Nepal is the world second richest country in the water resources. The water resources in different forms such as rivers, lakes, glaciers, ponds, waterfalls, etc are present and have large potential of hydro power productions. Also, there is plenty of water for various purposes including drinking water, for household purposes and irrigation. However, due to rapid population growth, industrialization and urbanization there is high demand for water and has increased the competition for water. Although enough water is available in country due to the lack of proper infrastructure, supply and management lack of water has become the burning issue in the present context. There are insufficient and ineffective activities and steps taken from government and respective stakeholders in this issue. Water is the most important for drinking purposes, irrigation and also for cleanliness. But at present besides the lack of water, our sources are also facing many environmental hazards which directly and indirectly affects to the human health.

The present status of the water in Nepal is very worse. In one hand the water is not sufficiently available for the drinking purpose for the growing population and in other hand the available sources are also polluted. The existing sources are depleting by deforestation, improperly planned construction works and settlement which are outcomes of overcrowding. These conditions mainly prevailed in the urban areas especially in Kathmandu. People in urban are facing the water problem and due to their own behavior the sources are polluting day by day. Water from tap comes once a week in their home. Although the project of Melamchi has been kept forward it has not been into the implementation till now. The rapidly increasing population is causing problem with unsafe drinking water due to the lack of proper management of waste, disposal and poor hygienic behavior and lack of sanitation. Besides drinking water and household uses, water is also very important for the agriculture production. Without irrigation crops cannot be grown prominently that gives high production and increased the productivity. Being an agricultural country also irrigation facility is not properly managed. Farmers have to depend upon the monsoon for the production. Although the some irrigation projects are there they have not been able to supply. Lack of effective government policy and its implementation are prominently seen.

Environmental degradation has also affected the water condition at the great extent. Deforestation, excessive use of natural resources has increased the loss of sources of water and causes landslides, flood, soil erosion, etc. This affects the quality and quantity of the rivers. Climate change has become the vulnerable factor for the water resources, the torrential rainfall after a long drought condition and also increasing level of temperature and global warming has increased the level of water in the rivers and lakes which causes flood and maximum loss of property and life as well. There are mainly four river basins namely Karnali, Koshi, Gandak and Bagmati. The high water content in these rivers during monsoon cause flooding of the villages mainly in the terai, as result of damage of dams or not allowing of water passage by India. Similarly the Bagmati has become most polluted river due to the mixing of the wastes, disposal, chemicals from the industry and also mixing of insecticides and pesticides from agricultural land. This have affected the environment and living creature living here including human. 

In the name of globalization, urbanization is increasing and in Nepal due to centralized government system maximum people from all over the country has been living at the capital city. This has caused the drastic problems in many sector including environment and water availability. The water supply by the government through KUKL (Kathmandu Upatyeka Khanepani Limited) has unable to fulfill the demand of the dense population and also private minerals company are providing water supply to the consumers. This is also not sufficient for holding the growing population. Due to these nowadays, groundwater has been used as the alternative ways of fulfilling water requirement. It has been noted that some mineral water companies also used underground water for supply of drinking water. Besides that due to the lack of the proper irrigation facility, groundwater has also been used for the irrigation purposes for agricultural production in commercialized farm as well. Nowadays the use of the underground water has been increased and tube wells, borings, etc are excessively used for drinking purpose. However ground water is not safe water source for drinking as it may contains many chemicals in it like arsenic, lead, etc. mainly in Terai which is the harmful to human health and may cause serious problems. So, it should be used only after proper purification process which is not mostly prevailed in our country. There are many stone taps (dhungedhara) supplying underground water to the population, many of them are found in the Kathmandu valley. Thus ground water utilization is going on excessively nowadays. There is only uptake of water but no input or infiltration to compensate the level of water taken. Due to the massive of area filled with buildings and concrete construction works the space for the downward movement of water has been blocked and the level of ground water has been decreasing. But if this process continues there may be condition of drought in the nearby future and leads to the shortage of water excessively. So, proper management and utilization of ground water should be made for the long term and sustainable use of groundwater.

Lastly, by highlighting the present status of the water in Nepal, it is necessarily felt the lack of appropriate management practices for water. I think government and respective stakeholders should properly think about the best alternatives for the supply of water through different available resources for the long term and appropriate utilization of ground water for the supply of water for essentials purpose, and take timely action to provide safe drinking water supply and irrigation facility for the better agricultural production which helps for the economic development and better future of the country.