El Cerrito Canton community has spent decade attempting to get access to clean water. Action was taken to organise a Community Development Association, leading to the execution of a potable water project. The key insight drawn from this case is that, it is key for communities to have water access and management is their capacity to get organised.
The Meuse and the Scheldt river basins are subjected to pollution and seasonal water shortages, as well as political clash of interests regarding maritime access. Action was taken to solve these issues by the Belgian government. However, although an agreement was eventually made, political issues made the process complex. From this case, it is apparent that a cross-sectoral approach that looks beyond the water sector is often instrumental in developing attractive package deals.
The EU Water Framework Directive requires all EU member states to achieve satisfactory water quality of all waters by 2015. Although each country is individually responsible, cooperation over transnational water resources is required. In the Körös/Crisuri river basin, a project was initiated using the expertise and experience of Hungary and Romania, involving all key stakeholders. The key lesson is the importance of public participation.
There have been many dialogues and seminars on river pollution in the past 20 years or so. Generally everyone agrees that as a country, we desperately need to do something about the sad state of our rivers, especially when we hope to achieve developed nation status by 2020. However, we have not been successful in translating consensus at these forums into changes on the ground.
A regional workshop on Integrated Drought Management was held in Bratislava at Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute on 5-6 October 2012.
The entire Global Water Partnership (GWP) network is commemorating 2013, the United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation, with the launch of a publication entitled “Water: Catalyst for Cooperation.”
In the River Basin District of the CEE region, the countries are cooperating to develop transboundary management, using the International River Basin Commission as a platform. The aim is to address national IWRM priorities, strengthen cooperation with major stakeholders and initiate changes in policies and legislation. This case illustrates the difficulties to balance national priorities in a transboundary context.
Astien groundwater aquifer has been subjected to over-use due to good water quality and over-extraction. To address this, SMETA, a syndicate of local authorities, was established to organise the management of the aquifer. Key lesson learnt is that an organisation like SMETA can prove to be a successful forum for groundwater protection.
World Water Day is a major event celebrated and observed by the Philippine water sector.
This year’s WWD theme:“International Year of Water Cooperation” was translated into local slogan of “Tubig Para sa Lahat, Lahat Para sa Tubig” (“Water for all, all for Water”) and served as the core message for the celebration participated by multi-stakeholders coming from the government sector, private sector and non-government organizations (NGOs).
Partners are the basis on which the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) operates. This year's World Water Day theme “Water Cooperation” reminds us that working together is essential to achieving a water secure future.