Snow in Himalayas Reaches Lowest Level in 23 Years, Threatening Water Supply for Nearly 2 Billion People: Report

Snowfall in Asia’s Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region has reached its lowest level in 23 years, threatening almost two billion people who depend on snowmelt for water, a new report warns.

The most recent Snow Update Report by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said the region experienced its third below-normal snow year in a row in 2025. Snow persistence — the amount of time snow stays on the ground following a snowfall — reached a 20-year record low of 23.6 percent, a press release from ICIMOD said.

“Carbon emissions have already locked in an irreversible course of recurrent snow anomalies in the HKH. To tackle this regional snow crisis and the challenges it creates for long-term food, water and energy resilience, we urgently need to embrace a paradigm shift toward science-based, forward-looking policies and foster renewed regional cooperation for transboundary water management and emissions mitigation,” said Director General of ICIMOD Pema Gyamtsho, in the press release.

Record low Himalayan snow for the third year running jeopardizes water security for nearly 2 billion people across 12 major river basins. Learn more about this critical situation: www.icimod.org/press-releas… Full report: doi.org/10.53055/ICI…

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— ICIMOD (@icimod.bsky.social) April 21, 2025 at 4:58 AM

Nearly two billion people who live in 12 major river basins originating high in the HKH depend on the region’s snowpack for their water security. Seasonal snowmelt contributes an average of a quarter of these rivers’ total annual runoff, with the share from the rivers gradually rising from east to west.

In general, a continued seasonal meltwater deficit means lower amounts of river runoff coupled with water stress early in the summer, particularly for downstream communities that are already suffering from premature heat spells that have been intensifying across the region.

“We are observing such deficit situations occurring in continuous succession. This is an alarming trend. While our findings give [a] broad picture across the region, each must act based on the specific conditions of their river basins, particularly where seasonal snow melt is the major water source,” said Sher Muhammad, the report’s lead expert and a remote sensing specialist with ICIMOD, in the press release.

The most alarming snow persistence declines were in the Mekong basin, which experienced a deficit of 51.9 percent; the Salween basin, which dropped by 48.3 percent; and the Tibetan Plateau, which saw a decrease of 29.1 percent.

The report covers the persistence of basin-scale winter snow from November to March of 2003 to 2025. It showed recurring seasonal deficits and severe annual fluctuations, especially over the past five years.

“[T]his year the snowfall started late in January and remained low in the winter season on average,” Muhammad told AFP.

The report’s experts emphasized the immediate need for basin-level actions targeted toward adaptive management of water resources to mitigate the impacts of forthcoming water shortages on hydropower generation, agriculture and other essential ecosystem services.

“Investing in adaptive infrastructure like seasonal storage systems and enhancing efficient use of meltwater, developing national preparedness and response plans for negative snow anomaly and drought conditions, integrating snow anomaly information into national water strategies for hydropower, agriculture, and allied sectors, and disseminating snow anomaly statistics to strengthen evidence-based decision making and sectoral coordination, are some of the key action areas recommended in the report,” ICIMOD said.