Improving Water Governance in Kathmandu: Insights from Systems Thinking and Behavioral Science

The global water and sanitation community is currently wrestling with the policy implications of two important realizations. The first is that it is quite possible for cities to actually run out of water–for the piped network to run dry. The second is that in many locations, basic water and sanitation interventions do not result in the large public health improvements that many water and sanitation professionals had hoped. As water and sanitation professionals work out the implications of these two realizations on policy and planning for water and sanitation improvements in the Global South, they will require an in-depth knowledge of local housing, water, and sanitation conditions, as well as a nuanced understanding of how households prioritize improvements in housing, water, and sanitation. The chapters in this book about Kathmandu illustrate the types of analyses of local conditions that are needed. Kathmandu holds many lessons for the global community about households’ responses to water scarcity and the management of water and sanitation services in periods of rapid urbanization and climate change.

In Focus – a book series that showcases the latest accomplishments in water research. Each book focuses on a specialist area with papers from top experts in the field. It aims to be a vehicle for in-depth understanding and inspire further conversations in the secto

Editorial: Improving water governance in Kathmandu: insights from systems thinking and behavioral science
Dale Whittington and Xun Wu

Households’ preferences for water tariff structures in Kathmandu, Nepal
Bhim Raj Suwal, Jane Zhao, Aditi Raina, Xun Wu, Namrata Chindarkar, K. C. Bal Kumar and Dale Whittington

Melamchi water supply project: potential to replenish Kathmandu’s groundwater status for dry season access
Pennan Chinnasamy and Surendra Raj Shrestha

The structure of water vending markets in Kathmandu, Nepal
Aditi Raina, Jane Zhao, Xun Wu, Laxman Kunwar and Dale Whittington

Water and time use: evidence from Kathmandu, Nepal
Yvonne Jie Chen, Namrata Chindarkar and Jane Zhao

Constructing a fabula of resilience: a lived experience approach

Leong Ching, Zhou Yishu, Nisha Francine Rajoo and Sarah Ruiqi Tan

Implications of the Melamchi water supply project for the Kathmandu Valley groundwater system
Bhesh Raj Thapa, Hiroshi Ishidaira, Maksym Gusyev, Vishnu Prasad Pandey, Parmeshwar Udmale, Masaki Hayashi and Narendra Man Shakya