Begnas Lake

Begnas lies in a side valley about 15 km east of central Pokhara and is the second-largest of the valley's lakes after Phewa, with a surface area of about 3.28 km² at an altitude of 650 m. It is a shallow, warm-water lake — maximum depth around 10 m and an average near 6.6 m — holding roughly 29 million cubic metres of water in a catchment of about 49 km². A control structure built in 1988 on the western outlet stream, the Khudi Khola, regulates the level, which still rises and falls with the monsoon and with withdrawals for irrigation.

That warm, managed water makes Begnas the centre of fish farming in the Pokhara valley: parts of the lake are given over to cage aquaculture, and it supports an active commercial and subsistence fishery alongside its rice-growing hinterland.

Compared with the hotel-lined shore of Phewa, Begnas is calm and rural — terraced hillsides, forest and a single modest lakeside strip — which has made it a favourite with visitors looking for quiet boating, swimming and walks to the ridge between Begnas and neighbouring Rupa.

Begnas is one of the lakes within the Lake Cluster of Pokhara Valley, designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance on 2 February 2016, a site of about 261 km² that also takes in Phewa, Rupa and several smaller lakes together with their catchment.