Local responses to too much and too little water in the greater Himalayan region
Film used for reducing evaporation from the soil in Daojie village, Yunnan Province, China
There is increasing demand for water for agricultural leader, ‘A drier and hotter year is good for us, but it is
intensification in the valley and urbanisation in Baoshan not good for our downstream neighbours.’
City. The largest reservoir used to provide water mainly
for irrigation but now provides more for drinking water.
The quality of the drinking water is deteriorating from
Responses to Water Stresses and
being mixed with irrigation water and from the heavy
Hazards
use of chemicals in agriculture. Another impact of climate
During different periods, people at these three study sites
variability is that strong monsoon circulation has increased
have used both short- and long-term responses to cope
hail events, which destroy tobacco and other crops.
with recurrent water stresses and hazards due to climate
variability and change. The responses in these three
Baicai – Living with flash floods and landslide risk
villages have depended on the shifting socioeconomic
at a high elevation
and political contexts during the communal and
HRS periods and thus differed at the individual and
Baicai is located on steep upland slopes and in the past community levels. The main responses by individual
villagers were exposed to flash floods and landslide households and community organisations have involved
risks. They were often concerned about rainfall intensity afforestation, irrigation, crop selection, and changing
and duration, which could trigger landslides. The village cropping patterns.
leader initiated afforestation that limits exposure to
landslide risks and improves livelihoods. Unlike in the
lower study sites, the warming of the climate has been
Individual responses since initiation of HRS in 1983
beneficial as it may increase the yield of food crops if
During the communal period, individual households could
there is good access to water. According to a village
not respond because land use and labour decisions were
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