1987

26.2

6.4

1.6

34.2

1988

28.7

6.3

1.6

36.6

1989

36.4

7.3

1.8

45.5

1999

34.6

21.8

1.8

58.2

2009

22.9

48

70.9
11

Existing Situation of Groundwater
Trend of Groundwater Abstraction

12

Existing Situation of Groundwater
Aquifer depletion at selected locations during the dry season
Previous waterlevel (mbgl)
Base
SWL
year

Current waterlevel (mbgl)
Curren SWLt yearRemarks

Location

WID

Depletion (m)Bansbari
WF
Gorkaran
WF
Dhobi Khola
WF
ManoharaBhaktapur/
Bode WF
Pharping
WF
CentralArea

Bal - 1aM8
GK- 2a
GK4
DKl
DK8
BHK-1
M5

2000
2001
1999
2000
1999
2001
1999
2001

5.27
12.75
16.41
16.60
28.90
3.89
37.68
93.33

2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2006
2008

10.85
14.52
23.91
20.18
30.73
5.27
42.00
98.87

5.58
1.77
7.50
3.58
1.83
1.38
4.32
5.54

M1

2001

8.48

2008

8.85

0.37

I 26
G17

2000
2000

7.37
10.68

2008
2008

13.08
11.68

5.71
1.00

In some areas
SGL has gone
down bymore than 30
meters in thelast 30 years
and by 20 min last 10years

SWL : Static Water Level, WID : Well Identification Number, WF : Well Field,mbgl : meter below the ground level,

13

Existing Situation of Groundwater
Aquifer depletion between year 2000 and 2005 a scenario of data gap

District

Northern
GW District
Central GW
DistrictSouthern
GW District
Unknown

Average Draw
No of Tubewells
Maxim
Average Down
Averagum
Numbe Av Av
Draw considee FlowDraw
r of flow flow
Down(m ringRatedown(wells (lps) (mld)
Level)
level(lps)Level upm)
down
downs
only(m)
26

4.74

-7.16

10.35

19.02

108 2054 177

262.87

-4

8.58

9.18

140 1285 111

5.69

1268

6

13.65

17232

2014

Existing Situation of Groundwater
Capacity of Groundwater
Institution

Extraction Rate (mld)Year 2002
Year 2009

KUKL

42.00

36.00

Hotels6.53

8.00

Government/In
stitutions
Tankers andothers
Total

5.36

10.00

5.37

30.00

59.26

84.00(includes 13
from spring water)

15

Water Demand & Supply in Kathmandu
 Year 20092009-10

GWSW

Total320

Demand(mld)
Supply-Dryseason(mld)
Supply-wetseason(mld)

Gap30

70

100

220

25130155

165

The gap is met through GW extraction
Individuals, Institutions, Hotels, Business Houses, apartment buildings,industries, tanker supply etc

16Groundwater Quality
Shallow aquifers are polluted by wastewater andleachate from solid waste.

Shallow aquifers have high fecal coliforms and highoxygen demand.

Deep aquifers have high content of ammonia,
methane, hydrogen sulphide, iron, manganese andhardness, and salts.

17

Groundwater Quality


Mineral content is high in deep aquifers in central
district and lower in shallow aquifers and springs in
the south: ranges from 80-1500 micro S/cm

High mineral content means that water is not suitablefor drinking and needs significant treatment.

Temperature and pH seems normal in several cases.

18

Supreme Court Directive

Recently the Supreme Court has given directive topreserve the GW resources by effectively managing
the GW demand and supply.
They have stressed the need to harvest rain water,
recharge, recycle water and quality preservation.

19

Observation So Far Current extraction –unknown
 KUKL

total abstraction in 2009- 23 MLD from 49 wells(GWRDB, 2009).
 Static water level has lowered at the rate of 2.5m/yr atsome places(MPPW-2002)
 Estimation of no of deep wells - approx 700
 Inventory of only about 513 wells
 Mostly located in northern and central groundwater
district.

20

Observation So Far Max of 9 aquifer horizons tapped (Wells MH3 in Mulpaniand GK1at Nayapati .
 The single thick aquifer GK3 from the depth of 70-246
mbgl ( 5% opening) Many wells have multiple screens in shallow and deepaquifers .
 The first screen has been placed at the depth of 6m bgl at
well BB9 at Budanilkantha.
 Most of the deep wells located in the northern part of thevalley.

21

2. Effects of Groundwater Extraction

22

Dhungedhara Drying
Number of Stone Spouts

Natural flow

233

Flow from city supply line

43

Not working

68

Disappeared

45

Total389

23

Rivers Flowing with Sewage
 All freshwater from rivers used for drinking

water.
 Allthe sewage discharged into the rivers
where only the sewage flows.

243. New Policy for Groundwater Management25New Policy for Groundwater Management
Objectives/Goals
Safeguard the fundamental right of the people to access safe
drinking water for livelihood as per Nepal government'swater resources act 2002.

To efficiently manage the scarce resource of groundwater sothat maximum benefit can be obtained from the resource andextend the life of the aquifer.

To design and implement source directed regulatory measures
to prevent or minimize the adverse impact of development
activities especially with regards to quality and resource
potential.

26

Guiding Principles
 water is a resource common to all and haveconsistent status in law.
 Theownership lies on the state
individuals only have right to use shallow

andand deep groundwater as separatesystems
 First priority to domestic consumption

27

Policy Framework
 Compulsory licensing of all GW users

Regulatory and management measures forpreservation of GW quality and preventing it fromenvironmental and hazardous effects.
 KVWSMB to implement measures and programs formonitoring and regulation of GW resources.
 Preservation of identified recharge areas or zones
either by stopping or discouraging the conversion ofsuch lands into urban settlements.
28

Policy Framework
 Promoting rainwater harvesting as an alternate to themanagement of supply side of the water constraint in
the Kathmandu Valley.
 Discouraging the extraction of large volume of waterfrom single location or aquifer zone.
 An integrated approach in the management of GW
resources with surface water sources encompassing
the possible areas of natural recharge, man-maderecharge measures/mechanism, extraction and its
utilization.

29

Implementation Measures
Short term measures Detail inventory of all existing water sources Carryout area wise data collection for hydrometeorological, hydro-geological parameters,
demand supply analysis and potential forgroundwater abstraction for local distribution,water quality etc.

 Registrationand issue of licenses to all
groundwater users
30

Implementation Measures
Short term measures
 Categorize areas, aquifers in the valley according to their

groundwater potential, water quality, vulnerability,
recharge etc.
 Identify

site specific water resource augmentation
measures including rainwater harvesting, rechargepotential including immediate potential sites andmeasures to protect the area for the purpose.

 Carry out research works to identify otherwater sourcesin the valley including spring sources, hard rock aquifers
etc.

31

Implementation Measures
Short term measures• Prepare guidelines on works like drilling, distribution,community supply, abandonment etc• Carry out study and research on water balance studies,rainwater
harvesting,water
quality/pollution,conservation measures, GW potential of FAN deposits• Establish web-based GIS to disseminate information onvarious aspects of GW• Carry out mass awareness programs on RWH, waterrecycle etc

32Implementation Measures
Long term measures
 Regulate the existing deep wells with respect to location,spacing, aquifer horizon tapped, purpose etc.
 Categorize tariff according to the use and purpose, aquifer

horizon and number tapped and totally restrict haphazard
groundwater abstraction and drilling.
 Regularly

monitor the wells for efficiency, water level
fluctuations, water quality and water management aspects.

 Regulate

deep well drillings with respect to aquifer
potential, location, requirement and priority basis.

33

4. Challengers For Groundwater Management34

Challenges for GW
Management/Monitoring/Licensing
Generate and collect quality Information on GW potential,Recharge potential, present use & trend of use, use points etc
 Carry out necessary research and study on hydrogeology
 Maintain GW storage and use sustainably Provision of alternative source of supply
 Prevent pollution at source, monitor and preserve water quality
 Monitor Extraction against Permission
 Effective implementation of policy measures and secure
potential recharge areas from infrastructure development Capacity building of KVWSMB Explore and acquire necessary funding35

5. Recharge-Tool for Groundwater
Management36

Recharge-Tool for GW Management Valleyreceives about 1.165 billion cubic meter ofrain per year

 80% of this amount comes in 4 months
 Only about 6.6% of it is retained as GW (including

flow from springs)
 If

additional 6% is retained, demand of drinking
water in the valley can be fulfilled37

Recharge-Tool for GW Management Valley geology not homogeneous North zone is potential for GW recharge Other pockets may have potential
 Such potential areas mustbe identified throughresearch Suitable recharge technology options must beidentified through research

38

THANK YOU39