Framing the Study of Mountain Water Resources: An Introduction

A crucial vulnerability the international community will face in the near future is access to fresh water in sufficient quantity and of adequate quality to meet the needs of a growing global population. As a result, mountains, which have always held a privileged relationship with water as the sources of the world's greatest rivers and the homes of huge glacier reserves, will come under increasing pressure. Already, these “water towers of the world” are threatened by major global forces. Climate change is predicted to modify the quantities of water available and shift its seasonality. Even greater challenges will come from the dynamics of human behavior. Population growth is one obvious threat to sufficient water supply, but equally important are changing norms and evolving activities. Historically dominant activities like agriculture and herding now compete with industry, leisure, domestic, and energy sectors for mountain water. These new uses are overlaid by various social constructs like pricing schemes, regulations, and property rights that shape production and consumption patterns by determining who gets how much water and when. Appropriate solutions for water use management contribute to efficient and equitable distribution. Poor administration is likely to aggravate shortages, increase social and economic disparities, and thereby make water issues a potential source of deadly local and international conflict.