CURRENTS - newsletter from the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)

Issue n°13, February 2005

IN FOCUS: WATER AND SANITATION INITIATIVES AT WWAP PARTNERS

DAMAGE TO AGRICULTURE FOLLOWING THE 26 DECEMBER 2004 TSUNAMI: AN UPDATE FROM WWAP PARTNERS IN SRI LANKA
One month after the disaster, the focus is slowly shifting from providing emergency relief to effecting short and medium term solutions to the disrupted livelihoods. Obviously, the damage to the fishing industry is the most severe. However, the impact on agriculture is also considerable. Based on preliminary investigations, it is estimated that about 10,000 ha are affected by seawater. These are composed of 2500 ha of paddy lands, 2,200 ha of other field crops, and about 5,500 ha used for miscellaneous cultivation. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation of Sri Lanka deployed several teams of experts comprising irrigation engineers, agronomists and soil scientists to investigate and find methodologies for reclaiming the affected land.
The damage to agriculture results from intrusion of seawater into the agricultural lands, soil erosion, deposition of sands and other debris. The continued presence of Sodium ions can impair the soil structure. Groundwater has become highly saline and wells are filled with saline water. Nearly 75% of the affected area is located in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. This area receives heavy rain once a year, during the period of December to January. Although rains are capable of washing off and leaching the salts, the next heavy rains are about one year away. Scientists fear damage to the structure of the soil.
(Based on information provided by Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation of Sri Lanka.)
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FACTS ABOUT WATER AND AGRICULTURE FROM THE WORLD WATER DEVELOPMENT REPORT (WWDR), 'WATER FOR PEOPLE, WATER FOR LIFE'

- Poor drainage and irrigation practices have led to waterlogging and salinization of approximately 10% of the world's irrigated lands
- Approximately 70% of all available water is used for irrigation
- Pasture and crops take up 37% of the Earth's land area
- Current global water withdrawals for irrigation are estimated at about 2,000 to 2,555 km3 per year.

Read more facts and Figures from the WWDR

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT WWAP?

UN-WATER MEETING AT UNESCO HEADQUARTERS (16-18 FEBRUARY, PARIS, FRANCE)
UN Water is the focal point for coordinating United Nations-system activities in the area of water resources. It is the interagency mechanism to follow up on the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) concerning freshwater and the water-related decisions adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Organizational aspects and the programme of work will be discussed during the meeting.
An assessment of results following the first World Water Development Report (WWDR), 'Water for People, Water for Life', will be presented by the WWAP Coordinator, Gordon Young, in order to improve preparations for the second WWDR.
Through the meeting UN Water wishes to define an operational strategy in order to maintain coherence in UN system water-related actions on a regional, national and international scale. This is particularly important in view of the up-coming UN Decade for Action, 'Water for Life' 2005-2015, which will open this year on World Water Day.

PROGRESS TOWARDS THE SECOND WORLD WATER DEVELOPMENT REPORT (WWDR II)
As we move closer to the editing phase of WWDR II, Janine Treves-Habar has joined the WWAP team as publication editor for this new report. Alison Clayson, who had been publication editor for the first WWDR, 'Water for People, Water for Life', left the Secretariat about a year ago. Alison played a very key role, both in bringing the many chapters of the first World Water Development Report together and having a great influence on the style of the document, but also in producing the many brochures that announced and described the Programme.
Janine was copyeditor of the first WWDR and worked closely with Alison. She was previously managing editor of the New York office of Berghahn Books, co-publisher with UNESCO of the WWDR, and has recently worked with the International Hydrology Programme (IHP) to re-conceptualize its website. Janine is familiar with both WWAP and its publications.

WWAP PARTNERSHIPS

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF WOMEN IN ENGINEERING (IIWE) 2005 SUMMER SESSION ON 'SUSTAINING WOMEN ENGINEERS INTERNATIONALLY' UNDER THE AUSPICES OF WWAP
The IIWE, open to women and men, acts as a forum exploring the diversity of international engineering practices and traditions, showing how culture can make a difference and indicating how to overcome these differences in order to communicate effectively in a multi-cultural setting.
The IIWE 2005 summer session, 'Sustaining Women Engineers Internationally', aims to present the challenges women face as international engineers and prepare them for the future. This year the IIWE puts particular emphasis on the woman engineer's role in sustainable development. The IIWE program includes examples of the engineering done in a variety of countries and geographic areas. IIWE 2005 also presents the vast opportunities offered in the engineering field, focuses on helping participants discover their real values, and shows how engineers can balance their professional and family lives.
The WWAP Deputy Coordinator, Carlos Fernandez-Jauregui, will speak of 'What sustainable development is... and isn't' at this seminar, which was organized under the auspices of WWAP.
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WWAP AND UNESCO WILL WORK TOGETHER ON A REGIONAL WATER DEVELOPMENT REPORT
Members of the WWAP Secretariat have met with UNESCO's office in Cairo to join forces and discuss a future Regional Water Development Report for Arab States.
Several such Reports are being put together worldwide on a regional or national scale, following the structure of the World Water Development Report (WWDR).

WWAP, UNESCO AND CATHALAC TO COLLABORATE FOR CAPACITY BUILDING IN CENTRAL AMERICA
The Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC), the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will collaborate to the project 'Capacity Building for Stage II Adaptation to Climate Change in Central America, Mexico and Cuba'.
The project aims to support the participating countries in preparing adapted policies and in raising awareness on climate change impacts and the potential for adaptation. Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is a leading area for improvement. WWAP and UNESCO will work together to develop training material for water management, adaptation to climate change and sustainable development educational programmes, thus supporting the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Access the 'Capacity Building for Stage II Adaptation to Climate Change in Central America, Mexico and Cuba' project website.

SECOND MEETING TO LAUNCH A JOINT TRAINING PROGRAMME IN WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Following the decision to create a joint monitoring programme in water resources management for Spanish speaking countries, Carlos Fernandez-Jauregui, WWAP's deputy coordinator, and Pilar Gonzalez, our web projects coordinator, met with the University of A Coruña and the Xunta de Galicia to discuss it's implementation and organizational aspects.

WATER COMMUNITY MEETING IN MONTPELLIER
WWAP officials met with water specialists in Montpellier, France, in order to analyse the possibility of organizing the next International Water Association's (IWA) World Water Congress and Exhibition in Montpellier in 2008, under the auspices of WWAP. Pierre Chevalier and Eric Servat, of the Water Community, presided at the meeting. Both the Water Community, a consortium of research centres and users, and the Corum, a national congress centre, are based in Montpellier.

WATER AND SANITATION INITIATIVES AT WWAP PARTNERS

FAO/NETHERLANDS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON WATER FOR FOOD AND ECOSYSTEMS (THE HAGUE, 31 JANUARY - 5 FEBRUARY 2005)
Strategic investments in rainfed and irrigated agriculture are urgently needed to produce more 'crop per drop' in countries suffering from hunger and malnutrition, Mr Harcharik said in a keynote speech delivered on behalf of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Director-General Dr Jacques Diouf at the Conference. According to FAO's latest estimates, around 852 million people worldwide were suffering from chronic hunger and undernourishment in 2000-2002.
Jointly organized by FAO, and the Government of the Netherlands, the five-day water conference held in The Hague, Netherlands, that ended on 4 February has resulted in the adoption of actions to improve water use efficiency in food security and ecosystem protection. More than 30 ministers and around 500 delegates from 140 countries attended the meeting in The Hague.
Find out more at the website on the conference.
FAO was lead agency for the chapter on food security [PDF format - 1.4 MB] in the first World Water Development Report, 'Water for People, Water for Life', and is also coordinating the equivalent chapter in the second Report, due for release in March 2006.

UNESCO-IHE INSTITUTE FOR WATER EDUCATION LAUNCHES ON-LINE CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING
UNESCO-IHE has made concerted efforts in the development of a distance learning approach to its educational programmes, conscious of its importance in maintaining our cutting-edge delivery modes for the 21st century.
Therefore, UNESCO-IHE has designed an I-learning programme (I stands for innovative), which is operational as of February 2005.
Each course responds to diverse demands from targeted markets and aims to cover the training needs in the field of water education by offering a product in an innovative delivery format which reduces training time; makes training exciting, flexible, interactive and successful; and allows participants to learn from different locations at their convenience. At the same time, they have the opportunity to get feedback from fellow participants and enter the UNESCO-IHE worldwide scenario of lifelong learning.
The courses will target mid-career professionals such as decision-makers, managers of public and private institutions, NGO staff, trainers and members of academic institutions.
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UN conference adopts 10-year plan for natural hazards The United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction, concluded in Kobe, Japan, on 22 January 2005 with the adoption of a ten-year plan to combat natural disasters. The "Hyogo Framework for Action: 2005 - 2015" calls upon countries to put disaster management at the centre of national policies, to improve the capacity of disaster-prone countries to respond to risk, and to invest in disaster preparedness.
An International Early Warning Programme (IEWP) was launched at the meeting to improve resilience to all types of natural hazards including droughts, wild-land fires, floods, typhoons, hurricanes, landslides, volcanic eruption and tsunamis. This UN initiative will emphasize the importance of people-centered early warning systems and community education about disaster preparedness.
Held less than a month after the Asian tsunami disaster that claimed more than 220,000 the conference, organized by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), also adopted a declaration indelibly linking disaster reduction, sustainable development and poverty alleviation.
Read the full press release Find out more at the Platform for the Promotion of Early Warning (PPEW) official website

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