Artificial Glaciers: A Lifeline in the Cold Desert of Ladakh

Located at an altitude of 3,950 metres, Tarchit village in Nyoma tehsil of Leh district in Ladakh is home to 167 people. The residents rely primarily on agriculture for a livelihood, cultivating barley and potatoes. Like other villages in the cold and arid region of Ladakh, which receives an annual rainfall of a mere 100mm, Tarchit’s residents were also dependent on natural springs and streams fed by glacial melt for their water supply.

About 80% of Ladakh’s villages rely on glacial melt for their drinking water and irrigation needs. However, these sources have been falling short, especially as climate change with its unpredictable snowfall, erratic rainfall and rising temperatures has disrupted traditional water availability. The streams that once gushed down from melting glaciers now have less to offer the communities, leaving them vulnerable to water scarcity.

The situation was no different for Tarchit’s farmers with their water resources often falling short during the crucial sowing months of April and May. As water supply turned uncertain, the farmers faced a difficult choice: risk sowing their fields or forego cultivation and jeopardise their livelihood.

Transformative intervention

Their dilemma, however, was washed away after the Tata Trusts stepped in through the Ladakh Water Initiative and leveraged an innovative homegrown solution – artificial glaciers – to shore up water security for the local communities in the region.

A strategic water conservation system, an artificial glacier is built on the upper slopes of Ladakh’s valleys. During winter, water from streams is diverted to shaded areas, where it slows down and freezes into stepped formations supported by retaining walls. Positioned between villages and natural glaciers at varying altitudes, these structures melt sequentially in spring, ensuring steady irrigation supply precisely when crops need it the most. This method transforms unused winter run-off into a reliable resource, securing livelihoods and boosting agricultural resilience.

Using local knowledge, the Trusts are enabling communities in Ladakh to build artificial glaciers and ensure that water security does not melt away with the seasons. As a result, water is now available in spring right when their crops need it the most.

Renewing life

In Tarchit too, the Tata Trusts supported the non-profit Himmothan Society to build an artificial glacier through a science-based participatory approach in 2023. The ice reservoir extends over 31,995 square metres, has 3-ft-thick ice walls and a density factor of 0.5. It stores 23 million litres of water, providing a sustainable water source for the drinking, livestock and critical irrigation needs of Tarchit’s residents.

It has had a profound impact on the life of the villagers. With the artificial glacier ensuring a steady supply of water, farmers in Tarchit can plant their crops with confidence today. At a larger level, this cost-effective and sustainable intervention has proven to be a successful alternative to large-scale infrastructure projects and a scalable model for water security in the Trans-Himalayan region.

The big picture

Like Tarchit, 35 villages in Leh, out of a total of 113, were identified to be highly water-stressed. Of these, 20 were found to have scope to build artificial glaciers. Over the last 9 years, the Tata Trusts-supported Himmothan has built 13 artificial glaciers along with the local communities. Waters from these artificial glaciers today irrigate more than 1,800 acres of cropland across Leh, serving the farming needs of nearly 1,200 households while providing water for 60-70 days every year (in the 120-day crop cycle).

Unlike higher-altitude natural glaciers that melt from July onwards, artificial glaciers are lower down the slopes and, hence, able to deliver meltwater at the start of the sowing season (April to June). They have hence become a sustainable way to conserve water in Ladakh's arid landscape.

As climate change continues to reshape Ladakh’s fragile ecosystem, solutions like artificial glaciers are not just innovations—they have become necessities. By harnessing nature’s own processes, these structures are securing the future of agriculture and transforming lives in one of the world’s most challenging environments.