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Whose water is it anyway?

Andras Szöllösi-NagyDeputy Assistant Director-General for Natural SciencesSecretary, International Hydrological ProgrammeUNESCO

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CRITICAL PROBLEMS

• Too much or too little water– Floods– Droughts

• Poor distribution– Famine

• Poor quality– Health hazard

• Poor management– Competition– Conflicts

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LOOMING WATERCRISES

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NEEDS, USES AND DEMANDS

• Water and the Environment

• Water for Food Security

• Water for Human Health

• Water and Industry

• Water and Energy

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THE NATURE OF WATER

• Surface water / soil moisture / groundwater

• Quantity and quality

• Variation in space and time / reliability

• Long-term trends

• Extreme events

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RAISING AWARENESS

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PERTINENT QUESTIONS

• How much have we advanced the awareness of humans (including politicians)?

• In what directions should we go to further advance the awareness of people?

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The challenge we all have

How to put water in the mindsof people?

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What happened over the past 10 years?

• 1992– ICWE (Dublin)

• Four Dublin Principles

– UNCED (Rio de Janeiro)• Agenda 21, Chapter 18• No convention nor binding agreement on water• UN CSD set up

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What happened over the past 10 years?

• 1994– CSD Commissions

• The first UN Comprehensive Assessment of the World Water Resources

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What happened over the past 10 years?

• 1997– 1st World Water Forum (Marrakech)– UN GA Special Session 19 (Rio +5)

“…water will become a major limiting factor in socio-economic development…”

– UN GA 51Adoption of the UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of Transboundary Water Courses

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What happened over the past 10 years?

• 1998– WWC launches a global project

Vision for Water for the 21st Century

• 1999– UN ACC/Sub-Committee on Water

ResourcesProposes the regular production of the World Water Development Report (WWDR)

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What happened over the past 10 years?

• 2000– 2nd World Water Forum, The Hague

• Presentation of the World Water Vision• UNESCO launching the UN system-wide World

Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)• UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education: idea

launched

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What happened over the past 10 years?

UNGA : Millenium Development Goals

• Poverty eradication• Water supply and sanitation

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The State of The World’sFreshwater Resources

World Water Assessment Programme

(WWAP)

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The Challenge Areas

Protecting Human Health

Securing the Food SupplyWater and Ecosystems

Water and Industry

Water and Energy

Valuing Water

Managing Risks

Sharing Water

Governing Water Wisely

Cities

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World Attention

• March 2001, Mr. Kofi Annan announced that “as a system-wide programme, the WWAP brings worldwide attention to the critical, but often overlooked, role of water within human development.”

• March 2002, Mr. Annan assured the world that “The organizations of the United Nations system are preparing the first edition of the World Water Development Report.”

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OUR GOAL IS TO

• Prepare the most comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the state of water based on indicators

• Advise countries to take appropriate decisions based on authoritative reporting

• Create a sustainable exercise in reporting progress

• Continue building a durable UN system-wide collaboration

• Build capacities to better monitor progress

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PERTINENT QUESTIONS

From Potential Conflict

to Co-operation Potential

Water for Peace

a contribution to

World Water Assessment Programme

Purpose:

To tip the balance in favour of co-operation potential

away from potential conflicts

in order to enhance water security

12 December 2001 UNESCO and GCI join forces to avert water conflicts

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Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development

• A very difficult negotiation process• WEHAB• Water came out very strongly

– Water supply and sanitation goals– IWRM– Global water cycle research– Water assessment– UN Water– Decade on Education for Sustainable Development

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What happened over the past 10 years?

2003 : 3rd World Water Forum• WWDR released

– Make WWAP a global water monitoring facility

• Global groundwater inventory released– Strengthen global hydrological research and monitoring

• UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education opens– Establish water education programmes at all levels

• Ministerial meeting held– Institutionalize it as an intergovernmental follow-up action

mechanism to agree on commitments and as a review process– Water Cooperation Facility announced

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Yet, some issues still hotly debated remained:

• Privatization / pricing• The dam controvery

Cui prodest?

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Parallel history : advances in scientific awareness

• Water recognized as a complex global science issue

• Need for interdisciplinarity recognized• If the answer is APPLY MORE TECHNOLOGY,

what was the question?• Hydrological observation systems slowly

deteriorating build WHYCOS• Couple atmospheric-hydrological-ecological

processes

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International Year of Freshwater

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Water Interactions : Water Interactions :

Systems at Risk and Social Systems at Risk and Social ChallengesChallenges

Plan for the International Hydrological Programmeof UNESCO - Phase VI

(2002-2007)

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IHP VI (2002-2007)

• Examples of Interactions– Surface water and groundwater– Atmospheric and terrestrial part of hydrologic

circle– Freshwater and salt water– Global watershed and river reach scales– Water bodies, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems– Water and society– Science and policy– Water and civilization

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IHP VI (2002-2007)

•Theme 1 (T1) Global Changes and Water Resources•Theme 2 (T2) Integrated Watershed and Aquifer Dynamics•Theme 3 (T3) Land Habitat Hydrology•Theme 4 (T4) Water and Society•Theme 5 (T5) Water Education and Training

Two cross-cutting programme components (CCPCs): FRIEND (Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data) and HELP (Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy) have been identified which, through their operational concept, interact with all themes.

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Interlinkages of IHP-VI, HELP and FRIEND

T 5T 5

T1T1

T2T2

T3T3

TT44

JIIHP ISI IFP

Associated Programmes

UNESCO Chairs in Water

UNESCO Institutes /Centers

UNESCO -IHEInstitute for

Water Education

Flow Regimes from International Experimental and

Network Data

Flow Regimes from International Experimental and

Network Data

An International Collaborative Study

in Regional Hydrology

An International Collaborative Study

in Regional Hydrology

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To deliver social, economic and environmental benefit to stakeholders through sustainable and appropriate use of water by directing hydrological science towards improved integrated catchment management basins

Hydrology for the Environment, Life and

Policy (HELP)

Compiled from Mike Bonell, Jim Shuttleworth and Jim Wallace

...

Real peopleReal catchmentsReal answersHELP

...

“Paradigm Lock ”

Real peopleReal catchmentsReal answersHELP

Isolated by legal and professional precedence

……based on outdated knowledge and technology

Process hydrology Water managers and stakeholders

ideasresearch

understanding implementation

outputdesign

Isolated by lack of proven utility

Acceptedpractices

H E L P P IL O T P H A S E D R A IN A G E B A S IN S

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M o z a m b iq u e )2 . T h u k e la (S o u th A fr ic a )

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A u s tra la s ia3 . M o tu e k a (N e w Z e a la n d )4 . M o u n t L o fty (A u s tra lia )5 . M u rru m b id g e e , s u b -b a s in o f M u rra y D a r lin g (A u s tra lia )

A s ia6 . N E o f T h a ila n d a n d V ie tn a m e s e D e lta , s u b -b a s in s o f M e k o n g (6 c o u n tr ie s in A s ia )7 . S u b e rn a r e k h a ( In d ia )8 . Y a s u o r T a m a (J a p a n )9 . A ra l S e a (C e n tra l A s ia ) 1 0 . W a la w e (S r i L a n k a )1 1 . T a r im (C h in a )

E u ro p e1 2 . H e ra u lt ( F ra n c e )1 3 . D a n u b e (5 c o u n tr ie s in E u ro p e )1 4 . S p re e -H a v e l (G e rm a n y )1 5 . U p p e r S e v e rn (U K )1 6 . T h a m e s (U K )

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o r J i-p a ra n a (B ra z il)2 5 . R io J e q u e te p e q u e (P e ru )

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H E L P P IL O T P H A S E D R A IN A G E B A S IN S

A fr ic a1 . O lifa n ts (S o u th A fr ic a ,

M o z a m b iq u e )2 . T h u k e la (S o u th A fr ic a )

N o rth a n d C e n tra l A m e ric a1 7 . L a k e O n ta r io (U S A , C a n a d a )1 8 . R e d -A r k a n s a s /L it t le W a s h ita (U S A )1 9 . S a n P e d ro (U S A , M e x ic o )2 0 . L u q u illo M o u n ta in s (P u e rto R ic o )2 1 . P a n a m a C a n a l (P a n a m a )2 2 . Y a k im a (W a s h in g to n , U S A )2 3 . H u d s o n (N Y & N J , U S A )

A u s tra la s ia3 . M o tu e k a (N e w Z e a la n d )4 . M o u n t L o fty (A u s tra lia )5 . M u rru m b id g e e , s u b -b a s in o f M u rra y D a r lin g (A u s tra lia )

A s ia6 . N E o f T h a ila n d a n d V ie tn a m e s e D e lta , s u b -b a s in s o f M e k o n g (6 c o u n tr ie s in A s ia )7 . S u b e rn a r e k h a ( In d ia )8 . Y a s u o r T a m a (J a p a n )9 . A ra l S e a (C e n tra l A s ia ) 1 0 . W a la w e (S r i L a n k a )1 1 . T a r im (C h in a )

E u ro p e1 2 . H e ra u lt ( F ra n c e )1 3 . D a n u b e (5 c o u n tr ie s in E u ro p e )1 4 . S p re e -H a v e l (G e rm a n y )1 5 . U p p e r S e v e rn (U K )1 6 . T h a m e s (U K )

M id d le E a s t (N o n e )

S o u th A m e ric a2 4 . R io J a u a n d /o r R io B ra n c o

o r J i-p a ra n a (B ra z il)2 5 . R io J e q u e te p e q u e (P e ru )

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RAISE AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE AND PARTICIPATION AT ALL LEVELS

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“Anybody who can solve the“Anybody who can solve theproblems of water will beproblems of water will beworthy of two Nobel Prizes,worthy of two Nobel Prizes,one for peace and one forone for peace and one forscience”science”

(President J. F. Kennedy)(President J. F. Kennedy)

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UNESCO Water Portalhttp://www.unesco.org/water