10.4.2 Hydrology and water resources
10.4.2.1 Water availability and demand
The impacts of climate change on water resources in Asia will be positive in some areas and negative in others. Changes in seasonality and amount of water flows from river systems are likely to occur due to climate change. In some parts of Russia, climate change could significantly alter the variability of river runoff such that extremely low runoff events may occur much more frequently in the crop growing regions of the south west (Peterson et al., 2002). Changes in runoff of river basins could have a significant effect on the power output of hydropower generating countries like Tajikistan, which is the third-highest producer in the world (World Bank, 2002). Likewise, surface water availability from major rivers like the Euphrates and Tigris may also be affected by alteration of riverflows. In Lebanon the annual net usable water resources will likely decrease by 15% in response to a general circulation model (GCM) estimated average rise in temperature of 1.2°C under doubled CO2 climate, while the flows in rivers are likely to increase in winter and decrease in spring (Bou-Zeid and El-Fadel, 2002) which could negatively affect existing uses of river waters. In North China, irrigation from surface and groundwater sources will meet only 70% of the water requirement for agricultural production, due to the effects of climate change and increasing demand (Liu et al., 2001; Qin, 2002). The maximum monthly flow of the Mekong is estimated to increase by 35 to 41% in the basin and by 16 to 19% in the delta, with lower value estimated for years 2010 to 38 and higher value for years 2070 to 99, compared with 1961 to 90 levels. In contrast, the minimum monthly flows are estimated to decline by 17 to 24% in the basin and 26 to 29% in the delta (see Chapter 5, Box 5.3; Hoanh et al., 2004) suggesting that there could be increased flooding risks during wet season and an increased possibility of water shortage in dry season. Flooding could increase the habitat of brackish water fisheries but could also seriously affect the aquaculture industry and infrastructure, particularly in heavily-populated megadeltas. Decrease in dry season flows may reduce recruitment of some species.
In parts of Central Asia, regional increases in temperature will lead to an increased probability of events such as mudflows and avalanches that could adversely affect human settlements (Iafiazova, 1997). Climate change-related melting of glaciers could seriously affect half a billion people in the Himalaya-Hindu-Kush region and a quarter of a billion people in China who depend on glacial melt for their water supplies (Stern, 2007). As glaciers melt, river runoff will initially increase in winter or spring but eventually will decrease as a result of loss of ice resources. Consequences for downstream agriculture, which relies on this water for irrigation, will be likely unfavourable in most countries of South Asia. The thawing volume and speed of snow cover in spring is projected to accelerate in North-West China and Western Mongolia and the thawing time could advance, which will increase some water sources and may lead to floods in spring, but significant shortages in wintertime water availability for livestock are projected by the end of this century (Batima et al., 2004, 2005b).