Springshed management and climate adaptation: Strategies for sustainable development in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR)

Organisers: NITI Aayog, NIHE and ICIMOD

About the event

The Green Transitions, Environment and Climate Change (GTC) division of NITI Aayog in collaboration with the National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE) and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)’s Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HI-REAP), is organising a national workshop to address challenges in advancing springshed management in the Indian Himalayan Region. The workshop will highlight the deliberation on various perspectives including challenges, and opportunities of springshed management at the national and state levels and explore ways to make spring revival part of the policy-science-practice interface agenda for long-term sustainability.

Objectives

The key objectives are to:

• Share status/latest knowledge on springshed management initiatives, challenges and opportunities in Indian Himalayan Region (IHR)
• Discuss innovative, science-based springshed development and management approaches and share best practices from India and other countries
• Explore collaboration opportunities among stakeholders and identify policy support to scale springshed management

• Develop adaptive and mitigation strategies for springshed management in the wake of climate change

Key outcome

• An action plan with specific recommendations for addressing key technical, institutional, capacity building, and financial challenges in springshed management.
• A policy brief and a workshop proceeding based on the contributions of the workshop attendees (including researchers and practitioners) from different parts of IHR.

Background

In India, springs are a vital water source for many hill and mountain communities, fulfilling their drinking, domestic, agricultural and cultural needs. Approximately 200 million people depend on spring water across the Himalayas, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Aravallis and other such mountain ranges. Of the estimated five million springs in India, nearly three million are in IHR. However, half of IHR’s perennial springs have either dried up or have become seasonal ((NITI Aayog report, 2018), affecting local water security, base flows in rivers and biodiversity.

The combined impacts of climate change – rising temperatures, increased rainfall intensity, and reduced winter precipitation – along with ecological degradation, socio-economic shifts, rapid urbanisation, and seismic activity, are causing springs to dry up across mountain regions like  IHR. This is leading to acute water shortages in thousands of villages and urban centers that rely on natural springs, adversely affecting mountain ecosystems and livelihoods, and adding to the drudgery of women. This highlights the urgent need for a science-based, collaborative and ecosystem-based approach to springshed management for water security and climate adaptation, and biodiversity co-benefits.

Springshed management in India has gained significant momentum following the release of NITI Aayog’s 2018 report on “Inventory and Revival of Springs in the Himalayas for Water Security”. Across India, a wide range of stakeholders, including state governments, civil society organisations, academia, the private sector, and the media, are actively working to raise awareness about the importance of springs and to build capacities for the protection, development and inclusive management of springsheds.

As spring revival and springshed management advances in IHR, it is essential to review ongoing projects, current knowledge, and progress in spring mapping and rejuvenation. This will help assess efforts by Himalayan States, identify key enablers for scaling, and co-develop a roadmap for rapid and widespread implementation.