Harvesting rain in Nepal - Regional conference on rainwater management

From March 18 to 19, the Regional Conference on "Rainwater Harvesting and Management: Harnessing Rainwater for Enhanced Water Security and Climate Resilience" took place in Kathmandu, Nepal. On the day preceding the conference, March 17, international participants were able to visit urban rainwater recharge and capture projects implemented in Kathmandu.

The event was aimed at regional players active in rainwater management. Participants came from the authorities (4 mayors and 3 current and former Nepalese ministers took part in the debates), civil society (NGOs), the private sector and research.
Participants came mainly from the Indian sub-continent (Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan), as well as a number of internationals from further afield, including two IRHA members: Han Heijnen (President) and Florian Bielser (Program Manager), and four members of Kanchan Nepal, IRHA's local partner in Nepal.

Over the course of two days, more than 50 speakers took to the podium to present academic results, field experiences, innovative approaches and to discuss issues relating to project implementation and follow-up. Han Heijnen, as co-organizer, took part as presenter and moderator, as well as taking a number of local and global positions on the state of the art in rainwater management; Sony Pun, coordinator at Kanchan Nepal, presented the 2 flagship projects underway in partnership with IRHA: Raincommunity and Blue School.

Numerous exchanges on the various methods of capturing rainwater, recharging aquifers, storing and purifying rainwater, depending on local sensitivities and varied contexts, led to the strengthening of links between the various players, whether at national level (with the emergence of the Nepalese Rainwater Management Association - NeRHA), regional (with the presence of multiple members of the Southeast Asian Network for Rainwater Management - SARNET) and international (with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between IRHA and NeRHA).