UC San Diego’s Sustainability Solutions Institute, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge,
convened a workshop from May 4 – 6, 2009 at the UCSD campus where experts from Himalayan Asian
regional centers based in India, Nepal and China compared their observed trends, long-range predictions
and policies for regional climate and water resources with those of California.

The three-day workshop, funded by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, brought
together these experts in order to identify key scientific questions, technological questions and
possibilities, and new or lacking sources of data related to water availability from mountain snows and
glaciers in Himalayan Asia and California.  

The first two days of the workshop were devoted to an assessment of the present and future
impacts of climate change and air pollution on water availability in California, the Himalayas,
and similar regions.  A particular emphasis was put on data adequacy, integration, and availability,
and the reliability of predictive models for decision-making.  The five plenary panels and two breakout
groups were devoted to discussions on how to promote science-based decision-making and the creation
of an international framework for regional water availability assessments in conditions of climate change.  

The workshop resulted in a conference declaration issued on May 6, 2009, which states that melting
glaciers, weakening monsoon rains, less mountain snowpack and other effects of a warmer climate will
lead to significant disruptions in the supply of water to highly populated regions of the world, especially
near the Himalayas in Asia and the Sierra Nevada Mountains of the western United States.

Workshop Report   

 

Workshop Video    

 

Media Coverage

 

Workshop Declaration       

 

List of Participants                                                                  

 

Workshop Materials                                      

 

Workshop Presentations                                                                                                 

                                                                   

Suggested Pre-workshop Reading List