We welcome you to The Mountain Institute’s blog. We’d like to start by addressing one of the critical environmental issues of our time—the loss of glaciers worldwide.
By blogging with us, you can participate in an important discussion among global glacier experts who are meeting in Peru July 7 – 15. These glacier scientists, environmental policymakers and others from Europe, South America, Nepal, Pakistan, and the U.S. are meeting to design strategies that address the loss of glaciers worldwide.
The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that 80 percent of all glacial ice in the Himalayas and Tibet will be gone by 2035. Likewise, Andean glaciers are rapidly losing their ice cover and their rate of retreat has accelerated during the past decade. The combination of melting and unstable high-altitude snow, the rapid formation of dangerous glacial lakes, and the impacts on future water supplies all create conditions of deep concern for millions of people living in both the Andes mountains and coastal agricultural zones, as well as around the globe.
The attendees hope to use this conference to open regional and international dialogue on this pressing environmental matter. Please let us know your thoughts.
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Water and Risks English Group Meeting
ReplyDeleteDay 2 of Workshop
Question 1: (SWOT analysis)
Research
Strengths
Data is not restricted, at least it is available.
Macro-level data available for national planning.
Some international advanced training for Peruvians through the Fullbright program.
Local universities contain students with knowledge of language and customs to undergo research into cultural and spiritual relationships with water.
Weaknesses
Water monitoring equipment damaged or removed by communities, data collection generally sabotaged.
Only 1/100th of 1% of the glaciers currently is being monitored for mass balance and this sample is not necessarily representative.
Gaps in micro-level data on existing hydrological conditions and real time/future monitoring
No clearinghouse where diversity and depth of information can be obtained, sources dispersed amongst various locations with differing protocols for access
Insufficient funding and human resources in many fields, especially glaciology
No geomorphology lab in Peru
Lack of information on subterranean water
Current focus of municipalities is how to find more water rather than how to use existing water more efficiently
Insufficient monitoring to implement a reciprocity based scheme at present moment
Study of Andean Cosmovision in local universities prejudiced in favour of ‘modern fields’
Opportunities
Funding from USAID linked to conference
Commitment from NSF of USA
Substantial and sustained interest from international universities
Collaboration with institutes dealing with similar issues in other mountainous regions
Abundant resources and favourable environmental conditions for alternative energy
Threats
Uncertain regulatory outlook at a national level
Institutional weakness
Rapid development of serious impacts
Withdrawal of funding or political will for research efforts
Tradition of not following up hazard research with action
Further questions
Is the private sector taking any role in funding or undertaking research?
Who currently has ownership of monitoring equipment?
What are some cases of successful community approaches to sharing technical and indigenous information?
Water and Risks English Group Meeting
ReplyDeleteDay 2 of Workshop
Potential research agenda
Water availability?
quantity
quality (compromised by contamination)
time of year
local level analysis
ongoing monitoring
by source (surface, subsurface, melt, precipitation)
water table levels
Mass balance of glaciers?
More glaciers
More representative
Regional level monitoring
Impacts of the changes of temperature and precipitation changes?
development and monitoring of indicators of social impacts of climate change (agriculture, health etc.)
same event can have contradictory effect for different actors
Water use/demand?
Accounting for current and future migration (increased urban demand in marginal suburbs, shifted agricultural demands)
Breakdown within agricultural sector by crop and region
Use of subterranean water by mining and other sectors
Hazard based research?
more hazard assessment
vulnerability assessment
Alternative (renewable) energy?
Availability of solar and wind resources
Feasibility (cost, technical support, community support, grid resources/extension to sites)
What is climate change?
dynamics beyond temperature change (precipitation etc.)
Environmental services?
Thresholds for these to be sustained
Actions and communities that currently/could enhance or threaten environmental services
Cultural responses to water?
Response where there has been stress in the past, especially within a local context.
Local conceptions of the Andean Cosmovision
Cultural and spiritual understandings of water at a local level
Institutional capacity at a local level?
to create watershed management plans
implementation and enforcement potential
historical or locally developed responses or adaptation to climate change that could be coopted in future crises.
Water and Risks English Group Meeting
ReplyDeleteDay 2 of Workshop
Question 2:
Actions
Short term
o Forum or mechanisms to combine indigenous and technical data
o Ensuring that fines and payment for contamination by mining companies goes toward the mitigating pollution.
o Inventory of current equipment in the field and access.
o Consultation and capacity building on both sides in placement of measuring stations.
o Training within Peru in climate change and adaptation
o More Peruvian’s sent abroad to do glaciology etc. PhDs.
o Encourage/require the involvement of the private sector
o Learn from other countries (Namibia, legislation to regulate industry, pricing opportunities, South/South cooperation)
o Inventory of social indicators.
o Research by local universities on understanding of cultural/spiritual understanding of water on a local level.
o Education about water efficient crops.
Medium term
o Integrate technical data gathering in school curriculae.
o Align incentives (subsidies and other public sector support) to fit water-efficient agriculture
o Appropriately tailored geomorphology lab
o Social guarantees for basic domestic water access
o Tax breaks on water conservation products?
o More early warning systems and mitigation measures for potential hazards?
Long term
o GIS clearinghouse
o Use the traditional system of reciprocity to get around the cultural reluctance to pay for water.
o Solar farms to compensate for loss of hydroelectric generation?
o Pricing water?
Hi all of you in this wonderful event:
ReplyDeleteParticularly, I think that training within Peru in climate change should be addressed in understand the effects of climate change not only on the mountain but also on the hydrology processes as whole and consequently on the water availability for different economic sectors. It is really crucial for policy makers in Peru since they will be responsible to introduce and implement measures to face this problem. If there is not the conviction of politicians and technicians about it will be very difficult to move forward on this important issue.
Let me explore some possible mitigation alternatives.
For Agriculture: Change of crop patterns. For instance, in lower basins, specifically in the Peruvian coast, the typical crop is rice (like lower Santa river basin) and as you know this crop consumes much water and water efficiency is too low causing negative effects on drainage and degrading soils by salinity. There are serious conflicts and competition for water resources in the Peruvian coast. In this sense, crops with less water consumption and more benefits are needed to install in next decades.
On the other hand, Peru has a deficit of the reservoirs that allow to storage water for using in drought conditions. At least, small reservoirs need be built in strategic zones to mitigate the effects of climate change. Likewise, in most irrigation systems in Peru is integrated by small farmers who uses the traditional gravity system, and whose income from agriculture does not allow them to implement new technologies themselves. Fragmentation of the property land and current conditions of the hydraulic infrastructure would make more difficult to face the climate change effects.
In that sense, first modernization of the water distribution systems are needed at short and middle time, in special for agriculture, with change and implementation of new irrigation technologies. Additionally, multidisciplinary work that involves Engineers, economists, glaciologists, etc is needed. another interesting aspect, monitoring of Groundwater levels is necessary be evaluate frequently. It will allow having data about the variation of static levels in climate change conditions, and make decision about its use as complement in drought conditions; moreover, this information will be vital to conduct a rational use of underground water resources analyzing the potential seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers (contamination) due to the probable decrease in water levels.
For mining, in addition to paying a high price for pollution, I think it is necessary to enforce all agreements that miners have assumed to preserve the environment. Many rivers of the coast, mountains and jungle of Peru have serious pollution problems as a result of mining activity. The waste of all mining process must be monitored and regulated by the competent authority in a responsible manner. Miners must urgently modernize the relave systems so that allow reduce concentrations of heavy metals that cause serious problems for aquatic life, agriculture, and for drinking water.