Springs are considered lifelines in the villages of the mid-hills of Nepal, as they are very important for survival: they are important sources of drinking water for humans and livestock, and they are used for irrigation, especially during the dry months. However, the discharge from various springs in this belt has changed over the time, most noticeably after the 2015 earthquake, perhaps disturbed the hydrogeology underneath the Earth’s surface, which caused the complete drying out of some springs, a decline in the discharge of many others, as well as the emergence of new springs. In this context, the HI-AWARE initiative under ICIMOD’s regional programme on River Basins is undertaking springshed management research in Charghare VDC of Nuwakot in the Gandaki River basin, as part of its Research Component 3: Research into use.

Recently, a research team organized a seven-day field visit to Charghare VDC as part of the first step of an on-going research. Between 23 and 29 May 2016, the team from ICIMOD and Practical Action comprehensively mapped 43 springs in water tower located in the VDC, including various types of springs mostly used for drinking and domestic purposes: dried-out, perennial, seasonal, and newly emerging.

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Sangita Dandekhya

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