The Veluwe Randmeren lakes in the Netherlands were negatively affected by the discharge of phosphates and nitrates from agriculture and household use. Furthermore, increase in population pressure posed further challenges. To address these issues, a group consisting of national and local authorities undertook a project, which gradually increased the water quality. The case study demonstrates the importance of allowing integration among stakeholder groups.
The European rivers Mura, Drava and Danube form a 700 km long “green belt” connecting more than 800,000 ha of highly valuable natural and cultural landscapes in five countries (Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia). This area is a symbol of unity among the countries and is planned to become a protected Transboundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve “Mura-Drava-Danube” (TBR MDD).
One of our partners, The Network of Asian River Basin Organizations (NARBO), held its 8th IWRM Training in Thulhiriya, SriLanka from 27 November-4 December 2013 to be hosted by Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka (MASL). The Training theme is "Enhanced Water Security through IWRM - Mahaweli Experience".
The eight days training program used a mix of participatory and trans-disciplinary case studies which aims to develop the capacity of participants in IWRM Implementation by using the "IWRM Spiral Model" which was introduced as part of the "IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level" and issued by UNESCO in 2009. 27 Participants from 11 countries includes: Lao PDR, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
The Cuero River area is particularly susceptible to floods, making the communities living in the surrounding area vulnerable. This area was consequently chosen for implementation of an Early Warning System Project. Action was taken in three separate phases in three different areas. From the experience, the lesson learnt is that more effort should be devoted to training of a leader group that can promote and consolidate the system’s self-sufficiency.
Karen Sutherland, CDKN Project Manager at SouthSouthNorth, gives an overview of the AMCOW Capacity Building Programme and feedback from a workshop in Kigali to test the on-the-job training materials that will form the basis of the programme
The seventh regional workshop for capacity building of women and men in the media in West Africa was held from 1st to 5th July 2013 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. «Water Financing and the protection of the resource in West Africa" was the topic of this annual event attended by 35 journalists from 12 ECOWAS countries plus Mauritania. It was jointly organized by Global Water Partnership in West Africa (GWP-WA) and the West and Central Africa Regional Office of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN-PACO).
Today water stress is a major concern in many urban areas. The core aspect of urbanisation is the rapid urban population growth together with inadequate planning, pollution, poverty, competing demands on the resource, all contribute to water stress: and consequently the urban water consumption is likely to double by 2025. Climate change is expected to cause significant changes as well in precipitation patterns which will affect the availability of water and induce water related disasters.