Local responses to too much and too little water in the greater Himalayan region
effectiveness of these responses is often influenced by term benefits, or inadvertently move towards increased
the development context in which people live. National exposure and/or sensitivity to stress, hazards and
policies and institutions may have an important impact on change. An analytical framework to help make these
local level livelihood choices, depending on how these distinctions would provide a useful contribution to the
get translated down to the local level. At the same time, field of knowledge on adaptation to climate change.
if local needs and concerns are communicated upwards
in the policy hierarchy, they can inform higher levels The results from the case studies show that effective use
of agenda setting, which can in turn ensure that local of existing capabilities and enabling conditions coupled
priorities are reflected in broader decision-making. If with access to livelihood options and opportunities can
local concerns are ignored, or if no channel is available enhance the capacity to respond successfully to water
to enable dissemination to different levels, the higher stress and hazards; however, this does not guarantee
levels can be inconsistent with local needs, and at times that vulnerability will be reduced. Besides the importance
be major drivers of vulnerability to climate variability. of the larger enabling environment, responses to water
stress and hazards can be considered adaptive only if
National policies often do not take into account or build they build resilience to change and variability over the
on existing capacity to respond. Thus, even if responses long term.
are taken at a local level, they may not be able to
influence the real cause of vulnerability, consequently Enhanced resilience means that people have the ability
leaving people in a vicious cycle of coping without to increase their well-being even if water stress and
moving them onto the pathway towards resilience. hazards worsen. Learning to manage uncertainty means
learning to live with change, variability, and extreme
Unfortunately, there are inadequate methodological tools events.
for assessing whether responses are moving towards
increased resilience over the long term, have only short- The main findings of the case studies are presented in
the next section (see map below for location of the sites).
Location of the sites of the case studies
60°0'0"E 70°0'0"E 80°0'0"E 90°0'0"E 100°0'0"E 110°0'0"E 120°0'0"E
"
N
4
0
°
0
'0
Amu Darya
4
0
°
0
'0
"
N
Ta rim
Yellow
Mulkhow
Shishikoh
China
Afghanistan
Indus
Pakistan Brahmaputra Yangtze
3
0
°
0
'0
"
N
3
0
°
0
'0
"
N
Nepal Sankhuwasabha
Dhemaji
Ganges
Kabhre
Bhutan
Dhankuta Lakhimpur
Saharsa
Baicai
Khagaria Daojie
Bangladesh
Ta okong
Irrawaddy
India
Myanmar
'0
"
N
2
0
°
0
Salween
2
0
°
0
'0
"
N
Mekong
Legend
Field site
Main river
"
N
0
'0
"
N
°
0
'0
1
0
°
River basin 1
0
60°0'0"E 70°0'0"E 80°0'0"E 90°0'0"E 100°0'0"E 110°0'0"E 120°0'0"E
50 ,000 2,000 Kilometres
11
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