News for 2009/01

• Campaign posters: these may include awareness-raising publicity presentations aiming to clearly demonstrate the importance of water issues.
• Project posters: these refer to posters describing the water-related activities that you have been involved in, reporting on the key lessons learned that should be shared through the Forum.

Due to limited space, applying to present a poster does not necessarily mean that your poster will be selected.

If you would like to take an active role in the Forum by presenting a Campaign or Project Poster, please fill in the application form and send an electronic copy of your poster by 15 February, 2009. Applicants will be informed of the decision regarding their poster shortly after this deadline.
 
Selected posters will be exhibited on both sides of the Forum venue, namely Sütlüce and Feshane. If selected, the 5th World Water Forum Secretariat will decide on the most suitable space for your poster.
 
For further information and queries please contact Ms. Gökçe İnce

Title                A consultation event on the Draft BS 8550 Guide to auditing of water quality sampling

Date                Wednesday, 4^th March 2009

Place               Society of Chemical Industry (directions), 14-15 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PS

Website           www.bsigroup.com/BS8550event

Contact           see footer

The event is intended to present the background to the development of the standard and the results of field trials carried out prior to the publication of the draft for public comment.  Feedback will be requested from those attending the event in order to supplement the documented returns from the public comment stage of the standardization process, and such feedback will form a vital step in the document development prior to publication.

The HYDRIA project: "Collection, storage & distribution of water in antiquity-Linking ancient wisdom to modern needs" was approved by the UNESCO Participation Programme 2008-09.

The HYDRIA project is about the development of a website to promote selected case studies of Water Related Cultural Heritage, with the participation of six Mediterranean countries, namely, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco.

The basic goals of the project is to raise awareness of the wider public & educate youth on water-related Mediterranean cultural heritage and to highlight the possible adaptation of water management systems used in the past to modern needs and realities, giving emphasis to environmental friendly applications; through the development of appropriate educational web -based applications.

Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprises participated to the Horizon 2020 Capacity Building Sub-Group Meeting which took place in Rome on December 9th 2008. This meeting was organised by the European Commission within the Initiative Horizon 2020 and aimed at drafting a road map relating to the work programme adopted at Barcelona concerning the three priority areas: industrial emission, municipal waste and urban waste water.

The meaning ran over one day with two sessions in the morning and two in the afternoon. The discussions of the participants covered the following issues:

• What is meant by capacity building and what should be done?
• What vehicle for regional capacity building
• The work programme

Capacity building can be grouped according to two approaches: 1) Aimed at a particular level/stakeholder (local authorities) and cutting across different sectors (water, waste, …); 2) Aimed at a particular sector but addressing all of the levels/stakeholders that deal with this sector (local, national, regional,…)

For Horizon 2020, the focus should be on measures directly related to the aim of de-pollution with a particular attention to measures linked to pollution reduction projects or monitoring.
Capacity building should be implemented through institutions, organisations or networks active in the Mediterranean.

In the end, it was agreed that a programme will be drafted identifying the main need of each group and then this will be circulated all the members of the steering group for input; this should be done by the end of January. The final draft should be ready in February.

A core group was identified for the drafting of the work programme which will be in charge of this first draft. This core group includes: BUSINESSMED, UNEP/MAP, CP/RAC and MIO.

This conference will take place in Beirut, Lebanon in 22-26 June 2009. It is organised by the National Council for Scientific Research (Lebanon).

Themes:

•   Case studies that could contribute to conference sessions
  • • Soil classification and mapping
  • • Impact of climate change on soil behaviour and productivity
  • • Soil resilience to drought and desertification
  • • Land degradation
  • • Land quality in the framework of soil contamination and decontamination
  • • Secondary soil salinity and soil salinity management
  • • Effective irrigation and fertilization of Mediterranean soils within the context of integrated production
  • • Soil as component of organic farming in the Mediterranean context
  • • Organic amendment to enhance carbon sequestration using composted materials and domestic solid and liquid wastes
  • • Natural and man made hazards associated to soil hydrological, physical and physicochemical properties : Mass movement, soil erosion and sedimentation
  • • Soil forest ecosystems and forest fires
  • • Use of Remote Sensing and GIS for the studies of soil characteristics, soil erosion and mass movement
  • • Management of soil information

Institute of Meteorology and Water Management invites to participate in the International Conference: Water Resources in Europe – the Past, Present and Future. The Conference will be held in Cracow on 19-21 October 2009 in Cracow University of Technology, 24 Warszawska str. in Cracow.

The Conference is organized under the auspices of World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The Conference is under the Patronage of the Minister of the Environment.

The development of the society over the history of civilization was always connected with the access to water. Water was used for municipal, navigational, energetic, industrial, agricultural, recreational purposes and even for shaping of the landscape. Water is indispensable for the live of people and plants. Access to water was and still is the basis of the economic and social development. The lack of water was always the reason of lowering the quality of life and socio-economic situation. In particular, an essential feature is the lack of water resulting in a drought or excess of water leading to flood. Both these phenomena bring important economic, ecological
and social losses. An essential factor is the contamination of water.

Recently observed climatic changes result in more frequent appearance of extreme phenomena (floods, droughts, hurricanes, rain or hail storms). These situations require the system approach to the management of water resources, accurate measurements and forecasting based on model results.

The main assumption of the water policy of European Union is the principle of sustainable development, protection of water quality and water dependent ecosystems. Poland is the country of scarce water resources and insufficient hydraulic infrastructure.

The aim of this International Conference is the presentation of the existing state of the water resources and water management in Europe and in various European countries as well as the forecast of this state in the near and far future. The subject of the conference are inland surface and ground waters.

The Conference will be held in Cracow – the city of vast historic traditions, numerous interesting monuments, ancient capital of Poland. In he city located on Vistula River, the queen of Polish rivers. During the conference there will be study excursion to the important hydraulic project: dam, reservoir and hydraulic power plant Czorsztyn-Niedzica on Dunajec River. This project was commissioned in 1997.

Conference language will be Polish and English. Simultaneous interpretation will be secured.

CONFERENCE TOPICS:

• Water balance of Europe and European countries (amount, quality, use)
• Water balance of Poland in the past, present and in the perspective of 2020
• Water resources of Poland in comparison to other European countries
• Methods for the assessment of surface and ground water resources
• Water resources in view of possible climate changes
• Systems of the protection of surface and ground water resources
• Methods of the adaptation of water-economic systems to the changing climate conditions
• Sustainable use of surface and ground water resources
• Existing and designed new hydraulic projects and their influence on water resources

Registration forms, abstracts and full text of the papers must be send electronically to the conference address: konferencja@imgw.pl
Abstracts should be send by e-mail to: konferencja@imgw.pl not later than 31 January 2009.
www.imgw.pl link international conference 2009.

On behalf of the Society, the local organising committee are very pleased to invite you to submit papers to
the RSPSoc 2009 Annual Conference ‘New Dimensions in Earth Observation’ on the following topics. Please
see our web site for details of workshops and side events.

Download the call for papers (click on PDF image - 1 MB).

This conference will be held in Leceister, UK in 8-11 September 2009.

15th February 2009: Abstract submission portal opens at: www.rspsoc2009.org
27th March 2009: Deadline for abstract submission
8th April 2009: Registration portal opens at: www.rspsoc2009.org
30th April 2009: Abstract acceptance notification
30th June 2009: Deadline for submission of full paper

The IMPETUS Africa Conference "Global Change in Africa - Projections, Mitigation and Adaptation" will be held from June 2^nd to 5^th 2009 at the University of Cologne (Flyer Second Circular).

On this website, you can

• find the agenda with the schedule of speeches on individual GLOWA projects
• sign up for the conference
• get directions to the conference location and useful maps
• book your accomodation online

This conference will be held in Lyon (Fance) in 26-28 October 2009. Key themes for the programme have been drawn up on the basis of feedback from our International Steering Committee, and participants of HYDRO 2008 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Abstracts of proposed papers are called for by 30 January.

Lyon, in a beautiful and easily-accessible part of France, will be the perfect venue for HYDRO 2009, allowing for site visits to important French dams and hydro plants.  The French Government is strongly supporting the conference: major partners being EDF, Compagnie Nationale du Rhône and GDF Suez.

In recognition of the greater impetus for hydro development worldwide, the solid commitment of international financing agencies, and (despite anxieties about recession in many parts of the world) the large number of hydro schemes now moving ahead in developing countries, we have made the sub-title of this year's event ‘Progress - Potential - Plans'. This is intended to represent progress in all sectors of the profession: greater sensitivity to environmental and social aspects; refinements in technology to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and protect the environment; new ways to maximize the benefits of existing and new hydro facilities; new approaches to financing; and, experience with new strategies.

A number of workshops, inter-active debates and side events hosted by national and international professional associations will run alongside HYDRO 2009. Supporting organizations include IEA, ICOLD, ESHA and the British Hydropower Association.

The international hydro community - owners + operators, consultants, international financiers, contractors, manufacturers, researchers, and others - will assemble at HYDRO 2009. If you are active in the field of hydropower development, your presence and your input to the discussions will be welcome.

Send abstracts before the 1st of March.

Since the 19^th century large-scale water resource development has led to the extensive development of irrigation areas, supply of water to ever expanding megacities, and the construction of massive infrastructures for hydropower and flood control. But it has also been associated with an ideology of domination of nature by steel and concrete. In many countries this 'hydraulic mission' has been carried out by –and has also given rise to- powerful water bureaucracies that, often up to these days, have acquired and sustained enormous power. This power was bureaucratic, through the command of large budgets and the control of decision-making on what to build and where, but also expanded socially (i.e. the prestige attached to the engineering profession), politically (through close relationships between both local and national politicians and state bureaucrats), and economically (due to their proximity with construction companies and consulting firms, either national or foreign). Relatively little scholarly work has investigated the role of these state water bureaucracies in the development of water resources, environmental transformations and state-citizen relationships, although exceptions include institutions like the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers, in the US. Many other countries like France, Spain, the Netherlands, UK, Australia, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, etc. have seen the emergence of powerful water bureaucracies. This special issue will include case studies from various countries that will emphasize the inner historical transformations and the role of these water bureaucracies in the transformation of landscapes, as well as in the formation of the state and wider social relationships.

Potential contributors interested in this topic can send an abstract to WaA before the 1^st of March 2009. After selection of articles authors will be requested to send their articles before the 30^th of May. Papers will be reviewed and published as a special issue in the WaA issue of October 1.

Organizer of the 3rd International Conference "Remote Sensing - the Synergy of High Technologies", Sovzond Company, is still taking registrations for Conference, to be held from 15 to 17 April 2009 in Atlas Park-Hotel near Moscow. Early bird registration expires by 31 January 2009.

Main topics of the forthcoming conference are

• Up to date technologies and development trends of Russian and foreign Earth remote sensing programs;
• Software systems, technologies and solutions for data processing from leading international and Russian developers;
• Applications of remote sensing data for different fields;
• Hits and misses while project implementation using satellite imagery and GIS;
• Comprehensive approach of brand new ERS technology application for information analysis support of situational centers.
• Innovative features of space vehicles for the purpose of effective social and economic development of Russian regions.

This 3^rd International Conference "Remote Sensing - the Synergy of High Technologies" all state and commercial companies, interested or specialising in GIS, cartography, cadastre or busy with  oil&gas special projects, power engineering, urban and municipal management, forestry, water industry and agriculture, ecology and environmental management. You are welcome to share your experience or to ask research and production leading organisations from all over the world about application and processing of remote sensing data and development trends of remote sensing industry.

--
Bring to notice also the following important dates: 1^st February 2009 - deadline for report name submission (speakers); and 2^nd March 2009 - deadline for abstracts and advertising layout submission to the catalogue (speakers)

Cyprus runs the risk of desertification by the end of this century as it feels the brunt of climate change and drought, an expert warned. Studies project a rise in summer temperatures on the east Mediterranean island of between two and four degrees this century, compared to the 1960 to 1990 reference periods, Professor Manfred Lange, a geophysicist, said in an interview. "I think that there is a very definite potential for dramatically increasing desertification," said Lange, director of the Energy, Environment and Water Research Centre at the non-profit Cyprus Institute. By the end of this century, Cyprus can expect an extra two months of days with temperatures exceeding 35 degrees centigrade (95 fahrenheit) on top of the present summer months of June, July and August, Lange said. There is also likely to be less rainfall and increased evaporation because of higher temperatures.

"Cyprus will in fact become more like Abu Dhabi or other states that we know because there is just not enough water," he said. Cyprus now uses energy-intensive desalination to meet some of its water requirements, while its population of around one million live with rationing and a permanent hosepipe ban. Lange said enforcement must be stringent."People want water but if you want to avert desertification, we need to let nature have its share," he said, adding that while climate change could be slowed, it could not be reversed.

The Cyprus Institute is examining the use of concentrated solar power to co-generate electricity and potable water through desalination, technology Lange said could be used elsewhere. "Cyprus could become somewhat of a showcase for this kind of technology and could develop an industry that would indeed then offer to market these devices to neighbouring countries," he said.

Three companies are said to be shortlisted for a project to build a floating desalination plant to supply the southern coastal town of Limassol, according to Sofoklis Aletraris, head of Cyprus' Water Development Department, quoted in the Financial Mirror on 11 January 2009.

The Cyprus government plans to buy water from a floating desalination platform, to be installed off the southern coastal town of Limassol, Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Michalis Polinikis has said.

This will be the country's second floating desalination plant with a capacity of 20,000-50,000 m³/d (5.3 to 13.2 MGD) and is expected to operate for five years until another permanent plant can be built at Episkopi.

At the same time, the Council of Ministers approved the establishment of a committee to oversee the construction of desalination units in Cyprus, following the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment, Michalis Polynikis. The minister has also set in motion an upgrade for the Dhekalia plant.

The head of the Water Development Department Sofoklis Aletraris said that there are now 3,58 cubic metres of water in all the reservoirs, compared to 6,10 last year.

“Water needs for Cyprus, except Pafos, in 2007 were 212.000 cubic metres and we expect a 5 per cent increase,” he said, noting also that there are still 3 million cubic metres of water to be imported from Greece, a process expected to be completed by the end of March.

He said following a government invitation for interest in a floating desalination unit, there are now three companies short-listed for the project.

Cyprus is faced with severe drought; rainfall in the past 2-3 years has been very limited. Last year, the government imposed restrictions in the supply of water to households but essential services such as hospitals are spared.

Mr. Christodoulos Artemis, Director of the Water Development Department (WDD) since 2001, is on pre-retirement leave until 28/2/2009 when he officially retires.

The new Water Director has been nominated. He is Mr. Sofoclis Aletraris, the new head of Cyprus' Water Development Department'.

“Water resources belong to all citizens and should be handed out equally, regardless on the geographic location of various wells, dams and boreholes,” said General Auditor Chrystalla Yiorkadji, asking for prices to increase in areas where they are charged less.

At present, local village councils and water boards have discretion in adjusting water rates, which has resulted in an unfair situation whereby water charges vary depending on where one lives. The tri-monthly water bill for an average household (estimated at 45m²) would be €42 in Nicosia, €31 in Larnaca, €16 in Limassol, €27 in neighbouring Pareklissia and a staggering €225 in Pissouri. Punitive water rates were introduced by some village councils in the summer as a measure against excessive consumption.

The deadline of the Prize which will be awarded to one Turkish and one foreign journalist for their excellence on published works related to water issues, was extended to 15 February 2009. Apply for the prize.

Purpose and Theme of the Prize

Turkey, as the host country of the 5th World Water Forum, aims to honour individuals who have contributed to society’s increased awareness of water-related issues, through the endowment of a prize. The importance of the media in fostering a paradigm shift in public opinion cannot be underestimated.

Within this context, it has been decided to organize the Turkish Republic Prime Minister’s Water Prize, which will be an award to journalists, during the 5th World Water Forum which will take place between March 16th and 22nd, 2009 in Istanbul.

The Turkish Republic Prime Minister’s Water Prize will be awarded for the first time during the 5th World Water Forum, and will be offered to one local and one foreign journalist for their excellent published works on water-related issues, in the Turkish and non-Turkish press. From among the applicants, one Turkish winner and one non-Turkish winner will be selected by a distinguished jury which will consist of international water experts and journalists.

The Prize Money

The total amount of the prize is € 40 000. This prize will be given to one Turkish and one non-Turkish journalist after the screening process of their submissions of an article published in the Turkish or non-Turkish press. Each winning journalist will receive a prize of €20 000.

Relationship to the 5th World Water Forum

The World Water Forum is a process which aims to raise the importance, awareness and understanding of water issues and propose concrete solutions to address global challenges. The challenge face by those involved in the organization of the 5th World Water Forum is to make it a turning point for water management in the world. The 5th World Water Forum will bring the world to Istanbul to improve our understanding of divergent points of view and allow us to share solutions.

The general theme of the prize, which is at the same time the main theme of the 5th World Water Forum, is “Bridging Divides for Water”. This theme implies bridging divides between east and west; north and south, the rich and the poor; developed and developing countries; and supply and demand. Furthermore, it describes the reconciliation of these differences for a better management of water resources. This theme also emphasizes the need for greater interaction, communication and functional harmonization of the various entities involved in or affected by water management, and sends out a message to the water community that water is not an end in itself, but rather a means for our development and well-being.

Applicants shall associate their published works to the overarching theme of the Forum, “Bridging Divides for Water”.

Definition of candidates

Any journalist whose work has been published in the Turkish or non-Turkish press can be a candidate for the Turkish Republic Prime Minister’s Water Prize.

Criteria to evaluate applications

Certain criteria will be taken into account in the evaluation of the candidates’ applications. The candidates should pay attention to the criteria mentioned below:
a) The originality and the quality of the article in terms of their content.
b) The impact of the article on public opinion on water-related issues.
c) The article’s association with the 5th World Water Forum’s main theme “Bridging Divides for Water”.

Application documents

The following documents are requested to validate the application:

1. The article written or co-written by the candidate.
2. A completed Application Form.
3. An explanatory article (approximately 400 words) which describes the association of the candidate’s work to the 5th World Water Forum’s main theme “Bridging Divides for Water”.
4. The CV (curriculum vitae) of the author(s).

Applications will be accepted through the 5th World Water Forum’s Virtual Meeting Space (VMS), up to February 15th, 2009.

(A map of Jordan and the surrounding region highlighting the Disi Aquifer and the proposed Red-Dead project.)

With worrying frost alerts in Jordan getting farmers anxious, Jordanians are also seeing a rainless season this year, increasing their fears that crops will collapse. Last week, officials had been calling on its citizens to pray for rain, a common practice done in Israel among religious Jews as part of their daily prayer ritual.

Since the report of a persistent drought, by the IRIN news, rain has come to the region. So we hope the farmers prayers, at least for this week, have been answered. But, we learn, the rainwater insufficiently filled up Jordan's storage facilities. 

By the end of December, almost no rain had fallen on Jordan, says IRIN, threatening crops of vegetables, wheat and barley. Farmers from Deir Ala, in the northern Jordan Valley, said that their government had stopped pumping water to their farms for irrigation in order to keep drinking water reserves stocked.

"I only pray that rain falls very soon, or else I will lose all my harvest," said Salim Abdullah to IRIN. He's a farmer with 100 dunums of barley on the outskirts of Kerak.

Water talks has become an issue of regional importance and survival. A conference on the Mediterranean region was held on December 22nd and hosted by the European Union on Jordan's side of the Dead Sea to discuss ways of fighting climate change and its inevitable impact on water resources.

According to IRIN, of the 19 countries that took part in the one-day event, Jordan was the poorest in terms of water resources. While activists fervently oppose the Dead Sea-Red Sea canal over here in Israel, Jordanian officials, it seems are in favor.

They presented their case to donors with a call to support the canal (which by the IRIN, was reported as a long sought-out solution). It might prove to be the only life line for the 5.6 million population as water resources continue drying, the online newspaper reports.

Implementing the Dead Sea-Red Sea canal project

• could be harder than Jordanians hoped, according to Jordan's former minister of water Hazem al-Nasser. He said political problems among the neighbours might delay the project.

• Meanwhile, the Israeli minister of infrastructure Binyamin Ben-Eliezer [who is planning on building a coal-fired power plant in Israel] said his country strongly supports Jordan's calls for building the canal. He said Jordan would pump around 60 percent of the water from the canal while Israel and the Palestinian territories would get the remaining 40 percent combined.

If completed, the Dead Sea-Red Sea project would provide Jordan with a primary source of energy.

Cutting through the desert bordering Jordan and Israel in Wadi Araba, the canal would carve out a natural borderline between the two countries. A total of 650 million cubic metres would be pumped from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea annually.

According to IRIN: "A rapid decline in Dead Sea water levels has alarmed environmentalists in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories who fear the biblical site might dry up within 50 years."

World Bank experts, as we've read, are assessing the environmental impact. Egyptians warn that the Sinai coral reefs will be put in harm's way. From a personal point of view, I don't think the canal should be built.

• EMUNI Contact Group (20 January)
• EMPA Working Group on Financing the Assembly and Revision of the EMPA Rules of Procedure (21 January)
• EMPA Ad Hoc Committee on Energy and Environment (23 January)
• EMPA Political Committee (28 January)
• EMPA Bureau (29 January)
• EMPA Economic Committee (6 February)
• EMPA Culture Committee (9 February)
• EMPA Plenary Session (16-17 March)
• EMPA Ad Hoc Committee on Energy and Environment (18 May)

The first call for proposals on standard projects for the ENPI CBC ‘Mediterranean Sea Basin' Programme will be launched by the end of February, according to a press release.

Representatives of participating countries approved the text and other details of the call at a meeting of the second Joint Monitoring Committee in Jordan on January 14-16.

The press release added the Programme's website would be online from mid-February.

The launch seminar is expected to take place in Cagliari following the publication of the first call for proposals.   Fifteen countries are currently participating in the Programme, including seven EU member states (Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain) and eight Mediterranean partner countries (Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia).

The Programme aims at promoting cross-border projects between local actors from the two shores of the Mediterranean Sea in the fields of socio-economic development, environmental sustainability, mobility of persons, goods and capitals, cultural dialogue and local governance. The Programme has a budget of €173 million for the period 2007-2013.  

Press release 

The EuropeAid Cooperation Office has awarded the service contract for the "Information and communication campaign support in the ENPI countries and territories", with publication reference EuropeAid/126683/C/SER/Multi, funded by its Regional Programme.   

The date of award of the contract is 29 December 2008 and its value is € 5,493,500, according to the award notice.

• Supporting the communication activities of the EC and its Delegations in the countries that benefit from the ENPI.
  
• Increasing knowledge about the activities of EU-funded Regional Programmes in both the ENPI South and ENPI East regions.

Soil and terrain information is needed for many interpretations for example in the field of agriculture, environment, watershed management, infrastructure, etc. but available data are often inaccessible, incomplete, or out of date. The Group on Earth Observations - GEO plans a Global Earth Observing System and, within this framework, the e-SOTER project addresses the felt need for a global soil and terrain database. As the European contribution to a Global Soil Observing System, it will deliver a web-based regional pilot platform with data, methodologies, and applications, using remote sensing to validate, augment and extend existing data.

As the European contribution to a Global Soil Observing System, e-SOTER will create a web-based regional pilot platform to deliver soil information that can be used directly by policy makers and managers; it will also make available the methods and techniques that have been used to create the information.

The project e-SOTER is a collaborative research  project of 14 partners in Europe, China and Morocco, with European Union funding through the FP7 mechanism. 

The Conference foresees several keynote speeches by invited experts, the presentation of Final Outputs and some of Case Study experiences. Final session will be dedicated to the formalisation of a protocol with stakeholders on the establishment of Network on Water Stress Mitigation.

The invited guests to the event include representatives of the European Commission, the UN World Water Assessment Program - UNESCO, the Arab Water Council, local stakeholders from both the private and public sectors and other distinguished experts and water professionals.

More information and registration information

The conference "The 12th Biennial Conference of Mediterranean Network: Hydrological Extremes in Small Basins" took place on 18-20 September 2008 at the Jagiellonian University, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management in Cracow, Poland. There were 109 participants from 22 countries with 42 oral presentations and 60 posters.

The topics were: predictions of stream- flow response in controlled and uncontrolled catchments, hydrological models calibration, hydro-chemical and geomorphological responses to the extremes, interactions between surface- and ground-water, extreme value statistics, and model data-time-step dependency on basin characteristics. Traditionally, one session was devoted to new ideas in hydrological research.

The conference started from the address by the ERB International coordinator, Piet Warmerdam of the Wageningen University (The Netherlands) who briefly reviewed the ERB objectives. Then, the Director of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management in Cracow, Bolesław Domański, presented a short introduction to the history of the Jagiellonian University, with the first geography chair in Central Europe, founded in 1849.

Conference website

The 1st Arab Water Forum (AWF) was held at the King Fahd Cultural Centre in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in conjunction with two other big events: the 3rd International Conference on Water Resources and Arid Environments, and the awards ceremony of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water. The Arab Water Council (AWC) is set to organize Arab Water Forums (AWF) every three years prior to the World Water Forums to become the most important inclusive water-related event at the regional level. The objective of the AWFs is to mobilize all water stakeholders in the region, to identify priorities of water-related issues and define solutions that can successfully address regional and country specific water challenges.

The AWF comes only four months before the 5th World Water Forum (WWF5) that will be held in Istanbul on 16-22 March 2009 with the main theme “Bridging Divides for Water”. Hence, the AWF focussed on presenting and discussing the progress of the MENA/Arab Region’s preparatory processes towards the WWF5, for which the AWC acts as the regional coordinator.

The preparatory documents of 1st AWF are available on the Arab Water Council web site [please note that many of the links were broken on 22 Dec 2008].

The Water Demand Initiative for the Middle East and North Africa (WaDImena) presented progress and findings of its applied research and pilot projects at the AWF. See a list of presentations below:

• Water Governance in MENA Region InWent experience
• GICs in Tunisia - by A BelHassan
• Greywater reuse in Jordan - by N AlHmoud
• Greywater reuse in Lebanon - by Ghogassian
• Saline water use in Morocco - by M Chati
• Wastewater reuse in Palestine - by M AbuMadi
• Bridging divides bet rich & poor - by H Laamrani S AbdDayem K AbuZeid M Hefny
• Challenges of WDM in MENA - by H Laamrani
• Inwent experience in MENA - by V Detlef
• Theme 4 Governance and Management - by H Laamrani
• WDM Tunisian experience - A Hamdane
• WDM in Jordan

Source: IDRC, 27 Nov 2008

Water scarcity was the main focus of the first Arab Water Forum and exhibition, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 15-19 November 2008. The forum was held concurrently with the third International Conference on Water Resources and Arid Environments (2008). Both were inaugurated by His Royal Highness Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Al-Saud, Assistant Minister for Defence and Aviation and High Commissioner for Military Affairs.

In his opening statement, HH Prince Khaled underlined the importance of the three-day event in strengthening knowledge and exchanging environmental information across the region. This would help develop appropriate approaches to dealing with the current challenges, most important of which being water scarcity under global warming conditions. Over 400 delegates were present. These included ministers or deputy ministers for water, irrigation or environment of NENA countries; experts and representatives of governmental institutions from Germany, Italy, Japan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Viet Nam, the United Kingdom and the United States; and international organizations such as IFAD. The Fund also organized a stand at the forum’s exhibition to illustrate its experience in addressing water issues in the rural areas of the NENA region.  The stand was visited by HH Prince Khaled, participating ministers and delegates.

HE Dr Abdullah Al-Hussein, Minister for Water and Electricity of Saudi Arabia, said his country was devoting enormous efforts to rationalizing and making best use of its unrenewable underground water resources. At the same time, it was developing alternative solutions that would maximize benefits from seawater, other saline water and grey water.

The forum was also addressed by HE Dr Mahmoud Abu Zeid, Minister for Water and Irrigation of Egypt and President of the Arab Water Council. Dr Abu Zeid emphasized the need for a comprehensive Arab water policy and better policy frameworks that would enable more investment in the water sector and greater technical cooperation and exchange of knowledge across the region. Participants could attend three sessions, the first of which featured several presentations by high-level experts on water policies. It also included presentations on the “nuclear option” for seawater desalination in Arab countries, the effects of political borders on sustainable management of aquifers resources shared by Arab countries, and the need for a bold water strategy for Arab countries and for an Arab water sustainability index. Issues related to governance of water resources in the Palestinian territories, a prerequisite for peace and stability, were also discussed.

At the second session, dedicated to water resources management, presentations were made, among others, on the sustainable use of non-conventional water resources; a group decision support system for ranking water resources projects; the evaluation of the economic aspects of “virtual water” in the Middle East and North Africa; public-private partnerships in basic irrigation services; and the role of research for the sustainable development of wadi systems.

The third session focused on the regional process of the Fifth World Water Forum to be held in Istanbul in March 2009, with introductions by the World Water Forum Secretariat, the World Water Council and the Arab Water Council. Presentations addressed the many issues to be discussed in Istanbul on each of the five thematic chapters of the regional report to the World Forum.

This issue covers the following main topics:

1. Fifth Session of the Consultation and Advisory Gender Committee, Rome, 11 December 2008;
2. Seminar "Le Signore dell'Acqua" (The Ladies of Water), Rome, 11 November 2008;
3. World Rural Women's Day and De@Terra Award - 8th Edition, Rome, 10 December 2008;
4. A National Scientific Day on The Role of Women in Irrigation Water Management Under Scarcity, Jordan, 22 December 2008;
5. Launching of the National Observatory for Women in Agriculture and Rural Areas (NOWARA), Lebanon, 28 October 2008;
6. Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook Newsletter # 1.

Identification of Potential Areas for Implementation of the Membrane Bioreactors (MBR) Domestic Wastewater treatment plants in peri-urban and rural areas in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Countries:

The purpose of this questionnaire is to check the potential of considering Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) wastewater treatment plant as a valid option for treating the domestic wastewater in the rural areas in selected MENA region countries.

The MBR applications for sewage treatment witnessed rapid development from the early 1990's. At present two types of MBR processes for sewage treatment are available, both feature out-to-in permeate filtration and comprise either flat sheet or hollow fiber membrane modules.

MBR is a combination of activated sludge treatment together with filtration by micro-or ultra filtration membranes and produces high quality of microbial and suspended matter free effluents. The later step replaces the final clarifiers used in the conventional activated sludge treatment. The physical barrier imposed by the membrane system provides complete disinfection of the treated effluent without need for use of chlorination or other disinfection methods. It also enables attainment of high sludge concentrations in the reactor, and therefore permits to reduce the required over all plant size and footprint and/or sludge production.

Recent experimental and practical implementation of the MBR technology showed that the rate of BOD and COD removal is more efficient in this technology than the other treatment technologies. In addition to the benefit of scaling down the necessary space for the treatment plant and the number of plant components. Current operated MBR treatment plant showed that the effluent BOD₅ could reach 5 mg/l while the percentage of COD removal could reach around 97%. Removal of bacteriological species without use of disinfection is an important added advantage of MBR.

The initial cost of the plant is less than the traditional plants that can produce the same quality of effluents, for the operation and maintenance costs they are relatively less than the traditional treatment plants except for the spare parts.

The study of financial and economical feasibility of the adaptation of the MBR treatment plants at rural areas in the MENA countries showed that such a plant will be feasible and financially validated.

This is a questionnaire requesting you to and kindly complete it - or fill it out to the extent you are able to, and email back to inwrdam@nic.net.jo

Using participatory approaches in water resources management has become extremely vital to insure achieving a mutual goal and come up with a win-win situation among stakeholders. IUCN West Asia/Middle East Regional Water Resources & Drylands Programme (REWARD) in cooperation with MercyCorps conducted a training workshop on Participatory Approach for Integrated Water Resources Management in Jordan during 4-6 January 2009.

This workshop focused on enhancing the technical skills of participants in participatory water resource management plans, giving special attention to developing strategies, visioning, assessments, implementation and reflections.

This training workshop was conducted in response to the memorandum of understanding that was signed between IUCN WAME REWARD Programme and MercyCorps in November 2008. This agreement aims at improving the cooperation between both parties in capacity building for local communities in Zarqa governorate and MercyCoprs staff on participatory planning, management and facilitation skills. In addition, both organizations shall explore funding opportunities, exchange field visits between projects' stakeholders, and funding pilot initiatives in overlapping areas.

Twenty participants from Ministry of Environment in Jordan, Royal Society for Conservation of Nature (RSCN), Arab Women Organization of Jordan, in addition to MercyCorps, Royal Scientific Society and the University of Jordan have participated in this workshop.

This workshop will help improve the cooperation and unify the efforts at Zarqa Governorate among all the Stakeholders, especially with the four projects that are being implemented at Zarqa Governorate from different organizations at the same time. The projects are; Zarqa River Restoration Project implemented by Ministry of Environment in cooperation with IUCN, Water Right project implemented by the Arab Women Organization, Water for School Project which will be implemented by RSCN in cooperation with IUCN and finally the Community-based initiative for Water Demand Management project implemented by MercyCorps.

EMWIS Technical Unit is managing a project funded by the DG Env of the European Commission, entitled "Towards a Mediterranean Water Information Mechanism compatible with the Water Information System for Europe (WISE)". The objective of this project is to prepare a Mediterranean information mechanism on water which is compatible with the Water Information System for Europe -WISE- and that will support the Med Joint Process between the EU Water Initiative and the Water Framework Directive. This mechanism will stream line the access to quality data related to water in the Mediterranean Partners Country (MPC).

The The objective of this tender launched by EMWIS is to prepare technical guidelines to ensure the interoperability between WISE, the NWIS developed by the MPC and the Med water information mechanism.

These technical recommendations will be based on existing EU standards and guidelines (INSPIRE directive, WFD guidance documents, WISE architecture and SEIS principles).

The work to be carried out by the Consultant must result in:

• Comparison between WISE and emerging Med WIS
• Definition geographical references for MPC

The intended commencement date is March 2009 and the period of execution of the contract will be maximum 6 months from this date.

The maximum budget available to carry out this contract is 12 000 EUR (including all taxes, but excluding travels and daily allowance). 

For full details on the tendering procedures, refer to the Practical Guide to contract procedures financed from the General Budget of the European Communities in the context of external actions, which may be downloaded from the following website: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/index_en.htm

Applications should be submitted by Fax (+33 4 9294 2295) or email (info(at)semide.org) before 12h00 AM Central European Time on Monday 16 February 2009.

Candidates should send their application including a price offer and a brief technical description of their proposal to full-fill the objectives described in the Terms of reference, including an implementation planning and CVs of experts. The evaluation criteria are described hereafter.

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EVALUATION CRITERIA:
Technical evaluation (80%)

• Experience / knowledge on WISE -Water Information System for Europe
• Experience / knowledge on National Water Information System: design and their implementation
• Experience with Mediterranean Partner countries, especially in the field of water data and information management
• Overall quality of the approach proposed

Financial evaluation (20%) will be based on the best price offer 

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Relevant background information:

• Relevant information on EMWIS can be found at: www.emwis.net.
• Information on the feasibility study related to the Mediterranean water observatory mechanism and status in Med countries: www.semide.net/medwip
• Water themes and data in WISE: http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/water/welcome-towater-information-system-for-europe-wise
• WISE technical development library: http://eea.eionet.europa.eu/Public/irc/eionetcircle/eionet-telematics/library?l=/technical_developments&vm=detailed&sb=Title
• The consultant will also be informed of the activities related to setting up a metadata catalogue currently under way in the framework of the same project (work-package 2).

Rainfall has been incredibly scarce through the middle of January -
the worst in recorded Israeli history - and is not expected to
improve significantly, he said.

In spite of a successful conservation campaign among the public,
cutting 100 mcm. off of agriculture's allocation, reducing gardening
to the bare minimum and desalinating water, the paucity of rainfall
this year has Water Authority forecasters predicting a shortage.

At the end of the briefing, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered the
Water Authority to come up with another emergency plan within a very
short time to address the problem.

Water Authority spokesman Uri Schor told The Jerusalem Post Sunday
night that they needed the public's assistance to bridge the gap.

"We have to reduce demand. Israelis use a relatively large amount of
water and we need to get out the message that there just isn't any
water [and so people must conserve]," he said.

While urging the public to conserve water, Schor said the authority
had no intention of rationing water to households at any point.

In comparison, Jordan rations its citizens' water quite severely.

Schor said that they had brought in small portable desalination pumps
and had increased the existing large plants' output, but there was
still going to be a deficit.

Water Authority head Prof. Uri Shani presented the ministers with
graphs showing that the median rainfall in Lake Kinneret from 1980 to
2007 was 328 mcm. per year. By 2006, that number had dropped to 220
and even further in 2007/8 to 82.

For 2008/9, they were expecting just 45 mcm. of rain to fall in the
Kinneret, Shani said.

The probability of such a dry year following four dry years was zero,
he added.

Current drought predictions far exceed those the authority had
included in its emergency plan. Even in a lean year, their prediction
was that 335 mcm. more rain would fall. Now, however, the Water
Authority is predicting that just 60% of the median amount of rain
will fall in 2009, or 626 mcm. Their original predictions from
several months ago forecast a lean year of 961 mcm. of rain.

Even when submitting its emergency plan, the authority was aware its
predictions could turn out to be too generous. However, they declined
to detail what extra measures they would take to make up the
shortfall, saying they would wait until the end of January to see if
the extreme measures were needed.

Within the scope of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO, an international symposium on "The Role of Hydrology in Water Resources Management" was held on the isle of Capri from 13-16 October 2008. The symposium was also supported by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS).

The purpose of the symposium was to discuss ways to achieve a stronger involvement of hydrologists in decision processes impacting on the water balance. At the symposium, hydrologists and decision makers from the fields of politics, economy and social sciences active in the broader periphery of hydrology or whose decisions have a sustainable impact on water resources, were invited to discuss these topics. In doing so, the environmental aspects were to be taken into account.

Fresh on the heels of Israel, Egypt, and the UAE, who have all recently made commitments for a renewable energy future, Jordan recently launched EDAMA,  an initiative to help Jordan reduce energy demand, water usage, and protect the environment.

EDAMA Chairperson Karim Kawar indicates that Jordan is using its energy and water resources in an economically and environmentally unsustainable manner.  Jordan imports as much as 96 percent of its energy, he says, which equaled 20% of the country's GDP and 24 percent of its total imports in 2007. 

Much of this energy comes from dirty-burning oil, so Jordan produces  13.4 million tons of greenhouse gases just from its energy sector.

Kawar also indicates that Jordan is consuming water from its aquifers at twice the renewable rate.

The EDAMA initiative intends to respond to these challenges by developing a comprehensive strategy "that streamlines efforts towards effective energy sector performance, increases private sector participation and investment and reduces the environmental impact of energy and water use."

To draw their plan, the initiative will involve Jordanian and international experts from both the private and public sectors.

"Our ultimate objective is to develop Jordan as a model for energy independence by using renewable sources, which has a direct impact on our country's long-term economic competitiveness, water resources and environment," Kawar said.

EDAMA is supported by USAID, whose Mission Director Jay Knott commented that increased energy, water, an environment productivity will also provide opportunities for growth and investment that benefit Jordan's entire economy.

The EDAMA team hopes to have their strategy completed by June.

For more information, check out EDAMA's spiffy new website!

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EDAMA is a private sector lead initiative supported by the USAID Jordan Economic Development Program (SABEQ). Jordan’s EDAMA Initiative is formed as a private sector partnership targeting increased energy independence in the country. EDAMA initiators liaise with counterpart initiatives and efforts that observe the same objectives, in both the private and public sectors. As a result EDAMA witnesses substantive participation or representation in all initiatives through its work teams and/or it’s Steering Committee.

Jordan as a desert kingdom ranges among the most arid countries in the world. In European standards the Jordan River would be considered as a tiny ditch. Therefore, water is a very controversial topic in the Middle East where water must be shared between Israel, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

The water shortage has been a constant problem in Jordan for years, but after a significantly poor winter, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation has decided on an emergency strategic plan, which would mean a drastic reduction in the already limited household water supply in order to cope with the increasing demand for potable water.

A rationing system currently sets the distribution of running water to the different neighbourhoods in the Jordanian capital, so that each one gets it only once a week for an average time of about 24 hours.

According to locals, in some areas where politicians live, the neighbours enjoy a significantly better water supply. For others, this “water day” is the time for cleaning up the apartment, doing laundry and mainly storing water for the rest of the week in huge tanks on the roof. For some of the people this is actually the only chance for taking a shower. Others, however, use this opportunity to water the pavements and staircases or wash their cars, just because there’s water coming from the tap.

Very few Jordanians own private swimming pools in their backyard, but many others come to the big water park on the road connecting Amman with its airport. Not far from there, on the same road, water tankers owners, like Ali and Ahmad, come daily to fill up their trucks with water from a local natural spring called “Ziza”. Later they would deliver it to those who run out of water before the next “water day”. The price is 25 Jordanian Dinars (approximately 22 Euro) for six cubic meters. Nonetheless, the lack of the life-fluid is caused and results in frequent cases of theft. “It’s not stealing,” tries a local who’s familiar with the phenomena to rephrase, “it’s borrowing”.

Four rivers feed the Jordan River, each rise in another country. Known as Dan, Hasbani, Banias and Yarmuk they join the main stream of the Jordan. Except from Lebanon, the three other countries suffer constant water shortage.

After four years in a raw of extremely poor rainfall, Jordan’s big cities are facing the coming summer with immense water deficiency. According to experts, the Dead Sea is expected to vanish within the next fifty years. The water level of the unique salt lake, on the lowest point of Earth, is losing approximately one meter a year. The famous “Red-Dead Canal”, a joint project of Israel and Jordan with the support of the World Bank, is planned to deliver water from the Red Sea up north to the Dead Sea.

The whole water topic is highly politicised and goes back to the foundation of the state of Israel in 1948 and even further. Since then many people came to build their lives in Israel and in Jordan. Wars have been ignited by the will to get over the few water resources in the region and peace treaties have been established with major efforts in order to assure adequate access to water for the different parties. Approximately 70 percent of Jordan’s population today are refugees. “They work here, have their shops and enterprises in Jordan, do their part on the gross domestic income,” says Guy Honoré, “but they didn’t bring water, of course”. Honoré is working for the GTZ (German Technical Corporation) as the Head of the Water Department. “The GTZ as an enterprise related to the German Ministry for Economical Collaboration and Development counsels the Jordan Ministry for Water and Irrigation on the efficiency of water distribution,” says the expert on hydraulic engineering.

Nowadays agriculture in Jordan takes almost 65 percent of the entire water share. On the other hand, it achieves only five percent of the gross domestic product. Currently, mainly water-demanding vegetables just like tomatoes and cucumbers ere grown on the fields. “On the long run vegetables less water-demanding should be grown in order to get better harvest and benefit for the invested water,” Honoré recommends. Jordanian authorities are trying to fight water wastage with advertisement campaigns, and lately also by issuing warnings for households found wasting water prior to temporarily suspending the supply. Honoré believes it’s nothing more than a populist action meant to show the poor that now the people who are better off have to make efforts as well.

The ministry’s emergency plan, as announced on March, will include reducing the water supply to once or twice a week, for three to five hours at a time, according to IRIN News. However, Mohammad Ben Hussein, The Jordan Times reporter who wrote the news item for IRIN is not bothered. He’s getting the running water 24 hours a week. For now. “Maybe it will be implemented only in few neighbourhoods,” he says.

“The water deficit, currently over 500 million cubic meters annually, is expected to increase this year, with a 30 percent deficit in drinking water and 50 percent in irrigation,” the ministry’s assistant secretary general and spokesperson, Adnan Zu’bi, has been quoted as telling The Jordan Times.

But at the same time, according to estimations, a major amount of the water is apparently lost due to leaks in the old pipeline infrastructure. According to Honoré, “water loss rate reaches sometimes up to 40 percent in some places,” including both leaking pipelines and water theft.

“I have the impression that there’s no awareness to the need for a careful handling with water. Nobody wants to be the one to bring the bad news to the people,” he says. They are afraid of bad image, accuses Honoré the ministry officials, if they would order the citizens to carefully use the already scarce water they have.

As a consequence of water scarcity in Jordan, Amman’s citizens get their water delivered once a week. Lina Ejeilat, a journalist who lives with eight of her family members in Amman, tells about her experience: “The water comes from Sunday night until Monday morning.” Sometimes there is too little for a big families’ demand, therefore Lina’s family has a well consisting of 18,000 litres in addition to two water tanks, each carrying a capacity of 2,000 litres.

They use the water for drinking, but only “because we have a filter”. Many others usually buy additional bottled water that costs around 0.25 Jordan Dollars (approximately 0.23 Euro) each. Most of these, coming from neighbouring Saudi Arabia, are distributed by local or international corporations such as Nestle and Coca Cola.

Amman’s rooftops are dominated by the round plastic water tanks, mostly black or light-grey, or cubic metal ones. A brand new 2,000 litres water tank, which would be sufficient for a week time for a family of six, costs around 100 Jordan Dollars – only 10 Jordan Dollars less than the minimum monthly wage in Jordan. The water bill, sent once every three months by the Jordanian water company Miyahuna (Arabic for “our water”) details each household’s water consumption: 0.3 Jordan Dollars for one cubic meter up to the amount of 40 cubic meters. Beyond this amount, the price is calculated retroactively by 0.85 Jordan Dollars for one cubic meter. “The water actually costs more, but the tariffs are strongly subventioned by government,” says Honoré.

Many of Amman’s residents can’t even recall when the rationing system was first introduced. “This whole issue of the water shortage freaks me out,” says Ejeilat, “and I think that indeed we’re not aware of how severe this problem is. People are bothered by many other problems – increase of the oil prices, income, living costs and so on”.

”The water is drinkable”, claims Honoré, who drinks them himself, also owning a filter. “I think water is a human right”, says Honoré. “But that only means you need to have around ten litres a day for drinking, cooking and basic hygiene”. His model suggests 10 or 20 litres being delivered for free per person per day. “At the moment we use more than 50 litres a day, and that includes washing, showering and flushing toilets with drinking water”.

Initiated during the Euro-Med Conference of Water Ministers in Turin in 1999, the declaration and action plan enabled to carry out a Euro-Mediterranean Programme for local management funded by the EU.

The Actions of this programme covered mainly the setting up and consolidation of partnerships between different institutions and organisations of EU member states and MEDA countries. These actions covered mainly the following:
• Strengthening of water governance.
• Development of tools and concrete projects on non conventional resources.
• Improvement of water management efficiency and decision making processes regarding irrigation, drinking water supply and sanitation in rural and suburban areas.
• Implementation of guidelines for drought.

Drought-stricken Mediterranean resorts in Spain, Greece and Cyprus are doing little to make tourism in the region sustainable.

Countries bordering the Mediterranean are facing the prospect of water crises in coming years. Fuelling these crises are the 200 million sun-hungry travellers who visit the southern European region each year. Their number is expected to triple to 600 million by 2025, according to WWF.

The campaign group warned about increased numbers of tourists contributing to drought in the region as early as 2004. In a report about the threat of expanding tourism on the Mediterranean’s water supplies, it observed that most resort tourists use “almost four times the daily water consumption of an average Spanish city dweller”.

Some resorts are trying to shed the “water waster” image. Cavo Sidero, a 6,000-acre, 7,000-bed resort planned for the north-eastern side of Crete, is being billed as the largest eco-friendly resort in the region, with construction scheduled to start this year.

But the green tourism trend is far from widespread in the Mediterranean. Many of the area’s hotels claim they have adopted water-saving policies, but in practice these often amount to little more than asking guests to limit the number of towels they use, says Professor Murray Simpson at Oxford University’s Centre for the Environment.

Barcelona, Spain’s second largest city, has been forced to import drinking water to alleviate the effects of the country’s worst springtime drought on record. And Cyprus has announced that it will probably start importing water from mainland Greece in June.

While climate change and shifting rainfall patterns are being blamed for part of the shortages, intensive agriculture, urban expansion and water-intensive tourist resorts and golf courses are considered the main drivers of the problem.

Mediterranean water resources are also heavily politicised, particularly in Spain, where large-scale transfers of water to Spain’s arid regions help Madrid secure support from independence-minded regions such as Catalonia, says Pieter de Pous, water policy officer at the European Environmental Bureau in Brussels.

This leads to a continued reliance on supply-side measures, including the construction of energy-intensive desalinisation plants, rather than more sensible water pricing policies and demand-reduction measures, says de Pous.

While tourists are likely to remain sheltered from the water crisis, sooner or later structural limitations will impact on both water quantity and quality, including for popular resorts, according to Simpson. Saltwater seepage into depleted aquifers, poor sanitation networks and eco-system destruction could lead to the spread of insect-borne diseases and a widespread degradation in drinking water quality, he says.

To remain sustainable in the long term, the region’s tourism industry may be best advised to adopt water-saving measures that go beyond washing fewer towels.

The Strategic Research Unit (SRU), National Water Research Centre (NWRC) in close cooperation with the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) have organized a National Seminar on Key Policy Issues to Mainstreaming Gender in Water Management held on 18 January 2009 at the premises of the National Council for Women in Cairo. 

The main Purpose of the event was to:

• Discuss the policy issues related to the mainstreaming of gender in the management of water resources, and
• Have a set of recommendations to be forwarded to the politicians and decision-makers for their consideration.

Many were the contributions on topics related to gender, water and the environment and the last part of the seminar was dedicated to working groups and their presentations.

The new ACWUA Wiki is now online. Used as knowledge and document management platform as well as a collaboration platform it offers a great benefit exclusively for Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA) members.

It builds up a knowledge base of the ACWUA and its members and stores all the information for actual and future use. This knowledge base is accessible to all members of the ACWUA via Internet. Users have access with their individual username and password. The data transfer is encrypted (SSL) and so maximum secured.

The users can search for content and documents with a powerful search engine even within the uploaded documents, add new content and documents, modify content and delete documents and content.

The ACWUA Wiki also serves as a collaboration platform for the working groups. Every working group has its protected area which is only accessible for its members. Within this protected area the members of the working groups can develop and discuss draft documents and share information which is for working group internal use only.

Today in Brussels, the amendment to the EC-ESA GMES agreement was signed by Mr Jean-Jacques Dordain, the European Space Agency (ESA) Director General, and Mr Heinz Zourek, Director General of the European Commission's Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry.

This amendment will extend the scope of the original Agreement (signed in February 2008) to activities of Segment 2 of the GMES Space Component Programme and paves the way to ordering the second units of the Sentinel 1, 2, 3 satellites as well as the atmospheric chemistry missions Sentinel-4 and -5 precursor.

Segment 2 of the GMES Space Component (GSC) Programme, which will span the period 2009-2018, overlapping with the ongoing Segment 1 (2006-2013), will complete the development of the initial five new satellites called Sentinels, developed by ESA specifically to meet the needs of GMES, and will ensure operational access to Earth observation data from Contributing Missions for the user community.

Segment 2 was approved by the ESA Member States at the last ESA Ministerial Council meeting held on 25-26 November 2008 with subscriptions to the programme from ESA Participating States amounting to 831.4 million Euro (at 2008 economic conditions).

The amendment signed today adds a further contribution from the European Commission of 205 million Euro to segment 2 of the GSC programme.
 
GMES is an EU-led initiative. Following the recent Commission Communication  and EU Competitiveness Council conclusions  on GMES, the European Commission ensures the political coordination of GMES and the development and implementation of a programmatic, institutional, financial and regulatory framework and takes the lead in identifying and bringing together user needs for GMES. It also ensures the availability and continuity of operational services that support its policies. Technical implementation is entrusted to European entities.

In this context and in accordance with the 5th Space Council Resolution of September 2008, ESA's role within GMES is to be the development and procurement agency for the dedicated GMES Sentinel Missions, and the coordinator for the whole GMES Space Component, including contributions made available by Member States, EUMETSAT and further GMES partners.

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1) COM(2008)748 of 12.11.2008
2) ST 16267/08 RECH387 COMPET 523 IND 202 TRANS 425 POLARM 53 DEVGEN 248 ENV 882

The Tunisian Association of Digital Geographic Information has just published selected researches and abstracts presented in GeoTunis 2008 and some number of presentations. GeoTunis took place in Tunis (Tunisia) on 26-30 November 2008 with the participation of scholars, experts, researchers, companies and research laboratories which use the geographic information systems and remote sensing.

 عربي                http://www.geotunis.org/version_ar/conf.php    Arabic           

فرنسي                http://www.geotunis.org/version_fr/conf.php              French

انقليزي           http://www.geotunis.org/version_ang/index.php    English      

On 07 January 2009, the World Bank published a fact sheet on the watasn situation in the Gaza strip.

Overview

Data, collected by the Gaza Coastal Municipal Water Utility (CMWU) and the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), on the current Gaza Strip water and sanitation situation indicate a severe public health threat to the population of Gaza:
(a) severe potable water shortages and escalating failure of sewage systems;
(b) potential threat to the structural integrity of Beit Lahiya Sewage Lake, which could cause massive drowning.

The GWP website has published the new publication "Planning for a Water secure future" - Lessons from water management planning in Africa:

http://www.gwpforum.org/gwp/library/Planning_Water_Secure_Future_Brochure_Dec_2008.pdf

The 2009 SEED Awards for Entrepreneurship in sustainable development will open for submissions in January 2009.

The call for initial expressions of interest will open in early January 2009 and close in mid-March 2008. Winners will be announced at the UN Commission for Sustainable Development in New York in May 2009.
Further details will be available at www.seedinit.org when the call for submissions is launched in January 2009. 

Water managers in Africa urgently need reliable information on the use and availability of water. Data acquired from space can contribute to this need. To satisfy the demand for information, good synchronisation is required between water managers, who must indicate their specific information needs, developers of the data gathering-monitoring satellite systems, and the knowledge institutes that must transfer their knowledge on collection and dissemination to users. During the seminar “Earth Observation for Improving Water Management in Africa: Developing Human, Technical and Institutional Capacity” which was held from 23 to 25 September 2008 at the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Enschede, The Netherlands, scientists, water managers from Africa and staff from knowledge centres have been addressing the question: “How can the knowledge available in the area of satellite data use for water management purposes be strengthened in Africa?” The seminar was jointly organized by the Group on Earth Observation (GEO) and ITC’s Department of Water Resources.

Report Executive Seminar (download: PDF 420kb)
Report summary (download: PDF 22kb)

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Theme 1: What are the emerging water resources management issues in the coming years and what information needs exist

Dr. Canisius Kanangire, ATP, Regional Project Manager, Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), Egypt.
Keynote: Water Resources Management Issues and Challenges in the Nile Basin. (presentation)

Eng. Philip Olum, Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA), Kenya.
Water Resources Issues and Interventions in Kenya. (article and presentation)

Eng. Christmas Maheri, Southern African Development Council (SADC), SADC Secretariat, Botswana.
SADC Water Resources Management Issues over the coming years and the existing information needs. (article and presentation)

Mr Crispin Sedeke Okwul, Department of Water Resources, DR Congo
Problems related to Durable Management of the Water Resources of the Basin of Congo, Prospect and Existing Information Needs.

Theme 2: What is currently being developed in EO based data and information systems and what impact on WRM decision making processes can be expected

Dr Diego Fernandez, European Space Agency (ESA), Italy.
Keynote: The Tiger Initiative. Supporting African Efforts towards an African Water Observation System. (article and presentation)

Dr Ben Maathuis, Assistant Professor Department Water Resources
ITC, The Netherlands.
ITC GEONETCast Toolbox Approach. (article and presentation)

Dr Douglas Cripe – Water and Agriculture Expert, GEO, Switzerland.
GEOSS and Africa: Earth Observation in Support of Decision Making. (article and presentation)

Dr Volker Gärtner - Head of User Service Division, European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Germany.
EUMETSAT’s Systems in Support of Earth Observation. (presentation)

Dr Gilberto Câmara – General Director, Instituto National de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Brazil.
Geospatial Data for África: The Brazilian Contribution. (presentation)

Dr Lieven Bydekerke, Flemish Institute for Technology Research (VITO), Belgium.
Remote Sensing Applications & Services in Africa: Some cases. (article and presentation)

Dr Peter van Oevelen – Director Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX), USA.
Application of Water and Energy Cycle Science and Observations within the Framework of GEWEX. (article and presentation)

Theme 3: Capacity building strategies for EO and Water in and for Africa

Prof. Bob Su, ITC, The Netherlands
Keynote: TIGER or DRAGON: Capacity building in Earth Observation of Water Resources System as a backbone for informed Water Resource Management. (article and presentation)

Dr Themba Gumbo, WaterNet, Botswana
Keynote: Up-scaling human and institutional capacity in integrated water resource management: Opportunities from new knowledge technologies. (article and presentation)

Dr Nigussie Teklie Girma, Arba Minch University, (AMU), Ethiopia
Arba Minch University: Achievements and Challenges in its Effort towards Capacity Building in Various Fields of Water Technology. (article and presentation)

Dr Foster Mensah, Centre for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Services (CERSGIS), Ghana
Capacity Building strategies for EO and Water Management in Africa. (article and presentation)

Dr Atnafu, Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia
Outline on Capacity Building of the Department of Earth Sciences (AAU) in water-related academic and scientific activities. (article and presentation)

Dr Souleye Wade, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Senegal
Capacity Building strategies in Earth Observation applications for Sustainable Development in Africa: achievements and prospects. (article and presentation)

Dr Justin Ahanhanzo, UNESCO, France
UNESCO-IOC, Africa in the big Picture. (presentation)

Dr Hussein Farah, Director Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) Kenya
Keynote: Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development: Its Role in Eastern and Southern Africa Sub-Region. (presentation)

Dr Abdou Ali, Hydrologist AGRHYMET, Niger
Keynote: Water Resources Management and Capacity Building at AGRHYMET. (article and presentation)

Theme 4: Conclusions and recommendations

Preparation outcome workshop sessions in 3 groups

Reporting themes by rapporteurs

• IWRM methodologies
• Stakeholder and public participation
• Scenarios as a tool for management
• Transboundary water management
• Pollution models
• Environmental flows
• Water law and water governance
• Land and water interactions
• Climate change and IWRM
• The science-policy bridge

This open international conference is intended as an arena for discussions around recent findings in the field of integrated water resources management (IWRM).

This conference will show the major findings from the EC-funded FP6 project STRIVER (www.striver.no)

The conference is open and external oral presentations are highly encouraged. Contributions from researchers, water managers, river basin planners and policy makers are particularly stressed.

Besides oral presentations in plenary and parallel session, break-out working groups discussing various IWRM-issues will ensure active participation of all attendance.

Examples of questions addressed at the conference are:

• How to use research results in operational water management?

• How can the science-policy interactions and stakeholder participation be strengthened?
• What are the lessons learnt and tools in IWRM?

Like most sub-Saharan African countries, Niger faces problems meeting its water needs. As part of ESA’s TIGER initiative, satellite data are being used to identify underground water resources in the drought-prone country.

Due to the rainfall variability in time and in space, during recent years the rain-fed agriculture struggles to meet the requirements of food security in the Sahel area.

ESA’s WADE (Water resources Assessment using SAR in Desert and arid lands in West African Ecosystems) project, funded by the Data User Element (DUE), uses ERS and Envisat Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery to map and monitor the location and extent of surface water bodies and to identify potential areas for water infiltration.

Having access to these maps will help local water authorities to better manage their water resources, lead livestock to water and improve their water storage capacity.  

The Advanced Computer Systems (ACS spa) in Rome, Italy, developed the WADE processing system in conjunction with local users, represented by AGRHYMET (the Regional Centre of the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel). To demonstrate the technology, ERS and Envisat SAR data from 1993 to 2007 were integrated with in-situ data over an area of about 100 000 km² in the west part of Niger. Based on these data, a water body classification map was generated for each year. Results have been validated against 90 sampling points collected in the field by AGRHYMET during summer 2007 and showed an overall accuracy of 100% for permanent water bodies and above 75% for semi-permanent water bodies.

"Permanent and semi-permanent water body monitoring is an essential resource for rangeland activities and irrigated agriculture areas in the semi-arid zone," said Issifou Alfari, AGRHYMET’s Head of Water Resources Management and Desertification Division. "We are very happy with the project’s scope and outcome, as we believe this source of information will be fundamental for water management activities."

In November 2008, WADE software and data were installed in AGRHYMET’s facilities in Niamey, Niger’s capital city. Following extensive training sessions, AGRHYMET employees are now using the system to carry out their monitoring.

"The WADE system fits well into AGRHYMET general activities, particularly providing accurate water resource management information at regional and national levels," Alfari said.

ESA launched the TIGER initiative in 2002 to exploit Earth Observation (EO) technologies in order to respond to the urgent need for reliable water information in Africa. WADE is one of five TIGER Innovator projects, which use the latest EO technology to develop innovative, low-cost solutions to support African water authorities in the conservation and monitoring of scarce water resources. 

The 1st general assembly of Arab Countries Water Utilities Association ACWUA was performed during the 2nd ACWUA Best Practise Conference "Capacity Development for Water and Sanitation Utilities in the Arab Region" on November 18th-19th 2008 in Alexandria/Egypt.

Until now, efficient water services are not a matter of course for Arab cities' citizens. Regional Cooperation and experience exchange between water utilities from different states will contribute to increase competences in management and technical operation of weaker utilities and help to close service gaps for the population.

The conference documented the up-to-date Know-How and Best Practice of the Arab region by country reports, sessions about quality management in utilities, various case studies and a panel discussion, and introduced new approaches for more efficient management in the field of water and sanitation.

The conference participants visited with great interest the accompanying exhibition with various Arab and European companies and suppliers active in the fields of water supply and sewage systems.

Alexandria Water Company, a field member of the Egyptian Holding Company for water and waste water HCWW, was host of the conference and offered side events such as visits to the famous Alexandria Library with historical books and modern architecture.

The 1st General assembly of ACWUA attracted more than 150 members from 9 countries. Headed by the Secretary General Khaldon Khashman, Jordan, it took decisions about activities and budget planning on the way towards a self sustaining, strong association. Further on, the 1st ACWUA Board of Directors was elected, with representatives of the utilities of all member states and a representative for the individual members. The Chairperson of the former ACWUA Foundation committee, Bassam Jaber, Lebanon, was elected as Speaker for the 2nd general assembly. The assemblies shall take place biannually.

The newly elected Chairperson of ACWUA, Eng. Nadia Abdou from Alexandria Water Company, expressed her gratitude to GTZ, UN-ESCWA and DWA for their support during the last 2 years of the foundation process.

Founded in 2007, ACWUA has now nearly 400 institutional and individual members, 10 % of them are utilities. Relevant international organizations such as the International Water Association IWA, the European Water Association EWA, GTZ and USAID appreciated the new regional association ACWUA and offer intense collaboration.

Please find all the presentations of the conference as pdf in the files area below.

Files:

EL-Aware_Global_WOPs_Alliance.pdf

Gamal-Abdel-Moaty_Performance-Oriented_Training_Needs_Assessment-EGYPT.pdf

Ghannam_Ziyad-Fuqaha_CD-Paper_Palestine.pdf

Heidebrecht_reduce_of_Knowledge.pdf

Knitschky_TSM_Germany.pdf

Nancy-Barnes_Improving_Performance.pdf

Nancy-Barnes_Improving_Performance_doc.pdf

Nihal-el-Rakshy-ISO_in_Alex_Egypt.pdf

Rasslan_CD_in_HCWW_Egypt.pdf

hanem-elgabs_mohamed-mattam_final_scada-Alex-Egypt.pdf

The Global Water Partnership (GWP) announces its new global strategy, one that focuses on the achievement of four major goals during the period 2009-2013. GWP’s educational and advocacy role since 1996 for an integrated approach to the management and development of water resources has contributed to changes in policies and legislation. The new strategy aims to build on those successes by pushing water higher up the development agenda.

“Recognizing the new challenges, GWP has developed a new intervention strategy,” said GWP Patron HRH The Prince of Orange Willem-Alexander. “This strategy makes the organisation fit for the future and guarantees the continuation of the important role that GWP is playing in improving the integrated planning and management of the world's water resources. It is an honour for me to be Patron of such an influential organisation.”

Referring to new global challenges, GWP Chair Dr. Letitia A. Obeng, said, “The Strategy has been developed during a difficult period. Development efforts are threatened due to unprecedented economic and financial volatility, and increased uncertainty facing the world. We are however excited that we can build on our past, and position ourselves to contribute to addressing urgent water-related challenges.”

“There are precious few development issues that can be talked about without reference to water security,” said GWP Technical Committee Chair Roberto Lenton, “whether it is poverty, hunger, disease, or the environment. In fact, the world community will have great difficulty reaching the Millennium Development Goals if it does not place water security issues front and centre.”

Martin Walshe, GWP Deputy Executive Secretary and currently Acting Executive Secretary, emphasized the inclusive process that resulted in the strategy. “The strategy is the result of a full year of consultations, including two network-wide meetings in 2008. The strategy truly represents the aims of the GWP network,” he said. “Comments were received from around the globe, including from staff and the donor community. We are grateful to everyone who contributed.”

Dr. Ania Grobicki, the newly-appointed GWP Executive Secretary, noted that “With communities, societies and nations under pressure from the economic downturn and from the effects of increasing climate variability, I believe passionately that GWP's key task is to keep the focus on water security for all.” Dr. Grobicki takes up her new post on March 11.

The GWP 2009-2013 Strategy is available at www.gwpforum.org.

____________________________________________________

The Global Water Partnership (GWP) is an international network whose vision is for a water secure world. The mission is to support the sustainable development and management of water resources at all levels. GWP was created in 1996 to foster the coordinated development and management of water, land, and related resources by maximising economic and social welfare without compromising the sustainability of ecosystems and the environment. Integrated water resources management (IWRM) provides the framework for this mission. The GWP network is active in 13 regions and over 50 countries.

--
1.    The printed Strategy document will be distributed as a pdf in an email to all GWP network audiences the week of Monday 26 January:
a.    Steering Committee
b.    Patrons
c.    Finance Partners Group
d.    TEC
e.    Advisors
f.    Partners
g.    Regional Water Partnerships
h.    Country Water Partnerships
i.    Communications Officers
j.    ToolBox Officers

2.    During the same week a news release will be circulated to the network who will distribute it to regional and country media networks and partners.

3.    The news release will also be uploaded to the  GWP website www.gwpforum.org along with the printed Strategy document.

4.    The Strategy and news release will be posted on (or circulated by) general water list websites such as Water-L, The Environmental Journalists, international water agencies, and relevant news media sites.

5.    The Strategy will be circulated at an informal meeting of GWP donors during World Bank Water Week in February.

6.    In March, the Strategy document will get a high profile at the WWF #5 in Istanbul (at two side events, at sessions which GWP is involved in, and at the booth).

7.    Printed copies (limited) will be distributed to regional offices for further distribution in the regions.

--
Read the news release here
GWP lanza la nueva Estrategia Global
CLICK HERE FOR THE STRATEGY

 In this issue:

NEWS
Ø Irrigation Key for Africa's Food Security

Ø World Bank Will Help to Expand Successful Water Security Initiatives in Brazil

Ø WEF, EPA and Other Water Quality Organizations Renew Memorandum of Understanding for Decentralized Wastewater Management

Ø IDB Supports Colombia's Water and Sanitation Reforms

Ø Interaction Between Water and Forest - Challenge to Water Policies and Forest Management

Ø Clean Future for World's Dirtiest River

Ø ADB Supports Water and Sanitation Improvements in Sri Lanka

Ø World Bank Approves a Grant of US$190 Million for an Urban Water Supply Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo

DONORS' LENDING AND SUPPORT FOR IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE PROJECTS

World Bank

Ø Nicaragua: Greater Managua Water and Sanitation Project (Prasma)

Ø Bangladesh: Water and Sanitation Project

Asian Development Bank

Ø Songhua River Basin Water Pollution Control and Management Project : China, People's Rep. of

Ø Integrated Citarum Water Resources Management: Indonesia

Upcoming Regional and International Meets and Events

Ø UNW-DPC/UNCCD/AWC organizes "Water & Land" Capacity Development Workshop for Water and Environmental Journalists

22-24 Jan 2009

Cairo, Egypt

Ø Water Today's Water Expo 2009

26-28 Feb 2009

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Ø 5th World Water Forum

15-22 March 2009

Istanbul, Turkey

Ø Transboundary Water Management Programme

March 23-April 3 2009

Mozambique

8-12 June 2009

Sweden

Ø Water Africa 2009

01-03 April 2009

Accra, Ghana

Ø The 10th China Water Show

28-30 April 2009

Shanghai, China

Ø CIWEM Annual Conference 2009: Water and the Global Environment

29-30 April, 2009

Olympia Conference Centre, London, UK

Ø 2nd International Conference on Water Economics, Statistics, and Finance

03-05 July 2009

Thrace, Greece

Ø WEFTEC 2009

10-14 October 2009

Orange, FL, USA

NEW PUBLICATIONS

Ø Handbook of Soil and Groundwater Biogeochemistry

Ø Geographic Information Systems in Water Resources Engineering

Ø Sediment and Contaminant Transport in Surface Waters

Fellowship and funding opportunities

Ø Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme

Ø University of Groningen PhD Fellowship

Ø Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Program

CAPACITY BUILDING AND TRAININGS

Ø River Basin Modelling

06-24 April 2009

UNESCO-IHE

Ø Advanced Water Treatment Technology

06-24 April 2009

UNESCO-IHE

Ø Financial Management of Water Organizations

27 April- 15 May 2009

UNESCO-IHE

During the 5th World Water Forum to be held in Istanbul, 16-22 March 2009, the Mediterranean area will be well represented. Indeed, three regional and sub-regional processes will cover the full diversity of the region: the Mediterranean as such (Thursday morning, 19 March in Sultuce building), the MENA/Arab countries (Thursday afternoon) and the in/around Turkey (Wednesday afternoon).

From the point of view of knowledge and data sharing, the theme 6 on "Education, Knowledge and Capacity Development" will be of particular relevance for the EMWIS community, while a side event on Water information systems will be held at the French Pavilion on 18 March 19h-21h.

--
See also:
Topic 3.1 on Basin Management and Transboundary Cooperation coordinated by INBO and UNESCO.

In a final Declaration, the conference, on Water for Energy and Agriculture in Africa: the Challenges of Climate Change (held last 15-17 December 2008 in Sirte, Libya), noted that water is a key resource to economic and social development as well as to hunger and poverty eradication in Africa, and that food and energy security are prerequisites for the development of Africa's human capital.

The Conference, which brought together ministers from 53 African countries, also recognised that the challenges faced by the continent concerning food security, achieving the Millennium Development Goals, increased energy demand and combating climate change required all countries to move together.

"Implementation of integrated water, agriculture and energy programmes to enhance sustainable development in Africa should be considered a priority," the Declaration said.

It stated that this would involve expansion of the area under sustainable land management and reliable water control, and accelerated investment in water for agriculture and energy.

The conference further declared its support of efforts to enhance clean energy production in the continent, particularly in developing hydropower potential and in strengthening regional power pools.

On climate change, which is said will likely have a severe impact across Africa, the conference agreed to foster research and development of renewable energy and agriculture in Africa in order to increase resilience and adaptation to climate change.

It called on countries bordering Lake Chad to double their efforts, and on donors and development partners to provide immediate assistance to help save the lake and its basin from "looming human and environmental disaster". Once the world's sixth largest lake, Lake Chad has shrunk to one-tenth of its size in the last 35 years, endangering the livelihoods of local populations, the conference noted.

In conclusion, the conference also welcomed a proposal by FAO to convene a World Summit of Heads of State and Government in 2009 to agree on the rapid and definitive eradication of hunger from the planet through improved governance of world food security and by finding $30 billion a year to invest in water and rural infrastructures and in increasing agricultural productivity in the developing world.

The three days conference was organised by FAO together with the Libyan government and in collaboration with stakeholders including the African Union, the African Ministers' Council on Water Development, the African Development Bank and the Economic Commission for Africa.

--
Read more
Visit the Sirte Conference website
Visit the UN-Water website

Publication of two briefing paper by Chiara Armeni on the right to water in Italy [read more] and on the right to water in Belgium [read more] 

• The Right to Water in Italy (IELRC Briefing Paper 2008-01).
• The Right to Water in Belgium (IELRC Briefing Paper 2008-02).

The aim of the EU-funded Beytahtı drinking water project, which takes its name from the water network that supplies water to most parts of the Erzincan Municipality, is to provide healthy water with minimal administrative costs to the people living in the area. The Beytahtı Drinking Water Project in Erzincan Municipality is one of the successful projects implemented under the small scale infrastructure grant component. The project focuses on key objectives such as eliminating regional disparities, protecting public health and safety, harmonising economic and social policies, increasing living standards and addressing urban problems.

The project led to the construction of a new drinking water network line, which will be resistant to potential earthquakes taking place in the region and be sufficient for the population until 2037.

The network is expected to produce healthy drinking water for a total of 250,000 inhabitants.

NEWS

§         UN General Assembly adopts resolution on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers

§         PCCP, in cooperation with UNESCO-IHE, organizes a short course on "Negotiation and Mediation for Water Conflict Management" from 6 to 24 April 2009

§         World Water Day 2009 on "Shared Water - Shared Opportunities"

§         Director-General of UNESCO addresses the Summit of Nobel Peace laureates on the "Right to Water as a Human Right"

§         UNESCO-IHE launches promotional videos for prospective students

§         Italian National IHP Committee releases report on the "International Symposium on the Role of Hydrology in Water Resources Management" for UNESCO and IAHS

§         Final Report: "The 12th Biennial Conference of Mediterranean Network: Hydrological Extremes in Small Basins" of Experimental and Representative Basins (ERB)

§         WMO, RCUWM and UNW-DPC organize "Training Workshop on Integrated Flood Management"

EVENTS

UNESCO Water Family (*)

§         Sixth World FRIEND Conference

Featured International Events

§         Sida Advanced International Training Programme: Sustainable Urban Water and Sanitation - Integrated Processes

PUBLICATION

§         Fluctuations of Glaciers (prepared by the World Glacier Monitoring Service - WGMS)

DID YOU KNOW?

§         Facts and figures about Water Footprints and Virtual Water

---------------------------

The UNESCO Water Portal Weekly Newsletter archives (starting at issue N° 85) are available online at: http://www.unesco.org/water/news/newsletter/

You can subscribe or unsubscribe directly from our website:

http://www.unesco.org/water/

For contributions or comments, contact the editor at waterportal@unesco.org

Organisation: Acción contra el Hambre (ACH) / Action Contre la Faim (ACF), Madrid, Spain
Contract duration: 1 year
Salary: € 17700 Euros gross per annum (€ 1478 gross) + Extra according to the experience (approx: € 200 gross per month)

ACF is present in the Palestinian Territory since September 2002. ACF provides the most vulnerable with access to sufficient water and food. ACF builds or rehabilitates national water infrastructure and supports small and medium sized farmers to improve their agricultural potential. While doing this it remains alert and ready to intervene to sudden emergencies affecting the poorest sections of the population as well as protecting children from malnutrition.

Requirements for the function include:

• Higher education in engineering
• Postgraduate studies in international Cooperation /Development
• Knowledge and experience in: WS project management or technical coordination (minimum 2 years), Project Cycle Management and Needs/Vulnerability Assessments
• English: Essential

Application deadline: 30 Jan 2009

For more info and applications details go to the ACH web site

The UN has warned that power networks were down in large parts of the Gaza Strip on 4 January, with hospitals relying on generators. Without power for pumps, 70 percent of Gazans are estimated to be without tap water.

The Israeli Gisha organisation, an NGO, said seven of the 12 electricity lines in the enclave (the 12 lines normally supply about 70 percent of Gaza's electricity) were down, and warned that the lack of power was causing sewage to flood into populated areas and farmland. There continued to be a risk of sustained flooding.

On the other hand, and due to the current situation in the Gaza Strip that was imposed by the Israeli military operations since Saturday 27/12/2008, the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility "CMWU" announced its inability to (failure) maintain its services in both the water sector in terms of production and distribution and wastewater sector in terms of collection and discharging in Gaza Strip governorates. Despite our several appeals to all international aid agencies and organizations to help out and support their technical teams in keeping all water and wastewater facilities operational and repairing the infrastructure damages and destructions caused by the Israeli bombarding, but all these requests were declined until this moment.

In addition to the continuation of many obstacles during the past three years such as closures and sieges, the CMWU faced acute shortage in necessary spare parts, equipments, and machines for affording the required infrastructural services and had to deal with electricity insufficiency and fuel (diesel) shortage as power supply alternative for restoring these services.

According to the above, the CMWU would like to brief the followings:

1. The water carrier line between Al-Moghraga wells and Nussierate city was damaged due to Israeli air strikes to nearby El Zahraa'a and Nussierate Bridge . As a result, more than 30,000 residents in Nussierate city are inaccessible to water services.

2. Complete destruction of El-Edara Well in eastern side of Jabalia city. As a result, more than 25,000 residents in Jabalia city are inaccessible to water services. "CMWU" wants to state that the well operator has been deceived due to Israeli bombarding.

3. The main electrical transistor that belongs to El Shiekh Ejleen water well has been damaged. As a result, more than 40,000 residents of southern Tal El Hawa city and the surrounding residential towers
are out of water services.

4. The main 12" steel water carrier that supply 40% of total water produced from Gaza city northern side has been destroyed due to the Israeli military operations. As a result, more than 200,000 residents in Gaza city are out of vital water source.

5. Main sewerage line in Bait Hanoun city has been destroyed by the Israeli military actions. The line is not repaired until this moment, which caused health hazardous consequences.

6. The main power generator in Beit Lahia wastewater treatment plant "BLWWTP" has been targeted by the Israeli military operations, which halted the CMWU from carrying on its services in collection and
discharging the wastewater in Beit Lahia city. In addition to several damages in several wastewater networks due to continuous Israeli shelling.

7. Due to the presence of the Israeli troops in Netzarim area, the CMWU states that the Gaza Wastewater Treatment Plant is completely out of operation and yet the plant is unable to discharge the wastewater
to the sea. As a result, the collection ponds are threatened to be broken down at any moment in which it will impose serious catastrophic humanitarian, health, and environmental consequences on the surrounding lives and properties from danger of sewerage floods.

8. Since the beginning of the Israeli military operations in Gaza Strip, the wastewater level in main Beit Lahia discharging pond is increasing due to power shortage and lack of fuel in the plant. As a result, major catastrophe shall threaten the lives of thousands of residents of eastern Beit Lahia city of danger of drowning in the sewage flooding.

9. The Coastal Municipalities Water Utility "CMWU" assures that it has applied for several coordination requests from the Israeli side and through the Palestinian Water Authority "PWA", International Committee of Red Cross "ICRC", UNRWA, and all international humanitarian aid organizations working in Gaza strip to facilitate the
CMWU to repair all the aforesaid dama ges points, and to distribute the fuel (diesel) to all water and wastewater facilities that was donated by UNRWA as an urgent aid to CMWU, but all these requests were
declined and failed until this moment.

The Coastal Municipalities Water Utility "CMWU" appeals all international humanitarian aid organizations allover the world for quick and prompt intervention and involvement with the Israeli side to allow the CMWU for providing and affording the minimum basic water and wastewater services and restoring the operational capability of its water and wastewater facilities to avoid further serious catastrophic humanitarian, health, and environmental consequences under this hard situation in Gaza Strip.

BBC World News is repeating the Zer0-M video by Joshka Wessels and TVE, Waste not Waste.
TVE is still working at getting the dates of the broadcasting right on their homepage. But below are the correct broadcasting times.

You find the complete treatment of the film on the webpage of TVE. Appreciate also the research about interesting links TVE has done, a who is who of ecosanitation.

Waste not Waste: very flush of the toilet sends 27 litres of precious drinking water down the drain. Earth Report goes on the trail of less wasteful alternatives and finds out whether the non-flush loo can become culturally acceptable. In Germany they have developed waterless urinals and dry toilets. A Dutch inventor has developed a device that fills compost bags with human waste, right there in your toilet. The technology is out there and could be catching on in parts of Europe but how is it being received elsewhere? In Morocco and Tunisia, water is scarce but will people in these countries want to use waterless toilets?

'Waste not Waste' is broadcast on BBC World News at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):
Friday 16 January at 20:30, with repeats on
Tuesday 20 January at 15:30 and
Wednesday 21 January at 02:30.

--
Zer0-M project at EMWIS website:

http://www.emwis.net/initiatives/medaeau/fol719001/fol948061
http://www.emwis.net/initiatives/fol060732/proj554102

Forty per cent of the world’s population are without access to a latrine or toilet. But how do you get people to think about building a toilet when they've never had one? Earth Report travels to Bangladesh to discover changing attitudes to hygiene. Instead of top-down solutions, a new community-led approach is encouraging people to sort out their sanitation in more than 300 villages. Earth Report investigates.

'Clean Living'is broadcast on BBC World News at the following times (all times quoted as UK time zone currently GMT):

Friday 23 January at 20:30, with repeats on Tuesday 27 January at 15:30 and Wednesday 28 January at 02:30.