The present study envisages the importance of monitoring and management of freshwater springs of Kashmir Himalaya due to role they play in meeting ever-increasing drinking water demands and maintaining various ecosystem services. Therefore, some of the most pressing issues fundamental to the existence of springs is their monitoring and management because of their geological, ecological, scientific, cultural, religious and societal importance. Despite the key role that they play, springs are today continuously facing various types of threats. Springs have attained recently an extraordinary importance as they play role in providing drinking water, irrigation, sustaining habitats for fisheries, aquatic biodiversity, endemism, spiritual enrichment, recreation, aesthetics etc. especially in scenario of climate change threat predicted for Himalayas. In this backdrop a study directed to assess water quality status and potential of springs to offer the solution to ever-increasing water shortages was carried out. Identification of main threats to spring ecosystems and their subsequent monitoring and management in Kashmir Himalaya has been pleaded in this article. Major research highlights of the work revealed very well to excellent water quality class and Piper trilinear diagram of spring water depicted Ca–Mg–HCO3 water type. ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) revealed significant variations whilst Principal Component Analysis (PCA) generated four principal components (PC1, PC2, PC3 and PC4) with higher Eigen values of 1.0 or more (1.4-9.5) accounting for 34.34, 30.03, 18.50 and 12.4% of the total variance respectively. Consequently, majority of the physico-chemical parameters (95.28%) loaded under PC1 and PC2 were having strong positive loading (>0.60) and are mainly responsible for regulating the hydrochemistry of spring waters. Cluster analysis revealed that springs like Kokernag, Achabal, Sherebagh, and Cheshmashahi and Dobinag fall in same cluster having 47-78% similarity while Verinag, Indraznag and Dobinag fall almost in same cluster showing similarity range of 61-80%.

中文翻译：

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克什米尔喜马拉雅淡水泉水质评价与监测——案例研究

本研究设想了对克什米尔喜马拉雅淡水泉进行监测和管理的重要性，因为它们在满足不断增长的饮用水需求和维持各种生态系统服务方面发挥着作用。因此，由于泉水在地质、生态、科学、文化、宗教和社会方面的重要性，泉水存在的一些最紧迫的基本问题是它们的监测和管理。尽管它们发挥着关键作用，但如今弹簧仍不断面临各种类型的威胁。泉水最近具有非凡的重要性，因为它们在提供饮用水、灌溉、维持渔业栖息地、水生生物多样性、地方性、精神丰富、娱乐、美学等方面发挥着作用，尤其是在预测喜马拉雅山气候变化威胁的情况下。在此背景下，开展了一项旨在评估水质状况和泉水潜力的研究，以解决日益严重的缺水问题。本文恳请确定对春季生态系统的主要威胁及其在克什米尔喜马拉雅山的后续监测和管理。该工作的主要研究亮点很好地揭示了优质水质等级和描述 Ca-Mg-HCO3 水类型的泉水的派珀三线图。ANOVA（方差分析）显示显着变化，而主成分分析 (PCA) 生成四个主成分（PC1、PC2、PC3 和 PC4），具有 1.0 或更高 (1.4-9.5) 的更高特征值，分别为 34.34、30.03、18.50 和分别占总方差的 12.4%。因此，大多数物理化学参数（95. 在 PC1 和 PC2 下加载的 28%) 具有很强的正加载 (>0.60)，主要负责调节泉水的水化学。聚类分析显示，Kokernag、Achabal、Sherebagh 和 Cheshmashahi 和 Dobinag 等泉水属于同一聚类，相似度为 47-78%，而 Verinag、Indraznag 和 Dobinag 几乎属于同一聚类，相似度范围为 61-80%。