EMWIS Flash N°74, October 2009

3- The 8th World General Assembly of the International Network of Basin Organizations - INBO - will take in Dakar (Senegal) from 20 to 23 January 2010, at the invitation of the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River - OMVS. The World General Assembly of DAKAR will be organized around the large strategic topic of the necessary implementation of programs for adapting to the consequences of Climate Change in the basins of rivers, lakes and aquifers, either local, national or transboundary. The meeting is open to all INBO Member Organizations and Permanent Observers, and also to all the water Administrations and organizations, interested in Integrated Water Resources Management at the level of river basins over the world. A General Assembly of the African Network of Basin Organizations - ANBO - will also take place in DAKAR on 19 and 20 January 2010. Further information on EMWIS website.

4- The World Bank, together with the European Investment Bank, the Governments of Egypt, France, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia, and the City of Marseille, launched the Marseille Center for Mediterranean Integration (MCMI). The Center will facilitate access to best knowledge and practices and improve cooperation to support development policies geared towards greater integration and convergence in the Mediterranean Region. The Center will offer a platform for public and independent institutions from the region to discuss these challenges learn from each other and strengthen local, national and regional capacities to manage interdependence. The MCMI areas of engagement include five clusters with 14 programs focusing on: urban and spatial development; sustainable development; transport and logistics; skills, employment and labor mobility challenges including youth and; and knowledge economy, innovation and technology.  Further information on EMWIS website.

5- Jordan and Syria discusses issues of common interest, with the sharing of water from the Yarmouk River Basin topping the agenda, according to a Jordanian government official. Meetings on cooperation in water issues between the two neighbors are part of the Joint Jordanian-Syrian Higher Committee meetings, which took place in Damascus recently. The study, which will be carried out jointly by Jordan and Syria, seeks to evaluate the quantity and quality of water resources in the Yarmouk River Basin, identify the causes of their depletion, and propose means to protect the basin from pollution and arbitrary pumping. The study, which also aims to examine the economic impact of ongoing depletion of the basin's water sources, will take one year to complete and will be carried out by a Syrian-based public company for hydrological studies.  Jordan urged Syria several times to stop the cultivation of crops upstream and downstream on the Yarmouk River as the farming activity slows the river's water flow and storage at the Wihdeh Dam.  Further information on EMWIS website.

6- Gaza's underground water system is in serious danger of collapse after Israel's recent assault compounded years of overuse and contamination, according to a report from a key United Nations body. The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) published the report on the environmental condition of the besieged coastal strip following Israel's military assault in the area in late 2008 and early 2009, the UN News Service reported. According to the UNEP, local authorities in Gaza should take the sole aquifer, which supplies 1.5 million Palestinians with agricultural and drinking water, offline until alternative sources can be found. The UNEP estimated that more than 1.5 billion US dollars, much of it for establishing desalination plants to take pressure off underground supplies, would be needed over 20 years to restore the aquifer. Among the concerns were salt-water intrusion from the sea and the over-extraction of ground water, as well as sewage agricultural run-off. Steiner noted that some sewage run-off has been tested as toxic enough to put infants at risk of nitrate poisoning. Further information on EMWIS website.

7- The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group approved on Wednesday, 7 October 2009 in Tunis, a loan of Euro 53.33 million, to finance the Gabal El Asfar Waste-water Treatment Plant (GAWWTP) Project in Cairo, Egypt. The project objective is to improve the quality of waste-water discharged into the drainage system in Cairo East, thereby contributing to improved sanitation and a clean environment for nearly 8 million people living in the area. This phase will provide an additional waste-water treatment capacity of 500,000 cubic meters per day. The waste-water will undergo full treatment, including preliminary, primary and secondary treatment. Provisions are also made to chlorinate the effluent when all the waste-water reaching the drains is adequately treated. The proposed extension will bring the total treatment capacity at the Gabal El Asfar plant to 2.5 million cubic meters per day. Further information on EMWIS website.

8- Egypt's Delta region faces a natural disaster of massive proportions by 2020 unless urgent action is taken to better manage scarce fresh water resources and come up with solutions to mitigate the effects of rising sea levels, according to government officials. The country is facing the dual threat of water needs surpassing resources by 2017, and rising sea levels in the decades ahead inundating much of the fertile Delta region, home to 60 percent of Egypt's 78 million people. Researchers predict the Mediterranean will rise by 30-100cm by the end of the century. A one-metre sea-level rise would submerge Alexandria. Cairo has allocated US$300 million to build concrete walls to protect Alexandria's beaches as part of a "national strategy study" to combat the coming floods. Reduced Nile water flows coupled with Egypt's rapidly growing population have already put a strain on agricultural output. Egypt's problem is compounded by the other 10 Nile basin countries demanding bigger shares of Nile water to compensate for reduced rainfall. Further information on EMWIS website.

9- The Tunisian Minister of equipment, housing and land planning, Slaheddine Malouche said his department has been working since 1992 to rehabilitate the entrance of cities for almost 784 km, an average of around 46 km per year. He recalled here that the department had undertaken since 1987 to protect more than 160 cities and urban areas against floods for investments of around 225 million dinars. Due to the recent floods in the country, the presidential decision to accelerate the work of protection against flooding, resulting in work will begin before the end of 2009 in the cities of El Guettar in the governorate of Gafsa (1.6 million dinars) and the technology hubs of Monastir and El Fejja (2.5 million dinars). For the year 2010, 5 projects to protect against flooding will be dedicated to the cities of Teboursouk, Sousse city Medenine Lsouda (Sidi Bouzid) and Tozeur with a cost of 6.8 million dinars. The budget of protection against flooding will increase in 2011 to 16.5 million dinars to reach a dozen of Tunisian cities. Further information on EMWIS website.

10- At the meeting of October 6, 2009, French senators have particularly considered chapters IV and V of the Bill Grenelle 2 on sanitation and water resources, and one on sea. The reporter, Bruno Sido, has not seen fit to amend the tax base that will serve to fuel the guarantee fund on the sludge and declared himself against amendments specifying that only are concerned the sludge actually applied to agricultural land and therefore likely to generate a risk. These amendments have been removed. The Senate removed the provision of Article 56 which rephrased the optional jurisdiction "clean" communities of agglomeration and had to limit this power to the collection, transportation and stormwater treatment and to exclude wastewater. An amendment of the reporter, Bruno Sido, section 56 adjusts the timing of developing master plans and water management (Sdage) and patterns of land use and water management (Sage). Further information on EMWIS website.

11- The SDAGE 2010-2015 Rhone-Mediterranean Basin (Master Plan for Land and Water Management) was adopted by the basin committee. this master plan should enable the "reconquest" water quality. The Meeting of October 16, 2009 in Lyon was held under the chairmanship of Michael Dantin MEP, Community Advisor for the agglomeration of Chambéry and president of CISALB, during which, the Basin Committee adopted the Master Plan for Land and Water Management (SDAGE) 2010-2015 for the Rhone-Mediterranean basin. It is planning document that sets strategy for aquatic environments in good condition in 2015. The Basin Committee also gave a favourable opinion on the program of measures associated and review of the intervention program of the Water Agency "Rhône-Méditerranée". Further information on EMWIS website.

12- The environmental impact report for the Foix desalination project in the Catalunya province of Spain has been completed and submitted to the supervisory committee. A review of the report is expected in November. Foix is one of two new Catalunyan desalination plants moving forward following the opening of the 200,000 m³/d Llobregat seawater reverse-osmosis plant in Barcelona in July 2009. According to Aiguës del Ter Llobregat, the utility operating the Llobregat plant, the project design for further expansion of desalination at Tordera/Blanes will be completed in November 2009. Together Foix and Tordera will add another 200,000 m³/d to Catalunya's water supply. However, as D&WR discovered on a recent visit to Barcelona, only one train of the ten at the EUR 230 million Llobregat plant, built by Degrémont and DRACE Medioambiente, has so far been used, due to lack of demand. In Catalunya, desalination is very much seen as insurance against drought. Further information on EMWIS website.

13- Spain late last month boosted efforts to bring into effect an international treaty to share and protect rivers and lakes crossing or forming international borders, telling the United Nations General Assembly it was committed to jointly addressing issues of security, development and protection of the environment. The International Convention on the Non-Navigational Use of International Watercourses (UN Watercourses Convention, 1997) is the framework for resolving water disputes and promoting cooperation on water management between states. But the treaty languished for more than a decade well short of the 35 ratifications needed for it to come into effect. Spain becomes the 18th nation to ratify the convention. Spain, one of Europe's largest water users, is no stranger to international water agreements, concluding the Albufeira Convention on river management with Portugal in 1998. It is also a party to the European Water Framework Directive but, like other Mediterranean nations such as Italy and Greece is experiencing difficulties in implementing the directive. WWF-Spain is hoping that the Spanish Government will use its 2010 EU Presidency to promote ratification of the UN Water Courses Convention in addition to seeing it as an impetus to improve its performance in water management at home. Further information on EMWIS website.

14- The Third Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA) Best Practice Conference and Exhibition: "Non-Revenue Water Management in the Arab Region" is an opportunity for leading personnel to delve deeply into the main aspects related to Non-Revenue Water (NRW). It will bring together experts from all stakeholders involved in NRW, especially operators and operational staff from the Arab Region. This Conference and Exhibition is to be hosted by the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA). For the local organisation, IEA-ONEP, an active member of ACWUA is in charge. The event will be realized in joint cooperation with UNW-DPC and UN-HABITAT as their Regional Activity on Capacity Development for Water Efficiency as follow-up of the recommendations of the International Workshop on "Drinking Water Loss Reduction: Developing Capacity for Applying Solutions", held on 3-5 September 2008 in Bonn, Germany. In order to address this problem at the regional level, UNW-DPC and UN-HABITAT are jointly organizing a series of regional workshops. This is the first regional workshop in the Arab region and will ensure a programme which goes beyond purely regional experiences. Further information on EMWIS website.

15- Water supply and flood management, ranks as one of the top three climate adaptation costs in both the wetter and drier scenario, with Sub-Saharan Africa footing by far the highest costs, says a new World Bank report. The study estimates that over the next 40 years, global net annual adaptation costs for municipal and industrial water supply will be between US$ 10.0 billion (EUR 6.8 billion) (wetter scenario) and US$ 11.1 billion (EUR 7.5 billion) (drier scenario). In both scenarios, Sub-Saharan Africa will have to pay nearly two-thirds of these costs. Global adaptation costs for water supply and sanitation infrastructure were estimated to be US$ 700 million (EUR 475 million) per year. Average annual adaptation costs in the health sector for diarrhoea and malaria prevention and treatment lie in a narrow range of US$ 1.3-1.6 billion (EUR 0.88-1.1 billion) a year over the 40-year period 2010-50. A large share of the costs of adaptation in the water supply and flood protection sector could be avoided by adopting better management and water tariff policies, the World Bank report suggests. One important lesson is that "development is the most powerful form of adaptation". Further information on EMWIS website.

16- With land degradation in dryland regions continuing to worsen, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification has agreed on scientist-recommended indicators for monitoring and assessing desertification that signatory countries must report on. The landmark agreement was reached after two weeks of negotiations involving hundreds of scientists and government ministers attending the Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 9) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 21 September to 2 October. Desertification, land degradation and drought deprive people of food and water and force millions to leave their homes. Satellite technologies were recognised as playing an important role in achieving this objective. Further information on EMWIS website.

17- The workshop ‘Water for Integration – Integration for Water’ took place in Brussels on September 28, 2009. This event provided a platform for participants from different sectors to discuss barriers and needs relating to integrated water research. The workshop was organized by the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE) and the European Water Partnership (EWP). The workshop complements the policy review process initiated by the EWP in 2008, through which the ‘Water Vision for Europe for 2030’ was developed and presented at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul. The outcomes of the ‘Water for Integration – Integration for Water’ workshop will feed directly into the vision mapping process which concludes the EWP’s policy review process. Further information on EMWIS website.

18- Agriculture plays a large role in the management of water in the EU. However, there is little consistent information on water use in irrigation. New EU supported research has estimated how much water is used for irrigation in European countries, providing a framework to analyse agricultural pressures on water quantity. Water scarcity is an increasing problem in the EU and the situation is expected to worsen with climate change. In the Mediterranean, irrigation accounts for more than 60 per cent of total water use, whereas in Central and Northern Europe it accounts for just 1 per cent. However, information on water use by irrigation tends to be inconsistent and varies by country. The research, conducted by the European Commission Joint Research Centre, used the crop growth model EPIC (Erosion Productivity Impact Calculator) to estimate European crop irrigation requirements. The results were then averaged nationally to produce annual figures that ranged from 53 litres per m² of irrigated land in Denmark to 1120 litres per m² of irrigated land in Spain. However, likely inefficiencies in transport and irrigation management mean that in reality the figures could be 1.3 to 2.5 times higher. Further information on EMWIS website.

19- Data from earth-observing Landsat satellites plays a central role in a new, award-winning type of mapping that tracks water use. Water-use maps help save taxpayer money by increasing the accuracy and effectiveness of public decisions involving water – for instance, in monitoring compliance with legal water rights. The maps are especially important in dry western states of the USA where irrigated agriculture accounts for about 85 percent of all water consumption. The Landsat-based method can be as much as 80 percent more accurate than traditional measurement methods. The objective nature of the technique assists these states in negotiating Native American water rights, assessing urban water transfers, managing aquifer depletion, monitoring water right compliance, and protecting endangered species. Internationally, Spain, South Africa and Morocco have already begun to employ Landsat-based water-use maps. Further information on EMWIS website.

20- The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is an innovative combination of two satellite measurements that allows scientists to analyze changes in the "greenness" of Earth as viewed from space. The system itself goes back to the 1980's, however, its association with new satellite-based technology nowadays is proving to be particularly useful in some of the world's most contentious hotspots. In 2008, the U.S. Agency for International Development's Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) and a number of other partners used NDVI to monitor wheat yields in Iraq and Afghanistan through a persistent drought that led to the worst yields in a decade. On Tucker's maps, the sparsely vegetated areas of the Sahara and the Sahel region have NDVI values near zero. The dense jungles of Central Africa have an NDVI closer to 1, the highest value. Further information on EMWIS website.

21- Schools and communities in more than 80 countries participated in Global Handwashing Day on October 15 to remind children about the importance of washing hands with soap as a critical habit to keep disease away.  Diarrheal disease and acute respiratory infections kill more than 3.5 million children under the age of five each year, according to UNICEF's State of the World Children Report. But washing hands with soap can reduce child mortality by 44 percent in the case of diarrheal disease, and 23 percent for acute respiratory infections. The Bank carries roughly 26 projects that include hygiene promotion. Further information on EMWIS website.

22- Yann Kerr was one of the scientists that proposed the ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. As Lead Investigator for soil moisture, his role has been to maintain the scientific integrity of the mission as it went from a paper design to a real satellite. In the interview, Yann Kerr talks abour his role in the SMOS project, soil moisture estimation, potential use of soil moisture data, and the after-SMOS project. Kerr highlited a need for a SMOS-like instrument with a spatial resolution adapted to water resource management at a finer scale or an improved sensitivity for sea surface salinity. This future mission will be called SMOSNEXT. Further information on EMWIS website. See also "Countdown to launch SMOS and Proba".

23- EMWIS together with its French National Focal Point “the International Office for Water in Limoges” are planning to implement and update EMWIS multilingual thesaurus: http://www.emwis.net/portal_thesaurus; mainly its Arabic version. Currently, this thesaurus is available in English, French, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Turkish and Greek. We are looking for your collaboration, please do not hesitate to contact us with comments on the current version and/or proposal for new terms that should be added at EMWIS forum.