Euro-Mediterranean Information System on know-how in the Water sector

Call for standard indices to measure droughts

2009-03-05T00:00:00Z

Can we tell if there are more or fewer droughts as a result of climate change? How does one compare the intensity, duration and spatial coverage of agricultural droughts in countries?

These were some of the questions raised at the recent International Workshop on Drought and Extreme Temperatures, organized jointly by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), which pondered ways to cope with the unwelcome impact of droughts and extreme temperatures on agriculture, rangelands and forestry.

The problem is that there are at least 20 kinds of drought indices - numerical scales based on data such as rainfall and temperature - used to measure three types of droughts: meteorological, agricultural and hydrological.

"Many a time, appropriate indices are not used, as there are no standards or guidelines for the use of drought indices," said Robert Stefanski, a WMO scientific officer who works on weather and climate issues related to agriculture. The workshop has asked the WMO to develop standards for agricultural drought indices.

"Many agricultural drought indices are country- and sometimes even crop-specific, and are used as an early warning for decision-makers (governments and farmers)," said Stefanski. "The standards would address the appropriate use of an index for a particular type of drought (meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological)".

Prompted by the need to measure drought intensity and duration for climate-change studies, participants also called for a unified and standardized drought index.

Stefanski pointed out that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had used one drought index, the Palmer Index, "which was originally derived for the USA, and these kinds of indices need to be adapted and modified for the whole world."

"Standardizing and establishing guidelines for the use of indices will help such studies," he said, but developing a unified and standardized drought index would be "more difficult".

He said several ideas that combined two or three drought indices into a single one were presented at the workshop, "but this concept needs to be tested over different climates. This is why there needs to be further research into this issue."

International Market Segment Leader - Industrial Water & Process Market

2009-03-09T00:00:00Z

Location: Abu Dhabi or Dubai, UAE

CH2M HILL's Industrial Systems Business Group has helped numerous industrial facilities develop and implement integrated water management systems using an approach that focuses on creating the most effective and efficient water systems that will enhance production, improve safety, increase compliance, and reduce life-cycle costs. The Water & Process Market Segment focuses on services related to:

* All things dealing with water in industrial facilities (excluding potable water and domestic wastewater, which fall under the scope of Water BG)

*In-plant pollution prevention and process engineering that focuses on environmental issues

*Air pollution control systems (excluding power plants, which are managed by Power BG)

Our integrated water management service incorporates all elements of water use across the entire water envelope of a facility-water source & supply, water treatment & distribution, in-plant water use, and wastewater treatment & discharge-while minimizing environmental, economic, and societal impacts.

An increasing awareness of environmental issues poses significant challenges to the day-to-day operations of many organizations. Our Industrial Systems Business Group provides full-service consulting and engineering solutions to help clients navigate, understand, manage, and mitigate risks, identify opportunities, and ensure regulatory compliance while satisfying the demands of investors, regulators, and the public.

Our Abu Dhabi (or possibly Dubai) office seeks an International Market Segment Leader (IMSL) who will focus on growing our business for the Water & Process sector in MENA, with a strong emphasis on large engineering and EPC projects for the oil & gas, refining, chemicals and petrochemicals industry sectors.

The IMSL is charged with leading the growth of the market segment's business in a geographic theater, as defined by CH2M HILL structure, in this case the Middle East and North Africa. His or her performance will be measured by how the firm is perceived and performs in the theater market place. IMSL's achieve the firm's prominence through application of strategic vision, persuasive leadership, coordination with local and remote office staff, and application of necessary directive efforts. IMSL's are action-oriented positions; needed actions are based upon solid market information, instinct, and coordination with the firm's theater and global staff members. IMSL's assist in development of the business units' strategies within the theater.

The successful candidate will be involved with client development in coordination with our enterprise account teams. This BD leader will become a core part of CH2M HILL's global Industrial Water & Process Leadership Team, with a focus on growing clients through quality delivery.

The position will also include development of internal relationships to support the overall growth and success of CH2M HILL operations in MENA, mentoring mid-level staff, supporting cross-business unit activities and stewarding client satisfaction. A competitive package would be offered including housing and relocation assistance. If an expatriate, this assignment is expected to be over 36 months.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

* Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline

* Process knowledge of oil & gas water/wastewater treatment

* 15+ years of relevant experience and proven track record in business development

* Experience in large EPC/EPCM industrial wastewater treatment systems for refining, chemicals or petrochemicals (>$20 million US dollars)

* Ability to integrate commercial, technical, and execution aspects of project delivery into a full service package for client satisfaction and CH2M HILL success

* Experience leading clients through the entire capital projects process

* Experience creating and overseeing sustainable business development and delivery capabilities for the Water & Process market segment in the theater using a combination of locally based staff and remote delivery centers, as applicable

* Established industry leadership in the water & process market segment in the theater and experience supporting market segment activities in adjacent theaters

* Experience developing personal relationships with strategic clients' key personnel

* Strong understanding of regulatory environment and trends for countries within the theater

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

* Master's degree or Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, or Chemical Engineering with emphasis on wastewater or water treatment

* Professional License: Registered Professional Engineer or Chartered Engineer

* Physical/chemical water/wastewater, high TDS treatment technology, broad industrial water systems technology experience is a plus

Travel Requirement: 30%

CH2M HILL is a global leader in engineering and operations. The company was founded in 1946 and is ranked as one of FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For." This is the fourth time that CH2M HILL has earned a spot on the prestigious list. CH2M HILL also has been recognized as a "Most Admired Company" by FORTUNE for the past five years. With more than $5.1 billion in revenue, CH2M HILL has more than 24,000 employees around the world.

"ENPI Mediterranean Environment Programme" - procurement notice published

2009-03-09T00:00:00Z

For your information, the Procurement Notice for the ENPI Mediterranean Environment Programme was published today on the website of the Commission (https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-services/index.cfm?ADSSChck=1236246338182&do=publi.getDoc&documentId=91439&pubID=127372) under the reference 127372.

This programme - one of the opportunities presented by EC Environment representative, Mr Jesus Lavina, during the SMAP Final Seminar in Alexandria in February - aims to promote better environmental integration in the different sector policies in the region and to support implementation of Horizon 2020.

As you will see in the procurement notice, the Commission targets relevant national authorities (the consortium to be selected will include at least one from the EU and one from the ENP South region). Other types of organisations are of course not excluded.

Deadline for receipt of applications: 03/04/2009, 16:00 Central European Time

Call for papers for the "Regional Conference: Applying WEAP as a Decision Support System for IWRM", May 25-27, 2009 Damascus, SYRIA

2009-03-09T00:00:00Z

ACSAD and BGR have been jointly working in various cooperation projects since more than two decades. The project "Management, Protection and Sustainable Use of Groundwater and Soil Resources" has been launched in April 1999.
After developing and testing a user-friendly, efficient, inexpensive and easily sharable instrument for water
management (Decision Support System, DSS) in the previous phase, the main objective of Phase IV (08/2008 - 07/2011) is to distribute it with regard to a more integrated water resources management among the countries and the respective institutions of the Arab region.
The application of a DSS for Soil and Groundwater Management will give decision makers the necessary insight into the current status and possible scenarios of the future development (e.g. population growth, climate change). Through visualizing and discussing the current status and future scenarios with the relevant stakeholders, jointly decided and accepted water shares can be fixed. This will reduce the conflict between concurrent water-users and will lead to a sustainable management of limited water resources for the current and future hydrologic years A report on the DSS-application of 2 pilot studies:

Zabadani Basin, SYRIA
Berrechid Basin, MOROCCO

as well as other documentations (report on vulnerability mapping of the Zabadani Basin, DSShelper tools and Tutorial materials) can be downloaded from www.acsad-bgr.org.

Water Resources are very scarce in the Arab region. Recent climate change models predict for the future years even more severe conditions, due to increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation.
Therefore it is important that water resources are managed carefully in a sustainable way following the IWRM concept. This is a very difficult task and reliable tools are needed to support the management and planning.
In most countries of the region the key problem is the limited knowledge of the hydrological system and thus the water resources are not well evaluated. The impact of the limited knowledge and management of the resources is often overexploitation and water quality deterioration.

ACSAD, BGR and SEI have jointly improved and applied such an IWRM-tool by combining WEAP www.weap21.org and MODFLOW2000 water.usgs.gov/nrp/gwsoftware/modflow.html. Various other institutions, researchers and projects have been applying WEAP as a Water Management and Planning tool in the region and beyond.

The aim of the conference is to share this information between all interested people in the region and to start a user network to improve jointly the IWRM by applying and sharing powerful support tools like WEAP and respective experiences.

The organizers are encouraging people from the region and beyond to present their case studies at the conference. Presentations will be 25 minutes, followed by 5 minutes discussion. The full papers need to be send in by 01.04.2009. Depending on the acceptance of the paper the organizers can sponsor the respective presenter by refunding travel and accommodation costs.

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Deadline for Papers: 01.04.2009.

Conference Topics are: WEAP applications in the field of water planning, transboundary water policy, climate change studies, socioeconomic studies, river ecosystems, water utilities, water rights administration, water quality, safe yield analysis, multicriteria decision analysis, optimization modelling, groundwater recharge modelling, irrigation demand and supply modelling, groundwater flow model integration, reservoir management.

Call for Proposals to support decision making: “Earth Observations in Decision Support Projects”

2009-03-10T00:00:00Z

GEO has issued a Call entitled “Earth Observations in Decision Support Projects” that seeks to identify projects that demonstrate the benefits of Earth observation applications to end users in developing countries, particularly in the fields of agriculture, energy, human health and water. Details are available in the CFP document.

Concept Proposals Due: 4-June-2009.

The intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) promotes the provision and use of Earth observations to improve decision making and deliver societal benefits.

This Call for Proposals (CFP) seeks project proposals to apply Earth observations to improve policy and management decisions. The CFP has a strong interest in indentifying projects focused on helping end users in
developing countries apply Earth observations. The CFP also seeks to identify individuals and organizations interested in serving as advisors to projects.

The clear purposes of this CFP are to identify and promote practical applications of Earth observations to improve decision making and to call attention to specific examples in which Earth observations provide societal benefit. This CFP does not offer funds for preparation or participation in a proposal or project.

GEO may attempt to match the selected projects from developing countries with resource-providing organizations.

The GEO User Interface Committee and Capacity Building Committee are managing this CFP. Projects selected under this CFP will likely draw on activities of all the GEO committees. This activity supports GEO Tasks US-09-01b (Communities of Practice) and CB-09-01 (Resource Mobilisation).

This CFP requests projects for the following GEO Societal Benefit Areas: Agriculture, Energy, Human Health, and Water.

This CFP is open to all types of organizations and teams of organizations. Every project should include at least one GEO Member or Participating Organization. GEO welcomes the project proposals to apply Earth observations for improved decision making and showcase the value and societal benefits of Earth observations.

Project teams and Project Advisors shall submit an electronic copy of their proposal(s) to the GEO Secretariat (secretariat@geosec.org). Microsoft Word® 2000 for Windows, 2001 for Macintosh, or higher format is preferred; Portable Document Format and Rich Text Format are acceptable.

Proposals shall be in English-language text, formatted using one or two columns with single-spacing (or larger). Proposals shall use legible printer fonts and easily-read font size (typically 12-point font). Proposals shall use at least 2.5cm margins on all sides. Proposals may include figures and illustrations.

Concept Proposals and Final Proposals shall be received no later than the respective dates and times in the Master Schedule (Section 1.6). UIC and CBC may consider late proposals on a case-by-case basis. Project Advisors may submit their proposals at any time.

Questions and requests for clarification should be sent electronically to the attention of Fernando Ramos and Imraan Saloojee to the GEO Secretariat (secretariat@geosec.org)

2009-03-10T00:00:00Z

EU General Report: fresh impetus to relations with Mediterranean Partners

2009-03-10T00:00:00Z

Some €1.735 billion was allocated in 2008 to projects and assistance programmes under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI,) including some €1.160 billion for southern Mediterranean countries, according to the General Report on the EU’s activities in 2008.

The report said proximity ties with the Union's neighbours were a key element in the strategy to "avoid new dividing lines emerging and promote prosperity, stability and security for all".

ENPI
The 250-page report devotes a section to the ENPI, outlining developments in the past year. It says that during 2008, programmes were launched at regional level to address challenges of common interest such as justice and migration flows, investment promotion, cultural heritage and gender equality.

Four new projects were also adopted to support the launch of the new Union for the Mediterranean initiative: de-pollution of the Mediterranean, maritime and land highways, civil protection and a Mediterranean solar plan.

Institutional twinning activities continued to develop rapidly in all the ENP countries and were introduced in Israel for the first time. Overall 11 ENP countries are currently implementing 85 twinning operations. More than 100 events were also organised in 2008 under TAIEX, the technical assistance and information exchange programme, while the ENP countries became eligible in July for the instrument of support for the improvement of public institutions and management systems (SIGMA).

Southern Mediterranean The report says "relations between the European Union and its Mediterranean partners were given fresh impetus this year" with moves towards establishing a Union for the Mediterranean including the Member States of the EU and the non-EU Mediterranean coastal states. This culminated in a meeting in November 2008 in Marseille, where the foreign ministers of the 43 Euro-Mediterranean partner countries adopted the mandate, structure and institutional arrangements of the Union for the Mediterranean. In order to advance the regional integration process, they also agreed on priorities for the 2009 working programme.

On the bilateral front, a number of association council meetings took place over the year: with Algeria (10 March), Egypt (28 April), Israel (16 June), Morocco (13 October), Jordan (10 November) and Tunisia (11 November).

The report outlines progress in the relationship with Morocco, which was granted advanced status in the European Neighbourhood Policy, as well as moves towards a framework agreement with Libya, and an Association Agreement with Syria.

The General Report on the EU's activities covers the work of all the EU institutions and bodies and seeks to provide an overview of the notable events and key trends of EU life in 2008. Totalling some 250 pages, it sets out developments in the different fields of activity according to the four strategic objectives adopted by the Commission at the beginning of its term of office: prosperity, solidarity, security, and Europe's role as a world partner.

The General Report can be consulted on the EU's Europa website: http://europa.eu/generalreport/en/welcome.htm.

General Report - Section on the ENP

General Report - EC press release

ENP website

Africa 'held hostage' by water shortages

2009-03-10T00:00:00Z

African economies are especially vulnerable to water shortages, delegates to the Implementing Environmental Water Allocations (IEWA) conference heard on Monday.

"Many African economies are held hostage to hydrology," World Bank senior water resources specialist Rafik Hirji said at the start of the four-day event in Port Elizabeth.

It has attracted more than 300 experts, academics and officials from 30 countries.

The international conference aims to promote the sustainable use of rivers, wetlands, estuaries and groundwater.

Hirji said Africa's vulnerability stemmed from the extreme variability of its climate, a condition exacerbated by increasing climate change.

He cited Ethiopia, Kenya and Mozambique as examples of countries on the continent where there was a strong correlation between rainfall and GDP.

"Climate events in these countries have huge economic impacts."

Speaking later to Sapa, he said some countries in the SADC region were "quite vulnerable" in this regard, one of which was Zimbabwe.

"A number of countries are really facing serious problems as a result of their inability to deal with existing climate variabilities. And now climate change is only going to make it worse," he said. - Sapa

2009-03-10T00:00:00Z

FEMISE revamps its website and announced 2009 work plan

2009-03-10T00:00:00Z

The EuropeAid funded network of economic research institutes, FEMISE, has made a complete recasting of its website making it easier to access its database of research, publications and information. The revamped website comprises three layers. The first is accessible to all users and contains all published information, the second layer is the place for Members of the FEMISE network to post their news and exchange information, while the third is reserved for administrative information and open only to members of the Steering Committee and RSG.

The website will have an internal search engine that indexes all pages html and an advanced search engine that will allow more detailed search by categories, date, keyword, etc. It also offers the opportunity to subscribe to the FEMISE newsletter.

Some of the features of the new website are still not fully accessible or are on trial and FEMISE is calling on users to submit their comments and suggestions.

EuropeAid's Regional Programme aims to reinforce dialogue and economic research by funding the 70-member FEMISE network of economic research institutes, so that it can undertake studies and organise discussion and dialogue on the priorities set out in the economic and financial chapter of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.

The €4.9 million (MEDA) FEMISE project, launched in 2005 and ending in 2009, has also announced its Work Plan for 2009.

2009-03-10T00:00:00Z

Water Resources chapter in report on "Arab Environment: Future Challenges

2009-03-10T00:00:00Z

The Arab Forum for Environment and Development published its report on "Arab Environment: Future Challenges" at the end of 2008 (The full report may be downloaded here: http://www.afedonline.org/afedreport/).

The report contains a chapter on Water Resources written by Dr. Musa Nimah. The water resources chapter provides information on the present availability of fresh water in the Arab world and discusses predicted future water demands in selected Arab countries by section.

The chapter concludes by offering the following recommendations:

1. Optimization of water allocation among the three domains (agricultural, industrial, domestic).

2. Implementation of an optimal water productivity strategy that leads to the import of water through virtual water.

3. Holistic and integrated approach to water resources supply and demand planning and management.

4. Capacity building and technical upgrading of all stakeholders.

5. Awareness raising at levels, from end users to decision makers.

6. Issuing and implementing of sustainable water policies based on the above points, current and prospective water data and research.

7. Development of water resources management models that will be able to unfold many solution scenarios to select the optimal approach.

No doubt many of those principles and recommendations are not new to those of us working on water resources issues in the MENA region. It would have been very interesting if the report had included an analysis of the policies or projects that have been implemented in the region to address some of those recommendations.

It would be great to hear from the MENA Water community on their experiences with projects or programs that are related to some of these recommendations. For example, has the concept of virtual water been used in the MENA region? If so, what has been the result? What have been some of the outcomes from the many awareness raising, capacity building and technical training programs? etc.

Water Safety Plan Manual: Step-by-step risk management for drinking-water suppliers

2009-03-11T00:00:00Z

Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health Newsletter N° 101 / 10 March 2009

In 2004, the WHO Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality recommended that water suppliers develop and implement "Water Safety Plans" (WSPs) in order to systematically assess and manage risks. Since this time, governments and regulators, water suppliers and practitioners have increasingly embraced this approach, but they have also requested further guidance.

This much-anticipated workbook answers this call by describing how to develop and implement a WSP in clear and practical terms. Stepwise advice is provided through 11 learning modules, each representing a key step in the WSP development and implementation process.

Water Safety Plan Manual