Sustainable Footprint

Water Stress and the Himalayas

Is this the future?
In 50 years time, within half a century from now, Himalayan glaciers will have receded significantly, fish stocks will have vanished and cultivatable land will have largely depleted, especially in developing countries.
As a result, the world in 2050 will be a world without the gifts of nature that we are used to enjoying. This is not just a question of environmental degradation. This is also a question of the erosion of political and security concepts that we are familiar with. Already, many water rich countries with a lack of water are purchasing millions of acres of agricultural land in other countries.

Numbers of refugees, pirates and criminals have grown in parts of the world directly on account of food and water scarcity.

If these trends continue, the world in 2050 will face excessive chaos and lack of sustainability. These dangers are most evident in the region of the Himalayas.
We will hear from China of the condition of the Yellow River, melting of permafrost, disappearance of lakes, and the need to divert the Yangste River by artifcial means. We will hear from India the risk to the future of the Ganges, and the rivers flowing from Nepal. We will hear from Nepal and Bangladesh how the surplus of water can mean risks.

Countries sharing river basins are negotiating new forms of cooperation which must involve compromise of traditional concepts of security, or risk conflicts.

The Himalayas and the rivers
The countries in the Himalayan region account for 40% of the world’s population. The region has extreme population density. Each river here is in effect many rivers in one; each is an ecosystem in itself.

Glaciers are disappearing, rivers are running dry; rivers are overdrawn and polluted. These rivers are extremely variable in terms of floods and droughts. They are even more threatened due to climate change.

Climate change increases extreme weather events; also changes ways in which water is used. Water will be the primary medium through which climate change will impact us.

Historically, societies with regular water scarcity have managed to develop systems to overcome water scarcity. Societies with plenty of water have other systems. Climate change will challenge both. Water variability will increase with climate change.

Using tradtional knowledge
In areas where people have been used to plenty of water, they will have to learn a culture of water conservation and water efficiency. They can learn from people in dry areas. Today, the Himalayan region is facing water stress. Global warming in the Himalayan region has been more than the world average; extreme weather events have become more frequent and weather patterns are becoming more unpredictable.

In other areas like in Bangladesh, rivers like the Ganges and Brahmaputra bring during monsoon season a huge flow of water and during the dry season, there is hardly any rainfall. The importance of food and water security to a country like Bangladesh is vital. Adaptation is the wisest option to climate change.

Cooperation across borders
This region’s rivers are facing problems even without considering the impacts of climate change. States and provinces higher up are exploiting rivers for their own demands, ignoring the lower riparian states. Dams in Himalayas can cause problems with flooding, inundation and seismic activity.

Climate change will cause a rapid retreat of Himalayan glaciers. Predictions made by models indicate that the next few decades will see increase in frequency of spring floods in rivers fed by Himalayan snow and ice-melt. The decline in winter precipitation both in the mountains and in the plains will lead to serious water stress, while enhanced summer precipitation would ask for an eco-hydrological response. But not much is known yet about the Himalayan waters.

Learning to improve water efficiency
Climate change is already resulting in migration of people in Nepal. Frequent flooding, droughts and landslides have displaced millions of people who have had to look for alternative sources of employment. This has fuelled a lot of anger and a sense of alienation. It was agreed that in order to improve water effciency in agriculture water conservation has to be encouraged.

Water resources are also being threatened by pollution, overuse, sedimentation and encroachment. It is important to manage the water resource carefully; it is essential that all stakeholders and different ecosystems be considered.
It is important to have action-oriented research for immediate solutions to problems of climate change. Local wisdom, information and knowledge must be packaged and disseminated. The UN Convention on Biodiversity could provide a framework for consultations on trans-boundary rivers.

Water is a human right!
Water cannot continue to be treated as a given since it has become an economic entity. In South Asia, public utilities have failed to provide water to the poor man for drinking, as well as irrigation. Since water is not restricted by boundaries of nations, cooperation and collaboration over trans-boundary water resources comes in perspective; it will not be possible for any country to manage either their economy or their society without some collaborative system to manage that water.

Water conservation should be promoted by all means. Since irrigation uses most of the water in South Asian countries, it is essential to make it more effcient using various technologies like raised bed cultivation, drip irrigation system, zero tillage etc.

see also
www.icimod.org

Map of the Himalaya region, with the countries depending on water from these mountains

The Himalaya region with its glaciers, and rivers

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Sustainable Footprint

Sustainable Footprint
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