GWP Executive Secretary Dr. Ania Grobicki participated in the second Global Soil Week at the end of October. She reaffirmed GWP’s support to the Global Soil Partnership and discussed the role of soils in the Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus.
The city of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh is mainly receiving its water from Upper Lake. However, in the past decades, the water quality has steadily been deteriorating. This has led the government to take action and implement an integrated lake conservation program. The case demonstrates that all the stakeholders, especially, Urban Local Bodies and the public representatives should be involved in the decision making from the very beginning of such projects.
Rapid urbanisation has led to widespread settlements of floodplains, resulting in widespread vulnerability of livelihoods. Since traditional approaches are no longer sufficient, a more integrated flood management approach was realised to adapt to changing social, hydrological, and environmental conditions along the nation’s major waterways. Furthermore, the Ministry of Water Resources prepared a national flood management strategy. The crucial lesson is that the key to flood risk management is learning to live with flood risks.
As a way of supporting the CGIAR Challenge Programme for Water and Food (CPWF, 2009-2013), approach in the Limpopo River basin, GWP SA is undertaking work for the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) to specifically package and disseminate the small scale infrastructure work package, a CPWF Research package that was undertaken on the Limpopo River Basin between 2009 -2013. The assignment with the ARC began in May 2014 and will be implemented until the end of 2014.
The Water, Climate and Development Programme in Southeast Asia aims to integrate water security and climate resilience in development planning processes, and support countries within Southeast Asian region to adapt to a new climate regime through increased investments in water security.
A press event was held at the Athalassa Center for Environmental Education on December 2nd, 2014 to mark the conclusion of the first phase of implementation works for the installation of new and the reinstatement of existing greywater reuse and rainwater harvesting systems at public schools and centres of environmental education.
GWP India is reviewing the state water policies of Goa and Tamil Nadu in 2015, with the support of the Institute for Resource Management and Economic Development (IRMED). This is part of the process of implementing India’s 2012 National Water Policy.
The goal of the Global Water Partnership South Asia (GWP SAS) is to work towards meeting water challenges through partnerships and promote Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in South Asia.
The Ruzinov Strkovec Lake has been subjected to severe pollution due to contaminated by illegal sewage pipes. The Association of Industry and Nature Protection took action and initiated and organised a project to both revitalise the lake and draw the attention of local people to its flora and fauna. The key lesson learnt is how the partnership between an NGO and municipality can result in a successful revitalisation of local water resources.