Topography and the Hydraulic Mission: Water management, river control and state power in Nepal

Daniel Haines; Matthew Innis England

doi:10.1080/07900627.2018.1515066

Topography and the Hydraulic Mission: Water management, river control and state power in Nepal

Daniel Haines, Matthew Innis England^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

283 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We examine the Nepali state’s role in water management over time and space. Using the hydraulic mission model, we use historical material, policy documents and interviews. From the 1800s, state water management concentrated on the Kathmandu valley. The 1960s witnessed the hydraulic mission launch in the lowlands through construction of public irrigation canals. Since the 1990s, a
consolidating hydraulic mission climbed to the hills and mountains through hydropower development. We argue that over time, topography played a determining role in application of state power and water control through infrastructure development, and that attention to geography helps refine the hydraulic mission model.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	508-530
Number of pages	23
Journal	International Journal of Water Resources Development
Volume	37
Issue number	3
Early online date	8 Oct 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2018.1515066
Publication status	Published - 4 Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors are grateful for a Natural Environment Research Council grant [number NE/P016146/1], ?HARVEST: High-Mountain Asia?Building Resilience to Water Variability using Experiments, Surveys and Accounts of Tradition?. The authors? gratitude is extended to Duncan Quincey, Gehendra Gurung, Prabina Tandukar and Bishnu Periyar.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Research Groups and Themes

Centre for Environmental Humanities
Cabot Institute Water Research

Keywords

Nepal
South Asia
Interdisciplinary collaboration
Hydropolitics
Environmental History
Policy Studies
GCRF

Access to Document

10.1080/07900627.2018.1515066

Full-text PDF (accepted author manuscript)
This is the accepted author manuscript (AAM). The final published version (version of record) is available online via Taylor & Francis at https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2018.1515066 . Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.
Accepted author manuscript, 870 KBLicence: Other

Handle.net

Persistent link

2 Citations
2 Article (Academic Journal)

Development, citizenship and the Bhakra-Nangal dams in postcolonial India, 1948-1952
Haines, D., 13 Oct 2021, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Historical Journal. 21 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Open Access
File
4 Citations (Scopus)

124 Downloads (Pure)
The changing water cycle: the need for an integrated assessment of resilience to changes in water supply in High-Mountain Asia
Quincey, D., Klaar, M., Haines, D., Lovett, J., Pariyar, B., Gurung, G., Brown, L., Watson, C., England, M. & Evans, B., 18 Feb 2018, In: Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water. 5, 1, 10 p., e1258.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Open Access
File
15 Citations (Scopus)

311 Downloads (Pure)

1 Finished

HARVEST
Haines, D. (Principal Investigator)
1/11/16 → 31/07/17
Project: Research

Cite this

@article{f0b209dd27394db3bb57581c762c852f,

title = "Topography and the Hydraulic Mission: Water management, river control and state power in Nepal",

abstract = "We examine the Nepali state{\textquoteright}s role in water management over time and space. Using the hydraulic mission model, we use historical material, policy documents and interviews. From the 1800s, state water management concentrated on the Kathmandu valley. The 1960s witnessed the hydraulic mission launch in the lowlands through construction of public irrigation canals. Since the 1990s, a consolidating hydraulic mission climbed to the hills and mountains through hydropower development. We argue that over time, topography played a determining role in application of state power and water control through infrastructure development, and that attention to geography helps refine the hydraulic mission model. ",

keywords = "Nepal, South Asia, Interdisciplinary collaboration, Hydropolitics, Environmental History, Policy Studies, GCRF",

author = "Daniel Haines and England, {Matthew Innis}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors are grateful for a Natural Environment Research Council grant [number NE/P016146/1], ?HARVEST: High-Mountain Asia?Building Resilience to Water Variability using Experiments, Surveys and Accounts of Tradition?. The authors? gratitude is extended to Duncan Quincey, Gehendra Gurung, Prabina Tandukar and Bishnu Periyar. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.",

year = "2021",

month = mar,

day = "4",

doi = "10.1080/07900627.2018.1515066",

language = "English",

volume = "37",

pages = "508--530",

journal = "International Journal of Water Resources Development",

issn = "0790-0627",

publisher = "Routledge",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Topography and the Hydraulic Mission

T2 - Water management, river control and state power in Nepal

AU - Haines, Daniel

AU - England, Matthew Innis

N1 - Funding Information: The authors are grateful for a Natural Environment Research Council grant [number NE/P016146/1], ?HARVEST: High-Mountain Asia?Building Resilience to Water Variability using Experiments, Surveys and Accounts of Tradition?. The authors? gratitude is extended to Duncan Quincey, Gehendra Gurung, Prabina Tandukar and Bishnu Periyar. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2021/3/4

Y1 - 2021/3/4

N2 - We examine the Nepali state’s role in water management over time and space. Using the hydraulic mission model, we use historical material, policy documents and interviews. From the 1800s, state water management concentrated on the Kathmandu valley. The 1960s witnessed the hydraulic mission launch in the lowlands through construction of public irrigation canals. Since the 1990s, a consolidating hydraulic mission climbed to the hills and mountains through hydropower development. We argue that over time, topography played a determining role in application of state power and water control through infrastructure development, and that attention to geography helps refine the hydraulic mission model.

AB - We examine the Nepali state’s role in water management over time and space. Using the hydraulic mission model, we use historical material, policy documents and interviews. From the 1800s, state water management concentrated on the Kathmandu valley. The 1960s witnessed the hydraulic mission launch in the lowlands through construction of public irrigation canals. Since the 1990s, a consolidating hydraulic mission climbed to the hills and mountains through hydropower development. We argue that over time, topography played a determining role in application of state power and water control through infrastructure development, and that attention to geography helps refine the hydraulic mission model.

KW - Nepal

KW - South Asia

KW - Interdisciplinary collaboration

KW - Hydropolitics

KW - Environmental History

KW - Policy Studies

KW - GCRF

U2 - 10.1080/07900627.2018.1515066

DO - 10.1080/07900627.2018.1515066

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

SN - 0790-0627

VL - 37

SP - 508

EP - 530

JO - International Journal of Water Resources Development

JF - International Journal of Water Resources Development

IS - 3

ER -

Topography and the Hydraulic Mission: Water management, river control and state power in Nepal

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Research Groups and Themes

Keywords

Access to Document

Handle.net

Fingerprint

Research output

Development, citizenship and the Bhakra-Nangal dams in postcolonial India, 1948-1952

The changing water cycle: the need for an integrated assessment of resilience to changes in water supply in High-Mountain Asia

Projects

HARVEST

Cite this