The European Union recently launched the 'HighNoon' research project in India, which aims at assessing the impact of Himalayan glaciers retreat and possible changes of the Indian summer monsoon on the distribution of water resources in Northern India. The project further aims to provide recommendations for appropriate and efficient adaptation strategies to hydrological extreme events through a participatory process. In India, apart from TERI, the other two institutions involved in the study are IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur.
The role of the TERI researchers in the HighNoon project is to refine geographical and management detail of socio-economic scenarios to local level, to develop prioritization methods and indicators and to work on participative development of multi-sector adaptation measures: preparation, analysis of stakeholders' perceptions, prioritization and validation of adaptation measures, outreach and dissemination.
Essentially, HighNoon focuses on the Ganga river basin.
The project -- sanctioned under the EU FP7 programme through
an open bid process – started in May 2009 and continues
till year 2012. The project is being carried out by a consortium
of institutions with related expertise in line with the
project objectives. It promotes joint research between European
institutions and other international institutions. The lead
organisation is based in the Netherlands and is ALTERRA.
Other international institutes involved in the study include
MET Office, UK; University of Salford, UK; University of
Geneva, Switzerland; Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Germany; Nagoya
University, Japan.
The HighNoon project objectives are:
To integrate available climate and hydrological data, and state-of-the-art regional models.- To study the changes under various climate change
scenarios and to analyse consequential impacts on water
resources in particular on changes in snow and glacier melting
and changed spatio-temporal monsoon patterns.
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To determine socio-economic scenarios and reliable
boundary conditions per physical or administrative unit
for planning of adaptation measures.
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To understand the current coping strategies in place
covering both upstream, mid stream and downstream sites
and investigate impacts on water quantity, water quality,
socio-economic aspects, and adaptive capacity.
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To develop a stakeholder driven applicable and cross-sectoral
plan of action for adaptation measures in the field of water
supply, agriculture, energy and health.
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To estimate the cost-effectiveness of the various
measures proposed.
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To understand the cross-sector interaction of measures
and their cross-category impact on water quantity, water
quality and socio-economy, and adaptive capacity.