Ajaya DixitISET-Nepal

Kathmandu

February 18 – 20, 2015

Istanbul, Turkey

Synthesized evidence for policy

making: Combining high science

and citizen science

• Less water for basic needs;• Increased drudgery for girls and

women; • Loss of local productivity; • In some places households

migrating to new places;• Lowering development gains

Across the hills and mountains of Nepal springs and other water sources are depleting and drying:

A typical drinking water system in hill may serve

20-30 households;45 lpd;Tap springs; 2 l/s (172 cubic meter/day)

Variation exist

4

ISET-Nepal partnered with two VDCs in hills, school teachers, scientists of British Geological Survey (BGS) andISET-International for studying be springs

Used isotopes to asses age of aquifer that fed the springs (High science)

Trained local youths regularly measured flow of selected springs (morning and evening) for a year and continues. (Citizen science)

Helped estimate groundwater residence time and its implication for resilience of supplies as rainfall is projected to become more erratic (NCVST, 2009).

What does it means for local communities

Shared the implications with local community by broadcasting through selected 17

community radio stations

Each radio station

broadcasted 10 episodes of already prepared radio drama (Jal Bayupuran) on climate change

Collected oral history on local climate, impacts, and used findings from spring flow study and others, in designing programs and broadcast in sequence with Jal BayuPuran episodes

Some lessons

• VDCs and radio stations become partners in generating data, information and knowledge at lower cost (citizens in research)

• Ownership for taking finding from research to users at local level

• Empowers local through participation in knowledge production and sharing process

• Helped build awareness on specific issues (conserving environment, local water sources (ponds), developing local early warning systems (droughts, floods, invasive species etc.)

• Innovations in using low cost monitoring station

Thank you

iset@ntc.net.np

www.isetnepal.np