Springshed Management in the Himalayas

240 million people live in the Hindukush-Himalayas (HKH), 80 percent of which depend on springs for their daily water consumption (according to the latest HKH assessment report). However, yield, as well as the quality of springs, have been deteriorating in the past decades, endangering livelihoods of entire communities. Recently, ICIMOD, ACWADAM, and hydrosolutions Ltd. collaborated in a training workshop for the spring rehabilitation program funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The focus was to train water professionals from academia, governments, and NGOs from all 8 countries in the HKH region (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan) in the 6-step springshed management protocol and to support them in adding springshed management in the curricula and programs of their institutions. hydrosolutions Ltd. was responsible for strengthening the spring water quality module which is, as yet, not sufficiently covered in the springshed manual.