The Cuero River area is particularly susceptible to floods, making the communities living in the surrounding area vulnerable. This area was consequently chosen for implementation of an Early Warning System Project. Action was taken in three separate phases in three different areas. From the experience, the lesson learnt is that more effort should be devoted to training of a leader group that can promote and consolidate the system’s self-sufficiency.
The city of Jabalpur experienced water shortages. Action was taken through a scheme, which would augment the water supply to the city, by substantially increasing funding. The key lesson is how an empowered local body can respond to water challenges in a successful manner.
The Upper Guadiana Basin provides a classic example of conflict caused by the intensive use of water resources in a semiarid region. Since the 1960s, uncontrolled abstraction of groundwater to provide water for crop irrigation in the area has lowered the water table in places by up to 50m, causing the main river channels to run dry and some wetlands to become desiccated. On the other hand, the abstraction has also supported a booming agricultural economy.
We have seen the Buriganga die a silent death because of abuse by people living in its banks. The river Hooghly is showing the same symptoms - pollution, dumping of waste, sewage water draining into the river, sand mining among others. If it was the Buriganga yeaterday, then it could be the Hooghly tomorrow.
The Global Water Partnership (GWP) has sponsorship available for eligible candidates to complete an online course in Integrated and Adaptive Water Resources Planning, Management and Governance offered by McGill University’s Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
In 2011, GWP Nicaragua was asked by Autoridad Nacional del Agua, the national water authority, to help prepare a guide to be used as the basis of all basin management plans implemented in the country.
The Upper Tisza basin requires international cooperation for its management, recognised through bilateral agreements. To further improve management, action was taken to develop a complex joint flood and water management development plan. This project is being implemented in several stages, ranging from elaboration of methods, description of ecological status to the establishment of environmental objectives to improve the current status. The key lesson is the value of bilateral effort in water management.
Bulgaria is bordering Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. It has a strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia. Bulgaria has temperate climate with cold damp winters and hot dry summers. Natural hazards include earthquakes and landslides. Important natural resources include e.g. bauxite, copper, lead, zinc and coal.
GWP Lithuania and GWP Poland took part in a consortium led by the Stockholm International Water Institute to support sustainable water resources management of international rivers shared by countries in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea.
Climate change in Bangladesh is critical and according to National Geographic, Bangladesh ranks first as the most vulnerable nation to the impacts of climate change in the coming decades.