Assessing glacial hazards for hydro development in the Himalayas, Hindu Kush and Karakoram

The catastrophic failure of ice dams formed from surging glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Karakoram, and glacial lake outburst floods from moraine-dammed lakes across the Himalayas can cause enormous damage downstream, including the destruction of hydropower installations. How glacial hazards form and how they are assessed are described in this paper, which also presents the latest multi-criteria analysis method to help rank the degree of hazards using objective criteria. A brief strategy for how glacial hazards might be considered in relation to hydropower development is also presented.