Climate and Land Use/Land Cover Change Impacts on Hydrological Processes in the Mountain Watershed of Gandaki River Basin, Nepal

Climate change impacts have caused unprecedented and irreversible damages to the Himalayan range. The recent extreme climatic events occurring in the Himalayas, such as erratic rainfall patterns, rise in temperature, rapid snow and glacier melt, and increase in discharge, have caused problems in the overall water balance within the studied watersheds. Furthermore, the rapid changes in the land use and land cover of the mountain watershed due to both natural phenomena and anthropogenic activities are catalysts for the damages done to mountain hydrology. Due to the climate change impacts, mountain hydrological processes have been adversely affected, causing many problems to the people residing in the region and downstream of the studied watersheds. The semi-distributed hydrological model SWAT (Soil & Water Assessment Tool) is used to assess the impacts on major hydrological processes of the Himalayan (mountain) watershed caused by rapidly evolving climate change. Thus, with the investigation of land use and land cover change impacts along with future climate projections under RCP 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios, this study would contribute to the stakeholders' and decision makers' understanding of future water management in the Gandaki River Basin mountain watershed.