Himalayan glaciers as a sustainable water resource

The Himalayan glaciers, which number around 15 000, cover an area of 33 000 km² and are nursed in the steepest and highest valleys in the world. Runoff from the seasonal melting of snow and ice contributes to the streamflows of the Indus, Ganga and Brahamputra river systems of the Indian subcontinent. The annual contribution from snowmelt and runoff from non‐glacierized areas during the early part of summer (April to June) amounts to 20%. As summer proceeds (July to September) the contributions from melting glacier ice and water stored within the glaciers reach 50%. In this paper the pattern of water release by melting and its chemical characteristics are described for a glacier in the Lahul‐Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh, India.