Glacial tap is open but the water will run dry

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/news/item/?item_id=212880

[font face=Times, Serif][font size=5]Glacial tap is open but the water will run dry[/font]
[font size=4]Retreating glaciers threaten water supplies[/font]

[font size=3]Glaciers are retreating at an unexpectedly fast rate according to research done in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca by McGill doctoral student Michel Baraer. They are currently shrinking by about one per cent a year, and that percentage is increasing steadily, according to his calculations.

But despite this accelerated glacial shrinking, for the first time, the volume of water draining from the glacier into the Rio Santa in Northern Peru has started to decrease significantly. Baraer, and collaborators Prof. Bryan Mark, at the Ohio State University, and Prof. Jeffrey McKenzie, at McGill, calculate that water levels during the dry season could decrease by as much as 30 percent lower than they are currently. “When a glacier starts to retreat, at some point you reach a plateau and from this point onwards, you have a decrease in the discharge of meltwater from the glacier,” explained Baraer.

“Where scientists once believed that they had 10 to 20 years to adapt to reduced runoff, that time is now up,” said Baraer. “For almost all the watersheds we have studied, we have good evidence that we have passed peak water.” This means that the millions of people in the region who depend on the water for electricity, agriculture and drinking water could soon face serious problems because of reduced water supplies.

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[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Not good at all.

And of course, no planning for it, either.

[Bob Wallace]

2. Depends on the region...

India has been installing a bunch new dams/reservoirs to make up what they expect to loose from Himalayan summer runoff. They're planning on trapping seasonal snow melt.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. I sure hope it snows in sufficient quantities

http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/IR_Himalayas_rev.pdf

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[font size=5]Conclusion[/font]

[font size=4]The Himalayas store vast amounts of water, and with their high slopes, the fast-moving rivers present huge potential for generating hydropower. India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan have initiated massive plans to build several hundred dams to realize this potential.[/font]

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Against this background,climate change looms as a huge threat that is set to overturn the fundamental assumptions, especially river flows, on which these projects are planned. The impacts of climate change are likely to lead initially to high flows and extreme events – raising concerns of dam safety – and are later likely to result in sharp drops in flows – raising questions about dam performance.The frequency of catastrophic events like GLOFs is also likely to increase, further increasing risks to dam safety. Sedimentation, already a bane for dams in the Himalayas, is also set to intensify. The big dam planners seem to have adopted an ostrich-like attitude to the impacts of climate change on the Himalayan region.

Pushing ahead such a massive dam-building program in the fragile Himalayan region without proper social and environmental assessments and safeguards, and ignoring the likely impacts of climate change, can have severe consequences.The recent devastation caused by the breach in the embankments of the Kosi River in Nepal and the subsequent change of course that wreaked havoc with the lives of millions of people is an indication of what lies in store if we undertake far-reaching interventions in sensitive regions of the Himalayas without fully evaluating the possible consequences.

All of these things point to the need for a comprehensive review of the dam building program in each of the river basins in the Himalayas.They call for evolving an alternative approach to meeting the pressing energy and water needs in a manner that is just and sustainable.The recommendations of the World Commission on Dams offer the best possible framework for this. The choices are not easy, and the process will be difficult. The decisions lie with the people in the respective countries. Yet, just as these countries claim the right to make their own decisions,they will have to grant the same right to local people, those who will be most affected, to have a meaningful say in these decision-making processes. And even as the interests of the local people need to be given a priority along with national interests, the people of this region should remember that they are the custodians of a treasure that is the common heritage of the entire world – the Himalayas.

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[DCKit]

4. So much for that irrigation/hydro tunnel they're building.

I don't know if it's finished yet, or if they're even halfway, but without water....

http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/03/20/peru-building-crazy-125-mile-tunnel-through-mountain-for-irrigation-electricity/