Unlocking hydrological uncertainties for adapting decision-making in the Himalayas

Mountains are often referred to as 'water towers' as they provide valuable hydrological ecosystem services to people both in uplands and in downstream valleys and floodplains. Along the Himalayan foothills, water and land resources play a fundamental role in local livelihoods and societal wellbeing. However, a lack of locally relevant data and knowledge of these critical ecosystem services may have seriously undermined their sustainable use at local scale. For example, a marginal change in water availability in local streams could have serious implications on agricultural practices. Key uncertainties over hydro-climatic behaviour may not be well captured by contemporary decision-making practices. Since the region is experiencing increasingly unpredictable hydro-climatic behaviours, the region is now known for 'too much' or 'too little' water scenario. The region is also highly vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change impacts. In such a highly uncertain environment, a robust and affordable monitoring system, supported by citizen science based data and knowledge co-generation practices, can create actionable data for more collaborative decision-making. Such participatory approach could also enhance local communities' adaptive capabilities to cope with nature and human-induced disasters. Thus, adopting citizen-centric approach in data and knowledge cogeneration can significantly improve existing 'ad-hoc' and potentially inaccurate 'rule of thumb' based resources management practices. That will also maximise nature's true services into local well-being and towards achieving sustainable development goals.