National Water Plan Nepal (2002-2027)

The National Water Plan (NWP) is prepared to operationalize the Water Sector Strategy of Nepal approved in January 2002. The NWP includes programmes in all strategically identified output activities so that the programmes, in consonance with each other, will contribute to maximizing the sustainable benefits of water use. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has been adopted as one of the principal themes of the NWP. IWRM principles profess that water must be viewed from a holistic perspective, both in its natural state and in balancing the competing demands on it, e.g., domestic, agriculture, hydropower, industrial, cultural and environmental. Management of water resource services needs to reflect the interactions between different demands, and so must be coordinated within and across the sectors. More equitable, efficient and sustainable regime will emerge, provided crosscutting requisites are met, along with horizontal and vertical integration within the management framework of the water resources and services.