Int. J. Hydrology Science and Technology, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2017 303 Copyright © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Future climatic changes in Lidder basin of west Himalayan region Yasir Altaf* and Manzoor A. Ahangar Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology-Srinagar, J&K, India Email: yasir_04phd13@nitsri.net Email: maahanger@gmail.com *Corresponding author Mohammad Fahimuddin Principal Water Resources Engineer, DHI India Environment Pvt Ltd., New Delhi, 110020, India Email: mfa@dhigroup.com Abstract: In the present study, the multiple linear regression technique was used to downscale outputs from six different global climate models to a local scale in the Lidder river basin. Downscaling was carried out by relating the monthly predictors for A1B emission scenario (AR-4) obtained from six different global climate models with the monthly predictands. The predictor- predictand relationships were found out with reasonable values of coefficient of determination (R2). Subsequently, future monthly and annual projections for precipitation, maximum and minimum temperature up to the end of 21st century using the data from six different GCMs were found out. The results obtained were validated with observed data for the years 2011 to 2014 which showed excellent comparison particularly for the models CGCM3, ECHAM5 and HadCM3. The results obtained using different GCMs show that the climate of the region will be warmer and wetter by the end of 21st century relative to early 21st century. Keywords: general circulation models; downscaling; multiple linear regression; MLR; predictors. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Altaf, Y., Ahangar, M.A. and Fahimuddin, M. (2017) ‘Future climatic changes in Lidder basin of west Himalayan region’, Int. J. Hydrology Science and Technology, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp.303–321. Biographical notes: Yasir Altaf is a Research Scholar at the Department of Civil Engineering National Institute of Technology Srinagar. He received his BTech in Agricultural Engineering from the Shere-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir India in 2010, and MTech in Water Resources Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Srinagar, India in 2012. Currently, he is pursuing his PhD in Water Resources Engineering at the Department of Civil Engineering NIT, Srinagar. His research interests include modern systems of irrigation, climate change, hydrological modelling, ground water modelling and integrated water resources management.