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Since its inception in 1996, HKH-FRIEND have achieved several
milestones. Following are past activities of the
HKH-FRIEND |
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Fourth
Steering Committee Meeting of HKH-FRIEND
The fourth steering committee meeting of the Hindu Hindu Kush Himalayan
Flow Regimes from International Experimental and
Network Data
(HKH-FRIEND) was held in November 15-16 2007 at ICIMOD, Kathmandu,
Nepal. The meeting reviewed the past activities, discussed the
evaluation report and provided guidance for the way forward. The
Steering Committee members, research group members and observers were
present during the meeting. The meeting was jointly organized by
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO/IHP).
The Steering Committee elected Mr. Karma Chhophel (Bhutan) as a
chairperson. ICIMOD will serve as a secretariat and Dr. Yan Huang will
work as a coordinator for HKH-FRIEND.
The participants revisited the thematic areas and formed new research
groups. They are;
• Floods & Low
Flows,
• Snow &
Glaciers,
• Water Quality
• Information management
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Fourth
Steering Committee Meeting
� Meeting Minutes
� Progress and Reminder
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First Steering Committee Meeting, March 11-12, 1998
The First Steering Committee Meeting of the Hindu Kush Himalayan - Flow
Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data (HKH-FRIEND)
was held at ICIMOD, Kathmandu from March 11-12, 1998. During these two
days, HKH-FRIEND Project proposal was discussed in detail and as
envisaged in the proposal six research groups were formed. Each
research groups presented their tentative future activities. HKH-FRIEND
Secretariat was established at ICIMOD and establishment of Regional
Hydrological Data Centre (RHDC) at ICIMOD was proposed. All the members
expressed their happiness that the HKH-FRIEND has finally started.
During the meeting, ICIMOD was duely thanked for its long time support.
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First Steering Committee Meeting
� Meeting Minutes
� HKH-FRIEND Project Proposal
� Research Group Listing
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Regional Training on Database Management, March 13-22, 1998
| The first technical
activity of the HKH-FRIEND was the organisation of the Regional
Training on Database Management held at ICIMOD. The financial support
for the training was received from UNESCO/IHP, German National IHP/OHP
Committee and ICIMOD. Technical support for the training was received
from Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC). The training was participated by
12 participants from Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The
training also included one day field visit to Hydrological and
Meteorological stations operated and maintained by ICIMOD in order to
get acquainted with field level data collection process |
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| and associated problems
particularly with respect to data quality. |
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Regional Training on Database Management
� Training Report
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Inception Workshop of the Database Group, March 3-5, 1999
One of the main objective of the Database Group was to establish
Regional Hydrological Data Centre at the ICIMOD and develop a mechanism
for data exchange procedure. The meeting was held at ICMOD with the
finincial support received from WMO, German IHP/OHP Committee and
UNESCO/IHP. The meeting proceeded with a short presentation by Mr.
Basanta Shrestha, Coordinator of the Group, on the conceptual
background of the database centre. During the meeting, the Group
discussed in detail the Data and Information Plan, Data exchange
policies (from the regional countries to the database centre and to the
research groups) and on the proposal for establishment of Regional
Hydrological Database Centre (RHDC) at ICIMOD. |
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Workshop of the Database Group
� Workshop Minutes
� Data and Information Plan
� Data Exchange Policies
� RHDC Project Proposal
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Inception Workshop of the Snow and Glacier Group, March 8-10, 1999
Three day workshop of Snow and Glacier was held at ICIMOD from March 8
to 10, 1999 to initiate the groups future acitvities. The group
discussed mainly on developing a Sience Plan, development of Web Page,
identification of glaciers and collection of data and transfer to
Regional Hydrological Data Centre (RHDC - recently established at
CIMOD). During the meeting the group also discussed on the prepatory
work for the HKH-FRIEND/ICSI Trainng cum Workshop. The workshop was
financially supported by German National IHP/OHP Committee, WMO,
UNESCO/IHP and ICIMOD. During the workshop, there was a short
presentation on "Status of Glacier Research in the HKH-region by Dr. S.
I. Hasnain, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawahar Lal Nehru
University, India.
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Workshop of the Snow and Glacier Group
� Minutes of the Workshop
� Project Proposal
� HKH Glacier Status
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Regional Training on Low Flow Measurement and Analysis, April 19-23,
1999
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Reliable practical
methods for assessment of low flow is required for planning schemes for
irrigation, small hydropower and water supply to the poorer section of
people in the remote mountainous areas. Research in this area will help
increase economic activity, bring direct benefits, and hence contribute
to poverty reduction. With these objectives in mind, the Low Flow Group
organised a four day training programme including one day field
measurement and analysis with the technical assistance from North
European FRIEND and regional expertise. The training programme was
supported by Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) formerly Institute
of Hydrology, Wallingford, UK, UNESCO/IHP and the ICIMOD. |
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Training of the Low Flow Group
� Training Report
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Workshop of the Low Flow Group, April 24, 1999
| One
day workshop of the Low Flow Group of the HKH-FRIEND was held at ICIMOD
to discuss its future activities. The group discussed on the project
proposals. The objective of the low flow studies is to develop
procedures for estimating a range of design methods for calculating low
flows at gauged and ungauged sites in the HKH region. The results of
the study will result in increased accuracy in the design of a wide
range of different water resource schemes including the estimation of
dry season flows for river abstraction for public water supply and
irrigation, the preliminary estimate of storage yield relationships for
reservoir design and the estimation of the energy available for
run-of-the river hydropower schemes. |
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| The
meeting was supported by CEH, UNESCO/IHP and the ICIMOD. |
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Workshop of the Low Flow Group
� Minutes of the Workshop
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Second Steering Committee Meeting, April 11-13, 2000
Second Steering Committee Meeting of the HKH-FRIEND was held at ICIMOD,
Kathamndu from April 11 to 13, 2000. Progress made since the First
Steering Committee Meeting was discussed during the meeting. Each
coordinator of the
HKH-FRIEND research groups presented its activities. The revised
project document of the
HKH-FRIEND which contained project proposal of all the research group
was finalised and endorsed by the committee. There was also discussion
on the WHYCOS (World Hydrological Cycle Observing System) programme of
WMO which eventually led to "Consultative Meeting on Developing a
Framework for Flood Forecasting in the Hindu
Kush-Himalayan Region", a meeting jointly organised by ICIMOD and WMO
on May 15-18, 2001 at Kathmandu.
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Workshop Second Steering Committee Meeting
� Minutes of the Meeting
� Progress Report (HKH-FRIEND)
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HKH-FRIEND/ICSI Preparatory Workshop for Training on Mass Balance
Measurement, March 20-24, 2001
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A preparatory workshop
for developing a manual for training on Glacier Mass Balance was held
between 20 and 24 March 2001 at ICIMOD in collaboration with ICSI.
Financial Support for the workshop was provided by UNESCO/New Delhi,
UNESCO/Paris and ICIMOD. This workshop was attended by 20 participants.
Among the participants were five members of International Commission
for Snow and Ice (ICSI) and officials for various institutions. The
main objective of the workshop was to select representative basins for
mass balance measurements, select technique of mass balance measurement
and develop manual for mass balance |
measurement.
The workshop decided to consider the following while preparing the
manual and also for field work for training.
- Criteria for the Choice of Glaciers
- Selection of Benchmark Glaciers
- Measurement Techniques
- Format and Content of the Manual of
Mass Balance Measurement
The Workshop also decided to organise
a training programme on glacier mass balance measurements tentatively
in October 2002.
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HKH-FRIEND/ICSI Workshop on Mass Balance
� Minutes of the Workshop
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Surface River Water Quality Training, May 21-26, 2001, Pakistan
The Water Quality studies relating to surface/river water involves such
issues as water quantity/quality relationships, source of pollutions,
water quality parameters - physical, chemical, biological,
microbiological and water quality standards, contaminant transport,
database, etc. Surface River Water Quality Training was organised with
the purpose of imparting training to scientists and hydrologists from
participating countries in order to enable them to undertake research
and studies in respective countries within the framework of the
HKH-FRIEND. |
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Glacier Mass Balance Measurement Training, New Delhi, Sept 25-Oct 10
2002
There are evidences of rapid retreat of the glaciers worldwide. This
can be a threat to the long term availability of water which may lead
to water crisis and also to the thousands of people living downstream
due to potential burst of the glacier lakes that are forming and
rapidly growing. Therefore it is important that we have a good
quantitative assessment for which a proper understanding of the
glaciers and their mass balance, long term monitoring and data
collection is required. The research group of snow and glaciers of the
HKH-FRIEND (Hindu Kush Himalayan Flow Regime from Experimental and
Network Data) a regional program of UNESCO/IHP whose secretariat is
located at ICIMOD conducted a preparatory workshop on developing a
manual for training on Glacier Mass Balance from 20-24 March 2001 in
Kathmandu. As a follow up training on Glacier Mass Balance Measurements
was organized by the Jawahar Lal University with the support of
UNESCO/ICSI/HKH-FRIEND and the Department of Science and Technology of
the Government of India in New Delhi from 25 September - 10 October
2002. There were twenty-one participants from three countries, Bhutan,
India and Nepal. The resource people were from Austria, Germany,
Sweden, Japan, France and India. The objective of the training was to
build capacity of the countries to improve the understanding of the
glacier mass balance measurements and to bridge the knowledge gap. Two
days lecture was held in Delhi followed by hands on training at Chhota
Shigri glacier located in Lahul-Spiti valley in Himanchal Pradesh of
India. |
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The Regional Training on "Application of Geo-Informatics for Water
Resources Management", March 17-28, 2003, Kathmandu, Nepal
| The Regional Training
on "Application of Geo-Informatics for Water Resources Management" was
organised by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
(ICIMOD) on behalf of the Regional Hydrological Data Centre (RHDC) of
the Hindu Kush Himalayan - Flow Regimes from International Experimental
and Network Data (HKH-FRIEND) Project. The training was supported by
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), Wallingford, UK. |
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| Fourteen
participants from various institutions of seven regional countries of
the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, viz., Bangladesh (2), Bhutan
(2), China (1), India (2), Myanmar (1), Nepal (5) and Pakistan (1),
participated in the training. List of the training participants and
Resource persons is given in Annex-I. The training was held at ICIMOD
from March 17 - 28, 2003. The training programme was coordinated by Mr.
Rupak Rajbhandari under the overall guidance of Mr. Basanta Shrestha,
Head, MENRIS. |
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Database Group, GIS for Water Resources
Management Training
� Report of the
Training/Workshop
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HKH-FRIEND Regional Training/Workshop on "Capacity
Building for Monitoring River Quality in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan
Region", May 10-14, 2003
| The HKH-FRIEND Regional
Training on "Capacity Building for Monitoring of River Quality in the
Hindu-Kush Himalayan Region" was held in Dhulikhel, Nepal from 10-14
May 2003. The training was organized jointly by the Water Quality Group
of HKH-FRIEND, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
(ICIMOD) & Kathmandu University in cooperation with the German
IHP/OHP National Committee, Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG),
Koblenz, Germany, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), Wallingford,
UK and UNESCO/IHP. Sixteen participants from various government as well
as non-government organizations from Bangladesh, |
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| India, Nepal
and Pakistan participated in the training. The resource people were
from Austria, Germany, England and Nepal. |
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River Water Quality Group
Training/Workshop
� Report of the
Training/Workshop
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Current Activities of the HKH-FRIEND and FRIEND International
Country Level Training on Water
Resources Management using GIS is being
held at Dhaka, Bangladesh from November 3-17, 2003
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| National
Training on Geo-Information for Water Resources Management (GI-WRM),
Dhaka,
Bangladesh
A
national training on Geo-Information for Water Resources Management was
held
from November 3 – 13, 2003 at Dhaka Bangladesh. The training was
jointly
organised by the Database Group, International Centre for Integrated
Mountain
Development (ICIMOD), Global Water Partnership (GWP) for South Asia,
Bangladesh,
and Local Government Engineering Development (LGED) and was supported
by UNESCO
and Danish Hydrological Institute (DHI). The training focused on
software data
models for better management of water resources.
The
training was attended by a total of 23 participants from 11 different
institutions. There were a total of 10 technical sessions followed by 3
days of
hands-on exercise on different software tools such as MIKEBASIN-1, MIKE
11 and
ArcGIS. The trainees used the last two days of the training for project
work. A
project ‘Assessment of Irrigation Water Requirements and Determination
of
Canal Alignment’ was also developed during the training.
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3RD
STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE HINDU KUSH HIMALAYAN FLOW REGIMES
FROM INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL AND NETWORK DATA
(HKH-FRIEND)
The 3rd Steering Committee Meeting of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Flow
Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data (HKH-FRIEND)
was held on May 7-8, 2003 at ICIMOD, Kathmandu, Nepal. The Meeting was
jointly organised by Water, Hazards and Environmental Management
Programme of International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
(ICIMOD/WHEM) and International Hydrological Programme of United
Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO/IHP) in
cooperation with the German IHP/OHP National Committee, Federal
Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Koblenz, Germany and Centre for Ecology
and Hydrology (CEH), UK. The meeting was attended by the Steering
Committee members, HKH-FRIEND research group members and some invited
guests.
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Md.
Azizul Haque, Director, Joint Rivers Commission, Bangladesh was elected
as the new Chairperson and Ms. Mandira Singh Shrestha, Water Resources
Specialist of ICIMOD as the new Executive Secretary.
During the meeting the Research Groups of the HKH-FRIEND presented the
progress
made by their respective group since the 2nd Steering Committee Meeting
in April
2000. The meeting also had a session on ‘Challenges of Water
Resources
Management for Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Development in the
HKH: the
Role of HKH FRIEND’.
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Research
Projects :
South Asia Water Analysis Network
To address the issue of transboundry water quality, the Cooperative
Monitoring Center (CMC) located at Sandia National Laboratories, USA
with complementary funding from the US Department of Energy has
initiated the South Asian Water Analysis Network (SAWAN). Four
neighbouring countries (Nepal, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) are
participating in this programme to monitor transboundary river water
quality of the Ganga Basin in the South Asian region. The main
objectives of this programme is to promote co-operation in South Asia
on environmental research, share regional information to build
confidence, expand future co-operation, collect and share water quality
information at a number of river throughout the region. The immediate
interest of the programme is to collect and share water quality
information among partner countries in order to understand the quality
of the rivers.
CMC is currently operating the SAWAN website and coordinating the
project from New Mexico, Albuquerque.
CMC is now geared towards relocating its
website, database, and project operation to a regional
entity/organization. ICIMOD has been identified to be the superior
first choice in the region, particularly with its ongoing work on
regional cooperation in flood forecasting and information exchange,
state-of-the-art technical facilities and human resources at the
Mountain Environment Natural Resources Information System (MENRIS), as
well as being the Secretariat for a regional network like HKH-FRIEND.
ICIMOD will house the website and database and work in collaboration
with CMC to continue to implement the project. It is expected that
there is Enhanced cooperation of SAWAN with HKH-FRIEND and its water
quality group through this project.
Development of an Assessment System to
Evaluate the Ecological Status of Rivers in the
Hindu-Kush-Himalayan-Region (ASSESS-HKH)
Following the
recommendation of the Regional Training Workshop On Capacity Building
For Monitoring River Quality In The Hindu-Kush Himalayan Region, May
2003, Nepal, a proposal on the Development of an Assessment System to
Evaluate the Ecological Status of Rivers in the Hindu Kush Himalayan
Region (ASSESS-HKH) is being prepared. The project aims to assess the
water quality of the rivers and streams of the HKH Region by
calculating index based on the presence or absence of benthic
macro-invertebrates. The project also aims to further develop the
biological assessment procedure for the HKH region. The project has a
total of six Asian and four European partners. The co-ordinater of the
project would be the Department of Water–Atmosphere-Environment,
University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Science, Vienna
(BOUK), Austria. The
specific objectives of the project are as under:
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Develop and verify methodologies for applying
benthic macro-invertebrates as biological indicators for the management
of semi-humid ecosystems (e.g. for production of water quality maps).
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Adopt and
further develop biological assessment software and databases to the
regional requirements for cost effective river ecosystem management
within the HKH region.
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Capacity
Building of local scientists in the field of recognition and
application of criteria for biological indicators in ecosystem
management.
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Dissemination
and awareness creation on the importance and usefulness of biological
indicators in ecosystem management.
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Flood
Risk Mapping using GIS
A project on “Flood Risk
and Vulnerability Mapping using GIS: A Case Study from Ratu River in
Central Nepal” has been recently initiated by HKH-FRIEND Flood Group
and ICIMOD/WHEM with the support of UNESCO/IHP. The objective of the
study is to use GIS and remote sensing as a tool to map flood risk
vulnerability and identify and disseminate disaster mitigation
activities in order to reduce loss of life and property. The specific
objectives of the project are as follows:
- To assess the nature of floods e.g.
magnitude, type,
recurrence intervals, etc;
- Mapping of flood prone areas;
- Assessment of risk to the bio-physical,
socio-economic and service infrastructural elements; and
- Assessment of vulnerability and
disaster
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Seminar
on Flood Risk and Vulnerability Mapping of the Ratu River Basin
A seminar was organised by the Flood Group to disseminate the findings
of the study conducted at the Ratu River Basin as well as to get inputs
for the second phase of the project. The seminar was held on January
2004 at Kathmandu, Nepal. The seminar was jointly organised by the
Flood Group and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development (ICIMOD) and was supported by the International
Hydrological Programme of UNESCO, New Delhi. The seminar was attended
by a total of 48 participants from various government and
non-governmental organisation.
A total of six presentations were made during the seminar. The
presentations focused on methodology and findings of the study as well
as on the problems encountered during the study. The discussion
following the presentations included the project components, the second
phase of the project, flood disaster mitigation, development of coping
mechanism, implementation of structural and non-structural measures for
flood disaster mitigation and institutional set-ups in the watershed.
It was strongly recommended by the participants that the project should
continue into its second phase. |
Snow
and Glacier Aspects of Water Resources Management in the Himalayas
(SAGARMATHA)
The project, Snow and
Glacier Aspects of Water Resources Management of Water Resources
Management in the Himalayas (SAGARMATHA) has recently completed its
studies. The project was jointly initiated by the Centre for Ecology
and Hydrology (CEH), UK, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology
(DHM), His Majesty’s Government of Nepal, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
India, Tribhuvan University, Nepal, University of Salford, UK and the
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in
2001. The project was funded by the UK Department for International
Development (DFID). The aim of the project is to assess the seasonal
and long term water resources in snow and glacier fed rivers
originating in the Himalayan region, and to determine strategies for
coping with impacts of climate change induced deglaciation on the
livelihood of people in the region. The project has two components: the
development of a regional glacier melt hydrological model, and the
socio-economic component. The project conducted three stakeholder
workshops at different levels to disseminate the findings of the
workshop as well as to obtain feedback on adaptation strategies to help
the communities cope with the impacts of
deglaciation.
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Stakeholder
Consultation Workshops
Three
stakeholder consultation workshops were held to disseminate the
findings of the SAGARMATHA project as well as to obtain feedback on
adaptation strategies to help the communities cope with the impacts of
deglaciation. Following are the details of the workshop:
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Workshop
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Level
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Date
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Venue
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Local
Stakeholder Consultation
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Local
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March 4, 2004
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Kusma, Nepal
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March 10, 2004
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Ghandruk, Nepal
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Kali Gandaki
Stakeholder Consultation
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Regional
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April 21, 2004
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Pokhara, Nepal
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Deglaciation:
Impacts and Adaptation for Water Resources and Livelihoods in the
Himalayas
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International
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April 27-28
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New Delhi, India
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The
participants of these workshops were the stakeholders of the respective
levels from both government as well as non-governmental organisation,
academic institutions and other relevant industries such as hotel and
tourism.
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The
workshops were successful in meeting the expected outcomes. Some of the
key
recommendations of the workshops are as follows:
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Need
for more awareness raising at all levels
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Changes in cropping pattern and
animal husbandry techniques
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Promotion of social networks
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Development of early warning
system
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Development of
infrastructures
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Water resources management
plans
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Future Activities
Several
areas for further research have been identified. The activities will be
a combination of trainings as well as research.
The snow and glacier group will monitor the glaciers selected by ICSI
and HKH-FRIEND experts. Availability of Resources is critical to carry
out the activities. The
low flow group would carry out further studies to develop a methodology
and application in countries in the HKH-Region and organize low flow
training at national level. Research on low flows is already being
carried by the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) in Nepal
as well as in India at IIT Roorkee. The river water quality will be
organizing a regular training course for students and researchers on
modern methods for surface water quality monitoring.
Further populating the RHDC by national nodal institutions of
participating countries would be an ongoing effort. It will also follow
up with other member countries to endorse the exchange of data similar
to the Memorandum of Understanding between Nepal and also Global Water
Partnership South Asia.
Following the recommendation of the water quality training held in
2003, a proposal has been prepared and submitted to the European Union
(EU). The project Assessment System to Evaluate the Ecological Status
of Rivers in the Hindu-Kush-Himalayan region (ACCESS-HKH), aims to
assess the ecological condition of the rivers of the HKH region using
benthic macro invertebrates as indicators.
The first phase of the project Flood, Risk and Vulnerability Using GIS:
A Case Study of the Ratu River, was able to identify and map areas
prone to floods. However, a more detailed study is required to acquire
in-depth knowledge of the nature of floods and institutional setups to
mitigate flood disasters. Therefore, the second phase of the project
has been developed, which would look into these issues.
A project proposal has been prepared and submitted to UNESCO/IHP to
assess the amount of flow in the rivers of the HKH region during the
low flow period. The aim of the project is to determine the amount of
flow required to sustain the aquatic ecosystem as well as to assess the
impacts caused by insufficient flow in these rivers.
Further proposals have been obtained on better understanding of flash
floods in the region. However
no resources is available on this yet.
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