Original abstract: Glaciers in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, are undergoing rapid retreat, in large part due to climate change. These changes are significantly altering water availability in the region and pose critical risks to local populations that are highly dependent on these resources for livelihoods. We examine these issues through an interdisciplinary and linked evaluation of hydrological change and livelihood vulnerability in the Yanamarey watershed. Physical observations of the Yanamarey glacier show acceleration in frontal retreat at a rate of 8 m decade¿-¿1 since 1970, accompanied by total volume loss on the order of 0.022 km3. Hydrological and hydrochemical analyses document a possible transformation of stream flow over the past decade as the seasonal storage capacity of the glacier has degraded. Recent stream discharge measurements from the proglacial lake below the glacie...

Global consumption continues to generate growth in mining. In lesserdeveloped economies, this growth offers the potential to generate newresources for development, but also creates challenges to sustainabilityin the regions in which extraction occurs. This context leads todebate on the institutional arrangements most likely to build synergiesbetween mining, livelihoods, and development, and on the socio-politicalconditions under which such institutions can emerge. Buildingfrom a multiyear, three country program of research projects, Peru, aglobal center of mining expansion, serves as an exemplar for analyzingthe effects of extractive industry on livelihoods and the conditionsunder which arrangements favoring local sustainability might emerge.This program is guided by three emergent hypotheses in human environmentalsciences regarding the relationships among institutions,knowledge, learnin...

Global consumption continues to generate growth in mining. In lesserdeveloped economies, this growth offers the potential to generate newresources for development, but also creates challenges to sustainabilityin the regions in which extraction occurs. This context leads todebate on the institutional arrangements most likely to build synergiesbetween mining, livelihoods, and development, and on the socio-politicalconditions under which such institutions can emerge. Buildingfrom a multiyear, three country program of research projects, Peru, aglobal center of mining expansion, serves as an exemplar for analyzingthe effects of extractive industry on livelihoods and the conditionsunder which arrangements favoring local sustainability might emerge.This program is guided by three emergent hypotheses in human environmentalsciences regarding the relationships among institutions,knowledge, learnin...

Global consumption continues to generate growth in mining. In lesserdeveloped economies, this growth offers the potential to generate newresources for development, but also creates challenges to sustainabilityin the regions in which extraction occurs. This context leads todebate on the institutional arrangements most likely to build synergiesbetween mining, livelihoods, and development, and on the socio-politicalconditions under which such institutions can emerge. Buildingfrom a multiyear, three country program of research projects, Peru, aglobal center of mining expansion, serves as an exemplar for analyzingthe effects of extractive industry on livelihoods and the conditionsunder which arrangements favoring local sustainability might emerge.This program is guided by three emergent hypotheses in human environmentalsciences regarding the relationships among institutions,knowledge, learnin...

Original abstract: Glacier hazards threaten societies in mountain regions worldwide. Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) pose risks to exposed and vulnerable populations and can be linked in part to long-term post-Little Ice Age climate change because precariously dammed glacial lakes sometimes formed as glaciers generally retreated after the mid-1800s. This paper provides an interdisciplinary and historical analysis of 40 years of glacier hazard management on Mount Hualcán, at glacial Lake 513, and in the city of Carhuaz in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca mountain range. The case study examines attempted hazard zoning, glacial lake evolution and monitoring, and emergency engineering projects to drain Lake 513. It also analyzes the 11 April 2010 Hualcán rock-ice avalanche that triggered a Lake 513 GLOF; we offer both a scientific assessment of the possible role of temperature on slope stab...

Original abstract: Climate change is forcing dramatic glacier mass loss in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, resulting in hydrologic transformations across the Rio Santa watershed and increasing human vulnerability. This article presents results from two years of transdisciplinary collaborative research evaluating the complex relationships between coupled environmental and social change in the region. First, hydrologic results suggest there has been an average increase of 1.6 (± 1.1) percent in the specific discharge of the more glacier-covered catchments (>20 percent glacier area) as a function of changes in stable isotopes of water (d18O and d2H) from 2004 to 2006. Second, there is a large (mean 60 percent) component of groundwater in dry season discharge based on results from the hydrochemical basin characterization method. Third, findings from extensive key interviews and seventy-two ran...

Original abstract: Glacier shrinkage caused by climate change is likely to trigger diminished and less consistent stream flow in glacier-fed watersheds worldwide. To understand, model, and adapt to these climate-glacier-water changes, it is vital to integrate the analysis of both water availability (the domain of hydrologists) and water use (the focus for social scientists). Drawn from a case study of the Santa River watershed below Peru’s glaciated Cordillera Blanca mountain range, this paper provides a holistic hydro-social framework that identifies five major human variables critical to hydrological modeling because these forces have profoundly influenced water use over the last 60 years: (1) political agendas and economic development; (2) governance: laws and institutions; (3) technology and engineering; (4) land and resource use; and (5) societal responses. Notable shifts in Santa...

Original abstract: The tropical glaciers of the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, are rapidly retreating, resulting in complex impacts on the hydrology of the upper Río Santa watershed. The effect of this retreat on water resources is evaluated by analyzing historical and recent time series of daily discharge at nine measurement points. Using the Mann-Kendall nonparametric statistical test, the significance of trends in three hydrograph parameters was studied. Results are interpreted using synthetic time series generated from a hydrologic model that calculates hydrographs based on glacier retreat sequences. The results suggest that seven of the nine study watersheds have probably crossed a critical transition point, and now exhibit decreasing dry-season discharge. Our results suggest also that once the glaciers completely melt, annual discharge will be lower than present by 2-30% depending on th...

Filiación institucional de autor: Alejo Cochachín Rapre / Autoridad Nacional del Agua - Unidad de Glaciología y Recursos Hídricos (ANA-UGRH), Huaraz, Peru