Local responses to too much and too little water in the greater Himalayan region
factors that influence people’s access include gender, availability, people are struggling to manage with former
caste, ethnicity, entitlements, social networks, wealth, and arrangements, even if they have always lived with water
policy contexts. Although people are not passive victims scarcity.
without the impetus to improve their lives, moving from
coping to adapting requires the right enabling conditions Nevertheless, people in these communities have
to allow responses to take root and develop sustainably. developed their own ways of responding to drought
or flood situations, although the strategies may not
Factors beyond the local level influence people’s always have been optimal. Historically, people have
vulnerability because some actions taken at community always adjusted to changes, whether these are climatic,
or household level to adjust to new situations may political, economic, or social. The responses that we
not work in existing policy and market contexts. For documented are mostly focused on reducing exposure
example, climate factors such as precipitation and and sensitivity to variability in water availability through
temperature determine crop choice, but the market also effective and efficient utilisation of resources. In general,
influences cash crops. The ability to transport crops to the responses have been oriented more towards short-
the market may be essential to access cash incomes, but term actions than towards long-term planning.
may depend on the existence of a road.
The different responses and the experiences with
them in this time of change were looked at in terms of
Key Findings and Lessons Learned
common factors and common messages for those who
This discussion draws on the findings from all five
are supporting the development of new adaptation
case studies. The studies looked at situations where
approaches to meet the challenges of climate change.
people are responding to too much water (floods,
waterlogging) or too little water (drought, water stress)
Message 1 – Livelihood diversification emerges as
in regions spread across the greater Himalayas: in the
a central adaptation strategy but support through
dry mountain valleys of Chitral in Pakistan, the middle
institutions and policy is needed for long-term
hills in Nepal and flood plains of Bihar, India in the
sustainability
Koshi basin, the flood plains of Brahmaputra in Assam
in India, and the hill areas of Yunnan, China. The main
findings from each study site are summarised in separate
People in mountain environments who are confronted
chapters in the next section.
with too much or too little water already have
approaches for dealing with climatic uncertainty,
Many of the areas are chronically water scarce and
variability, and extremes, ranging from accepting losses
in others people have lived with recurrent floods and
to diversifying their livelihoods through both on- and off-
droughts for centuries. However, the nature of the risks is
farm activities.
changing, as the dynamics of the hazards are changing
along with changes in people’s vulnerability to them.
People with diverse income sources appear more
With this, people’s perspectives on the hazards and their
resilient to water variability than those with fewer
attitudes towards their livelihoods are shifting.
income sources. With significant changes in climate,
government, or society, these strategies may no longer
Gentle, expected floods can bring beneficial deposits
be sufficient on their own. When strategies no longer
of fine nutrient-rich silt that increases soil productivity.
work due to the magnitude of change taking place,
However, as climate change and variability bring
new thinking is required to reduce vulnerability to this
extreme events more frequently, floods increasingly
change. Livelihood diversification emerges as a central
become more intense, frequent and destructive, often
strategy that can help people overcome periods of
depositing large quantities of coarse sediments on
insecurity resulting from climate-related water stress, but
inundated areas, which render the land unusable.
the availability of many of these activities is conditional
on enabling policies and institutions. People are never
The overall impact of floods on the landscape, lives,
entirely isolated from larger institutions, policies and
and livelihoods has brought about significant changes
market trends, which influence everything from crop
in the socioeconomic conditions and cultural milieu of
choice to entitlements. A good understanding of this
villages and society. Water stress is also likely to be
broader policy and institutional context will be crucial in
more severe in the future. With increased demand for
order to identify and support adaptation practices with a
water, more competition, and more variability in water
potential to be sustainable over time.
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