Kathmandu, June 29 -- The monsoon this year arrived on time, and brought life-giving rain - irrigating paddy terraces, recharging groundwater, reviving springs, and increasing electricity generation.

But Nepal has to deal with either too much water or too little. On a clear April day before the monsoon, the hills of Sindhuli district were parched, and there were wildfires burning out of control. There had been no rain for the past six months.

And that has been the perennial crisis for Nepal's farmers: that 85% of the rainfall occurs during just four months of the monsoon with little rain for the other eight months.

The water crisis is related to the powerful changes sweeping the mid-hill region of Nepal. With better roads, higher inco...