Dr. Mark Williams, Professor at the University of Colorado and coordinator, Contribution to High Asia Runoff Ice & Snow (CHARIS) Project, visited the Institute and gave a talk on aims and objectives of CHARIS to the faculty members of the Institute.

According to Dr. Williams, the objective of CHARIS is to determine how much water in rivers of High Asia comes from seasonal snow melt and how much comes from glacier ice melt. CHARIS aims to work in collaboration to partner countries in Asia. CHARIS will also provide critical regional-scale information for planning downstream irrigation, hydropower generation and general consumption. Professor said that without understanding the current hydrologic regime, realistic estimation of the future availability and vulnerability of water resources in these regions will not be possible.

Himalaya, Karkoram, Hindu Kush, Pamir and Tien Shan mountain ranges are the main focus of CHARIS because they are the main source of water for the big rivers like the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Indus, Amu Darya and Syr Darya.