Water quality is a major issue in Sri Lanka. Pollution and waste dumping contaminate water supplies, leading to serious health impacts for nearby water users. In one of the country’s most serious cases of water pollution, 300,000 people in Gampula were at risk when an epidemic of viral hepatitis broke out; several people died. But GWP Sri Lanka has achieved some results. (In photo: GWP Sri Lanka Chair Kusum Athukorala)
Water quality is a major issue in Sri Lanka. Pollution and waste dumping contaminate water supplies, leading to serious health impacts for nearby water users. In one of the country’s most serious cases of water pollution, 300,000 people in Gampula were at risk when an epidemic of viral hepatitis broke out; several people died. But GWP Sri Lanka has achieved some results. (In photo: GWP Sri Lanka Chair Kusum Athukorala)
After some devastating floods in the Yangtze, the Chinese government took action and issued a policy to counter floods, including wetland restoration. WWF further assisted and developed four pilot sites to demonstrate the benefits of wetland restoration for biodiversity, and to seek alternative income options for farmers, based on the sustainable use of wetlands. This case illustrates the value of a participatory approach.
Comments from GWP Chair, and our allies, in a Circle of Blue Circle story from Cancun, COP16.
As the 16th meeting of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change enters its second week in Cancun, Mexico, some advocates feel that water is getting more attention–though perhaps not yet from negotiators–than it did last year.
The twin engines of urbanisation and resource depletion will undermine efforts to achieve water security: water availability will be eroded and conflicts will escalate. The assumptions underlying conventional urban water management must be revisited.
In its efforts to continue building capacity for improved water management in the region, Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) together with its partner, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) hosted a workshop entitled ‘Water Use Efficiency in the Agriculture Sector’ on November 1st - 3rd, 2011 at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Centre in St. Kitts.
Developed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a climate change adaptation strategy for the water sector was officially launched at COP 17 in December 2011 in Durban, South Africa. It effectively sees SADC take up the challenge of responding to the threat of climate change in southern Africa.