Phewa Lake Environment Awareness and Capacity Building Project

Phewa Lake is known as the beauty of Pokhara and is the second largest Lake of Nepal. The Lake is surrounded by Sarangkot and Kaskikot hills on the northern side.

Pokhara is one of the most picturesque natural valley of Nepal. Situated around 900m asl, Pokhara lies 200km west from Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. Beautiful Himalayan range, green hills and hill stations surround Pokhara.

Nepal is renowned in the world for her natural beauty, geographical/ biological diversity, and cultural heritage. Development experts argue that natural resources based tourism and hydro-electricity developments are two immediate possibilities for driving economic and social development of Nepal. Phewa Lake is one of the unique natural resources located in the Pokhara valley. This unique natural resource coupled with the virgin peak of Machhapuchhre (Fish Tail Mountain) and friendly and hospitable people of Pokhara have been attracting a large number of tourists from all over the world. The past studies indicate that over 20% of international tourists in Nepal visit Pokhara and Annapurna range. The pressure on Phewa Lake has increased because of the establishment of restaurants and hotels on the lakeshore, boating and other tourism related activities. Furthermore, urbanization of Pokhara City has expanded considerably over the years. The expansion of tourism, industrial and municipal activities have increased waste generation. Consequently, the disposal of urban liquid wastes directly or indirectly through natural or manmade streams, disposal of solid wastes on the shore of lake, sub-surface flow of septic tanks and other undesirable urban human activities have been increasing the pollution load on Phewa Lake water body. Apart from urban activities, the agriculturalactivities in rural watershed of Phewa have also been contributing the pollution load. Furthermore, sediment transport through rural watershed has been adversely affecting the lake in terms of shrinking its size over the years. The decreasing size of the Lake and polluted water body will proportionally decrease its beauty, consumer value and potential for income generation activities.