The Nepal National Water and Weather Week (NNWWW) 2019 was celebrated with a week-long program starting from 17th to 23rd March 2019. Some of the programs were also organized as pre-week and post-week activities as of the week.
The opening of the week-long celebration of NNWWW-2019 was held on March 17, 2019, at the Conference Hall of the Department of Water Resource and Irrigation (DoWRI), Jawalakhel. Chief Guest, Hon’ble Minister, Barshaman Pun, Ministry of Water, Energy and Irrigation inaugurated the opening ceremony of NNWWW-2019. Before the opening ceremony, a walkathon (प्रभातफेरी) from Maitighar Mandala to DoWRI, Jawlakhel was organized.
On March 18, 2019, the 2nd day, as a major event of NNWWW -2019, the 10th National Symposium on Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Management of Groundwater Resources in Nepal was held. The Chief Guest of the event was Dr. Rishi Ram Sharma, Joint Secretary, WECS. There were three technical sessions with presentations by different researchers and professionals under different themes.
On the 3rd day of NNWWW-2019, on March 19, Media Interaction on Climate Change and Water Resources was organized among the media journalists as the major audience. Also, on the same day, National Water Café was carried out at Nepal Mega College, Xavier International College, and Amrit Science Campus where students showed their active participation. The program was organized to aware the young generation discuss water-related issues focusing on water and sustainable management of water resources in Nepal.
To mark the 5th day of NNWWW-2019, Graduate Conference on Water was organized by The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) and was supported by WWF Nepal and American Geophysical Union (AGU). The aim of this conference was to promote women in science in Nepal which included keynote presentations from experts and papers from graduates in each of three thematic areas (1) Climate Change and Water Resource Management; (2) Urban Waste Water Management; and (3) Water Ecosystem and Biodiversity.
On the 6th day March 22, World Water Day was celebrated by organizing a national-level thematic workshop led by Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS). The program was chaired by Mr. Devendra Karki, secretary of WECS, and Dr. Dinesh C. Devkota, former Vice Chair of the National Planning Commission was the chief guest. The major highlights of the workshop included a presentation and interaction on a feasibility study of inland water transport in Nepal, Impacts on Water Resources of Nepal, leanings from Murray-Darling River Basin in Australia, and Integrated Water Resource Management in the context of Nepal, and WASH implementation in Western Nepal.
On the 7th day of the week-long NNWWW-2019 on March 23, the World Meteorological Day was celebrated followed by Closing Ceremony, with a firm commitment towards advancing skills, knowledge, and attitude blending with the technology in water conservation and weather-related issues. The final day program was comprised of three events with the participation of more than 130 participants including government officials, water experts from various I/NGOs, journalists, and students.
The first event was the final project-sharing workshop on “Rainwater Harvesting to Mitigate Drought in Western Nepal” of SEN which was chaired by Dr. Madan Lall Shrestha. The program started with the welcome speech by Er. Mahendra Bahadur Gurung. Mr. Dhiraj Pradhananga, President of SEN shared the working modality of SEN which is the dissemination of hydro-meteorological and environmental information and services to the end-users through research, capacity building, awareness, and advocacy. Mr. Piyush Dahal, Research coordinator of SEN, shared the implications of drought in western Nepal in terms of precipitation, change in river discharge, groundwater storage, snow area cover, and crop production. Mr. Nammy Hang Kirat, Senior Research Associate of SEN, mentioned the importance of rainwater harvesting, particularly in places with topographical constraints. Ms. Susmina Gajurel, Research Assistant of SEN, demonstrated step by step process to use mobile applications through video.
The second event was the celebration of World Meteorological Day in which a national-level workshop was organized by the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) to commemorate World Meteorological Day. The workshop session was chaired by Mr. Saraju Kumar Baidya, Director General of DHM, Government of Nepal.
In the Workshop, Ms. Shanti Kandel, Senior Divisional Meteorologist of DHM presented a paper on the Status of Weather Forecasting and urged technological advancement. Mr. Binod Parajuli, Senior Divisional Hydrologist of DHM shared the key issues, the existing services, and products related to hydrological conditions in Nepal. Dr. Indira Kandel, Senior Divisional Meteorologist of DHM presented a paper on Values of Climate Services. Mr. Nagmindra Dahal, Project Coordinator of the South Asian Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS) briefly shared the initiatives and ideas to create evidence-based knowledge for better planning of water and weather-related issues in Nepal.
The final event of the day was the Closing Ceremony of NNWWW-2019 chaired by Mr. Devendra Karki, Secretary of Water and energy Commissions Secretariat (WECS), Government of Nepal, and Chairman of the NNWWW-2019 Organizing Committee. The activities organized during the entire week were highlighted by Er. Mahendra Bahadur Gurung, Executive Director, SEN. The organizations supporting the NNWWW-2019 events were also acknowledged and awarded with a Certificate of Appreciation. Similarly, the winners of the Photography and School level Painting Competition were announced and awarded.
At the closing session, Dr. David James Molden, Director General, ICIMOD said that despite having climate challenges those challenges have to be faced and overcome. Ms. Tripti Rai, Country Director, Water Aid Nepal, emphasized on the importance of working together for water resource management and said that Water Aid would be happy to work with the government and other organizations in this regard. Dr. Madan Lall Shrestha, Academician, NAST suggested carrying out an assessment of climate change and water resources in Nepal. Dr. Rishi Ram Sharma, Joint Secretary of WECS, expressed his sincere gratitude to all stakeholders collaborating for NNWWW-2019. Mr. Devendra Karki, Secretary of WECS, in his closing remarks appreciated such concerted initiatives and suggested bringing together even more organizations and institutions working in the water sector in the years to come.
