Summary
News
- UNESCO-IHP, UNESCO-IHE and the International Water History Association offer course on World History of Water Management
- 'Water for sustainable urban human settlements' – a new joint Briefing Note by WWAP and UN-HABITAT
- Water History Conference Delft 2010: "The history of water in Israel/Palestine in the last 100 years: a beginning" successfully held
- Reservoir GHG briefing at Hydrovision International
Events
UNESCO Water Family (*)
- Symposium: The right to water and water rights in a changing world
Featured International Events
- Summit Meeting: Water in mountains - 3rd International Congress on integrated management in high watersheds
Publications
- Application of Satellite Remote Sensing to Support Water Resources Management in Africa: Results from the Tiger Initiative – IHP-VII – Technical Documents in Hydrology, No. 85
Did you know?
Facts and figures about Bangladesh
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News
UNESCO-IHP, UNESCO-IHE and the International Water History Association offer course on World History of Water Management
A 5-day short course on the "World History of Water Management" will be offered in September 2010, drawing both on historical experiences from different parts of the world and on experts from the International Water History Association (IWHA) and the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID). Many of the experts are involved in the UNESCO "History of Water and Civilization" project, and in the framework of cooperation among IWHA, UNESCO-IHP and UNESCO-IHE.
The course aims to (1) provide a comprehensive overview of archaeological and historical developments in water management including water harvesting, water supply, transportation, delivery, treatment, hydraulic engineering and allocation (with contributions including the physical sciences, technology, ecology, engineering, organisation, politics, law, anthropology, and governance) in different parts of the world and within various cultural contexts; (2) develop an appreciation of the role of cultural factors that affect the management of water resources, especially at times of perceived water scarcity and (3) comprehend the historical antecedents of our current paradigm of water management and what can be learned from historical case studies on the basis of the knowledge and experience of several scholars from different countries and from the exchange of experiences to be generated between course participants and experts.
The course also constitutes a contribution to the UNESCO-led United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014).
Course brochure
'Water for sustainable urban human settlements' – a new joint Briefing Note by WWAP and UN-HABITAT
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WWAP and UN-Habitat have released a joint Briefing Note 'Water for sustainable urban human settlements' highlighting critical water challenges related to today's unprecedented urban expansion – from providing access to basic services to ensuring environmental and human security. The paper, produced 16 June 2010, provides urban mayors, leaders and high-level decision makers with concrete policy options to meet these challenges, protect against potential water-related disasters and ensure the development of sustainable urban settlements.
With half the world's population living in urban areas and forecasts that all regions of the world will be predominantly urban by the middle of this century, the issue of sustainable cities is obviously high on the international agenda. The theme has influenced a number of international events in 2010, including Shanghai Expo 2010 'Better Cities, Better Life'; Singapore International Water Week 'Sustainable Cities, Clean and Affordable Water'; the IWA World Water Congress 'Cities of the Future' and many others.
WWAP and UN-HABITAT wish to reaffirm the critical role of water in ensuring sustainable cities. Clean drinking water, improved sanitation services and protection against water-related disasters are fundamental to environmental and human security and to sustainable urban development.
Though water supply and sanitation coverage increased between 1998 and 2008, the growth of the world's urban populations jeopardizes those results. Keeping up with urban growth will be a tough challenge. But there can be no sustainable urban settlements without an efficient water policy. Mayors, leaders in all sectors, and high-level decision-makers must acknowledge the role of water and take action NOW!
"Water for Sustainable Urban Human Settlements" [English PDF - 2 MB]
Water History Conference Delft 2010: "The history of water in Israel/Palestine in the last 100 years: a beginning" successfully held
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UNESCO-IHP and the Israeli-Palestinian Science Organization (IPSO) successfully organized on 17 June the double session "The history of water in Israel/Palestine in the last 100 years: a beginning", which was held at the Water History Conference 2010. More than 30 international scholars attended the two sessions. Palestinian and Israeli researchers from the University of Haifa, Al-Quds University, Hebrew University and Birzeit University presented the intermediate research results of the joint UNESCO and IPSO project "Harnessing History to Understand the Current Israeli-Arab Water Landscape". They presented interdisciplinary topics that ranged from the development of water laws in Mandate Palestine, the history of the planning of major water infrastructure in the region to case studies on the landscape transformation through water resources development and usage changes and discussed them with the academic public. The positive feedback of the peers made it clear that this joint Israeli-Palestinian research project is indeed considered as an important and groundbreaking initiative in a field that has hitherto received little academic attention. The scholars also suggested to take the project further than the current phase until December 2010 allows, in terms of depth of the studies, the researched fields and the access and exploitation of source materials.
The project "Harnessing History" conducts historical research to better understand the regional development of major water projects, water laws, and of the changes in the landscapes of Israel/Palestine due to irrigation. The project is financed by Funds-in-Trust of the Government of Italy, the double session also received the support of UNESCO-IHP. "Harnessing History" constitutes a contribution to the UNESCO projects From Potential Conflict to Cooperation Potential, an initiative for the prevention and resolution of water-related conflicts, and to the forthcoming multi-volume book series History of Water and Civilization.
Water History Conference 2010 website | International Water History Association website
Reservoir GHG briefing at Hydrovision International
A major milestone has been reached in the UNESCO/IHA Greenhouse Gas Status of Freshwater Reservoirs Project, with the publication of the GHG Measurement Guidelines for Freshwater Reservoirs.
Register today for IHA’s GHG Briefing to be among the first to receive the newly published GHG Measurement Guidelines for Freshwater Reservoirs. The briefing will be held at Hydrovision International, Charlotte, NC, USA on Monday, 26 July 2010, from 1-5pm.
The GHG Measurement Guidelines are presented as the standard on how GHG emissions should be measured to address the current knowledge gaps relating to freshwater reservoirs.
This briefing, at Hydrovision International, provides a major opportunity for individuals responsible in this area to glean critical information on the increasingly important topic of the greenhouse gas (GHG) status of freshwater reservoirs, to discuss the practical application of the new GHG Measurement Guidelines with key experts involved in their development, and to help guide future direction relating to GHG prediction.
To register, simply visit the Hydrovision International website and register for the IHA GHG Briefing as part of the conference registration process. To add the briefing to your existing Hydrovision registration package, email the event organisers at: registration@pennwell.com.
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Events
UNESCO Water Family (*)
Symposium: The right to water and water rights in a changing world
22 September 2010: Delft, The Netherlands
Featured International Events
Summit Meeting: Water in mountains - 3rd International Congress on integrated management in high watersheds
22-24 September 2010: Megève, France
Access a complete list of water events around the world
Publications
Application of Satellite Remote Sensing to Support Water Resources Management in Africa: Results from the Tiger Initiative
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IHP-VII – Technical Documents in Hydrology, No. 85
The European Space Agency (ESA) in the context of the Committee of Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) started the TIGER initiative as a concrete action following the resolutions of the World Submit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg. The initiative aims at assisting African countries to overcome problems faced in the collection, analysis and dissemination of water related geo-information by exploiting the advantages of Earth Observation (EO) technology.
In the last few years, under the leadership of the African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW), TIGER has evolved with main contributions by ESA, UNESCO and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and with collaboration of other partners such as the Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other African and International organizations.
UNESCO through its International Hydrological Programme (IHP), agreed to publish the results provided by several different groups involved in the TIGER research and pre-operational projects in the series IHP Technical Documents in Hydrology. It hoped that this publication will stimulate researchers worldwide to perform additional in-depth work and analysis on the exploitation of space borne remote sensing technology for water resources in Africa.
Publication | Tiger website
Did you know...? Facts and figures about Bangladesh
- Bangladesh is situated in the deltaic plain formed by three large rivers – the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna. The combined total catchment of about 1.7 million km2 extends over Bhutan, China, India and Nepal. Only about 7% of this huge catchment lies in Bangladesh.
- Most of Bangladesh is low-lying and relatively flat. A network of about 230 rivers, of which 57 are transboundary, forms a web of interconnecting channels throughout the country.
- Bangladesh has a subtropical monsoon climate, characterized by wide seasonal variations in rainfall, moderately warm temperatures and high humidity, with a hot, humid summer from March to June; a cool, rainy monsoon season from July to October; and a cool, dry winter from November to February. The annual rainfall varies from 1,200 mm in the north-west to more than 4,000 mm in the north-east.
- About 90% of the annual rainfall occurs during the monsoon season. From November to May there is almost no dependable rainfall. Drought is widespread during this dry period, and irrigation becomes necessary for any crop production.
- A network of rivers, channels and other water bodies covers 8.23% of the surface area of Bangladesh. Overall, the annual freshwater potential of the country is estimated to be 1,200 billion m3, of which more than 90% is inflow from upstream countries. Bangladesh has a treaty with India on sharing the water resources of the Ganges River.
- Irrigation is common but not fully developed. Out of some 85,000 km2 of arable land, about 52% is irrigated. Due to the shortage of surface water during the dry season and absence of diversion structures, groundwater resources are heavily used. For example, about 70% of irrigation water is abstracted from aquifers. Groundwater also accounts for nearly 95% of the household water supply. This has led to declining water levels, especially in urban areas. In Dhaka, the capital, the water table has declined at an alarming rate of 2 to 3 meters per year over the last decade. There is also evidence of wells drying up in rural areas.
The section "Did You Know…?" is taken from the 3rd World Water Development Report "Water in a Changing World".
UNESCO's Water Family consists of the following:
- International Hydrological Programme
- World Water Assessment Programme
- UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education
- Water-related Institutes and Centres under the Auspices of UNESCO
- UNESCO Water-related Chairs
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