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Spring constitutes one of the primary water resources in some parts of the world, such as the Indian Himalayas. However, these remain imperfectly surveyed and delineated far and wide in most areas worldwide. Due to natural and anthropogenic factors, the springs are under great threat. All over the globe, springs have left as data deficit and have not relatively gained considerable attention in comparison to other systems like rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands. This is also true for India, where most of the research is usually centered on groundwater, rivers, lakes and wetlands. This manuscript presents an overview of studies carried out on various themes of spring water systems, such as characteristics, classification schemes, and different empirical and analytical methods at international and national levels. A comprehensive overview of the literature identified the demand for an integrated approach of different empirical and analytical methods to strengthen the understanding of spring hydrology in the Himalayan region and elsewhere. Research highlights: Springwater system protection needs a forewarning of imminent contamination and thus, an integrated approach of conceptual and management-related groundwater models should be developed in India on a large scale. Empirical and analytical approaches should be used to attain an inclusive understanding of springwater hydrology and water quality. Himalayan springs should be studied considering the current updated classification schemes to obtain a comprehensive understanding of them. Monitoring of data and simulation models should be developed to establish an integrated and comprehensive understanding of Himalayan spring hydrogeology and hydrology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Himalayas, the lives and livelihoods of millions of people are sustained by water resources primarily depending on the moisture brought by Western Disturbances and Indian Summer Monsoon. In the present study, a network of 12 precipitation stations was established across the Kashmir Valley to understand the spatial and meteorological factors controlling precipitation isotopes. Temperature and relative humidity are dominant meteorological factors, whereas altitude, proximity to forest canopy, land use/land cover, windward and leeward sides of the mountains are the main physical factors influencing precipitation isotopes. The study suggests that the Mediterranean Sea and nearby water bodies along with continental recycling are the dominant sources of moisture from October to May, while the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and continental recycling are the main sources of moisture from June to September. However, some precipitation events from October to May collect moisture from the Arabian Sea and some precipitation events from June to September collect moisture from the Mediterranean Sea. The occasional passage of Western Disturbances in summer merging with the Indian Summer Monsoon yields heavy to very heavy precipitation. The study provides a better understanding of complex spatial and meteorological phenomena controlling precipitation isotopes across the Western Himalayas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Indian Northwestern Himalayan lakes are sole sources of water at many locations. • Anthropogenic alterations have an adverse impact on lake water quantity and quality. • Tourism and land use land cover changes have led to degrading lake systems. • Void in knowledge of hydroecology of lake systems inhibits sustainable management. • Need for holistic lake studies with long term hydroecological monitoring. The Himalayas are dotted with a multitude of freshwater lakes of varying sizes. These lakes serve as the sole source of water for multiple major human settlements in the region and a backbone to socio-economic services. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the available literature on hydro-ecology of important lakes in the Indian Northwestern Himalayas (INWH). Numerous studies have been performed in the past but are reported in regional journals, scientific reports of government research institutions and local conference proceedings with a very few publications in the international journals. We attempt to synthesize the available scientific knowledge in view of topography, climate, hydrology, water quality, land use land cover (LULC), sedimentation, climate change, and other anthropogenic influences. Our review reveals that INWH lakes are adversely affected by multiple anthropogenic influences including, population growth, LULC modifications and deforestation, urbanisation, intensified agricultural, wastewater disposal, excessive freshwater abstraction, and tourism. It is leading to a widespread decline in water quality and adverse impacts on the ecological status of lakes across the INWH region. Signals of climate change impacts are also reported in the region, evident as a significant reduction in precipitation and warming of temperature in historical records, along with projections of an increasing rate of change in future climate. Sustainable management of INWH lakes to preserve their unique hydroecological attributes will require integrative limnological studies that include climate, hydrology, water quality, and ecology. It will provide a body of evidence for developing conservation practices and policies to protect the INWH lakes, prioritise restoration activities, and sustain their role as socio-economic assets. The studies need to prioritise long-term field-based limnology research and high-frequency, high-density monitoring stations while developing practices and policies to alleviate the immediate threats from LULC, water abstraction, and human perturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) characterizes the hydrometeorological variability across the north Indian region and contributes more than 75% of the annual rainfall during the monsoon (June–September) season. In the present study, we analysed the long-term monsoon rainfall for the Ganga River basin to investigate its spatio-temporal variability. A statistically increasing (10 to 17 mm/year; p < 0.05) trend has been observed in ISM rainfall for the mountainous region since 1980, accompanied by increased temperature. We further note that high, very high and extreme rainfall events are also increasing, enhancing the flash flood risk in the mountainous region. In contrast, the ISM rainfall in the alluvial region is observed to be statistically decreasing (−5 to −20 mm/year; p < 0.05) with the combined influence of reduced vegetation. These findings provide valuable insights into the variations in regional hydrology of the Ganga River basin caused by natural and anthropogenic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme precipitation events are responsible for major floods in any part of the world. In recent years, simulations and projection of weather conditions to future, with Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models like Weather Research and Forecast (WRF), has become an imperative component of research in the field of atmospheric science and hydrology. The validation of modelled forecast is thus have become matter of paramount importance in case of forecasting. This study delivers an all-inclusive assessment of 5 high spatial resolution gridded precipitation products including satellite data products and also climate reanalysis product as compared to WRF precipitation product. The study was performed in river basins of North Western Himalaya (NWH) in India. Performance of WRF model is evaluated by comparing with observational gridded (0.25° × 0.25°) precipitation data from Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). Other products include TRMM Multi Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) 3B42-v7 product (0.25° × 0.25°) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) product (0.1° × 0.1°). Moreover, climate reanalysis rainfall product from ERA Interim is also used. Bias, Mean Absolute Error, Root Mean Square Error, False Alarm Ratio (FAR), Probability of False Detection (POFD), and Probability of Detection (POD) were calculated with particular rainfall thresholds. TRMM and GPM products were found to be sufficiently close to the observations. All products showed better performance in the low altitude areas i.e. in planes of Upper Ganga and Yamuna basin and Indus basin, and increase in error as topographical variation increases. This study can be used for identifying suitability of WRF forecast data and assessing performance of other rainfall datasets as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Kolahoi Glacier had higher mass loss more than the majority of Western Himalayan glaciers. • Mass balance of the glacier during 1980–2019 shows significant inter-annual variation. • Glacier mass loss showed a good relation with observed temperature and precipitation. • Glacier mass loss and depleting glacier-melt streamflow exhibits a strong link. Knowledge of glacier mass balance (MB) is critical for understanding glacier-climate interactions and projecting future water availability in the data-scarce Himalayan region. In this study, we present the glaciological (2014–2019), geodetic (2000–2014) and reconstructed (1980–2019) MB of the Kolahoi Glacier (KG) in the Kashmir Himalaya, India. During the five-year observation period, the average in situ MB of the Glacier was −0.83 ± 0.34 m w.e. a−1, with significant inter-annual variation. The mean annual geodetic MB of the KG between 2000 and 2014 was −0.90 ± 0.09 m w.e. The reconstructed MB revealed four distinct glacier recession episodes since 1980. The Period I (1980–1990) showed a reduced mass loss of −0.27 ± 0.42 m w.e. a−1, with four years of positive mass balance. The Period II (2000–2010), on the other hand, experienced the highest mass loss of −1.18 m w.e. a−1 throughout the entire reconstructed MB series. All three MB measurement- in situ, geodetic and simulated agreed well. The MB showed an excellent correspondence with the observed temperature and precipitation. Analysis of the data revealed that the MB is sensitive to temperature at the rate of −0.65 m w.e. a−1 °C−1, but the sensitivity is only 0.13 m w.e. a−1 for a 10% change in precipitation. Furthermore, there is a good correlation between the simulated glacier mass loss and depleting glacier-melt in the autumn streamflow. The mass loss of the KG is expected to exacerbate in future as a result of the projected climate change, and thus further diminishing the streamflow of the transboundary rivers emanating from the region. It is envisaged that the findings will contribute to a better understanding of glacier-climate interactions and their implications for future water availability in the Kashmir Himalaya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Snow is an essential resource present in the Himalaya. Therefore, monitoring of the snowfall changes over a time period is important for hydrological and climatological purposes. In this study, variability of snowfall from 1976-2008 were analysed and compared with variability in temperature ( T and T) from 1984-2008 using simple linear regression analysis and Mann-Kendall test in the Satluj Basin. The annual, seasonal, and monthly analyses of average values of snowfall and temperature ( T and T) have been carried out. The study also consists an analysis of average values of annual snowfall and temperature over six elevation zones (<1500 to >4000 m amsl). During the study, it was observed that the snowfall exhibited declining trends in the basin. The snowfall trends are more sensitive to the climate change below an elevation of 4000 m amsl. Over the elevation zones of 3000-3500 and 4000-4500 m amsl, positive trends of mean annual values of snowfall were observed that may be due to higher precipitation as snowfall at these higher elevations. Although, both negative and positive snowfall trends were statistically insignificant, however, if this decreasing trend in snowfall continues, it may result in significant however, changes in future. Furthermore, the T is also increasing with statistically significant positive trend at 95% confidence level for November, winter season, annually as well as for the elevation zones of 2500-3000, 3000-3500, and 3500-4000 m amsl. There are dominantly increasing trends in T with negative trends for February, June-September, monsoon season, and for elevation zone <1500 m amls. It is important to state that in the present basin, during the months of winter season, most of the precipitation is produced as snowfall by the westerly weather disturbances. Thus, the declining nature in snowfall is concurrent with the positive trends in temperature particularly T, therefore, reflecting that the positive trends in T may be the dominant factor besides T in controlling the snowfall trends. The snowfall data were also compared with SCA and this showed a highly positive correlation of 0.95% which validates the utilisation of time series of snowfall for the trend analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we evaluate the impact of changing land use/land cover (LULC) on the hydrological processes in Dal lake catchment of Kashmir Himalayas by integrating remote sensing, simulation modelling and extensive field observations. Over the years, various anthropogenic pressures in the lake catchment have significantly altered the land system, impairing, inter-alia, sustained biotic communities and water quality of the lake. The primary objective of this paper was to help a better understanding of the LULC change, its driving forces and the overall impact on the hydrological response patterns. Multi-sensor and multi-temporal satellite data for 1992 and 2005 was used for determining the spatio-temporal dynamics of the lake catchment. Geographic Information System (GIS) based simulation model namely Generalized Watershed Loading Function (GWLF) was used to model the hydrological processes under the LULC conditions. We discuss spatio-temporal variations in LULC and identify factors contributing to these variations and analyze the corresponding impacts of the change on the hydrological processes like runoff, erosion and sedimentation. The simulated results on the hydrological responses reveal that depletion of the vegetation cover in the study area and increase in impervious and bare surface cover due to anthropogenic interventions are the primary reasons for the increased runoff, erosion and sediment discharges in the Dal lake catchment. This study concludes that LULC change in the catchment is a major concern that has disrupted the ecological stability and functioning of the Dal lake ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The spatial and temporal distribution of δ18O and δD measurements of precipitation and stream waters were used to distinguish various sources and components of stream flow and to estimate their residence times in snow dominated mountainous catchments of Kashmir Himalaya. A marked spatial and seasonal variability of stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen was observed in precipitation with δ18O and δD varied from −12.98‰ to −0.58‰ and −74.5‰ to −11.1‰, respectively during the period from November 2007 to January 2009. The seasonal changes in stable isotopes of precipitation with depleted and enriched 18O and 2H in January/March/May and July/September/November, respectively at each site are attributed to the seasonal changes in ambient temperature, precipitation, source of moisture and airmass trajectory. The mean altitude effect of −0.23‰ and −1.2‰ per 100m change in elevation for δ18O and δD, respectively, was observed based on amount weighted mean precipitation isotopic composition data. Unlike precipitation, less variability of stable isotopes of streams was found with δ18O and δD ranging from −11.56‰ to −6.26‰ and −65.4‰ to −36.4‰, respectively, the depleted values being observed in the headwaters of the streams/tributaries and enriched values at lower elevations of the watersheds. The LMWL established for the Kashmir Himalayas, based on amount weighted monthly samples is δD=7.59 (±0.32)×δ18O+11.79 (±2.07) (r 2 =0.96) with lower slope and intercept than GMWL, is very close to the LMWL for the western Himalayas. The seasonal regression lines suggest the effect of evaporation with lower slopes and intercepts except in winter. The results suggest that the winter precipitation (snow) dominantly contributes the annual stream flow with average snowmelt contribution of about 29% in early spring, 66% in late spring, 61% in summer while the baseflow contribution is found in the order of 40% in autumn season. The mean stream residence times (MRTs) varied from 6 to 12.4months. The longer MRT of the Liddar catchment is attributed to its complex topography and larger area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Heavy rains on 18 and 19 September 2010 in the Ganga watershed associated with a regional monsoon event that occurred between Myanmar and Middle East caused disastrous landslips in Uttarakhand, Indian Central Himalaya and floods in the plains of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Relation between quantum of rainfall per day and slope failure has been examined in the light of similar studies in other parts of Himalaya. The cloud movement and rainfall pattern during disaster dates have been studied using remote sensing data from Kalpana-1 weather satellite and weather station data from Uttarakhand. A system for advance warning system is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper reports a study of the Tista megafan in the foothills of Darjeeling Himalaya. Spread over parts of India and Bangladesh, the megafan is bounded by the Mahananda River to its west and the Tista River to the east. The Atrai and Karatoya Rivers flow through its axial part. The megafan covers an area of ~18,000km2. Near its apex the surface slope is ~0.19°, that declines to 0.01° near the toe. The east–west transverse profile of the megafan is broadly upward convex, with gently sloping (~0.01°) flanks. Maximum width and the length of the megafan are about 145km and 166km respectively. The highest point near the megafan apex is ~150m above the Brahmaputra alluvial plain. The Tista River flanking the megafan has an average annual discharge of 609m3/s with highest average monthly discharge exceeding 2000m3/s during monsoon. Most of the other channels currently traversing the megafan are plains-fed, and compared to Tista and Mahananda Rivers these channels have lesser discharge, higher sinuosity, and decreased widths. A radiating network of abandoned channel belts can be identified in satellite images of the megafan. Each of these major paleochannels is associated with numerous crevasse channels in the distal part of the megafan, forming an intricate network of radial drainage on the megafan surface. Three distinct depositional lobes can be recognised on the Tista megafan. Each of the lobes is identified by a set of ancient and modern radial drainage systems. The lobe boundaries are marked by discordance in drainage network of adjacent lobes. The relative ages of the lobes, as tentatively determined from the drainage discordances, indicate that the megafan first built up the eastern lobe (lobe 1), then shifted to the west to form lobe 2, and finally switched again eastward giving rise to the smallest lobe located close to the mountain front (lobe 3). Although broadly upward convex in cross profiles, subtle reflections of multiple lobes are apparent in some of the cross profiles. Study of the old maps published between 1794 and 1945 reveals that some of the present-day plains-fed rivers, like the Tangon, the Atrai and the Karatoya, were directly connected to the Himalayan catchment basins prior to the late eighteenth century. Archaeological excavations along the banks of these rivers appear to support this paleodrainage configuration. Eight facies and five facies associations were recognised in the uppermost megafan sediments. Facies associations suggest deposition from high-energy sandy streams in the proximal area and deposition from mixed load, sinuous streams and flanking marsh or lake in the distal part of the lobes. Paleocurrent data are consistent with a southwestward spreading paleochannel pattern recognised within the studied part of the megafan. Multiple lobes typify megafans ocurring in different parts of the globe. The existence of the mutiple accretionary lobes in Tista megafan, its radial drainage pattern, its concave-upward longitudinal and convex-upward transverse profile shape make it morphologically comparable with other high-gradient alluvial fans observed in nature and those produced in the laboratory. These morphological features denote the similarities between the small, high-gradient alluvial fans and large, low-gradient megafans, and that in turn may be indicative of the commoness in certain controlling factors between these two depositional systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A field study was conducted to assess the location and the seasonal variation in physicochemical parameters of springs (outlets of underground water channels) of Bhetagad watershed of Uttaranchal hills, India. Traditionally, spring water is used for multiple purposes in this region. The average population density of the watershed is 366 persons km−2, distributed within an altitudinal range of 1,090–2,060 m a.m.s.l. and 23.52 km2 area. Twelve springs, in three different land uses e.g. pine forest, rainfed agriculture near settlements and irrigated agriculture near settlements were monitored in the winter (January), summer (June) and monsoon (August) during 1998 and 1999. The water quality parameters selected, in the present study are pH, EC, TDS, DO, free CO2, total hardness, Ca2+, Mg2+, CO3 2−, HCO3 −, Cl-, NO3 − and SO4 2− ions. Some springs in pine forests exhibit lower pH values than the permissible limit. Springs, with their location in agriculture and settlement, show slightly higher EC than the springs in pine forests. All the springs, near the irrigated agricultural land recorded higher nitrate ion concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about several sessions at a workshop held November 2011 in Bangalore, India focused on the science impacts and climatic changes in Asia is presented. Topics including global temperature rising, mechanisms controlling retreat of glaciers in the Himalayas, and impact of climate change on hydrology were discussed. The workshop featured several researchers including T. N. Venkatesh, Julian Hunt, and Wouter Buvtaert.