This paper discusses the role of foreign aid in the evolution of the domestic water sector in Nepal. Through the case study of the domestic water sector, the paper examines how the prioritization of sectors for investment as well as implementation modalities within sectors in Nepal is influenced by development discourses in the international arena. The creation of the Department of Drinking Water and Sewerage during the early 1970s, its rapid expansion during the 1980s and contestation regarding its role in the domestic water sector in the 1990s are traced to the dominant discourses of the times.