Back to news
3 Jun 2016 | Water

Kailash Sacred Landscape Initiative Addresses Water Worries Across the Region

2 mins Read

70% Complete

‘We prefer to wait for water at the springs over attending meetings’, said a woman of Digtoli village, around 41 km from the main town of Pithoragarh, India.

As summer temperatures soar across the Himalayan region, the need for water for local communities and wildlife increases, but due to lack of rain and snowfall in winter, scarce resources are further pressed. The demand for water is felt across the Himalayan region, particularly in the Western Himalayas.

According to locals, there has been a steady decline in water over the past dedcade. Some water sources, whether springs or streams, have completely dried up, while others have shown a decline in water quantity and also availability pattern throughout the year. Limited government water supplies cannot fulfill the demand. This water crisis affects the entire region, particularly women and children.

In families where men have migrated in search of work, women are over burdened with water collection duties along with other household chores. Some walk two or more kilometres every day for water. Worsening the situation, long queues at the springs force them to wait sometimes two or more hours. Children collect water after school leaving them with little time to play or study.

Water scarcity results in crop failure further affecting food security and income generation for many households. ‘Whole days we are busy fetching water. We do not have time even to collect fodder. Had there been enough water, we would grow vegetables and have time for other productive work’, said a woman in Seem village.

Around 120 households in Digtoli and Seem villages are surviving on water from two springs. Households in Digtoli, a village connected to roads gets some relief from government tankers every three day. But for locals in many other villages away from road drying springs remain the only source of water. Lacking alternatives has resulted in local communities reducing their water consumption for drinking purposes and other personal uses in the two villages.

To address this issue, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in collaboration with its partners has taken up Springshed management activities under the Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KSLCDI). A team of experts visits sites in Kailash Scared Landscape regularly to map springs and other major water sources and to understand the social and governance aspects of springs in the area.

The ICIMOD ‘Springshed approach’ is an initiative to understand the hydrogeological perspective of springs, the current demand and supply pattern, and existing local management practices, if any, at a landscape scale to use that science and understanding to pilot community-based revival, restoration and management of springs and mitigate water scarcity issues.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related content

Continue exploring this topic

30 Mar 2018 REDD+
Governance study of Community-Based Forest Management Systems (CBFMS) completed in Myanmar

Dr Tek Maraseni from the University of Southern Queensland, along with Griffith University in Australia and the Institute for Global ...

4 Apr 2018 Himalica
ICIMOD and SAPLING Project of HKI Collaborate to Promote Beekeeping in Ruma upazila, Bandarban

Encouraged by this result, the Himalica initiative sought collaboration with the Sustainable Agriculture and Production Linked to Improved Nutrition Status, ...

Tourism beyond borders: Stakeholders discuss opportunities for cross-border tourism at the Fifth Asian Rural Tourism Festival

As the Government of Nepal launches its Visit Nepal 2020 campaign, communities in eastern Nepal will have an additional appeal ...

29 Jan 2016 News
Developing PES Policy

ICIMOD has been actively engaged in Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) policy formulation support with Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation ...

21 Sep 2016 Atmosphere Initiative
Building Nepal’s Air Quality Public Information System

Deteriorating air quality in Nepal and its adverse effects on health and daily activities of the public ...

2 Sep 2016 News
Koshi Basin Research Highlighted in India’s Largest Selling Daily

Embankment in Koshi Basin has further increased flood damage. This new finding was based on a research by ICIMOD Koshi ...

21 Feb 2018 KSL
Manual on Planning Management for Ecosystem Services Launched

The operations manual can be of use in most terrestrial environments of the world. Its purpose is to include ecosystem ...

24 Oct 2018 HKPL
Bam-e-Dunya: a network to bolster conservation efforts on the roof of the world

This historic agreement lays the foundation for long-term collaboration and exchange to conserve fragile ecosystems and help mountain communities adapt ...