Water Quality Scenario of Kashmir Himalayan Springs—a Case Study of Baramulla District, Kashmir Valley

Abstract

This article describes the water quality scenario of freshwater springs of Baramulla district of Kashmir Valley in light of pollution threats and predicted climate change consequences for Himalayan ecosystems. The study was designed to have insights to what extent the community is relying on the spring water and what policy initiatives and planning perspectives at the government level are currently in vogue for sustainable management of these freshwater springs. Our results indicated that the springs are mild hard water type with nitrate concentration, conductivity, and iron values ranging from 19 to 675 μg/L, 185 to 811 μS/cm, and 1 to 308 μg/L respectively. Water quality index (WQI) revealed that the majority of the springs have excellent to good water quality category, while as in few springs like Aboora (26), Harwan (27), Fugipora (29), and Goigam (30), it was falling under poor to very poor category. Principal component analysis (PCA) generated mainly three components (VF1, VF2, and VF3) with higher Eigen values of 2.0 or more (2.23–6) accounting for 56.92%, 28.85%, and 10.64% of the total variance respectively. The survey highlights revealed the dependence of a large proportion of population for drinking water besides other uses, but no signs of involvement from the government level. Keeping in view the importance of these springs, it is necessitated that this situation should catch the attention of government and policy makers for the management of freshwater springs which can play an important role in fulfilling the UN (United Nations) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of access to safe drinking water.