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Reaching New Heights in Nepal: Climate action at Imja Glacier

Story by UNDP Nepal November 23rd, 2016
Making it one of the world’s highest altitude adaptation projects, the Government of Nepal and UNDP officially unveiled a lake lowering system at Imja glacier, as part of a community-based risk-reduction initiative to minimize the threat of glacial lake outburst floods in the Khumbu region. Located at an altitude of 5010 meters on the lap of Everest, Imja was among six glacial lakes at most immediate risk of bursting.
The glacial lake, part of it is now seen frozen, is spread in an area of 1.28 sq km and 148.9 meters deep.
The potential risks of outburst of this glacier, spread over an area of 1.28m2 with an average 148.9m depth, had long threatened the livelihoods of thousands of downstream communities in the Sagarmatha National Park and its Buffer Zone.
File photo from 2014: Scientists measuring depth of a supra lake on the side of Imja glacier.
A special Nepal Army team deployed through the Community Based Flood and Glacial Lake Outburst Risk Reduction Project (CFGORRP) – a joint undertaking of the Government of Nepal, Global Environment Facility (GEF) and UNDP – successfully constructed the system in just six months. Besides the water lowering system, the project has installed an automated ‘early warning system’ to alert the downstream communities of any sudden fluctuation on water level due to floods or landslides. This has benefitted an estimated 96,000 people in the area.
The water canal built at the lower part of the glacier has successfully reduced the water level in the lake by 3.4m.
The Imja lake was almost non-existent before 1960s. Initially identified as a small supra lake, Imja expanded rapidly over time and it was holding over 75 million cubic meters of water by 2014, making it a biggest risk for the people in the Everest region.
The controlled water drainage system has provided an extra safety to the downstream communities.
The risks further intensified after the 2015 earthquake that rattled most part of Nepal’s eastern and western region, including the Everest area. While a quick study supported by UNDP immediately after the earthquake confirmed that there was no damage in the lake structure that could cause any GLOF, the threat continued to loom larger. The area sits on a highly seismic zone.
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Lake lowering construction work was officially inaugurated on November 23, by the Ministers of Defence and Population and Environment during a special function at Imja.
Local monks doing prayers at the holy lake during the inauguration.
The fact that it is fully led and managed by the local community themselves makes it a sustainable model of disaster risk reduction for the world to replicate.    
Kalpana and Pasang form the immediate downstream settlement feel happy to see that the glacier is no longer a danger.
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The entire Everest region, one of the most popular tourist destinations, has benefited form the risk reduction intervention at the Imja glacier.
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Footnote: Photo story by Kamal Raj Sigdel/UNDP Nepal
Imja Glacier, Khumjung, Eastern Region, Nepal