Fund Research on Drinking Water Supply in Nepal

Challenges and lessons learned 

Challenges 

•   Project Replacement or Cancellation Issues 

o The major reason behind project replacement or cancellation is the duplication of projects  because of the budget allocated by the provincial government for some projects. 

o Less willingness of communities to make a kind contribution to project implementation, mostly  from the communities residing in semi-urban regions of the country. 

o Political interest and influence during the project selection and implementation. o The issue of source registration in local governments. 

•  High per capita cost because of scattered settlements, a high outmigration rate, and the need for highly expensive technologies like multi-stage electric lifting and solar lifting. 

•  Technical Monitoring from Municipality: Inadequate technical human resources at municipalities  cause some delay in technical monitoring, which in turn causes delay in releasing matching fund  installments from municipalities. 

•  Technical issues in Electric/solar Projects: Delay in solar/lift pump delivery and installation  from the vendor side; delay in completing the electrical pumping projects due to prolonged process  for electrification from the NEA part at the respective sites. 

•  Water quality issues: Regular testing of drinking water to ensure its quality is lacking after the  projects are handed over to the respective WSUCs. 

•  Municipal matching fund release: The matching fund contribution from the municipality  side for WSSs construction is not released in time, which hampers the regular project activities as  WSUCs are unable to purchase necessary materials and equipment in time, which impedes the  smooth implementation of the entire project. 

•  Availability of Space for Private Connection Taps Stands: Every household in the  communities does not have enough space or an appropriate area to build private connection taps.  Additionally, in some cases, more than one household has a single common area. In such a case,  the construction of more than two taps in the same place adjacent to one another seems awkward. 

•  Depletion or Drying up of Sources: Communities are facing problems related to water quality,  quantity, and supply due to water source depletion or drying up, especially during the dry season.  This can cause a scarcity of water in the days to come. Even though considerations are taken for  climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction during the survey, unforeseen factors pose  challenges for the sustainability of WASH facilities. 

Lessons learned 

•  NEWAH needs to strengthen rigorous coordination mechanisms with communities and three-tier governments to avoid possible duplication. It is good to verify the project before project proposal  preparation and implementation. The field staff needs to analyze the community's willingness for  project implementation before project finalization during public hearings. 

•  NEWAH has been giving immense attention to ensuring water quality. Moreover, we need to collaborate with concerned agencies to establish water quality testing laboratories at the local level  so that local people can get access to water quality testing facilities near their project location. 

•  NEWAH needs to enhance the capacity of the Water Safety Plan (WSP) team on the Climate Resilient Water Safety Plan (CR-WSP) so that they can proactively engage to ensure water quality  in their respective projects. 

•  Different sanitation and hygiene activities may be useful for sustained behavior change based on a baseline study. 

•  The Clean and Healthy Community Declaration campaign is becoming a model for local governments and stakeholders. 

•  NEWAH needs to train local caretakers on electric and solar connections and repair maintenance systems. 

•  Capacity-building activities for the local governments (political representatives and duty bearers both), especially on WASH System Strengthening, need to be planned. 

•  Innovative post-implementation monitoring mechanisms lead to the functionality and sustainability of water systems. NEWAH’s innovative monitoring systems, such as Hello monitoring, sensor  monitoring, and a toll-free call center, need to be continued to ensure the functionality of the  WSSs and provide technical support wherever problems are identified.