Freshwater Resources of Northern Areas

The main sources of freshwater in the Northern Areas are glaciers and snow deposits which contribute to stream flow. Other smaller sources are precipitation and spring water.

— Glaciers and snow deposits - The NAs contain the greatest area of perennial glaciers outside the polar regions (22,000 km2) and estimates are that as much as 28% of the region is glaciated; the area of winter snow cover reaches up to 30-40% (Ahmed and Joyia, 2001). There are more than 100 glaciers that are over 10 km in length and many go beyond 50 km. Many of them are very remote and have barely been studied. Hence glaciers and seasonal snow constitute a huge reservoir for freshwater in the area and contribute vastly to the flow of the Indus river.

— Precipitation - This source of water is scarce throughout the region due to meager rainfall in the lower elevations which varies between 100-200 mm annually and it is only in the high altitudes that precipitation reaches significant values, estimated to be as high as 2000 mm annually above 16,000 ft.

— Spring water - Again, spring water is localized and not widely available, and therefore is only a limited source of water usage in the Northern Areas.