The greater Himalayan region is one of the largest storehouses of freshwater in the world and the source of major river systems. Yet sufficient and clean water remains an elusive resource, and water management is one of the critical challenges in the region. Poor water quality of the rivers and water bodies resulting from increasing industrial, domestic, and other pollutants threatens both the region's environment and people's health. In 2004, ICIMOD joined the Cooperative Monitoring Center (CMC) at Sandia National Laboratories in the USA in 2004 to form the South Asia Water Analysis Network (SAWAN) -- an initiative to support the collection and sharing of water quality information in South Asia, in particular along transboundary sections of the Ganges and Indus rivers in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Water Quality in South Asia: Issues and Status provides a report with summaries of the papers of the first SAWAN meeting - a 'Regional Integrated Workshop on Water Quality' held in Kathmandu in June 2004 with support from the US Department of State, Regional Environment Office for South Asia and the US Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories. The book will interest those involved in transboundary activities and information sharing processes in the greater Himalayan region in general, and in water quality issues in particular, and hopes to stimulate interest in the project.