UNESCO-IHP ISARM releases atlas of transboundary aquifers

The UNESCO-IHP ISARM (International Shared Aquifers Resources Management) Programme has produced the "Atlas of Transboundary Aquifers – Global maps, regional cooperation and local inventories". This Atlas was presented at the World Water Week 2009 in Stockholm and is now available on-line.

A global vision of regional and local initiatives: Since its start in 2000, ISARM has launched a number of global and regional initiatives. More than 200 transboundary aquifers have been identified. Inventories undertaken in the Americas, Asia, Africa, South-Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Caucasus, and Middle East have been already published separately. This Atlas presents a compilation of available data.

A common knowledge for shared management: In recent years water security for people and the natural environment have taken a centre stage in much of the dialogue on international policy. Coordination among countries is essential for the sustainable management of transboundary aquifers. This atlas is intended to be a valuable reference that will encourage the sound and sustainable management of transboundary aquifers.

Digital copies can be requested to:

International Hydrological Programme (IHP)
UNESCO/Division of Water Sciences (SC/HYD)
1 rue Miollis
75732 Paris Cedex 15
France
Tel: (+33) 1 45 68 39 11/40 99
Fax: (+33) 1 45 68 58 11
Email: r.wright@unesco.org or m.rubio@unesco.org

Water shortage fueling displacement of people in northern Iraq, UNESCO study finds

Over 100,000 people in northern Iraq have been forced to evacuate their homes since 2005 because of severe water shortages, a UNESCO study finds. Drought and excessive well pumping have drawn down aquifer levels in the region, causing a dramatic decline of water flow in ancient underground aqueducts, known in Iraq as karez, upon which hundreds of communities depend.

The study is the first to document the effects of the ongoing drought on the karez systems, which thousands of Iraqis have depended upon for their drinking water and farming for centuries.

Designed especially for the arid climate, karez are renowned for their ability to remain productive even during dry spells. However, UNESCO’s study confirms that since the onset of drought four years ago, 70% of the active karez have dried up. The overexploitation of groundwater by modern pumped wells has also been a major factor. By August of this year, only 116 of 683 karez systems in northern Iraq still supplied water to their beneficiaries.

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IRTCES Silver Jubilee Celebration held in Beijing

The IRTCES Silver Jubilee Celebration & Seminar on Integrated River Basin Management under Global Climate Change were held on July 29th, 2009 at the Media Center in Beijing, China. Mr. Chen Lei, Minister of Water Resources of China and Mr. Walter R. Erdelen, Assistant Director General for Natural Sciences of UNESCO attended the celebration. Minister Chen Lei, Mr. Erdelen, and Mr Wang Shucheng, Vice Chairman of Financial and Economic Committee of the National People's Congress awarded the "Qian Ning Prize for Erosion and Sedimentation". Mr. Yang Zhenhuai, the former Minister of Water Resources and Prof. Lin Bingnan, Academician of Chinese Academy of Science and Honorary Chairman of IRTCES Advisory Council, also made presentations during the celebration.

Minister Chen Lei extended his congratulations on the 25th anniversary of International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation (IRTCES), and fully affirmed the great achievements made by IRTCES and its outstanding contribution to the international cooperation in the past 25 years. In his view, IRTCES, with the interest and support of UNESCO as well as the direct leadership of the Ministry of Water Resources, has strived for progress and devoted in pioneering innovation. Thus, great achievements have been made in all aspects of work through exploration in practice and development in exploration. Activities such as extensive domestic and international academic exchange, technical training, research consultation as well as building of information platform, have promoted cooperation in science and technology and sharing in knowledge in the erosion and sedimentation field; expanded the world’s advanced experience and technology in river regulation, sediment management, ecological construction as well as flood control and disaster mitigation, and advanced the technical progress and solution of problems of erosion and sedimentation.

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Access a complete list of water events around the world

Manual on low-flow estimation and prediction

Operational Report No. 50, World Meteorological Organization
Editors: A. Gustard and S. Demuth

The World Meteorological Organization has recently published Operational Hydrology Report No. 50 entitled 'Manual on low-flow estimation and prediction'. The manual provides state-of-the-art analytical procedures for estimating and predicting low river flows across much of the globe, regardless of the availability of observed data. Such estimates have many applications, including water resources planning, effluent dilution estimates and water resources management. The UNESCO FRIEND programme provided significant input and Alan Gustard (UK) and Siegfried Demuth (UNESCO) were editors-in-chief.

Full publication [PDF format - 7.6 MB]

• Global under-five mortality has fallen from 93 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 72 per 1,000 in 2005 – a decline of 22.5% – but the pace of progress has been uneven across regions and countries. The decline has been slowest in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Malnutrition accounts for about a third of the disease burden in low- and middle income countries.
• Lack of access to adequate, safe food, partly related to water resources management, is one cause of malnutrition, but up to 50% of malnutrition is related to repeated diarrhea or intestinal nematode infections as a result of unclean water, inadequate sanitation or poor hygiene.
• Of the estimated 350-500 million clinical disease episodes occurring annually, around 60% are in sub-Saharan Africa, as are 80% of the deaths. Most of the more than 1 million Africans who die from malaria each year are children under age five.
• How much malaria could be eliminated by managing the environment – by eliminating stagnant water bodies, modifying reservoir contours, introducing drainage or improving irrigation management – differs across regions with variations in vector habitats, with a global average of 42%.

The section "Did You Know…?" is taken from the 3rd World Water Development Report "Water in a Changing World".

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