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World Water Day 2014 marks a big day for Global Water Partnership (GWP). Not only is the network taking part in the worldwide UN campaign to raise awareness on water-related issues – as it does every year – but this time GWP is also launching its new Strategy, Towards 2020, on this very day.

Thirteen years after it was first launched, GWP’s online database IWRM ToolBox gets a facelift. It is not the first time a change is made, but it is the most radical. The new version, now integrated with the main GWP website,  has more features and is easier to navigate.

For centuries the Upper Guadiana Basin has been irrigated with groundwater, resulting in a drop in the water table of more than 20 meters. Actions were taken to address this issue, including regulations restricting aquifer abstraction and economic incentives to encourage farmers to improve irrigation efficiency and plant alternative crops. The key lesson learnt is that surface and underground waters cannot be managed separately. 

Climate change and the increasing number of competing water users have led to the overexploitation of the Pangani river basin resources. Action has been taken to establishing environmental, economic and social implications of different river flow scenarios under expected climatic conditions. This helped to prioritize the allocation of water resources to meet basic human needs and those of ecosystems. The main lesson learnt was that providing a platform for dialogue between key stakeholders and increasing knowledge about the climatic variability and future risk are essential for successful water management solutions.

In preparation for detailed implementation of the WACDEP and in order to scale up the programme activities to other WACDEP countries, the 2^nd WACDEP Technical Coordination workshop was held on 9-11 May 2012 in Cairo, Egypt just before the Africa Water Week.

GWP is responding to the climate change challenge through the Global Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) which includes a portfolio of programmes and projects aiming to build climate resilience through better water management. The WACDEP programmes and projects are developed by GWP Regional Water Partnerships in collaboration with relevant governments and regional economic development communities:

This policy brief outlines how IUWM can provide a framework for planning, designing, and managing urban water systems. The brief also encourages policy makers to consider the water cycle as a whole when cities are being developed.Policy briefs provide policy makers with information on water resources management. They are written by the GWP Technical Committee, a group of internationally recognised professionals in integrated water resources management.

GWP South America is working on the implementation of a new Latin American Training Programme on Water Legislation for International River Basins. This programme aims to encourage improved international cooperation and facilitate good water governance in the region. Its main outputs will be three training workshops, a manual to support training processes and a monitoring report which will identify knowledge gaps, capacity needs, lessons learned and follow-up needs.

In response to the drought and water shortage in the north of Chile, in 2012 several proposals were put forward to carry water from the central-south zone to the northern zone. Two projects, one French and the other Spanish, propose carrying water through the sea and across the land respectively.