Water resources policy and administrative management

The lake is located beside Samtengang Middle Secondary School under Nyisho Gewog. The community here cannot exactly remember when it was formed (attached with the history of the lake). The lake holds an important place in the lives of the people of Nyisho Gewog. There are beliefs associated with the lake, which makes it a sacred for the people living here. Therefore, rituals are conducted every year for the deity of the lake. The lake was once very beautiful with clear water and few plants growing in it. It also had different species of fish living in it. However it has now become a sad sight as it is fully covered with weeds and grasses. Though the school and community tried to remove it using locally available materials, it wasn t successful. Even the volume of water seems to be decreasing though efforts were made to increase the same. Through the visual observation made by local communities and the Samtengang Middle School officials, it has been observed that the lake is infested with an invasive water plant as well as the level of water in the lake is decreasing every year. Considering the lake has several benefits both to the local community in terms of cultural and aesthetic values and the ecology the drying up of lake may cause ecological imbalance. There is urgent need to take an integrated approach to managing the lake. There is critical intervention required at two stages: a) Immediate action is to remove the invasive exotic water plant manually b) Develop a proper long-term integrated approach for lake management involving the local communities. Project Objectives i. To remove invasive species and restore the lake ii. Increase community stewardship for long-term lake management iii. Look at the ecological, biological and watershed aspects of the lake to ensure the lake management takes integrated approach.

Bhutan