The Mediterranean basin ranks among the first in the list of the world top tourist destinations. Tourism activity registers annually around 250 million visitors and the number of domestic and international tourists should reach 637 million by 2025. It is estimated that every tourist consumes between 300 and 850 liters of water per day.
GWP Patron Margaret Catley-Carlson delivered the keynote speech at this year's Asia Development Bank’s (ADB) water conference held October 11-15, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Her focus was on “cutting through red tape in order to achieve better water security.” The GWP delegation participated in a variety of sessions and gave presentations.
Costa Rica is making progress in expanding access to water supply and sanitation, but the sector faces challenges when it comes to sanitation connections, poor service quality, and low cost recovery.
The approval of the IWRM Strategic Action Plan for the Congo Basin by the International Commission for the Congo-Oubangui-Sangha basin (CICOS) in late 2010 paves the way for realising the vast potential of the catchment.
The Mediterranean lies on the cross road of three continents and it has been the cradle of major civilizations. The shared century-old experiences and diverse cultures have resulted to uneven levels of economic development and socio-political systems.
GWP Romania participated at the Bucharest Business Forum at the World Trade Center, Bucharest, Romania on 18-19 October 2010. The goal was to offer a discussion platform for all stakeholders interested in developing flagship projects within the EU Strategy for Danube Region through Strategic Partnerships at European macro regional level.
With its experience of being a neutral platform for negotiating river basin management plans, GWP Lithuania has been asked to act as a national information center for water resources management.
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.