Alpine watersheds often feed their streams through glacier and snow melt water. Glacier and snow melt contribution to streamflow is of importance due to their roles in regulating streamflow over seasonal and decadal scales and because of sensitive responses to climate change. Estimation of glacier and snow melt contribution to streamflow is challenged by insufficient observation data of melt at the basin scale,except at a few experimental glaciers around the world. Here,we attempted to estimate the glacial and snow melt contribution to streamflow using a distributed hydrological model(SWAT-RSG model)capable of simulating glacier and snow melt at the watershed scale. This method can differentiate glacier,ice and snow melts over the basin scale and at daily time steps. Results in a glacier melt-dominated catchment of the Kumaric River,South Tien Shan proved successful. Contribution ratios of glacier melt and ice melt to river discharge was estimated as 53% and 27%,respectively. Seasonal change patterns and inter-annual variation in contribution ratios were also analyzed. The glacier meltwater fed streamflow mainly in summer and contributions of glacier melt and ice melt represented non-significant upward trends from 1961 to 2007. Moreover,ice meltwater was negatively correlated with precipitation and a compensation effectthroughout the dry season mitigating the impact of meteorological runoff deficits. Our work lays a critical theoretical basis for future estimations of glacier-melt contribution to streamflow.