A comparative evaluation of stone spout management systems in heritage and non-heritage areas of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University

Abstract

Management of water resources is a major challenge throughout the world and in many long-established societies people still use traditional water harvesting and management techniques. Despite often being seen as efficient and cost effective, traditional methods are in decline or have been abandoned in many countries. Nevertheless, traditional approaches continue to be useful in some countries, such as Nepal. The extent to which such traditional processes, in this case supply via stone spouts, may survive modernization, while fulfilling socio-cultural and other needs, is the focus of the research. The research develops an understanding of the socio-cultural and other values of stone spouts for the people of the urban and peri-urban heritage and non-heritage areas of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, in order to foster ongoing sustainable management of the remaining spouts. In order to compare the traditional stone spout management systems in both the urban and peri-urban heritage and non-heritage areas of the Kathmandu Valley, three evaluation criteria were identified from the literature to apply to the selected study areas, they are: area must have stone spouts, they needed to have a diverse range of possible users and governance systems and they needed to be logistically acceptable. Likewise, three research questions are addressed in this research: a) what are the impacts of changes in social, cultural, institutional norms and values and how do they influence the stone spout management system? b) How do modern pipe-line systems and other development activities affect traditional stone spout management systems in heritage and non-heritage areas? c) What are the implications for local communities of the incremental and ongoing loss of traditional stone spout infrastructure in terms of sustainable management of remaining spouts and water supplies? A meta-theory framework was established which synthesizes Institutional, Attachment, Central Place and Common Property theories, thus forming analytical lenses fundamental to the mixed-method research approach used in research. Field data were collected mainly using face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions, and biophysical data collected and linked to Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. To improve the validity and consistency of the data, other data sources (such as on-site observations and document analysis) were used for triangulation purposes. The results suggest that management of spouts could both be more effective and efficient if their ownership was somehow vested in the local community as was the case with the earlier guthi system. Ongoing population growth, power cut-offs and irregular water supplies to pipe-lines have in recent times increased the “utility value” of spouts. Besides this, the religious, cultural and unique engineering values of spouts provide an incentive for people to think about the preservation and management of spouts in a sustainable way. Beginning at the early analytical assessment of the meta-theory approach, this research returned the somewhat surprising outcome that spout condition is better in non-heritage areas than in heritage areas as the latter are less affected by changing socio-cultural contexts, institutional norms and values and by dissemination of modern pipe-line technology and other development activities. Authorities could clearly be better coordinated and provide both financial and technical support aimed at solving the management issues of spouts. From this study, it is clear that it is unlikely that stone spouts will ever be the complete solution to the problem of water scarcity, but nevertheless, if well-managed this ancient system could continue to play an important role in reducing water stresses in the Kathmandu Valley while concurrently contributing to a range of other social, cultural and economic outcomes.