Kathmandu [Nepal], August 21 – Nepal’s Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha has called for urgent preparedness in water, food, irrigation, energy and disaster resilience in response to the potential impacts of a super El Niño.
Addressing the inaugural session of the national workshop “Super El Niño and Climate Risk: Impacts on Water, Food, Energy, and Disaster Resilience” in Lalitpur on Friday, Shrestha said recent forecasts indicated a higher likelihood of El Niño affecting rainfall, temperatures, hydropower generation, irrigation and food production in Nepal.
He stressed the need to strengthen storage capacity in the energy sector noting that Kulekhani-1 is the only seasonal reservoir project in Nepal’s currently operational 4,120-megawatt electricity system.
Although Nepal has made progress in energy trade Shrestha said dependence on energy imports rises during dry seasons making reservoir projects and additional storage capacity important for energy security.
He also warned of water shortages in irrigation systems that depend largely on small and medium rivers, while prolonged droughts are affecting agricultural production.
The ministry has prepared a Tarai-Madhesh Drought Resilience Strategy and established a Water-Energy Drought Monitoring mechanism with relevant agencies to publish monthly information from October to March.
The workshop discussed potential El Niño impacts and measures to reduce associated risks.
