Transboundary Observation
Programme on Water and
Hazards to the Third Pole
Environment
Hua Ouyang
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
Kathmandu, Nepal
Tibetan Plateau as Asian water tower
.Xiangde Xu et al.: World Water Tower, an atmospheric
perspective. Geophysical Research Letters ,2008.
The ‘Third Pole’
The Big Melt:
Glaciers in the high heart of Asia
feed its greatest rivers, lifelines
for two billion people. Now the
ice and snow are diminishing.
April 2010
Water: a key resource
River
Area sq
km
Mean
discharge
(m3/s)
% of glacier
melt in river
flow
Population
x1000
Population Water per
density
person
m3/year
Indus
1,081,718
5533
44.8
178,483
165
830
Ganges
1,016,124
18691
9.1
407,466
401
~2500
Brahmaputra
651,335
19824
12.3
118,543
182
~2500
Irrawaddy
413,710
13565
unknown
33,097
80
18,614
Salween
271,914
1494
8.8
5,982
22
23,796
Mekong
805,604
11048
6.6
57,198
71
8934
Yangtze
1,722,193
34000
18.5
368,549
214
2265
944,970
1365
1.3
147,415
156
361
40.2
8,067
7
754
Yellow
Tarim
Total
1,152,448
1,324,800
Possibly up to 70% in the dry season
Disasters in South Asia
(1975-2005)
40%
35.0%
35%
30%
24.2%
25%
20%
14.4%
15%
10%
6.6%
0.3%
0.1%
0.6%
0.6%
W ild Fires
3.5%
W ave /
Surg e
5%
7.5%
7.2%
W ind Storm
Slides
Insect
Infestation
Flood
Famine
E xtreme
Temperature
E pidemic
E arthquake
Droug ht
0%
Source: OFDA/Cred Database
South Asian countries are
most vulnerable to floods
Social-economic stress
• Population growth
• Food security
• Human health
Climate change will depress
agricultural yields most in HKH
region in 2050
Sources: Müller and others 2009; World Bank 2008c. The figure
shows the projected percentage change in yields of 11 major crops
Gaps and Challenges
• Data availability and data sharing is
constrained
• Few observation stations in high
altitude
• Operation and Quality of the existing
stations
• ……
Reducing scientific uncertainty
Himalayas: A
blank spot in
IPCC AR4
We need to reduce scientific
uncertainty!
Under-representation of meteorological
stations in the high Himalayas
Elevation
(m)
Area
( 10,000 km2)
No. met
stations
Density
(No./10,000 km2)
Below 300
17.36
419
24.13
300-1000
175.49
146
0.83
1000-2000
175.12
266
1.52
2000-3000
84.95
53
0.62
3000-4000
72.17
74
1.03
4000-5000
141.73
58
0.41
>5000
72.00
16
0.22
Transboundary Observation Plan
Priorities: Transboundary
Cooperation
• River basin approaches (transboundary):
– East : Yaluzangbu-Brahmputure
– Middle: Koshi river basin--Ganges
– West: Indus river basin
• Site monitoring and integrated analysis
– Existing sites
– News sites: high elevation
After Falkenmark, 1999
Wetlands: Upstream-downstream Linkage
Relevant Projects
 Indus water availability, GTZ, from 2009-2011
 HYCOS, 2010-2012
 SRE-Himala, USAID/NASA, from 2010-2013
 Cryosphere, 2011-2015
 Kosi water resource and poverty reduction,
CAS, from 2009-20011, ESPA/DFID
Scientific vision
Capacity building for improved monitoring of ice and
water resources in the region:
• Establish systems for monitoring the status and
changes over time of snow, ice and water resources in
the region
• Build capacity of relevant key institutions on
monitoring of snow, ice and water resources using
remote sensing and field based techniques
• Develop water availability scenarios for river basins
• Promote data and information sharing
Thank you