HARVEST: High-mountain Asia - building Resilience to water Variability using Experiments, Surveys and accounts of Tradition.

喜马拉雅山脉的冰川和雪原提供了融水，这对生活在下游地区的数百万人至关重要，例如在巴基斯坦，印度，尼泊尔和不丹。在干旱（冬季）季节，他们主要以农业为基础的生计经济完全依赖于这种水的供应。面对气候变暖，这些天然水库正在消退，威胁到未来几年的粮食安全。至关重要的是，脆弱社区现在就开始为未来的水资源短缺做好规划，并制定简单而有效的方法，在雨季收集和储存水，以便在河流流量较低时使用。我们需要知道这一点，以便能够确定哪些社区将在未来经历最大的供水减少。我们对最依赖这种资源的社区也知之甚少-那些生活在山区的社区，通常被更广泛的社会和国家经济边缘化。我们需要更好地了解他们的需求，以便我们能够与他们合作制定适应解决方案。我们对他们目前的灌溉和取水方法背后的历史以及决定他们获得水的政治和安排的理解也非常肤浅。这需要更好地定义，以便我们能够尊重社区遗产，并提供成功融入当前实践并最终可持续的适应性解决方案。HARVEST将探索缩小这些知识差距的方法。我们的团队由科学家、社会科学家、环境历史学家、工程师和公共卫生专家组成。至关重要的是，我们正在与总部设在加德满都的领先国际非政府组织“实际行动”合作，该组织拥有基层发展和扶贫方面的专业知识。科学家们将在一年中的不同时间和不同地点采集河水样本，并使用稳定同位素的浓度（即化学特征）来确定有多少流量包含冰雪融化。这将提供定量数据，以确定哪些社区将在未来面临最严重的水资源短缺。社会科学家将设计和实施一项家庭调查，探讨山区用水的当前问题以及灌溉和水收集/储存方法。环境历史学家将探索英国和尼泊尔的档案，了解尼泊尔的水资源利用情况，并建立目前使用安排的政治和社会背景。我们的工程师将与健康科学家和实际行动合作，确定过去在农村山区社区使用的适应措施，并建立机制，使研究小组的研究结果能够在这些社区得到最好的利用。HARVEST团队不会在现阶段提供特定的解决方案，而是将积累经验和知识，这些经验和知识将在未来的资金呼吁中为跨越喜马拉雅的更大规模项目奠定基础。

The glaciers and snowfields of the Himalayan mountain range provide meltwater that is critical for the many millions of people living in downstream areas, in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan for example. Their predominantly subsistence, agriculturally-based economies are entirely dependent on this supply of water during the dry (winter) season. These natural reservoirs are receding in the face of a warming climate, threatening food security in years to come. It is critical that vulnerable communities start to plan now for future water shortages, and develop simple but effective methods for harvesting and storing water during the rainy season, for use when the river discharge is low.At the present time, how the contribution of meltwater to river flows varies through space and time is poorly quantified. We need to know this to be able to identify those communities that will experience the greatest reductions in water supply in the future. We also know relatively little about the communities that depend most on this resource - those in the mountains, generally marginalised from wider society and the national economy. We need to better understand their needs so that we can work with them to develop adaptation solutions. Our understanding of the history behind their current methods for irrigation and water capture and the politics and arrangements that determine their access to water is also very superficial. This needs to be better defined so that we can respect community heritage and offer adaptation solutions that are successfully integrated into current practices and are, ultimately, sustainable.HARVEST will explore the methods with which we can close these knowledge gaps. Our team comprises scientists, social scientists, an environmental historian, an engineer, and an expert in public health. Critically, we are working with Practical Action, a leading international NGO based in Kathmandu, with expertise in grassroots development and poverty alleviation.The scientists will take river water samples at different times of the year and at different locations, and use the concentration of stable isotopes (i.e. chemical signatures) to determine how much of the flow comprises snow and ice melt. This will provide quantitative data to identify those communities that will experience the greatest future water shortages. The social scientists will design and implement a household survey that will explore current issues of water use in the mountains, as well as irrigation and water harvesting/storage methods. The environmental historian will explore the British and Nepali archives for information on water use in Nepal, and establish the political and social contexts on which current access arrangements operate. Our engineer will work with the health scientist and Practical Action to identify adaptation measures that have been used in the past in rural mountain communities, and establish mechanisms by which the findings of the research team can be best used within these communities. Rather than offering particular solutions at this stage, the HARVEST team will have gathered experience and knowledge that will form the foundation of a broader-scale project across the Himalaya in a future funding call.