UNESCO focuses on Water

Urgent action is needed to avoid the planet from facing a 40% shortfall in water supply by 2030. We must dramatically improve the way water is managed globally, in the face of ever-rising demand and the over exploitation of our groundwater reserves.

* Infographic: http://ow.ly/KzMxI
* World Water Day page: http://ow.ly/KzMrI
* See UNESCO's new "Water for a Sustainable World” report: http://ow.ly/KzKjg — with Ila Murugan.

Happy World Water Day: March 22nd

Freshwater is a vital element for human existence and all ecosystems on Earth. This finite resource is an essential ingredient for life and socio-economic development: we need it for food production, energy, industrial and domestic uses. It faces severe pressure from increasing demands to satisfy the needs of a growing population, rapid urbanization, pollution and climate change.


Cooperation is essential to strike a balance between the different needs and priorities and share this precious resource equitably. Since water cuts across all sectors, stakeholders that are not traditionally considered to be water managers must participate. Water cooperation between different social groups, economic sectors, regional governments, countries, and present and future generations, is crucial not only to ensure the sustainable and equitable use of water but also to create and maintain peaceful relations between people.

In 2013, in celebration of the International Year of Water Cooperation, World Water Day is also dedicated to the theme of cooperation around water.

2013 International Year for Water Cooperation

IOC/UNESCO: Addressing Nutrient Over-Enrichment

I recently had the pleasure of spending the New Year in the Pacific Northwest.  During my time there, I traveled along the Pacific coast just south of the Canadian border.  In a region renowned for natural beauty, the rocky shores didn’t disappoint.  Mile after mile of conifers edged waters that looked cold, calm, and clear.

It’s hard to imagine that waters like these could be anything but healthy.  But marine ecologist Dr. Joan Kleypas of the National Center for Atmospheric Research notes that changing CO² levels are already impacting the shellfish industry in the Pacific Northwest.  “This is not a problem in the far distant future,” Kleypas warns.  “This is a problem now.”

In addition to rising CO² levels, marine environments at large have seen substantial increases in nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen.  This uptick in nutrients can be traced in part to human activities such as food production, fossil fuel burning, and wastewater generation from people and industries alike.   In coastal waters, skyrocketing levels of nutrients are leading to ecosystem responses like eutrophication – think dense blooms of phytoplankton – and the ensuing chaos of depleted oxygen levels, i.e., hypoxia.  These changes in the tiny and unseen end in visible damage; the resulting low-oxygen “dead zones” cannot support most marine life.  Five hundred of these hypoxic dead zones have been identified globally already.  Although the world’s oceans are vast, the collective dead zones already cover a total global surface area roughly the size of the United Kingdom.  From sea-grasses to fish, marine ecosystems lose their overall resilience, and human activities that rely on coastal and marine health – fishing, tourism, etc. – suffer as well. 

In order to protect coastal areas, scientific partners have been working to address the root causes of this nutrient over-enrichment.  Earlier this month, an examination of nutrient/ecosystem dynamics was published in Biogeosciences, an interactive open-access journal of the European Geosciences Union.  The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) was an executing partner for this project, coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).  The paper may be found here.

A World of Science shines spotlight on water politics

In the latest issue of A World of Science, a group of experts on water politics provide an overview of the issues likely to dominate the International Year of Water Cooperation beginning in January, of which UNESCO is lead UN agency. The authors explain that arid climates are no more conflict-prone than humid ones, and that conflicts over water erupt in equal measure in rich and poor countries, democracies and autocracies, fortunately on rare occasions: over the past 70 years, incidences of cooperation have actually outnumbered conflicts by two to one.

A second story highlights some of the marvels of human ingenuity inscribed in the Memory of the World Register, to.mark the 20^th anniversary of  UNESCO’s eponymous program.

We learn from a third article that, in less than 50 years, countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea have nearly tripled their demand for natural resources. Today, all 24 countries are ecological debtors. These findings were revealed on 1 October by Global Footprint Network, at a regional meeting in Venice (Italy) organized jointly with UNESCO. UNESCO’s Venice office plans to encourage Southeast European countries to introduce the ecological footprint concept into school curricula, in order to help prepare pupils for their future role as responsible, active citizens.

On 30 November, synthetic biology was one of the themes discussed at a forum organized jointly by UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector and the French NGO Vivagora at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Synthetic biologists, who borrow techniques from engineering to create entirely new life forms, are currently operating in a regulatory vacuum. In an interview, Eric Hoffman from the NGO Friends of the Earth confirms that products containing synthetic organisms are already on the market. He also highlights the risk of some engineered life forms – including viruses – ‘escaping’ from the lab to contaminate other species.

Among the news stories, the developed countries have agreed to double funding for biodiversity protection and Australia has just created the world’s largest marine protected area. Meanwhile, Nigeria is establishing an international biotech institute that will function under the auspices of UNESCO and Teri University in India is to host a UNESCO chair on climate science and policy.

Read the issue (English only): http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002191/219156E.pdf

Home page and free subscription: www.unesco.org/en/a-world-of-science

Correspondence : s.schneegans@unesco.org

UNESCO-IHE Fieldwork Coastal Engineering

In June 2011 UNESCO-IHE Coastal Engineering students participated in a five-day fieldwork exercise at the coast of the Netherlands. The fieldwork is funded by the Building with Nature programme and focuses on swimmer safety around the mega sand nourishment that is currently being completed between Hoek van Holland and Kijkduin.

See also:

Coastal Zone and Port Development specialization page: http://www.unesco-ihe.org/hecepd
Website Building with Nature Programme: http://www.ecoshape.nl

Future water scenarios

William J. Cosgrove is Senior Adviser to the UN World Water Assessment Program for the 4th edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report and the Manager of the World Water Scenarios Project. Mr. Cosgrove is a former vice president of the World Bank, past-president of the World Water Council, and served as chairman of the International Steering Committee of the Cooperative Program on Water and Climate. He was one of the panelists in the UNESCO Future Forum on Global Water Futures 2050+ held on 12 April 2012.

Water Expert Appointed to National Commission

Commission member Rich Meganck on the Upper Deschutes River in Central Oregon 

Newly appointed to the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO is Richard Meganck.

 

After a 34 year career in international development, including a 6.5 year stint as Rector for the UNESCO Institute for Water Education in Delft, the Netherland, Rich has resettled in Oregon with his spouse Janet and their three Pacific Northwest based daughters.

 

Besides his new appointment to the Commission, Rich serves as a member of the U.S. Committee for the International Hydrological Program and is a part-time Fellow at the Institute for Wather and Watersheds at Oregon State University with the support of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers institute for Water Resources (IWR) in association with its International Center for Integrated Water Resource Management UNESCO Category II Center (ICIWaRM). Rich is also consulting with the Brazilian Government to develop a new UNESCO Category II Center in the State of Minas Gerais.

Princeton system tracks drought to aid disaster relief

Drought is often the precursor to disaster, but getting leads on its stealthy approach through remote or war-torn areas can be so difficult that relief agencies sometimes have little time to react before a bad situation becomes a calamity.

The problem is that there is often no easy way to get data about water supplies in these areas — water monitoring stations don't exist, or they don't work, or they are simply too dangerous to operate. Groups such as AGRHYMET, an intergovernmental hydrology, agricultural and food security agency based in Niger, often have to rely on far-flung observers, often volunteers, to obtain the information manually.

"AGRHYMET conducts the drought monitoring for the whole of West Africa from Cape Verde and Mauritania to Chad and Nigeria," said Abdou Ali, a senior scientist with the organization. "Many areas of this region are drought prone. The ground-based data is not enough and even when the data exists, the transmission system is very weak."

But researchers at Princeton University have come up with an approach that dodges those problems and uses satellite data and historical records to track drought as it emerges. Experts believe their monitoring project, installed this month at AGRHYMET's research center in Niamey, Niger, may go a long way in addressing problems related to drought that have long plagued Africa.

UNESCO Involvement

A conversation at a 2006 international conference on the hydrological impacts of climate change led to a working arrangement between the Princeton team and the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

"Africa is a priority for UNESCO, so it fits very well into the strategy to make sure that we have a system in place to have an early warning on drought," said Siegfried Demuth, chief of hydrological systems for UNESCO's Division of Water Sciences. "We are looking to provide the knowledge base, the tools, with which countries can be better prepared."

NASA is also involved in the program.

Read more!

UNESCO: Combating drought in the Horn of Africa

UNESCO begins mapping groundwater in January in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa, in order to bring the population a sustainable water supply. Drought has caused the region’s worst famine in 60 years, with 12 million people at risk of starvation. Those living in refugee camps are particularly vulnerable.

Thanks to advances in geosciences, it is now possible to detect the precise location of groundwater in arid climates like that of the Horn of Africa. UNESCO is using new remote-sensing technology developed by Radar Technologies International to generate high-resolution groundwater potential maps of the area under study. These maps will in turn guide partners in determining where to drill boreholes to bring the water to the surface in a cost effective manner. These partners include UNHCR, UNICEF, USAID and a number of NGOs.

The first stage of the project is being supported by Flemish funds to the tune of US$396,000 with an additional US$100,000 from UNESCO. It involves a series of national consultations organized by UNESCO to mobilize stakeholders, partners and potential donors, followed by a regional workshop and the mapping of groundwater at pilot sites in Ethiopia and Kenya.

Read more from Prevention Web!

Rotary And UNESCO-IHE Join Forces To Educate Water Professionals

The global humanitarian organization Rotary and the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education are teaming up to tackle the world's water and sanitation crisis by increasing the ranks of trained professionals critically needed to devise, plan, and implement solutions in developing countries that bear the brunt of the problem.

Through this new strategic partnership, The Rotary Foundation will provide grants to Rotary clubs and districts to select and sponsor eight students each year for scholarships to any of three Master of Science degree programs at UNESCO-IHE, a United Nations institute in Delft, The Netherlands, that is the world's largest postgraduate water education facility. The school's scholarship-eligible programs are Municipal Water and Infrastructure; Water Management; and Water Science and Engineering.

"This strategic partnership with UNESCO-IHE enables Rotary to work with a globally-recognized leader in the training of water professionals at a time when such experts are desperately needed in many parts of the world," said Rotary Foundation Chair William B. Boyd.

"We are delighted to have this new cooperation with Rotary. The task ahead is no less than training the next generation of water leaders to be equipped to deal with the enormous water challenges ahead in the coming decades," said Prof. Andras Szollosi-Nagy, UNESCO-IHE's Rector.

Read more from the original Water Online source.

World Water Week

2012 World Water Week

26 - 31 August, 2012

Click here to switch to the videos of the closing ceremony, including a summary of the meeting.

Water in Cities

Much Belated Congratulations to the UC Irvine and University of Arizona

In 2007, UNESCO) named the Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing (CHRS) at UC Irvine and the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Sustainability of Semi-arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas (SAHRA) at the University of Arizona joint winners of the 2007 Great Man-Made River International Water Prize.

The prize recognizes outstanding achievements and contributions in advancing the assessment, development, management and use of water resources in arid and semi-arid areas, such as ground and surface water availability and usage in areas subject to drought and desertification.

The two centers were recognized “for their action in strengthening the capacity to manage the water resources of arid and semi-arid areas around the globe through a network of international and regional cooperation.”

Interview with Hans d'Orville, UNESCO ADG for Strategic Planning

Hans d'Orville recorded this message with the UNESCO Institute for Water Education discussing that organization and its fit in the larger program of UNESCO.

Cooperation between UNESCO water resource centers in the United States and the Dominican Republic

UNESCO has designated 66 international and regional institutes and centers as Category II Institutes and Centers, under the auspices of UNESCO. Nominated by member nations, these institutes and centers are recognized by UNESCO for their contributions to the achievement of UNESCO’s strategic program objectives and program priorities and themes. Supported directly by member states, these institutes and centers are not legally part of the Organization, but are associated with it through formal arrangements approved by the UNESCO General Conference.


The International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM) was established by the U.S. Army Institute for Water Resources (IWR) in 2007 in collaboration with U.S. institutions and organizations sharing an interest in the advancement of the science and practice of integrated water resources management (IWRM) around the globe. It was formalized as a UNESCO category 2 water center in October 2009 with the signing of an agreement between the U.S. Government and UNESCO. It is the first such center in the United States.

Bob Pietrowsky, Director of IWR (right)
 and Frank Rodríguez, Executive Director of INDRHI (left)
sign the memorandum of understanding

Earlier this summer on June 30, Bob Pietrowsky, Director of the IWR, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Frank Rodriguez of the Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidraulicos (INDRHI) of the Dominican Republic. The MOU facilitates cooperation between the UNESCO ICIWaRM Category II center hosted by the IWR in Alexandria, VA and the Centro para la Gestion Sostenible de los Recursos Hidricos en los Estados Insulares del Caribe (The Center for the Sustainable Management of Hydorlogical Resources in the Island States of the Caribbean (CEHICA), also a UNESCO Category II Center) hosted by INDRHI.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grant Awarded to UNESCO-IHE and Partners

UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education and partners were awarded a US$8 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will be used to improve postgraduate sanitation education and for research with a focus on solutions for the urban poor in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. This 5-year capacity building and research project was developed by Prof. Damir Brdjanovic, Professor of Sanitary Engineering at UNESCO-IHE and his team.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced this grant at the AfricaSan conference in Rwanda as part of more than $40 million in new investments launching its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene strategy.

"UNESCO-IHE and our partners: the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand, the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) in Indonesia, the International Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE) in Burkina Faso, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana, Makerere University Institute of Environmental, the Natural Resources (MUIENR) in Uganda, the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa, the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil and the Universidad del Valle in Colombia, have been working hand in hand with the Gates Foundation in developing the project ideas and shaping it in a way to address the needs of the 2.6 billion people worldwide who do not have access to improved sanitation," Prof. András Szöllösi-Nagy, Rector at UNESCO-IHE explained. More....

A Colombian house showing the impact of lack of sewerage/

Iraq launches groundwater database to reduce uncertainty in the country’s water supply

Map produced using
MAPS'N'FACTS The Learning Company Software

Representatives of the government, academia and the international community recently met at a high-level gathering in Baghdad to inaugurate the country’s first centralized groundwater database and commission the next phase of the multi-million dollar initiative led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The seminar officially revealed positive phase one results of the nationwide initiative launched in 2010 by UNESCO. Read more.....

Check out UNESCO report on water resources in Iraq!

World Water Day 2011 – 22 March

Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge

The objective of World Water Day 2011 is to focus international attention on the impact of rapid urban population growth, industrialization and uncertainties caused by climate change, conflicts and natural disasters on urban water systems.

This year’s theme, Water for cities: responding to the urban challenge, aims to spotlight and encourage governments, organizations, communities, and individuals to actively engage in addressing the challenge of urban water management.

• Message from the Director-General
• Full story & UNESCO events
• Access the Day’s official website

Transboundary Aquifers: Challenges and New Directions

ISARM 2010: 6-8 December 2010

UNESCO, Paris (France)

This ISARM (Internationally Shared Aquifer Resources Management) conference marks the end of the first, ten-year, phase of the ISARM Programme and the start of the second. It aims to consider the challenges and new directions required for the sustainable development and management of transboundary aquifers.

ISARM is a UNESCO- and International Association of Hydrogeologists-led multi-agency effort aimed at improving the understanding of scientific and socio-economic issues related to the management of transboundary aquifers.