Agriculture: the major sector of water consumption
Intensive abstraction for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes has led to depletion of surface and groundwater bodies. Overexploitation of groundwater resources in particular, has led to seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers. Over the last 50 years, water demand for all sectors of activity together has doubled to reach 280 km3/ year in 2007.
In partnership with the Council for Caribbean Science and Technology (CCST), Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) received a grant from the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund (PGTTF) to finance a Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) project for the Caribbean.
Interview with Ms. Zalilah Selamat, The National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM)
Interview with Shaanxi Provincial River and Reservoir Administration.
Interview with the Hebei Provincial Hydraulic Engineering Society.
The North-Western Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS) covers a total area of over one million km2: 700 000 km2 in Algeria, 80 000 km2 in Tunisia and 250 000 km2 in Libya.
From 2007, the annual Southern African Development Community (SADC) Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogues, organised by GWP Southern Africa on behalf of the SADC Water Division, have informed action plans at regional, river basin, national and local levels. Although the Dialogues encourage cross-sectoral integration, until now they have largely been regarded as meetings for 'water people'.
In April, GWP Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and GWP Hungary organised a workshop that brought Baltic Region Strategy experiences to the newly formed Danube Region Strategy. The workshop, Parallels: Water Resources Management Aspects of European Union Strategies for Baltic Sea and Danube Regions, held in April 2011, built on previous GWP work on strategy development and focused on new financing mechanisms for macro-regional economic development.
GWP representatives from Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova attended the "Integrated Water Management in the Balkans and Eastern Europe" Conference on 20-23 March in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Participants from 15 countries shared experiences and best practices in the field of integrated water management and climate change and discussed major topics regarding regional and transboundary waters.