The Issue
The southern region of Nepal, including Kanchanpur District is highly vulnerable to river flooding, with floods increasing due to changing climate conditions. Chaudhar River Basin is an extremely flood-prone region experiencing extreme water level rise, impacting several municipalities including Bedkot, Beldadi and Belauri. Flash floods in smaller river basins are often fed by monsoon rains – which are becoming a growing concern but are often overlooked and lack government-owned monitoring stations.
In Bedkot Municipality, agriculture being the primary source of livelihood of the community remains the most affected sector by floods, resulting in food insecurity and young people to migrate seasonally to India in search of work.
The poor socio-economic conditions, the high impact of floods on lives and livelihoods, and the absence of flood monitoring systems call for early action (EA) and early warning (EW) systems to improve disaster resilience, risk reduction, management, and response.
The Project
The project aims to help communities in the Chaudhar River Basin become better prepared for floods by integrating citizen science, affordable weather and water-level monitoring tools, and digital technologies. It works to strengthen early warnings (EW) and early actions (EA) to reduce the vulnerability of communities living in a flood-risk area through:
- Building a Local Flood Monitoring Network by establishing a citizen science network that uses simple tools – such as low-cost rain gauges made from reused bottles, mobile data-entry apps, and sensors – to gather more complete and accurate spatial data.
- Using Digital Tools for Real-Time Monitoring by deploying digital technologies for citizen scientists to report real-time rainfall and river level data enabling local governments and disaster response agencies to act.
- Localizing Early Action Protocol (EAP) by training local stakeholders to collect and analyse weather and water data, to ensure community ownership of flood monitoring.
- Ensuring Collaboration and Policy Integration by working with local governments, NGOs and regional disaster management agencies to integrate community-driven flood monitoring and early warnings (EA) into local plans.
Together, these interventions ensure localized and proactive disaster response, upskilled local communities with technical expertise and digital tools, while ensuring inclusiveness by engaging marginalized groups and youth in preparedness efforts.
The Change
The project creates a lasting impact not only by reducing immediate risks but also by promoting sustainable resilience when facing climate-related challenges. It achieves this by integrating local knowledge and digital technologies, as well as embedding the practice of citizen science in the community’s daily life. This includes training community members to collect and analyse data, which builds skills, ownership, and resilience.
Moreover, communities will gain valuable knowledge about flood risks, how to monitor them, and how to respond effectively. Early Warning (EW) and Early Action (EA) systems will be strengthened, using real-time rainfall and water level data to predict floods more quickly and accurately which reduces damage and loss. Digital technologies and low-cost resources will ensure that even economically vulnerable populations can adopt cost-effective solutions.
In addition, equipping marginalized communities with tools and knowledge helps to ensure equitable protection against climate-related risks.
Partners
The implementing partners for this project are the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Institute of Himalayan Risk Reduction (IHRR) and Nepal National Social Welfare Association (NNSWA).
The IFRC is one of the global leads in Anticipatory Action and contributes its knowledge and experience to support the project’s learning in national and international forums and networks. Through the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), the IFRC helps to share lessons learned and promote the use of best practices in other projects. The IFRC play an important role in sharing project insights and gathering feedback from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), NetHope members, and other humanitarian and climate networks.
IHRR is a not-for-profit interdisciplinary research organization who together with DanChurchAid has piloted a digital solution for anticipatory action in Dodhara Chadani Municipality. IHRR provides technical expertise in the project that enhances disaster preparedness by leveraging citizen science. By using low-cost resources like recycled soda bottles as rain gauges and painted bamboo as water level gauges, IHRR makes data collection accessible to communities and enable citizen scientists to collect and share real-time data through a mobile application.
NNSWA coordinates with DanChurchAid, IFRC and IHRR to provide day-to-day support to the community and execute project activities at community level. NNSWA facilitates connections and coordination with the national stakeholders and conducts day-to-day monitoring and engagement in community discussion.
About this project
- Full title: SMART: Spatial Monitoring and Anticipatory Response Technologies for Enhancing Climate Resilience of Flood Risk Community in Chaudhar River Basin, Nepal.
- Timeline: June 2025 – May 2026
- Partner(s): IFRC, IHRR, NNSWA
- Amount: 40,000$ for 12 months
- DCA Theme: Save lives
- Expected number of people reached: By the end of implementation, the project will reach 300-500 individuals directly.
- Donor: NetHope
