The Tisza River is faced with deteriorating water quality as well as floods with increasing frequency and levels. These issues are exacerbated by climate change. Action has been taken, both by national authorities, international actors and NGOs to develop more adaptive management schemes. The key lesson is that in water management, the biggest problem is the weak coordination among different fields and interests – such as agriculture, nature, navigation, flood defence.
Groundwater depletion is a serious issue in India. The government has approached the issue of declining groundwater levels largely through regulatory means. For the policy to be successful, it is crucial that users understand groundwater occurrence, cycle, and limited availability. Much effort has thus been placed on engaging farmers and communities. This case study demonstrates the importance to work with capacity building and social mobilization rather than physical solutions.
The Maltese islands experience acute water shortage as an area. To address this, leakage control has been developed to become a strategically important component for water resource management, and has been used to reach an optimum economic balance between water supply and water demand. The key lesson is that leakage management is an effective supply side action to increase efficiency in water use leading, and can be used as a strategic tool.
The pivotal role of water cooperation in sustainable development was in focus at a high-level event arranged by the Government of Tajikistan in cooperation with other UN Member States and UN-Water.
A training program on “Training of Trainers (ToT) on IWRM Practices for District Level Water Managers” was organised by the Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS), with financial assistance from Bangladesh Water Partnership (BWP) and South-west Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project (SWAIWRPMP). The training program was held from 9th to 14th June 2012
The Associated Programme on Flood Management (APFM) is a joint initiative of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Global Water Partnership (GWP). It promotes the concept of Integrated Flood Management (IFM). The programme has been financially supported by the governments of Japan, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. The APFM is being developed as a series of regional nodes, starting with Central Europe, South America, Central America, Southern Africa and South Asia.
Water Talk is the official newsletter of GWP CEE published twice a year.