IHP finishes 18^th Intergovernmental Council

The 18^th session of the Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) was held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from 9 to 13 June 2008. Mr. Benedito Braga, Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Council, opened the session. Delegates from the thirty-six Member States that are members of the IHP Intergovernmental Council attended the session. Forty delegations from Member States that are not members of the Council, twelve governmental and non-governmental organizations, two UN organizations and nine UNESCO category 2 centres were represented as observers.

Draft Summary Report of the 18^th Intergovernmental Council
Complete list of documents from the 18^th Intergovernmental Council

GEMS/Water, UNESCO and IAP launch new edition of Water Quality for Ecosystem and Human Health

UNEP’s GEMS/Water Programme has produced a new version of Water Quality for Ecosystem and Human Health, 2^nd Edition. The purpose of the new edition is to introduce the basic concepts of water quality and how they are related to ecosystem and human health, and to present an overview and assessment of current and upcoming global water quality issues with examples from around the world. The book also includes a new chapter highlighting how ecohydrology can serve to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals in water and sanitation. The target audience includes academia, research scientists, and water practitioners, and the book can serve as a background to water assessments being conducted at both regional and global scales.

Full announcement [PDF format - 480KB]

IAHS awards International Hydrology Prize

Jean Margat, a former consultant for UNESCO and leader in science and hydrology for more than 60 years, was awarded the International Hydrology Prize by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS). Mr. Margat made valuable contributions to the science of hydrology throughout the world during his long career, having worked for BRGM (Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières) in France, UNDP, FAO and the World Bank.

The General Assembly of IAHS held at Canberra in 1979 endorsed the principle of an International Hydrology Prize awarded annually on an individual basis in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the science. Nominations for the Prize are made by National Committees and forwarded to the Secretary General for consideration by the Nomination Committee. The Committee consists of the President and a Vice-President of IAHS and representatives of UNESCO and WMO.

IAHS presentation of the award and Mr. Margat’s response

UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Water Management in China announces eLearning concept

The UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Water Management centres upon the capacity development of engineers at three Chinese universities, i.e., Tongji University Shanghai, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, and Jinan University. The Head of the Chair, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gelger, aims especially at conveying a solid knowledge of sustainable management of water resources. In the process, priority is given to individual solution strategies taking into account local, cultural and financial parameters in China.

To this end, the German IHP/HWRP Secretariat has supported the development of an internet-based eLearning concept, which has been designed and implemented at the Academic and Research Department Engineering Hydrology at RWTH Aachen University under the guidance of Univ. Prof. Dr.-Ing. H. Nacken. In March 2007, the resulting system was first used in the courses “Storm Water Management” and “Water Resources Management and Hydrology”.

UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Water Management in China website
eLearning concept for the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Water Management, China [PDF format - 202KB]

Access a complete list of water events around the world

What are your responsibilities at UNESCO-IHP?
At UNESCO-IHP I am involved in the groundwater resources programs, and mainly on the legal aspects of transboundary aquifers. I work mainly on the International Shared Aquifer Resources Management (ISARM) project, and on its legal and institutional focus area. I have conducted and coordinated the second phase of this project in the Americas which has focused on the legal and institutional aspects of transboundary aquifers in the twenty-two participating countries of the American continent.  The results of this second phase are under publication, and it will be the second volume of the ISARM Americas. In the frame of the ISARM project, I have also coordinated and participated since 2003 in the ad-hoc experts group that UNESCO-IHP has set up to provide scientific and technical assistance to the Special Rapporteur of the UN International Law Commission. I am also involved in other projects on transboundary aquifers that have a legal and institutional component such as the IAEA/UNDP/GEF Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System Medium Sized Project, where UNESCO contributes to the legal component.

Where is the process with the draft articles on the law of transboundary aquifers?
The draft articles on the law of transboundary aquifers were adopted by the ILC at first reading in August 2006, and they were circulated to all member of the UN for comments by 1^st January 2008. About forty written comments were received. The Special Rapporteur has submitted for the next session of the ILC starting 5 May in Geneva his fifth report in which he has given due consideration to the comments received. It is expected that the ILC will adopt the draft articles at second reading during the coming session, and defer it to the UN GA with the recommendation of adopting a resolution annexing the draft articles, recommending to States to take appropriate arrangements on their transboundary aquifers on the basis of the draft articles and considering at a later stage the possibility of convening a negotiating conference to examine the draft articles with a view to concluding a convention.

How is UNESCO-IHP contributing to the process?
The Special Rapporteur had requested UNESCO-IHP to provide him scientific and technical assistance. Therefore, since 2003, we have held multi-disciplinary (hydrogeologists, technicians and lawyers) experts group meetings in Paris, Tokyo and Geneva for the preparation of the reports that the Special Rapporteur submits to the ILC. We have participated to Working Groups in Geneva with members of the ILC, and we have organized a special session in New York at the UN building for the delegates of the 6^th Committee (legal committee of the UN General Assembly) to brief them on the science of hydrogeology and the complexities of aquifers and transboundary aquifers.

What is the importance of the draft articles?
The draft articles represent a great step forward in international water law, for the coverage of transboundary aquifers. If the rules of international water law for surface water are quite settled, this was not the case until now for transboundary aquifers. The UN Convention on the Law of Non-navigational uses (1997) covered groundwater in a very limited way. The draft articles have come in to fill this gap. They respond to the needs and expectations of technicians and water managers, in many countries, especially in arid and semi-arid countries relying on groundwaters, for some guidance in dealing with their neighboring States for their transboundary aquifers.

• Rapid growth of the world's population has been one of the most visible and dramatic changes to the world over the last 100 years. Population growth has huge implications for all aspects of resource use, including water.
• Although water is a renewable resource, it is only renewable within limits; the extent to which increasing demands can be met is finite.
• Worldwide, per capita water supplies decreased by a third between 1970 and 1990, and there is little doubt that population growth has been and will continue to be one of the main drivers of changes to patterns of water resource use.
• Although there are differences of opinion, most projections expect this slowdown of demographic growth rates to continue and for the world's population to stabilize at about 9.3 billion people (still over 50% higher than the 2001 population of 6.1 billion) somewhere in the middle of the 21^st century.
• The global overview of water availability versus population stresses continental disparities, and in particular the pressure put on the Asian continent, which supports 60% of the world's population with only 36% of the world's water resources. Europe has 13% of the world's population and 8% of the world's water resources; Africa has 13% of the world's population and 11% of the world's water resources; North and Central America has 8% of the population and 15% of the water; Oceania has less than 1% of the world's population but 5% of the world's water resources; and South America has 6% of the world's population yet 26% of the world's water resources.
• Freshwater is distributed unevenly, with nearly 500 million people suffering from water stress or serious water scarcity.
• A number of scenarios have been developed based on the most recent UN population projections. Based on these projections, the future for many parts of the world looks bleak. The most alarming projection suggests that nearly 7 billion people in 60 countries will suffer from water scarcity by 2050. Even according to conservative projections, just under 2 billion people in 48 countries will struggle against water scarcity in 2050.
• Between now and 2025, it is expected that the world will need 17% more water to grow food for the increasing populations in developing countries and that total water use will increase by some 40%.
• Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest level of access to safe water coverage of any region, with only 60% of the population served.

The section “Did You Know…?” is taken from the 1^st United Nations World Water Development Report: “Water for People, Water for Life" (WWDR1, 2003), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) publication 'Global Population and Water: Access and Sustainability' [PDF format - 924 KB].

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