Updating and Developing National Water Supply Design Guidelines

This project, commissioned by DWSSM in partnership with Oxfam in Nepal and UNICEF, is a critical initiative to modernize Nepal’s water infrastructure standards. The primary goal is to harmonize existing technical frameworks into a unified, future-ready design standard. By reviewing legacy documents—including the 12-volume set and Small Town Projects guidelines—the project aims to create a comprehensive design standard that addresses contemporary challenges such as climate resilience, sustainability, and technological advancement, ensuring that water supply planning is practical and inclusive across Nepal’s diverse geographical landscape.

The project focuses on creating a robust technical foundation for national water infrastructure through rigorous research and multidisciplinary expertise. The core objectives include conducting a thorough review of national and international literature to ensure high adoptability within the Nepalese context. The team is tasked with leading a multidisciplinary group of experts to develop comprehensive guidelines that integrate climate resilience and long-term sustainability into every design component. Furthermore, the assignment emphasizes bridging the gap between international engineering standards and the unique environmental, institutional, and social challenges present in Nepal, ensuring that the final guidelines are both globally informed and locally grounded.

The project has successfully navigated the inception phase, establishing a solid foundation for the subsequent development of technical modules. Key milestones achieved to date include a comprehensive review of all existing design guidelines and sector-specific documentation to assess their current relevance. The team has successfully identified critical knowledge and implementation gaps through intensive stakeholder consultations, ensuring that the new guidelines reflect the needs of diverse users. Additionally, the project has finalized the Inception Report and established a draft Table of Contents (TOC) for the new modules, effectively mapping out the structural framework for the updated National Water Supply Design Guidelines.