Groundwater games in Barahathawa: Lessons and implications

Groundwater is a crucial source of water for domestic use and increasingly used for irrigation in the southern Terai region of Nepal. However, increasing groundwater extraction and other changes are depleting groundwater levels. Well drillers interviewed in Barahathawa said that water used to be ava...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bruns, Bryan, Khadka, Manohara, KC, Sumitra, Rauniyar, Amrita
Formato: Brief
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2024
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/162554
Descripción
Sumario:Groundwater is a crucial source of water for domestic use and increasingly used for irrigation in the southern Terai region of Nepal. However, increasing groundwater extraction and other changes are depleting groundwater levels. Well drillers interviewed in Barahathawa said that water used to be available at 35 feet below the surface but now in some places they have to go to 60 feet or more for reliable water. This is an example of problems and the need for better institutions to govern a shared, invisible, and often poorly understood resource. Groundwater crop-choice games are part of a toolbox of activities that can help people learn and work together to improve groundwater governance. This brief presents lessons and implications from an initial exercise with groundwater games in Barahathawa Municipality in Madhesh Province in Nepal.