Watersheds, middle mountain

Case Studies from Middle Mountain Watersheds.264... 

The Jhikhu Khola and Jarsha Khola watersheds are two typical Middle Mountain watersheds (Fig. 2) With no glaciers, where snowfall is very rare and only occurs at the upper elevation of the watersheds, and where most precipitation occurs during the monsoon season in the form of rain. This is followed by an extended dry season which often lasts for 5-7 months. The characteristics of the two watersheds are provided in Table 1. 

Water Management Challenges in Himalayan Watersheds Table 1 Characteristics of two Middle Mountain watersheds 265... 

Sthapit KM (2005) Sedimentation of lakes and reservoirs with special reference to the Kulekani Reservoir. In Schreier H, Shah PB, Brown S (eds) Challenges in mountain resource management in Nepal. Processes, trends and dynamics in Middle Mountain Watersheds. ICIMOD Publ, Kathmandu, pp 5-12... 

Historic records show how devastating intensive monsoon storms can be in the Middle Mountains. In 1993 a storm that produced 540 mm of rainfall over a 24 h period and with rainfall intensities exceeding 70 mm h hit the Kulekhani watershed [7-9]. This resulted in hundreds of landslides and a sediment load of up to 500 T ha per storm in the watershed (Fig. 1). This not only destroyed large tracks... 

The Jhikhu Khola watershed represents one of the most intensively used watersheds in the region and the Yarsha Khola watershed, somewhat less intensively used, should be considered more typical of the Middle Mountain region. The problems in the Jhikhu Khola are thus a reflection of what is in store if population growth and land use intensification continue to increase in these mountain areas. 

Fig. 2 Location of the Jhikhu and Yarsah Khola Watersheds in the Middle Mountains of Nepal...

Merz J, Nakarmi G, Shrestha SK, Dahal BM, Dangol PM, Dhakal MP, Dongol BS, Shah PB, Weingartner R (2003) Water A scarce resource in rural watersheds of Nepal s Middle Mountains. Mt Res Dev 23 41 9... 

Merz JG, Nakarmi SS, Dahal B, Dongol B, Schaffher M, Shakya S, Sharma S (2004) Public water sources in rural watersheds of Nepal s Middle Mountains Issues and Constraints. Environ Manage 34(l) 26-37... 

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