Sustaining Himalyan Water Resources in a Changing Climate (SusHi-Wat)

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In this project, our research will inform the understanding and management of the effects of climatological and hydrological variability and socio-economic development on delivery of critical ecosystems services, notably the irrigation water supply-hydropower generation-flood risk management nexus, in the Indian Himalayan region. It will build on the success and pre-existing stakeholder links of the MICCI project (within the Changing Water Cycle - South Asia programme) in the region. This will ensure that our activities complement and contribute to the overarching Impact and Knowledge Exchange plan of the 'Sustaining Water Resources for Food, Energy & Ecosystem Services in India' programme.
At the strategic level, a wide range of Indian organisations at State to National level with responsibility for policy and practice in relation to water and natural resources, rural development and food security will benefit. These include the National and State Ministries of Agriculture, Rural Development, Earth Sciences, Environment and Forest and the Bkahra-Beas Management Board (who operate and regulate the supply of water and power from the Pong and Bhakra reservoirs).
Important beneficiaries regarding the improvement in consumptive use of water are small scale, rural Indian farmers who depend on rainfed and irrigated agriculture for their livelihoods, for whom the research will contribute towards improved practices of sustainable irrigation management production that are more resilient to future environmental change. We have pre-existing stakeholder relationships from MICCI with the State Agricultural Extension Services and the All India Farmers Association.
Users involved in research to improve our understanding of how climate change interacts with the global to regional water cycle, and the consequent impacts affecting humankind and ecosystems will also benefit from the research outcomes. These include researchers on water resource modelling, rural development, aquatic ecology, surface water quality etc.
A number of activities are scheduled to achieve these impacts, including:
(1) Network development- participating research institutions in India will profit from enhanced technical capacities through close working relations with their UK counterparts while the UK researchers benefit through new knowledge gained from interactions with their Indian counterparts;
(2) Stakeholder engagement through creation of a multi-stakeholder platform that will link the research team and key end users in India and act as a focal point for a range of outreach and networking activities;
(3) Workshops- we will carry out 2 workshops with farmer organizations, central and state government irrigation agencies and agricultural extension advisers at the start and end of the project. These will provide valuable opportunities for two-way learning, allowing improved understanding of climate change impact and the need to improve irrigation practices and to ensure that the research produces contextually-relevant results to maximise impact;
(4)Site visits- We propose a 3 day UK study visit for representatives of the extension services in the State Department of Agriculture in our 4 states and research collaborators, featuring a workshop and site visits to commercial irrigated agriculture facilities mainly in Eastern England. The workshop will be designed and led by RTCS Ltd;
(5)Publications in peer-reviewed journals and presentation at learned conferences; and
(6) Website- dedicated websites will be developed on the UK and Indian institutional websites on which scientific and summary outputs from the project will be mounted.