Adaptation and Mitigation...

Figure 1 - Panna Meena ka Kund, Rajasthan. This is one of over 3000 labyrinthine stair wells constructed between AD 600 and AD 1850, as a method of attaining water despite the fluctuations of seasonal rains (New Scientist)

Changes appear to be afoot with the South Asian monsoon and the nations under its influence will need to improve adaptation and mitigation efforts. The seasonality of the monsoon alongside flooding and drought are not new to the nations under the influence of the South Asian monsoon (Figure 1), however climate change appears to be intensifying these effects as seen throughout this blog. Many South Asian nations are experiencing large population growth, rapid industrialisation, and changing lifestyles, all of which add pressure to a region with the world's lowest amount of water resource per capita (Basu and Shaw, 2013; Figure 2). The links below highlight the difficulties already being faced in terms of water resources (Basu and Shaw, 2013 - Hover over links).

Afghanistan - Bangladesh - Bhutan - India - Maldives - Nepal - Pakistan - Sri Lanka

Figure 2 - GRACE satellite measurements showing areas with large
amounts of depletion. Though some suggest that the measurements 
alone may overestimate the depletion of groundwater, the results still
 give a good indication of the present state of affairs (National Geographic)

The effects of drought have been discussed in both Paradoxical Drought and Real Finance Minister of India. The other major concern for the future of the South Asian monsoon is flooding and the trend for a larger amount of intense rainfall events at the expense of longer duration weaker events discussed in The Himalayan Tsunami and Dark Clouds - Silver Linings. The need is therefore for adaptation and mitigation and these form the basis for the rest of the post...

Drought/Water Security Measures

• Robust international agreements on river allocations are required (Basu and Shaw, 2013). For example, 54 rivers run through both India and Bangladesh. Though there is the Joint River Commission that was established between the two countries in 1972, there is only one river (the Ganges) covered by any treaty and thus disputes still arise such as that involving the Teesta River (Economic Times).
• Improved water storage infrastructure and increased local level rain harvesting (Sterrett, 2011; World Bank). India currently stores ~250 m³ per person compared to ~5000 m³ per person in China (National Geographic). Water recycling would also be beneficial (IPCC, 2007).
• Improved local level water management and increasing the knowledge of water scarcity and climate change to the population (e.g., rain harvesting in India).
• Diversification of crops and increasing use of drought resistant varieties (IPCC, 2007; Sterrett, 2011). 
• Improved agricultural management (e.g., utilise low tillage agriculture to improve organic content of soil) and improve efficiency of agricultural infrastructure (IPCC, 2007).
• Coordination between government agencies to manage resources/implement strategies and implementation of water policy framework. Some countries now have these but some like Sri Lanka/Maldives have no water policy (Basu and Shaw, 2013). 

Flooding

• Monitoring and early warning systems for GLOFs and better communication of forecasts/risk (Sterrett, 2011; SREX). Improved international cooperation in terms of warning systems (e.g., South Asia disunity 'hampers flood warning').
• Improve drainage systems in urban areas (Sterrett, 2011).
• Installation of flood control dams, levees and other river infrastructure in addition to non-structural actions such as flood risk mapping (SAARC, 2012). 
• Improve building regulation policies to limit construction in high risk areas (SREX).

These are just a few examples of potential adaptation and mitigation measures that would help to reduce the impact of climate change on the South Asian nations. Much of the monsoon region is ill-prepared for the impacts currently faced and as such the challenge facing them regarding the impacts of climate change is more daunting still...

Next up....the monsoonal retreat...