Impacts of Snowmelt and Climate Change on Himalayan Rivers: The Case of Data-Scarce Dudhkoshi River in Eastern Nepal

Abstract

Water from snow-melt is crucial to provide ecosystem services in downstream of the Himalayas. To study the fate of snow hydrology, an integrated modeling system has been developed coupling Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM) outputs with Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM) in the Dudhkoshi Basin, Nepal. The SRM model is well-calibrated in 2011 and validated in 2012 and 2014 using MODIS satellite data. The annual average observed and simulated discharges for the calibration year are 177.89 m3 /s and 181.47 m3 /s respectively. To assess future climate projections for the periods 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s, the SDSM model is used for downscaling precipitation, maximum temperature, and minimum temperature from the Canadian GCM model (CanESM2) under three different scenarios RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. All considered scenarios are significant in predicting increasing trends of maximumminimum temperature and precipitation and the storehouse of freshwater in the mountains is expected to deplete rapidly if global warming continues.