ABSTRACT
This chapter provides discussion and debate on identifying the best possible ways to manage water resources in Bhutan by placing the farming communities at the centre of water resources development. It describes the concepts of Gross National Happiness as the overall framework to assess the possible outcome of standing water resources policies and programs. It provides debate on the formulation of water resource governance policies so that the outcome is relevant to the Bhutanese people. The main reason for farmers having limited capacity to use water resources is the lack of infrastructural facilities like irrigation channels to bring water from where it is available to where it is required and water storage mechanism which can help store water when it is available and use it when it is required. The existing consumption pattern suggests that farmers evidently have not benefited directly from state investments in hydropower development.
