Article
Umesh Parajuli
Independent Researcher, Interdisciplinary Water Resource Management Engineer, Kathmandu, Nepal
Correspondence: unparajuli@gmail.com
Parajuli U, 2025, Indigenous technology of terraces and its hydrological functions for managing agricultural water and addressing multifaceted climate and water-induced disasters, Environment & Science 1 (1) 3–20
Received: 9 October 2025; Revised: 25 December 2025; Accepted: 30 December 2025; Published: 17 January 2026
Abstract: Agricultural terraces, an indigenous technology with diverse hydrological functions, play a critical role in agricultural water management and the provision of hydrological ecosystem services. This paper conceptualizes terraces as technological components of a broader agroecological system and examines the underexplored hydrological functions of different terrace types under corresponding agricultural practices. Beyond their primary role in agricultural water management, terraces retard surface runoff, interrupt surface hydrological connectivity, and recharge groundwater. These hydrological processes, in turn, generate downstream benefits such as enhanced baseflows and flood mitigation, thereby contributing to the reduction of multifaceted climate and water-induced disasters. The case study presented in this paper provides preliminary quantitative estimates of these hydrological benefits. Based on these findings, the paper advances three key recommendations. First, it emphasizes the importance of accounting for the hydrological functions of different types of terraces under respective agricultural practices to establish rainfall-runoff-infiltration relationships within terraced landscapes. Second, in light of the increasing trend of terrace abandonment, the paper argues that preventing further abandonment, including the rehabilitation of abandoned terraces, can enhance hydrological ecosystem services, and serve as a viable nature-based solution to address multifaceted climate and water-induced disasters. However, it emphasizes that such strategies should prioritize the establishment of appropriate nature-based agricultural systems, which can simultaneously strengthen hydrological benefits and improve local livelihoods. Finally, from an agricultural perspective, the paper contributes new scientific insights into water control for paddy cultivation on level terraces, an aspect that remains insufficiently represented in conventional engineering-based water management assessments.
Keywords: Agricultural terraces; Paddy and dryland crops; Terrace hydrology; Ecosystem based adaptation; Flood attenuation; Dry season water augmentation; Mid-hills of Nepal