Mountain Watershed Management
Mountain Watershed Management
About 5% of the global population lives above 1500 m elevation but mountains provide the water resources for most of humanity. It is critical to focus on climate and land-use changes in mountains because what happens in mountain has a profound impact on most lowland activities. The aim is to show how mountain processes are changing, how this impacts the lowland areas and what the options are to mitigate and minimize impacts.
Climate Change
Mountains are warming up faster than the lowland areas and this has profound impacts on the hydrological processes. Examples are provided to show some of the changes that have been observed in mountains and how climate variability and runoff processes have increased. There is also clear evidence that the number of extreme precipitation and stream runoff event are increasing at different times of the year, with earlier snow melt and longer dry seasons..
Climate Adaptations
It is unlikely that we can reduce emissions sufficiently in the next few years to be able to reduce global average temperatures increases below the 1.5-2 Degree C levels. This means we will have to learn how to adapt to more frequent extreme heat events, increasing droughts, more frequent floods and increased variability in storm events, winds, and fires. The aim is to discuss options to reduce the risk and impacts by adaptive measures that protect water resources, ecosystems, and human health.
Climate Mitigation
Urgent efforts need to be made to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and to sequester CO2 into long term storage. Besides emission reductions, plant and soil processes are able to sequester carbon effectively, but this requires major changes in the way we manage the land. Mountains play an important role in increasing the soil carbon pool, in view of plant induced changes in mountains by climate warming.
Urban Water Issues
Some 400 million people live in major cities in mountains and some 300 million skiers visit mountains every year. To accommodate the permanent and seasonal population increased the demand for water and cause major impacts on the hydrological cycle. Flood events, land stability problems, water supplies and water pollution issues are the main concerns, since most urban areas are located in hash climates and hazardous environments.
Forestry Water Issues
Changes in forest cover impact on hydrological processes. The aim is to show positive and negative aspects of forest management, such as increases in forest diseases, fires, windstorm and soil degradation processes. Expansion of natural forest into higher elevation and tree planting provides more opportunities for carbon sequestration and reducing degradation.
Food Security Issues
Food insecurity is widespread in mountains due to the harsh climatic conditions, limited arable land and access problems to inputs. Climate change will increase the length of the growing season, allows for the introduction & expansion of new crops but reliance on imported food will remain a challenge. Feeding the tourist community needs to consider the issues of virtual water imports and exports.
Hydropower
Due to the increasing demand for renewable energy there is a re-emergence of hydropower projects. Climate change will have significant impacts on existing systems, but this varies greatly from place to place. Developing new systems will likely increase conflicts between upland and lowland users, particularly in trans-boundary river basins.
Mining & Water
Mining areas take up a small part of mountains but can have severe effects on water use and water pollution particularly in dry areas. Pollution issues created by acid mine drainage and tailing dam failures often have devastating effects downstream. These problems have long term impacts water resources and the aim is to illustrate the type of mine activities, the impacts and mitigation options.
Tourism & Water
Tourism is one of the main economic engine in many mountains but this creates many issues related to peaks water demand. Most summer tourism occurs when water demand is high and streamflows are receding. The demand for water during the ski season is particularly problematic because of the need for water to make snow which also occurs at a time when streams are at annually low flow periods. The aim is to illustrate the water issues, constraints and options related to mountain tourism.
Mountain Hazards
Climate change is increasing mountain hazards in many different ways. The freeze and thaw cycles will become more frequent at different elevations and extreme climatic event will lead to more floods and land instabilities. The land use changes combine with climatic event will compound the risks of slope failures, floods and droughts. The best options are to avoid activities in high risk areas, and provide a combination of structural measures and enhanced natural protective processes in mountains.
Stormwater Management
The size of cities in mountains is increasing at similar rates as in the lowland. This means more densification, more surface runoff and flooding. This is enhanced by the increases in extreme events. There are a number of effective innovations that can reduce flooding at the property, neighborhood and watershed scale. The aim is to feature the most effective innovated options to reduce the flooding problem in cities.
Source Water Protection
There are many different water sources in mountains, including stream water, springs, groundwater and harvested water. Protecting these different sources from too much demand and pollution need to emphasize renewable use. Protecting & detaining sediments, pathogens, metals and organics form enter water sources are of prime importance. The focus has to be on restricting different land uses, by creating buffer zones and enhancing wetlands that can protect, filter and retain contaminant, so that they cannot reach the water source.
Water Conservation
Water conservation is one of the easiest short term options to reduce water shortages for mountain communities. However, this requires that we improve water accounting, address the degrading infrastructure and convince people to change their behaviour. Examples of the residential water use problems facing small mountain communities are highlighted. Improved water accounting is essential in view if rapid climate change and different conservation options such as demand management, pricing, and water re-use will be discussed.
Case Study
Having access to digital global communication tools facilitates international collaboration. This tools allows us to compare issues, problems and management options in different mountain watersheds around the world. The case study features a comparison of four watershed in the Himalayas with four watershed in the Andean mountains. This project was initiated in 2000, when new digital tools were emerging. These tools are now much improved, and such initiatives should be encourages. This example shows what we can learn from each other, adapt innovative solutions and address common watershed problems in a collaborative manner.