Human Interventions

Abstract

In mountainous regions water often constitutes the dominant – and even in many cases the only – useful natural resource. Therefore, water is used for various purposes, especially for the production of hydropower, for water supplies, irrigation, and artificial snow making. The use of water resources and other human interventions, for example structural control and the correction of water courses, may result in fundamental quantitative changes in the natural water cycle or in the natural runoff characteristics on varying time scales. These interventions also significantly influence a wide range of other physical, chemical, and morphological parameters of rivers and streams. In the future changes in runoff patterns forced by climate change as well as a growing demand for water for various applications in mountainous regions must be assumed. As a consequence, the strain on natural water supplies in alpine regions will be much stronger, especially at the local level. As mountains play an important role as water towers for the lowlands, this may also impact the water supply in the surrounding regions.