In 2005, seven UNESCO science prizes were awarded by Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura at the opening of the World Science Forum on November 10 in Budapest, Hungary, including the Great Man-Made River International Water Prize, which was awarded this year for the second time.

The second laureate is Dr. Sayyed Ahang Kowsar for his work on floodwater harvesting and aquifer management, research training and implementation in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Dr. Kowsar has devoted the past four decades to developing and implementing floodwater spreading and harvesting as a means of recharging aquifers in arid and semi arid areas of Iran. His work has included research, training and administering projects related to water harvesting and the improvement of environmental quality through floodwater spreading.

Groundwater has sustained Iranians for millennia. Therefore harvesting floodwater in wet years, storing it underground, and delivering it commensurate with genuine needs through qanats and wells can mitigate the sufferings in drought periods that sometimes last for many years. This has been the basic tenet of Dr. Kowsar in his building of a solid foundation for the water sector in Iran.

Floodwater irrigation in rain-fed farms and pastures, and the artificial recharge of groundwater in Iran has been a significant undertaking of Dr Kowsar and his team since 1979. Dr. Kowsar has convinced policy makers that, contrary to popular beliefs, flooding is a 'blessing in disguise'. Floodwater can be used to recharge aquifers.

The Kowsar Floodwater Spreading Project was accepted as a National Plan by the government of Iran in 1988. It has been through the efforts of Dr. Kowsar that the Watershed Management Authority of Iran has accepted his water harvesting approach as one of its main responsibilities and is implementing it in large regions of Iran. Some of the offshoots of floodwater harvesting have enhanced environmental quality through reclamation of degraded land, sand dune fixation, flood damage mitigation, and creation of employment opportunities. These, for a country faced with expanding deserts and millions of unemployed workers, are the main reasons for the nomination of Dr. Kowsar for this meritorious award. The national and international honours bestowed upon him testify to his lifetime achievements.

Water shortage has caused migration of many agricultures to other regions and other countries. Dr. Kowsar's activities since 1983 have operated to reverse migration. As result in the region of the countries where Dr. Kowsar's project has been implemented, it is produced annually a surplus wheat grain. The number of high yielding wells in the Gareh Bygone Plain has increased 10-fold, and the area of irrigated farms has expanded 8-fold. Many dried and low yielding qanats in Abbarik (Bam area) Zanjan and Delijan have been put back into to service due the recharge of the aquifers. Dr. Kowsar and his trainees have been involved in these vital endeavours.

Your attention is kindly drawn to the fact that the international jury decided not to award the prize for the year 2003 because, in its view, the applications received did not live up to the standards set by the Prize's founders and the criteria established in its Statutes.