The impact of climate change on water availability in Eastern Nepal: a presentation of the project methodology taking into account the vaious origins of water

Olivia Aubriot (1) , Joëlle Smadja (1) , Yves Arnaud (2) , Pierre Chevallier (3) , François Delclaux (3) , Paolo Laj (4) , Luc Neppel (5) , Ornella Puschiasis (6) , Marie Savéan (7) , Jean‐luc Seidel (8)

1 CEH - Centre d'Études Himalayennes
2 Chercheur indépendant
3 IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
4 LGGE - Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement
5 UM - Université de Montpellier
6 UPN - Université Paris Nanterre
7 UM2 - Université Montpellier 2 - Sciences et Techniques
8 HSM - Hydrosciences Montpellier

The paper reflects the main methodological aspects of the PAPRIKA Project based on the following objectives: (i) to contribute to a more accurate assessment of glacier retreat, snow cover and climate change in Koshi Basin, Nepal; (ii) to have a better understanding of the contribution of glacier and snow melting to water availability; (iii) to correlate the results with local people's perceptions of climate change and their socio-economic impact. For this, the paper: highlights the fact that the water used by the population comes from different origins (glacier melting, snow melting, frost, rain) the combination of which varies between the four main landscape units: high, middle and low mountains, and finally the Terai plain; describes the methodology adopted to observe and analyse current as well as future environmental changes in the atmosphere, cryosphere and hydrosphere; shows that, for each origin, different reasons may explain the changes in water availability, and thus the impact on agriculture and the different water usages.

Mots clés: Water resources; water uses; climate changes; precipitations (snow and rain); Eastern Nepal; water uses; climate changes; precipitations

Domaines: Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie

Olivia Aubriot, Joëlle Smadja, Yves Arnaud, Pierre Chevallier, François Delclaux, et al.. The impact of climate change on water availability in Eastern Nepal: a presentation of the project methodology taking into account the vaious origins of water. Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment , 2012, 11 (special issue), pp.12-17. ⟨10.3126/hn.v11i1.7197⟩. ⟨halshs-01673770⟩