Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation

The MDG drinking water target, which calls for halving the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water between 1990 and 2015, was met in 2010, five years ahead of schedule. However, the report also shows why the job is far from finished. Many still lack safe drinking water, and the world is unlikely to meet the MDG sanitation target. Continued efforts are needed to reduce urban-rural disparities and inequities associated with poverty; to dramatically increase coverage in countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania; to promote global monitoring of drinking water quality; to bring sanitation ‘on track’; and to look beyond the MDG target towards universal coverage.

World Water Day: 22nd March

On 22 March, the world celebrate World Water Day, and consider one of our most important natural resources and the role that Information and Comunication Technologies (ICTs) can play in the management of this resource. As the population increases and development calls for increased allocations of water for agriculture and other uses, the pressure on water resources intensifies. By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in regions with absolute water scarcity and two-thirds of the world's population may experience water-stress conditions .ICTS provide a wide ranging opportunities for the management of water as a resource, and for the management of information about water. Integrated systems allow information on topics such as water supply and replenishment, water quality, wetland ecosystem, usage, etc. to be integrated with other relevant information about the environment, Finally, improved water management through ICTs will contribute to the Millennium Development Goals, including MDG 7, which focuses on access to safe drinking water

Water policy and management

A new book "Global Change: Impacts on Water and Food SecurityInternational from Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) addresses the urgent call for smart policy and investment solutions to the developing world’s 21st century water resource quantity and quality challenges. The book also examines the interplay between globalization, water management, and food security, and recommends innovative approaches to water management in the global context. A collaboration with the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food and the Third World Centre on Water Management, the book emphasizes the impact of trade on water management and security in the developing world. It also touches on a wide range of hot button issues—from bioenergy to the global fish trade—and explains how policymakers can finance these and other growing demands on water resources in the future. Book available on the IFPRI site.

The right to water and water rights in a changing world

The publication "The right to water and water rights in a changing world" has recemtly been published, with contributions from various authors each addressing the issues of how to address global and climate change when dealing with water rights and the right to water. These are: The right to water and water rights in a changing world/ by Marguerite de Chaisemartin, Charlotte Herman and Michael van der Valk;Environmental protection and access to water: the challenges aheadby Laurence Boisson de Chazournes/ Christina Leb and Mara Tignino; Climate change adaptation in Mozambique/by Luís Artur and Dorothea Hilhorst; The current status of the human right to water/by Joyeeta Gupta; Sharing water – A necessity for peace in a changing world/by Greg Hobbs, Alison Flint and Christie Henke; What role can law play in safeguarding the right to water?/by Bas ter Haar and "Can international law play a role in safeguarding the security of water supply in a changing world, and if so, how?: /by Marius Enthoven. You can download the publication here.

Why investment in water, sanitation and hygiene is not reaching those who need it most

The report shows that current aid is not reaching the people who need it the most – people living in poor rural communities and urban slums. In Sub-Saharan Africa, it is predicted that the MDG target will not be reached for another 200 years. •Dirty water and inadequate sanitation cost sub-Saharan Africa around 5% of its gross domestic product (GDP) every year. •The human cost is even starker – 4,000 children dying every day because of diarrhoeal diseases caused by drinking dirty water and poor sanitation making diarrhoea the biggest killer of children under five in Africa. Full article available on Water Aid Website.

Managing Water Locally: An essential dimension of community water development

This report explores how local water resources can be managed successfully by community-based institutions in support of state-level initiatives, where they exist. It follows 12 months of close collaboration between Oxfam GB and WaterAid, who are jointly promoting Community-Based Water Resource Management, which emphasises that the potential for monitoring and managing water resources at local or community level should be better acknowledged. In particular, traditional water management practices must be recognised and used as a foundation for the development of future water management strategies. Full report available on OXFAM website.

World has 'sufficient water' for future food needs

According to a series of studies preented at 14th World Water Congress in Porto de Galinhas, Brazil there is enough water in the world's rivers to meet the demands of the expanding global population, but the rivers have to be better managed. The main problem for water use is not scarcity but inefficient use of supplies because of poor governance and regulation. According to Simon Cook, leader of the CPWF Basin Focal Research Project,"the failures are institutional and political. The studies analysed economic and demographic conditions; hydrology; agricultural systems and the influence of institutional factors on water availability and use in nine major river basins in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They found that, in many areas, water production can be substantially increased without harming the environment. In Africa, for example, most cropland is rain-fed and only four per cent of available water is captured for crops and livestock. For more on this article visit http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rwin20/36/1

How Transboundary Water management may serve to reduce poverty

Improved transboundary water management (TWM) can bring benefits for poor people living within shared basins. This report examines how power asymmetry mediates the relationship between TWM and poverty reduction. The message is clear for those designing and leading TWM policy and projects and that is failure to engage the basin hegemon constructively will hamper effective TWM cooperation, but the most effective strategy to confront power asymmetries will vary from basin to basin. Different options to provide strategic support and enable effective TWM are provided to help guide decision-makers towards the best alternatives to fit their local context.

Ecosystems for water and food security

This report gives an overview of the linkages between ecosystems, water, and food security. Furthermore, it explores how to manage ecosystems for a variety of ecosystem services such as provisioning of water and food, and how to manage ecosystems in a sustainable way so they can substantially contribute to enhancing current and future food security and generate regulatory services such as the moderation of extreme events such as floods, droughts and storms, climate regulation and erosion prevention. Full report available from UNEP website.

Water in a changing world

This report, prepared by the World Water Assessment Programme under UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), assesses global freshwater resources including what drives the pressures facing them, how water is used, climate change's future effects on water supplies and options for improving water management for sustainable development. It also highlights the increasing demand for water, outlining the demographic, economic and social factors and reiterate that climate change will undoubtedly affect water resources. So investment in the water sector is important, to improve access to clean water as well as decrease pollution from untreated sewage discharge. How individual countries respond will depend on their own development objectives, capacity and political framework. The authors outline options for policymakers to increase supply, manage demand, reduce losses and reallocate resources. Link to full report available here.

OKACOM at Stockholm Water Week's Water Governance Session

OKACOM Executive Secretary Dr Eben Chonguiça at seminar

A joint Twin2Go/Global Water System Project (GWSP), Global Water Partnership (GWP) and UNESCO-International Hydrological Programme (IHP) Seminar at the World Water Week in Stockholm on August 25th raised adaptive water governance issues. OKACOM Executive Secretary Dr Eben Chonguiça participated in the seminar, titled Governing Water Wisely: Adaptive Approaches to Water Resources Management.

The group discussed how a water governance system should be designed to be able to cope with complexity and uncertainty in the context of climate change, how approaches can be transferable across different basins and governance levels, and how transition towards adaptive water governance can be included in existing policy processes. Among others challenges to adaptive water governance, the seminar noted the complexity of achieving a paradigm shift on institutional frameworks for transboundary resources management that can effectively and efficiently operate beyond barriers of national sovereignty with an appropriate lateral thinking modus operandi..

The Twin2Go project has analysed governance systems in 25 river basins around the world. Together with regional experts and stakeholders, Twin2Go has ranked them with regard to governance and performance, and has identified best practices and lessons learnt for increasing adaptability.

ORI Seminar:Climatic and hydrological changes in the Okavango Delta.

During the period of 2009-2010 several parts of the world have experienced remarkably extreme meteorological events. In the wetlands of the Okavango Delta, the 2009-2011 floods were unexpectedly high, reaching magnitudes last seen 30-40 years ago, and considerably affecting life of local populations and the economically important tourism industry.In his seminar presentation, Climatic and hydrological changes in the Okavango Delta, ORI Professor, Piotr Wolski's paper was an attempt at identifying the climatological causes of these events in the context of their predictability using seasonal weather forecasts and to assess the extent to which these events are attributable to GHG-driven climate change as opposed to natural variability. The study is based on an ensemble of runs of the HadAM3P model, forced by a) observed SST fields (GHG world) and b) SSTs with effects of historical anthropogenic forcings removed (non-GHG world). Changes in inundation distribution within the Okavango Delta are, however, not just a product of exogenous or climatic influences. Endogeneous changes related to geomorphological and vegetation development of the system can cause redistribution of water which result in some parts drying, while others are subject to more extensive flooding.

Water reforms during the crisis and beyond: understanding policy and political challenges of reforming the water sector in Zimbabwe

This paper dicusses the challenges and achievements of the water reform in Zimbabwe and how the reform's objectives are being met. It also looks at the prospects for re-engaging with the water reform vis-à-vis rural livelihood improvement in a post-crisis period. It is suggested that a realistic attempt to re-engage with water reform policy aimed at improving rural livelihoods in a post-crisis Zimbabwe should be aware of ‘old’ and ‘new’ issues that undermine improved access to, and management of, water for rural livelihood improvement. The article is available at: http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/5902.pdf

Making Progress on Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Challenges

The CSIS project on Global water Policy presented recommendations and conclusions in a report entitled, “Making Progress on Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Challenges,” on March 21, 2011. Sessions at the forum focused on the role of the private sector in water supply; achieving operational sustainability; the relevance of climate change adaptation programs for the WASH sector; and how to promote transparency and accountability within WASH programs. The report highlights the importance of community engagement, private sector involvement, and a commitment to the monitoring and evaluation of projects as critical factors in promoting WASH program sustainability.The report is available at:http://csis.org/files/publication/110810_Bliss_ProgressOnWASH_Web.pdf

Safe water and healthy water services in a changing environment

This report summarises existing knowledge of climate change impacts on water services and health; the nature and effectiveness of the policy response; and the coverage and gaps in existing assessments of these themes.Among its four chapters, Chapter 3 overviews and analyses the policy landscape to clarify whether current policies can meet the needs arising from climate change and identify gaps and challenges.This article is avalaible at:http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/safe-water-and-healthy-water

Launch of new GEF project on "Groundwater Governance

The UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP) together with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) has initiated a new Project on "Groundwater Governance" financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The overall project objective is to increase the awareness on the paramount importance of a sound management of our groundwater resources in preventing and reversing the global water crisis. The project will develop a global "Framework of Action" (FA), consisting of best practices for the sustainable management of groundwater resources. A fundamental component of the project process consists in a series of Regional Consultative consultative workshops which will take place in different regions of the globe and will make use of the existing networks of the IHP National Committees and the other partners.

Environment: Worlds Of Water

Water security is one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century, and water politics have just become more complicated. Water is the most essential natural resources. It has no substitutes, but many uses - as drinking water, for sanitation purposes, in agriculture, in industrial processes, in electricity generation. Water's versatility makes it coveted by many different consumers, each with their own needs and political heft. Read more on this issue at: http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/19682_twt0711waterp4.pdf

Dirty Water: Pollution Problems Persist

Water pollution impact negatively on the natural environment. Cleanup of some older pollutants has been offset by new contaminants that threaten freshwater ecosystems and foul our drinking water. Read more on this topic at:http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/feature/wat_fea_dirty.pdf

OKACOM 17th Annual Meeting

Flags of the three riparian countries at the OKACOM Secretariat offices in Maun, Botswana

The Secretariat of the Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM) raised the flags of the three countries at its location next to the Botswana Department of Environmental Affairs offices in Maun, Botswana this month. OKACOM, which advises the governments of Angola, Botswana and Namibia about conservation and management of the Cubango - Okavango River Basin, is in the process of completing a series of national consultations that will feed into a Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the river basin. The SAP will be discussed at OKACOM's upcoming annual meeting in Swakopmund, Namibia the week of May 23rd, 2011.

International Waters: Review of Legal and Institutional Frameworks

This article provides legal and institutional frameworks that apply to twenty-eight (28) international water bodies that were identified as part of the United Nations Development Programme-Global Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF) 'Good Practices and Portfolio Learning in GEF Transboundary Freshwater and Marine Legal and Institutional Frameworks' project. Following the introduction, part II of this report identifies and explains the eighteen criteria that are used to describe the legal and institutional frameworks of each of the water bodies discussed in this report. Part III of this report provides a detailed discussion of the legal and institutional frameworks for each water body identified, organized by global region.

Available at: http://zunia.org/uploads/media/knowledge/IW_Review_of_Legal_Instl_Frameworks_Project_Report1303633425.pdf