To supply water to a growing population, an aqueduct was built in the watershed of El Limón River in Tovar municipality. However, this aqueduct does not provide sufficient supply, creating conflicts among the communities. To solve these, agreements on the use and conservation of water resources have been made among the communities, involving both rural villages and urban areas. This illustrates the benefits of a participatory approach.
In Central Asia, water is unevenly distributed with states positioned downstream being placed in a very unfavourable position. The situation is further complicated since the benefits from cooperation are highly asymmetrical. Despite the challenge, the states have taken action and entered into a regional agreement, which attracted the international donor community to engage further. This case illustrates how international initiatives can influence institutional arrangements in transboundary basins.
The Lempa River is shared by Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, making its management a good example of transboundary cooperation. To reach consensus, action was taken to develop a treaty as part of a regional process. However, since the treaty was not accompanied by strategies designed by local actors, it is somewhat weak. Nonetheless, this case illustrates that political willingness is crucial for advancing towards IWRM in transboundary watersheds.
Responding to the invitation of Member States, a High-Level Interactive Dialogue during the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly in New York on 22 March 2013 World Water Day, was held at the same time as the official celebrations in The Hague, to mark the 2013 International Year of Water cooperation and the twentieth anniversary of World Water Day (A/67/204).
Here's a closer look at the winner and Honourable Mention awardees in the 2013 Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) Media Awards on Water.
Ambassador of Sweden H. E. Ann Dismorr to Kenya stressed the importance of water resources management as a fundamental pillar of the Green economy.
This year's World Water Week takes place in Stockholm 1-6 September 2013.
“Building resilience of people, communities and countries to these water-related disasters and extreme climate events is the major challenge of our time, as climate change will get worse before it gets better,” were the closing words of the speech given by the GWP Chair Dr Ursula Schaefer-Preuss at the first meeting of the High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP) on 4 June 2013 in Tokyo, Japan.
EU-funded project “Water Management and Basin Organisations in Central Asia” organizes a study tour to Spain and Portugal on 5-11 May 2013.