Water is essential for every life on the earth and also for all kinds of socioeconomic development activities. Freshwater scarcity is a major issue in the developing world in terms of human consumption and irrigation. Water is not evenly distributed throughout the world so that some regions (particularly in south Asian countries, West Asia, North Africa or sub-Saharan Africa) are going through water scarcity problems. A major reason for water scarcity is population growth and changing climatic variability. Apart from some regions of Europe and Northern America, water is insufficient due to poor management and poor policy. However, climate change has an adverse impact on the water availability and this will increase water insecurity in the future. So, from now we have to develop efficient adaptive capacity such as storage development to conserve water. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to look into the global water demand and supply scenario exploring regional conflict and water scarcity; and to outline the local level best water management options that are beneficial for conservation and efficient use of water for better life.

1. Pabitra Gurung
PhD Student (230111762)
gurung@unbc.ca
Presentation for the course NRES-802
Natural Resources and Environmental Studies (NRES)
University of Northern British Columbia
Prince George, BC, CANADA
FRESHWATER SCARCITY
AND MANAGEMENT IN
THE MOUNTAINOUS
REGION
4/18/2014

2. 4/18/2014
 Prof. Neil Hanlon, UNBC
 Prof. Bill MacGill, UNBC
 Prof. Stephen Dery, UNBC
 All the Colleague from this Class
 Dr. Luna Bharati, Senior Researcher, IMWI-Nepal
 Various online sources for the pictures (downloaded through
Google search engine)
Acknowledgements

3. 4/18/2014
Global Water Scarcity
Regional Water Scarcity
(Himalayan Regions)
Local Management (Nepal)
Outline of the Presentation

4. 4/18/2014
Projected Global Water Scarcity in 2025 ?
Source: International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
Physical and Economic water scarcity

5. 4/18/2014
 Based on the UN Medium Population Projections, more than 2.8 billion people in 48
countries will face water scarcity by 2025
 Of these countries, 40 countries are in West Asia, North Africa or sub-Saharan Africa
 By 2050, number of water scarce countries could rise to 54 (4 billion people – about
40% of world population)
Source: Population Action International (http://www.unep.org/dewa/vitalwater/article141.html)
Projected Global Water Scarcity in 2025 ?

6. 4/18/2014
Himalayas & Water Scarcity ?
 Himalayas are widely known as the “Water Towers of Asia”.
 Primary Water Source for a large part of Asia’s Population
 75-90% of Water is used in food production
Source: ICIMOD

7. 4/18/2014
Why water scarcity in the region ?
 Population growth (increase households
consumption of water (Current water use
status: 10 – 25%))
 Higher water consumption for agricultural
production (to feed animals and for human
consumption) (Agricultural Water
Consumption: 30-50% for next few decades and
70-80% by 2050)
 Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources
(Climate is significantly alter the seasonality of
streamflow for many Asian rivers)

8. 4/18/2014
Population Growth and Food Production in the Region ?
 Nearly 100,000 children are born every day
 One billion additional people will be in 2050 (growing
meat consumption)
 In 2050, per capita meat consumption will double and half
of cereal production will be used to feed animal
 Irrigated croplands (85,783,000 ha): mainly for rice
production
 Water from the Himalayas and the central Asian mountain
support the production of over 500 Million tonnes of
cereals per year (55% of Asia’s and 25% of world’s cereal
production)
 By 2050, global cereal production needs to be about 3000
million tonnes to meet the demand (FAO)

9. 4/18/2014
Water Resources and Climate of the Region ?
River basins and their hydrological significance

10. 4/18/2014
Water Resources and Climate of the Region ?
 Major river: Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Yangtse, Huang He (Yellow
River), Tarim, Syr Darya, Amu Darya, Mekong, Salween, and Irrawaddy
 The rivers are depending on glacial water and snowmelt from the mountains.
 Rising temperature and changes in monsoon might be a major cause for decreasing
glacierized area
 Temperature is increasing by 0.03°C per year in the region and even faster at higher
altitudes
 Water Flows consistently decrease on the snow and glacier fed rivers, and less in
rain-fed rivers.
River basins and their hydrological significance

11. 4/18/2014
Challenges to Water Availability and Food Production ?
 Environmental degradation in the watersheds
(mainly due to poorly managed urbanization
and industry)
 Landslides and Floods (impact on agricultural
lands and hydrogeology)
 Climate change (increasing drought and flood:
already challenged by seasonal water scarcity)
 Shifting of agro-ecological zones due to climate
change
 High price of inputs in agriculture (fertilizers
and seed) and access to market
(Therefore, Cereal production of Asia will
be least by 10-30% lower than projected)

12. 4/18/2014
Impact on Livelihoods and Economy due to Food Crisis ?
 Increasing prices of commodity and food (Less
production and high demand, on an average 30-
50% will increase in food price)
 Increasing poverty (spending 70-80% of income
on food)
 Increasing infant and child mortality
 Key causes of the current food crisis are
combined effects of ;
o Speculation in food stocks
o Extreme weather events
o Low cereal stocks
o Growth in biofuels use
o High oil prices

13. 4/18/2014
Why Watershed Vulnerability and Interventions Studies?
 Major challenge of the region is too much water in
monsoon and much less water in winter
 So, challenge is to store excess water of high water
availability period and use in extreme drought periods
 Therefore, need to introduce watershed interventions
technology like; storage pond, infiltration pond,
terracing farm land, afforestation etc. (in the
perspective of land management and water storage
development)

14. 4/18/2014
Example of the Watershed Vulnerability Study in Nepal
 Study Region: Middle-mountain and hill region of Nepal

15. 4/18/2014
Example of the Watershed Vulnerability Study in Nepal
 Different vulnerability indicators in the context of Nepal
Assessments Parameters Indicators/Indices
Sensitivity
Analysis
Ecology
Landuse and Land Cover
Protected Area Coverage
Topography (Slope and Aspect)
Drainage Density
Dominant Climate
Human Population
Adaptive
Capacity
Analysis
Socioeconomic
Human development index
Human poverty index
Gender development index
Human empowerment index
Infrastructure
PSTN landline phone
Electricity consumers
Technology
Irrigated land
Existence of intervention
Exposure/Risk
Analysis
Temperature and Rainfall
Mean Seasonal Temperature Trend
Mean Seasonal Rainfall Trend
Landslide and Flood
Death
Injured
Property Loss
Occurrence
Positive Annual Rainfall Trend
Drought/Food Risk Index
Daily Precipitation
Food Surplus and Deficiency
Population Pressure on Forest
Human Ecology
Human Poverty Index
Accessibility
Physical Ecology
Surface Soil Erosion

16. 4/18/2014
Summary
 Irrigation water is crucial for a ‘Green Revolution’and without a ‘Blue
Revolution’ahead; food crisis will be a major problem in the world in future
 Watershed interventionsto preserve excess water of monsoon in surface or sub-
surface to fulfill demand of the dry period
 Identify alternativeto cereal in animal feed
 Promote small scale farming business to adapt impact of the climate change
 Promote eco-based farming system to minimize the spread of invasive
species, and to maintain bio-diversity and ecosystem services.
 Focus on small scale watershed interventions and improved
irrigation systems (application of water according to plant demand)

17.  Nillemann, C.; Kaltenborn, B.P.; 2009. The Environmental Food Crisis in Asia – a ‘blue
revolution’ in water efficiency is needed to adapt to Asia’s looming water crisis. Sustainable
Mountain Development, ICIMOD, No. 56. 6 – 9.
 Siddiqui, S.; Bharati, L.; Panta, M.; Gurung, P.; Rakhal, B.; Maharjan, L.D.; 2012. Nepal: Building
Climate Resilience in Watersheds in Mountain Eco-Regions. Technical Assistance Consultant’s
Report for Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management (DSCWM),
Government of Nepal and Asian Development Bank (ADB). International Water Management
Institute (IWMI).
 Rijsberman, F.R.; 2006. Water scarcity: Fact or fiction? Agricultural Water Management. 80. 5 –
22.
 Sugden, F.; Shrestha, L.; Bharati, L.; Gurung, P.; Maharjan, L.; Janmaat, J.; Price, J.; Sherpa, T.;
2013. Field Report on Small Agricultural Water Storage in Nepal. Lessons for up-scaling
storage systems in the Koshi basin. International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
 Vaidhya, R.A.; 2009. The Role of Water Storage in Adaptation to Climate Change in the HKH
Region. Sustainable Mountain Development, ICIMOD, No. 56. 10 – 13.
References

18. 4/18/2014
What is Water Scarcity? (Video Source: FAO )

19. 4/18/2014
Water Scarcity is ………
Most Important Questions.......... ???
… true or not ?
… run out of water or not?
… fact or fiction?
Is this debate really helpful to increase
crop water productivity?
………Green and Blue Revolution ?