World Bank Nepal Water Sector Diagnostic
The World Bank's national diagnostic of Nepal's water institutions, storage, resilience and investment needs.
- Page status
- Verified core
- Updated
- 2026-04-14
- Last reviewed
- 2026-07-19
- Review due
- 2027-03-01
Summary
A water-sector-wide diagnostic covering storage requirements, irrigation, and the intersection of water management with energy. Provides the most authoritative estimate of Nepal's seasonal storage gap.
Key Data Points
- Nepal's storage volume requirement to satisfy annual seasonal water demand: 29.86 km³
- Nepal effectively has none of this required seasonal storage at national scale
- JICA estimates Nepal will need at least 1,993 MW of storage hydropower by 2032 (BAU) or 3,154 MW (high demand)
- Nepal's active dam storage: ~85 MCM (one of the lowest in Asia)
Limitations
- Storage-gap framing: The 29.86 km³ requirement is a water-sector-wide estimate (irrigation + energy + other uses), not an electricity-only storage target.
- Active vs total storage ambiguity: The ~85 MCM active storage and 130–150 MCM total figures differ by boundary definition. Both are vanishingly small relative to need.
- 2023 cutoff: Post-2023 project progress, policy changes, and new studies (e.g., JICA IPSDP) may update the storage requirement estimates.
- JICA MW targets: The 1,993 MW (BAU) and 3,154 MW (high demand) storage hydropower figures are JICA study outputs, not verified construction plans.
Relevance to Project
The 29.86 km³ requirement vs near-zero actual storage is the single most dramatic number for the Storage Deficit argument. JICA's MW requirements give a concrete planning target. Data feeds into Storage Capacity Comparison. .