Low snowfall in Himalayas threatens water supply for nearly 2 billion people, report warns

Communities in India, Afghanistan and Pakistan are particularly exposed to this risk of water shortage, specify scientists from the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development.

Communities depend on melting Himalayan snow for their water supply. However, due to the drop in observed falls, they face a risk “very serious” of shortage, warned a report published Monday June 17 by scientists from the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (Icimod), based in Nepal.

According to Icimod, which has been monitoring snow in the region for more than 20 years, “this year, the persistence of snow (18.5% below normal) is the second lowest in the last 22 years, just after the record of 19% set in 2018”the author of the report, Sher Muhammad, told AFP. “Less snow accumulation and fluctuating snow levels significantly increase the risk of water shortages, particularly this year,” he underlined, evoking “a wake-up call for researchers, policy makers and communities [qui vivent] downstream.“

The snow and ice of the Himalayas constitute an essential source of water for the 240 million people living in mountainous regions and the other 1.65 billion people living in valleys in several countries, recalls the organization. In this region, melting snow supplies about a quarter of the total flow of 12 large river basins which originate at altitude, according to the report.

The Ganges basin, which crosses India, for example, experienced the “lowest snow persistence” never recorded by Icimod, i.e. 17% less than the average. In 2023, Icimid had already sounded the alarm on the situation downstream of the Himalayas, demonstrating in a report that due to climate change caused by human activities, glaciers melted 65% faster between 2011 and 2020 than in the previous decade.

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