For centuries the Upper Guadiana Basin has been irrigated with groundwater, resulting in a drop in the water table of more than 20 meters. Actions were taken to address this issue, including regulations restricting aquifer abstraction and economic incentives to encourage farmers to improve irrigation efficiency and plant alternative crops. The key lesson learnt is that surface and underground waters cannot be managed separately.
The annual Global Water Partnership Consulting Partners Meeting will be held in Stockholm on August 26, 2012 immediately prior to the Stockholm World Water Week. The theme of this year's meeting will be “Water security as a catalyst for climate-resilient development”
Each year, the Global Water Partnership (GWP) holds its Consulting Partners (CP) Meeting, where it brings together all its Regional Water Partnerships (RWPs) and partners from more than 160 countries. The Meeting offers a consultative approach in which Partners recommend actions to be taken that are fundamental to the operation of the GWP network.
“An integrated approach to managing and developing the world’s water resources is vital for not only driving world economies, ensuring human well-being and security from hunger, but can also serve as an essential building block for enhancing coherence on adaptation,” said Dr. Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, Chair of GWP at a side event at the Bonn climate change negotiations. “Water is the connecting link because climate impacts are largely felt through the medium of water,” she said.
“An integrated approach to managing and developing the world’s water resources is vital for not only driving world economies, ensuring human well-being and security from hunger, but can also serve as an essential building block for enhancing coherence on adaptation,” said Dr. Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, Chair of GWP at a side event at the Bonn climate change negotiations. “Water is the connecting link because climate impacts are largely felt through the medium of water,” she said.
Both water and energy are essential to every aspect of life; social equity, human health, ecosystem integrity and economic sustainability. The longstanding division between energy and water considerations is particularly evident in the case of energy and water management. These resources are fundamentally intertwined; energy is used to secure, deliver, treat and distribute water, while water is used to develop, process and deliver energy.
In response to the drought and water shortage in the north of Chile, in 2012 several proposals were put forward to carry water from the central-south zone to the northern zone. Two projects, one French and the other Spanish, propose carrying water through the sea and across the land respectively.
The Lake Basin Development Authority was set up to manage the entire catchment area of all rivers draining into Lake Victoria. However, its performance was not to the expectation. A further, action was taken to decentralise management and priority was given to achieve access to basic water requirements for the poor, as well as quality of water and improving availability of water for livestock and irrigation. The key lesson learnt is the importance of a participatory approach.
Le continent africain possède le plus grand nombre de bassins fluviaux transfrontaliers qui, collectivement, couvrent 64% de la superficie de l’Afrique et contiennent un peu plus de 93% de ses ressources en eau de surface. Même si une ressource en eau partagée est source potentielle de conflits, elle représente également un immense potentiel en termes de croissance économique du continent africain où, par exemple, moins de 4% de l’eau disponible est utilisée et moins de 7% du potentiel hydroélectrique est développé.