Report of Activities - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - RIOB

Report of Activities 2013 - 2016

Report of Activities2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016

under the World Presidency

of Mr. Lupercio ZIROLDO ANTONIO,

President of the International

Network of Basin Organizations

2013 - 2016

- INBO -

International Network of Basin Organizations

www.inbo-news.org

Debrecen - Hungary - June 2007

Dakar - Senegal - January 2010

Fortaleza - Brazil - August 2013

The Martinique - France - January 2004

Morelia - Mexico - March 1996

2Report of Activities 2013 - 2016

Events 2013The President’s speechIncreasing cooperation in the field of water

We should more than ever buildbridges between Basins,Regions, States and Countriesworldwide for finding solutionsfor the recovery and conserva-tion of our water resources.

To cooperate means to join ourefforts to follow the same path,integrating and optimizing out-comes for the benefit of all.

By nature water is meant tounite peoples.

There are many places in theworld where water resources aredegraded, rivers are dead, eco-systems are devastated andgroundwater is polluted.

In this context of global change,the participation of the wholesociety in water resourcesmanagement is crucial.

Thus, it is only through theexchange of ideas, deepeneddebates and an ever greater par-ticipation of stakeholders, thatsufficient quality and quantity ofwater will be guaranteed in ourriver basins.

And this is the main objective ofthe International Network ofBasin Organizations (INBO)that I had the honor of presidingfor three years.

In all the Basin Organizationstaken together worldwide, weare tens of thousands of peoplewho, directly and indirectlythrough Basin Committees, dis-cuss, debate, create, share anddecide the future of our riverbasins, and promote projectsand work, plan objectives,enable effective public policiesfor the conservation of our waterresources.

In this sense, access toinformation is the basis fordialogue between all partiesinvolved and for their mobili-zation.

The International Network ofBasin Organizations is suppor-ting this great surge of daily par-ticipation in the field for protec-ting our rivers, lakes and aqui-fers.

We have to share our ideas,our projects and our solu-tions.

We will integrate our idealsand our vision into the Sus-tainable DevelopmentGoals, always in the direc-tion of effective cooperationfor our water resources.

Lupercio Ziroldo AntonioPresident of the International Networkof Basin OrganizationsGovernor of the World Water Council

www.inbo-news.org

© IOWater - C.Runel


Events 2013

Second International Symposium on Lake Titicaca”a shared responsibility”7 - 9 March 2013 - Puno - Peru

The Binational Autonomous Authorityof the Water System (TDPS – ALT) incoordination with the various institu-tions involved in the preservation andconservation of the basin in Peru andBolivia organized on 7, 8 and 9 March2013 the "Second International Sym-posium on Lake Titicaca - a shared res-ponsibility".

This event aimed to bring together allthe experts concerned to enrich thescientific and technical debate andpropose to government Authorities,alternatives for integrated managementof water resources shared by the twocountries, as well as generate propo-sals for management tools for sustai-nable use of Lake Titicaca and its basin,fed by five tributaries: Ramis, Huan-cané Coata, Ilave and Suche and theDesaguadero River.

The Symposium gathered more thanthree hundred participants.The organizers aim to institutionalizethe Symposium as a Forum for techni-cal and scientific treatment of the pro-blems and potentialities of Lake Titi-caca, in order to build environmentalresponsibility between public and pri-vate stakeholders; with a participatoryapproach.INBO Secretary, Jean-FrançoisDonzier, was invited to make theintroductory speech to the Confe-rence on the topic of the best expe-riments of basin managementworldwide.

Perou

Conference on Water Policy ANA - Lima - March 2013

Conference on integrated basin management

Peru has started a major reform of itswater policy.

In 2012, a new law reformed the calcu-lation of economic "retributions" (fees)for water use and wastewater dis-charge.

Under a project funded by the WorldBank, the International Office for Water,INBO Secretariat, brought its expertisefor the definition of a methodology,which is ambitious, pragmatic, sociallyand economically acceptable.

Today, these ”retributions” are effecti-vely collected.

Presentation of the French and European water policy

On the occasion of the InternationalSymposium on Lake Titicaca orga -nized on 7, 8 and 9 March 2013, Mr. Jean-François Donzier, Se -cre tary of the International Net-work of Basin Organizations(INBO), was invited by the NationalWater Authority (ANA) to give inLima a keynote speech on the waterpolicy applied in France and inEurope for 50 years.


Events 2013UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

High-level meeting on national drought policies

11 - 15 March 2013 - Geneva - SwitzerlandDroughts are causing the deaths anddisplacement of more people thancyclones, floods and earthquakescombined. These natural disasters aretherefore the most destructive ever. Yetwhile the frequency, magnitude andintensity of droughts are expected toincrease as a result of climate change,there are few countries having effectivedrought management policies to fightagainst this scourge.

Three United Nations Agencies are nowjoining forces to facilitate the develop-ment and implementation of practicalpolicies at the national level, focusingon prevention, to develop the adaptivecapacity of drought-prone countries.

The high-level meeting on nationaldrought policies intended to encouragecountries to move progressively froman after-the-fact approach to a forward-looking policy, as it is already the casefor tropical cyclones and flooding.

Goals:

l Implementation of key elements ofan effective national policy in thefight against drought: proactivemitigation and planning, riskmanagement, public awarenessand resource management;

l Foster greater collaboration toenhance the national, regional andglobal observation networks andinformation delivery systems toimprove public understanding ofand preparedness for drought;

l Add comprehensive public andprivate insurance and financialstrategies into drought prepared-ness plans;

l Define safety nets for emergencyrelief based on sound manage-ment of natural resources and self-help at different governance levels.

l Effective coordination, focused onusers’ needs, of drought programsand response measures:

l Build adaptation capacities andfocus efforts.

The International Network of BasinOrganizations presented its adap-tation principles during the minis-terial segment.

Asia-Europe MeetingASEM is working on the conservation of water resourcesASEM (Asia Europe Meeting) is aninformal intergovernmental dialogueto strengthen the partnership betweenAsian countries and Europe.

In June 2012, a dialogue on sustaina-ble development and the environmenttook place in Budapest.

At the initiative of Vietnam, aconference was held from 20 to 23 March 2013 in Can Tho in theMekong Delta, on the topic ofwater resources and river basinmanagement.

Nearly 150 delegates from 51 ASEMMember Countries and relevant orga-nizations presented measures to assistthese Member Countries in adopting amodel for sustainable development.

Thus, new approaches were proposedfor poverty alleviation and food secu-rity, infrastructure construction andthe establishment of institutions toadapt to the impacts of climatechange.

Mr. Jean-François Donzier, INBOTechnical Secretary, made a speechon the European water managementpolicies, and presented the coopera-tion actions carried out on this topic inAsia, particularly in China and in theMekong River Basin, under twinningarrangements with French WaterAgencies.

www.aseminfoboard.org


Events 2013

Turkey

At the invitation of the General Directo-rate for Water Management of the Tur-kish Ministry of Water and Forestry, thesecond high-level international sym-posium on river basin managementwas held from 16 to 18 April 2013 inNevsehir (Cappadocia, Turkey).

It gathered representatives of the Euro-pean Commission, EU member coun-tries (Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Portu-gal, Netherlands, France, Hungary,Croatia) and experts from institutionsand Non-Governmental Organizations,including INBO.

Professor Ahmet Mete Saatçi, Pre-sident of the Turkish Water Instituteand President of Europe-INBO,opened the debate, while Mr. Jean-François Donzier, INBO PermanentTechnical Secretary, presentedINBO organization and actions, inperfect keeping with the theme ofthe symposium.

The first day was used to report on theevolution of the water sector in Turkeyand on the work done in the field ofriver basin management.

In particular, cooperation between Tur-key, Bulgaria and Greece on the IPAproject (Strengthening resilience todisasters in the Balkans and Turkey)was presented.

The second day was devoted to presen-tations of practices and experiments inthe different represented countries inriver basin management, including thedrafting of river basin managementplans, how to overcome the problems,the difficulties in the implementation ofthe cost recovery principle, the imple-mentation of the European Blueprintand its consequences, etc.

The third day was devoted to technicalvisits (Kayseri WWTP and YamulaDam).

www.suyonetimi.gov.tr

2nd High-level International Symposium on river basin management

16 - 18 April 2013 - Nevsehir - Cappadocia - Turkey

Launched on the occasion of the 6th World Water Forum in Marseilles inMarch 2012, the OECD Water Gover-nance Initiative (WGI) gathers repre-sentatives of national Governments,

regional, local and basin Authorities,the private sector, NGOs, service provi-ders, regulators, international organiza-tions, donors and independent experts.

It is particularly important to involvestakeholders coming from outside thewater community: the Initiative asso-ciates representatives from the energyand agricultural sectors, Parliamenta-rians and Elected Officials, media,consumer associations, trade unions,private companies and the civil society.

In total, 25 countries are participating.

The Initiative is developed in part-nership with Suez Environment,ASTEE, the International Networkof Basin Organizations, the Interna-tional Office for Water, UNESCO,the Water Integrity Network, Stock-holm International Water Instituteand Transparency Internationalwhich facilitate various WorkingGroups.

Working Group 3 on basin gover-nance, in particular, is jointly facili-tated by INBO and UNESCO(ISARM). It will have to propose thebest institutional practices in themanagement of national or transboun-dary basins of rivers, lakes and aquifersand, also, performance indicators toevaluate their practical implementationin the field.

Participants mentioned the need toshare knowledge, encourage peer- learning and allow benchmarking.Delphine ClavreulWater Governance ProgramRegional Development Policy [email protected]

www.oecd.org

OECDWater Governance Initiative

1st meeting of the OECD initiativeParis - 27 - 28 March 2013


Events 2013South Korea

Kick-off meeting

After Marseilles in 2012, Daeguand Gyeongju, in South Korea, willhost the 7th World Water Forumfrom 12 to 17 April 2015.

The kick-off meeting was held from 13 to 15 May 2013 in Seoul andDaegu, with more than 500 expertsfrom 41 countries.

A roadmap was established, dividedinto different processes (thematic/regional/political/technological) for thepreparation of the Forum.

The International Network of BasinOrganizations (INBO) was officiallyinvited to this kick-off meeting, espe-cially to the roundtable on water gover-nance and transboundary basin mana-gement.

2nd Stakeholders Meeting

The 2nd Stakeholders Meeting of thenext World Water Forum took place inGyeongju (South Korea) on 27 and 28 February 2014.

The participants recalled their wish thatthe next Forum leads to operational pro-posals based on a precise assessmentof the implementation of commitmentsmade at the Forum in Marseilles, in particular.

The International Network of BasinOrganizations will very actively parti-cipate in various Forum Processes.

The Forum Thematic Process Commis-sion has indeed selected INBO to par-ticipate in the preparation of topic 4.3on Transboundary Cooperation and,also, with OECD and UNESCO, of topic4.2 on Water Governance.

INBO will also be involved through itsRegional Networks in the Forum’sRegional Process.

The European Regional Process in par-ticular was launched on 19 May 2014in Brussels and the issues in which theEUROPE-INBO Group, CEENBO andMENBO will get involved are:

l The European Directives and the"Blueprint";

l The management of Europeantransboundary rivers;

l European tools for adaptation toclimate change.

http://worldwaterforum7.org

Preparation of the 7th World Water Forum - Daegu 2015

The 2nd Stakeholders Meeting

North-American Network of Basin Organizations (NANBO)

Second Water Forum in QuebecFour great challengesFrom 27 to 29 May 2013, the secondWater Forum was held in Lake Beau-port, in the region of Quebec, at the initiative of the North American Network of Basin Organizations(NANBO) and the Regrouping of theRiver Basin Organizations of Que-bec (ROBVQ), with Ducks UnlimitedCanada, the First Nations of Quebecand Labrador’s Sustainable Develop-ment Institute, the Association of theRegional Land Use Planners of Quebecand the Laval University Research Chairon Drinking Water.

This meeting gathered more then170 participants from Quebec andNorth America.

Four big themes were selected.

l Conservation and enhance-ment of wetlands: differentmodels prevail in the UnitedStates, Quebec and the AtlanticCanadian Provinces.

l Participation of First Nations inintegrated water management:better understanding of the socialand cultural challenges facingwatershed organizations to ensurean active participation of thesecommunities in water governance.

l Land use planning and secu-rity: floods are more and morefrequent in Quebec like in manyother countries in North America.

l Protection of fresh watersources.

More than 30 speakers attended thisevent, coming from the United States,France, Quebec, Manitoba, PrinceEdward Island and Ontario.

Everyone agreed to underline the rele-vance of such an event.

In fact, the sharing of experiences andknowledge is fundamental, at regional,national and international level, to pro-gress toward better integrated watermanagement.

It seems even more evident that goodwater governance goes first through anincreasing collaboration between alldifferent stakeholders concerned.Marie-Eve BuistProjects [email protected]

www.monroban.org

Second Water Forum in Quebec


Events 2013

Eastern Europe - Caucasus - Central Asia

Jordan”This is water”, Conference on Water and Agriculture As a continuation of the 6th World WaterForum, and under the International Yearfor Water Cooperation, the RoyalScientific Society of Jordan (RSS)and the French Institute of Jordanorganized in Amman, from 4 to 6June 2013, a day of roundtables onWater and Agriculture inauguratedby Her Royal Highness PrincessSumaya bint El Hassan, President ofthe RSS.

IOWater, INBO Secretariat, was invitedto present the French system of waterresources allocation between sectorsand the participation of users and thepublic in this process.

In the context of the Arab Spring, of thegrowing imbalance between waterneeds and available resources in Jor-dan and, at a time when the Jordanianauthorities are actively thinking aboutinvolving the users in water manage-ment, this presentation, followed by a

discussion with the water authoritiesand representatives of the ”HighlandWater Forum", was particularly fruit-ful.

The ”Highland Water Forum” is apilot project of the Jordanian Ministryof Water and Irrigation for the imple-mentation of the dialogue principle inthe local management of scarce andshared groundwater resources, suppor-ted by GIZ, in close cooperation withthe French Embassy.

www.rss.jo

Exchange between the Ministryand farmers’ representatives

The Conference timed on the WorldNature Conservation Day was held inIrkutsk City on 6-8 June 2013.

The Conference was attended by 100representatives of organizations from16 regions of Russia, as well as ofinternational nature conservation orga-nizations from China, Mongolia, USA,Australia, Central and South-East Asiancountries, and by the Head of the Envi-ronmental Department of the UnitedNations Economic Commission forEurope.

The Executive Secretary of the Net-work of River Basin Organizationsof Eastern Europe, Caucasus andCentral Asia (EECCA-NBO), Prof. V.Dukhovny, participated in theConference.

The key topics of the Conference wereas follows:

l Biodiversity of rivers and lakes:assessment and conservation.

l Environmental monitoring of waterbodies.

l Impact of hydraulic facilities anduse of underground resources onwater ecosystems.

l Experiences in basin managementin various parts of the world (AralSea Basin in Central Asia, MekongRiver Basin in South-East Asia,Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Riverin North America).

l Ecological assessment and inter-national dialogue on water use inthe Baikal-Angara-Yenisei Basin,Amur and Ob River Basins, andVolga River Basin.

l Initiatives of local communities,municipal authorities and non-governmental organizations for theconservation of rivers, lakes, deve-lopment of ecotourism, ecologicaleducation and public awareness.

Four roundtables were organized on thefollowing issues:

➊ Definition of ecological indicatorsfor hydropower plant constructionprojects in the Amur River Basin.

➋ Opportunities for the developmentof ecotourism.

➌ Ecological assessment of riverbasin development plans and pro-grams.

➌ Joint actions towards the conser-vation of the Selengi-Baikal,Angara and Yenisey Basins.

Prof. Victor Dukhovny Executive Secretary EECCA [email protected]

www.eecca-water.net

Eighth International Conference on ”Rivers of Siberia and Far East”


9th INBO World General Assembly13 - 16 August 2013 - Fortaleza - Brazil

Declaration of Fortaleza

The 9th General Assembly of theInternational Network of BasinOrganizations took place in Forta-leza, in Brazil, from 13 to 16 August2013.

It gathered 319 delegates, comingfrom 49 countries.

The meeting dealt with the adaptationto the world great challenges that arepopulation growth, increasing food andenergy demand or the effects of Cli-mate Change, which were discussedduring five round tables:

➤ Water management in the newpost 2015 Sustainable Deve-lopment Goals of the UN;

➤ Adaptation to the effects of cli-mate change and prevention ofextreme phenomena of floodsand droughts;

➤ Institutional frameworks foraction of Basin Organizationsand participation of localauthorities, water users andthe public;

➤ Management of transboundaryrivers, lakes and aquifers,

➤ Financing of water manage-ment and of basin organiza-tions.

From the debates, it emerged thatintegrated water resources mana-gement in basins, whether local,national or transboundary, isessential worldwide.

The experiments of integrated basinmanagement carried out today in manycountries, some of which are fifty yearsold, show the relevance of thisapproach.

The General Assembly reaffirmedsome conditions to guarantee thesuccess of basin management:

It is compulsory to develop approa -ches which integrate surface,ground and coastal waters, seekcross and inter-sectoral solutions,reduce pressures on availableresources, restore the hydro-morpho-logy of rivers and protect or restoreaquatic ecosystems.

Integrated information systemsshould allow having knowledge onresources and their uses, on pollutingpressures, ecosystems and their func-tioning, risks and evolution follow-up.

Production and availability of reliableinformation and data are essential toenable a constructive dialogue bet-ween partners, facilitate decision-

making and evaluate the results of theimplemented policies.

These information systems should takedata on climate change into account.

Basin management plans or mas-ter plans, established through dia-logue with all the stakeholders shoulddefine the medium and long-termobjectives to be achieved, through thedevelopment of Programs of Measuresand successive multiyear priorityinvestments.

Sustainable financing of waterresources management and of thebasin organizations, that are incharge of it, must be guaranteedregarding investments and opera-tion, and based on the application ofthe "polluter pays" and "user pays"principles, ensuring all necessary geo-graphical and cross-sectoral equaliza-tions and true solidarity between allcategories of users by combiningnational or local administrative taxes,the pricing of community services, andtaxes specific to objectives selectedthrough dialogue.

At the side of the relevant Governmen-tal Administrations, active participationin decision-making of the local Autho-

rities concerned, including municipali-ties, representatives of different cate-gories of users and associations forenvironmental protection or of publicinterest should be organized.

The establishment of Basin Com-mittees or Councils seems to bethe best way of ensuring all thestakeholders’ participation, provi-ded that they have the necessaryresources made available.

These Basin bodies should be involvedin the decision-making related to waterpolicy in their basin, with proceduresand a mandate clearly defining theirrole. They allow establishing thenecessary cross-sectoral links for theexchange of information and dialogueamong all the partners.

Their establishment or their reinforce-ment should be a priority for thedonors.

”The World PACT for better riverbasin management”, initiated byINBO in March and signed today by128 organizations from the wholeworld, is based on all these princi-ples.

The opening ceremony © IOWater - C.Runel

FOR BETTER BASIN MANAGEMENT OVER THE WORLD!

Events 2013


Events 2013Adaptation to the effects of globaland climate changes is a local andworldwide priority!

The social, economic and ecologicalconsequences may be very significantand require a quick mobilization toprepare the necessary adaptationprograms in each basin, takingaccount of surface and groundwater.

This applies to many sectors such ashydropower and cooling of thermal andnuclear power plants, food productionwith irrigation, fisheries and aquacul-ture, urbanization with the needs fordrinking water supply, sanitation andtourism or inland waterways transport,etc.

The water sector is one of the mostdirectly affected by changes in thehydrological cycles, and thus in thespatial and temporal availability ofresources and in impacts on all uses.

The assessment, using variousscenarios, of the hydrologicalconsequences of global changes,is quickly required in each basin.

Research and prospective effortsshould be increased and accelerated togive local field decision makers theessential elements for designingappropriate and necessary diversifiedprograms.

It is also essential to prepare futuregenerations by developing educatio-nal tools and youth participation,relying particularly on Youth WaterParliaments.

Anticipation, the taking into account ofuncertainty and the capacity to plan onthe long term should be the new basesof water management policies.

The exchange of information on goodpractices is essential: UNECE andINBO have started to establish anetwork of pilot basin organiza-tions to test measures for adaptingto climate change.

With regard to floods, the ”up -stream-downstream common cau se” should be the basis ofconsistent and coordinated mana-gement on the scale of basins andsub-basins both for prevention andprotection.

This is especially true in transboundarybasins where cooperation betweenriparian States should be promoted.

The prevention of droughts must beplanned in the long term in eachbasin, by solving the structuralproblems which occur, in order toprevent, in the best possible way,their effects and to avoid the totaldegradation of water resources.

All the uses are concerned, especiallywater use in agriculture, which must berationalized as well as possible.

Pressures on water resources requirelooking for new ways, such as the useof non-conventional water and reuse of treated water. Mobilizing newresources and creating new reservesare needed; this should be done aftermaking sure that water demands arerationalized and that projects are ecolo-gically acceptable and economicallyreasonable. “No regret” approachesshould be sufficiently flexible to adaptto highly fluctuating situations in thefuture.

Cooperation between riparianCountries of transboundary rivers,lakes and aquifers should beimproved.

It is urgent that existing cooperationagreements, conventions or treaties bebroadened and strengthened.

Where there is no agreement yet, it isessential that the riparian countriesestablish one and create common ins-titutions necessary for its implementa-tion.

The 1992 Helsinki Convention onthe protection and use of transboun-dary watercourses and internationallakes, on the one hand, and the UnitedNations Convention of 1997, on theother, give a framework for improvingtransboundary cooperation in the fieldof water.

In addition, the European Water Fra-mework Directive (WFD) proposesregional cooperation in the field ofwater based on the principles of inte-grated basin management. It may ins-pire other regions of the World.

While thinking has started for defi-ning the UN post 2015 SustainableDevelopment Goals, INBO consi-ders essential to include waterresources management in the toppriorities, as this more and morescarce resource is essential for econo-mic, social and environmental deve-lopment.

It intends to get mobilized for the nextmajor world events on water, especiallyfor the 7th World Water Forum, the Uni-ted Nations Climate Conferences andthe first International Forum on Envi-ronment and Basin Organizations,organized by UNEP in November 2014in Bangkok.

INBO member organizations havemore and more recognized expe-rience and know-how which theyintend to share, disseminate andput at the disposal of all the coun-tries and institutions which wouldlike to follow them in an effectivebasin management approach.

The General Assembly thanked theNational Water Agency (ANA) andthe Brazilian Network of BasinOrganizations (REBOB) for theiroutstanding welcoming in Fortaleza.

It congratulated the Organization forthe Development of the SenegalRiver (OMVS) and its two High Commissioners, Their Excellencies M.S Ould Merzoug and K. Komara, forthe masterful way in which they haveassumed the World Presidency of INBOsince the General Assembly in Dakar in2010.

Mr. Lupercio Ziroldo Antonio, Pre-sident of the Brazilian Network ofBasin Organizations, was electednew INBO President until the nextGeneral Assembly that will takeplace in Mexico in 2016.

319 delegates coming from 49 countries © IOWater - C.Runel

www.inbo-news.org


Events 2013

Messrs. David Korenfeld, Director-General of the National Water Commis-sion of Mexico (CONAGUA), and Jean-François Donzier, Permanent TechnicalSecretary of the International Networkof Basin Organizations (INBO), agreedto strengthen their cooperation, starteda long time ago by the two institutions,in order to exchange knowledge, expe-riences and technology developed bymore than 80 INBO Member Countriesand achieve better management ofwater resources in River Basins.During a meeting in Mexico late August2013, Mr. David Korenfeld affirmedthat ”cooperation between Mexicoand INBO is benefitting both par-ties and allows responding to theMexican priorities”.

Especially, he proposed to promoteprojects for the technical training ofoperating personnel and decision-makers, in order to improve watermanagement and services in Mexico.Mr. Jean-François Donzier confirmedthat INBO is ready to strengthen itsrelationship with Mexico to developinnovative models for integrated waterresources management in river basins.He offered INBO support for developingexchanges of experiences and know-ledge of the principles and means ofwater management at basin level in thecooperation programs, facilitating theimplementation of water resourcesmanagement tools, and in informationand training programs for the peopleinvolved in the management of Mexi-can Basin Organizations.

David Korenfeld reiterated CONAGUA’scommitment to actively participate inINBO, in order to collect the best inter-national experiences and enrich theMexican national water policy.Mexico has been Founder Memberof INBO since 1994.

Claudia CoriaInternational Cooperation Manager Mónica Gpe. Camarena GarcíaInternational Cooperation DirectoratePlanning DepartmentNational Water Commission (CONAGUA)[email protected]

www.conagua.gob.mx

The 3rd Mexican National Congresson River Basin Management washeld in Morelia (State of Michoa-cán) from 27 to 30 August 2013, atthe initiative of the Mexican RiverBasin Network (RMCH).The main objective of the event was toadvance river basin management inMexico to meet the urgent current andfuture problems related to waterresources.

Conferences, round tables, technicalsessions allowed researchers, repre-sentatives of governmental institutions,non-governmental organizations anduser communities to address importantissues such as climate change, partici-patory management, the need for aninterdisciplinary approach and know-ledge sharing.

On this occasion, the third nationalmeeting of the Operational Directo-rates of Basin Councils was held onAugust 27, with a view to improving therole and functioning of these institu-tions created by federal law in 1992.

Mr. Jean-François Donzier, Techni-cal Secretary of the InternationalNetwork of Basin Organizations(INBO) presented a keynote speech onbest practices implemented by basinorganizations in different parts of theworld.

The National Water Commission(Comision Nacional del Agua -CONAGUA) presented the nationalwater policy for 2013-2018.

Delegates from various Mexican BasinCommittees spoke about their practicalfield experiences.

Claudia CoriaInternational Cooperation Manager Mónica Gpe. Camarena GarcíaInternational Cooperation DirectoratePlanning DepartmentNational Water Commission (CONAGUA)[email protected]

www.conagua.gob.mx

3rd National Congress on River Basin Management

Mexico - CONAGUA

CONAGUA and INBO are strengthening their cooperation

Third National Meeting of the Operational Directorates of Basin Councils


Events 2013European Center for River Restoration

5th European River Restoration Conference11-13 September 2013 - Vienna - Austria

The EU Life project RESTORE togetherwith the European Center for River Restoration (ECRR), organized the 5th European River RestorationConference held in Vienna, Austria.

Mr. Janez Potocnik, EU Commissionerfor the Environment, was the confe-rence Keynote Speaker. The Confe-rence brought together around 320river basin managers, policy makers,practitioners and academics from

around Europe and showcased inspi-ring examples of river restoration. Ourinitial conference findings are showingthe priorities for practitioners and howthey want to lead the way in restoringthe balance between our lifestyles andthe needs of the environment.

The most frequent concern of theaudience is to work with communitiesand many felt there are gaps in thisarea.

There was also plenty of discussionabout current scientific knowledge, andthe more technical sessionsbrought up many gaps in relation tomonitoring and evaluation in parti-cular.

More generally, practitioners felt theneed to maintain and extend existinginitiatives to share best practice. Theorganizational capacity to supportriver restoration is essential. Wediscussed using tools such as theRiverWiki and ‘how to use pages’ onthe RESTORE website, as well the casestudy guide; Rivers by Design.

The conference also featured the first”European Riverprize” awarded bythe International River Foundation,which was won by the InternationalCommission for the Protection of theRhine.

Mr. Jean-François Donzier, INBOTechnical Secretary, was invited toopen the session on ”the rehabili-tation of rivers: a collective chal-lenge”.Susan Sheahan RESTORE communications advisorEnvironment Agency, [email protected]

www.restorerivers.eu

Mr. Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner

Mr. Jean-François Donzier’sspeech © IOWater - C. Runel

The Committee for Dialogue andDevelopment of the Richelieu RiverBasin (COVABAR) organized the5th annual meeting on integratedwater management, the ChamplainMeetings, in Longueuil from 12 to14 September 2013.

The topic was: Green and blue urbaninfrastructure and promotion of integra-ted water resources management in the

updating of the Metropolitan Develop-ment Plan (PMAD).

The Champlain Meetings were createdin 2009, following a twinning arrange-ment between the Local Public BasinAuthority for the Charente River, inFrance, and COVABAR, in Quebec, thisunder the TwinBasin program ofINBO.

About twenty speakers and over 120participants discussed various issues.

Two major issues were identified:

l Passing from sustainable develop-ment to sustainable lifestyle;

l Involvement and mobilization ofelected representatives.

The means that were specifically men-tioned for doing so were, on the onehand, increased citizens’ participation,and, on the other, the commitment ofelected officials to put more pressureon Governments to ensure that lawsgoverning water are more stringent andnot only integrated into the develop-ment plans of all the Regional CountyMunicipalities (RCM) and other muni-cipalities, but also fully complied with.

Then we can hopefully establish in theshort, medium and long term, a truewater culture in Quebec.Hubert ChamberlandArchitect and Urban PlannerCo-president of the Charente/Richelieu twinningPresident of COVABAR and [email protected]

www.covabar.qc.ca

5th Champlain Meetings 2013Integrated river basin management in an urban environment in Quebec


Events 2013Water Summit

Ban Ki-moon: Water is the key to sustainable development

During the Water Summit held in Buda-pest last October, Mr. Ban Ki-moon,UN Secretary General, stressed theimportant role of water in sustaina-ble development.

He presented three priority areas wherewater is essential for development:food security, adaptation to climatechange and sanitation.

Mr. Jean-François Donzier, INBOPermanent Technical Secretary,was invited to lead the session onWater Governance in the CivilSociety Forum organized during thisSummit, in which he presented anintroductory framework paper on theprinciples now widely recognized thatgovern modern basin management.

www.budapestwatersummit.hu

Mr. Ban Ki-moon at the opening of the Water Summit

African Network of Basin Organizations (ANBO)

The ”Strengthening the Institutionsfor Transboundary Water resour -ces management in Africa” Project(SITWA) started in October 2012.

Its specific objectives are to have theAfrican Network of Basin Organiza-tions (ANBO) transformed into a sus-tainable and influential organization asa pillar under the African MinistersCouncil on Water (AMCOW) and have a

technical assistance program providedthrough the Regional Economic Com-missions (RECs).

The Project is funded by the EuropeanUnion for a one-year Inception Phaseand a two-year Implementation Phase.

It is co-managed by the Global WaterPartnership Office (GWPO) and theOrganization for the Development of theSenegal River (OMVS), taking care ofANBO Secretariat and host of the Pro-ject Management Team in Dakar.

During the first phase, the project focu-sed on:

l ANBO's legal and institutionalarrangements as a pillar underAMCOW;

l Legal frameworks of the AfricanBasin Organizations;

l Capacity building needs of theseorganizations;

l Information and knowledge mana-gement needs; and

l Resource mobilization mecha-nisms of the African Transboun-dary Basin Organizations and ofANBO.

In December 2012, the Project Stee-ring Committee met in Dakar toapprove the work plan and the budgetfor the first one-year phase.

On 13-14 and 17-18 June 2013 abouteighty (80) participants from Western,Northern, Eastern and Southern Africaattended interregional consultationsand provided inputs to the five thematicstudy areas covered in the inceptionphase.

On 4 October 2013, the InceptionPhase Report was validated and ap -proved by the Project Steering Com-mittee (PSC) meeting in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia.

The Action Plan will be implementedduring Phase II of the project (2014-2015). Innocent KabengaAfrican Network of Basin Organizations (ANBO)Project Manager GWPO/ANBO-SITWA-EU [email protected]

www.anbo-raob.org

Strengthening the Institutions for Transboundary Water resources ma-nagement in Africa Project (SITWA)

SITWA Steering Committee meetingOctober 4th 2013 - Addis Ababa - Ethiopia

acp euWater Facility


Events 2013France

Is easy water over?

The sharp increase in anthropogenicpressures on water resources andaquatic ecosystems, compounded bythe effects of climate change, will haveheavy social, economic and environ-mental consequences on all humanactivities by 2050-2070.

These are as many implications that areechoing the also raised concerns regar-ding energy.

Sounding the alarm, the workshop,organized on 21 November 2013 atINBO home office under the ”Obser-vation system of Business Ener-

gies” gave the floor to thirteen Frenchexperts, but also to OECD andUNESCO, and contributed to a greaterawareness of the major water andenergy challenges of the comingdecades.

Alarming findings

Experts unanimously agree: rivers,lakes, aquifers, wetlands, snow and icereserves, etc, the whole water system isaffected by current changes. Deficitscould worsen because the global waterdemand will still increase by 50% by2050: between energy storage, coolingof thermal power plants, irrigation,

industry needs, waterways navigationand cities, and low water replenish-ment, there is an exacerbation of thewater demand.

Increased competition betweenwater-consuming activities requi -res arbitration from the decisionmakers.

Less consumption and better management: the same imperative for water and energy

One possible answer could be summa-rized as a twofold imperative: lessconsumption and better management

limiting environmental impacts. Animperative that echoes those weighingtoday on energy: water is essentialfor energy production and energynecessary for treatment, sanitationand water conveyance.

Rethinking uses

Mr. Jean-François Donzier, INBO Se -cre tary, concluded that organizing bet-ter water governance will make it pos-sible to share resources and reconcileuses.

www.observatoire-energies-entreprises.fr

”Observation system of Business Energies”Water and energy: urgency to face the major global and climate changes

A workshop on monitoring - 13 November 2013 - Plovdiv - Bulgaria

The event jointly organized byONEMA and IOWater in Plovdiv on13 November 2013 within theyearly EUROPE-INBO Conference(13-15 November 2013) gathered78 participants from 16 countries,as well as the European Commis-sion and the European Environ-ment Agency.

This workshop gathered participantswith various backgrounds, policy-makers, scientists, water managers andrepresentatives of the private sector

and has been an opportunity for sha-ring field experiences and good prac-tices in monitoring, in view of prepa-ring the second cycle of WFD imple-mentation.

To allow for a maximum of discussionsand exchanges, the workshop wasorganized in two main sessions:

Firstly, a general introduction of themain issues and presentations from theEuropean Commission, the EuropeanEnvironment Agency, Bulgaria, Swedenand France.

Then, during the second part of theworkshop, the audience was dividedinto working groups which successi-vely addressed three main pre-identi-fied issues.

Each issue was introduced by a presen-tation on the practical experiences of aMember State:

l Theme 1 - Purpose of monito-ring programs: ”Vision of TheNetherlands; Rijkswaterstaat expe-riences”;

l Theme 2 - Stakeholders’ orga-nization and role: ”Monitoring incompliance with the Water Frame-work Directive in Austria; expe-riences and outlook”;

l Theme 3 - Monitoring strate-gies: ”Evolution of monitoringnetworks in Wallonia since 1975according to various EuropeanDirectives”.

A summary report was then providedby each sub-group in plenary session,followed by discussions between allthe participants.

These fruitful exchanges helped toidentify and highlight issues and expe-riences of field practitioners.

They also led to draw conclusions andrecommendations shared by all theparticipants of the workshop on theimplementation and follow-up of thenew Programs of Measures.

The detailed agenda, all presenta-tions and a summary of the outcomes can be found on INBOwebsite, ”EUROPE-INBO” 2013section.

www.inbo-news.org

11th European Conference ”EUROPE-INBO 2013”

78 participants coming from 16 countries© IOWater - C. Runel


Events 201311th European Conference ”EUROPE-INBO 2013”

13 - 16 November 2013 - Plovdiv - Bulgaria

”FOR FACILITATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE”

The 11th conference of the”EUROPE-INBO” group washeld in Plovdiv, Bulgaria,

from 13 to 16 November 2013, atthe invitation of the East AegeanBasin Directorate of the BulgarianMinistry of the Environment andWater.

It gathered 183 participants, repre-sentatives of national administra-tions and basin organizations aswell as NGOs, companies andinternational and regional organi-zations from 21 Countries.

The conference work was organizedaround five major issues:

➊ Feedback from the first RiverBasin Management Plans andthe preparation of the SecondPlans (2016-2021), with focuson better coherence between thelevel of pressures and the Pro-grams of Measures; integration ofwater quantity issues (resourceallocation, drought and floodmanagement); adaptation to cli-mate change, better coordinationbetween the EU Directives (Floodand Marine strategy, Habitats,fauna and flora, renewable energy)and the link with other sectoralpolicies (agriculture, energy,hydropower, navigation…) andbetter involvement of stakeholders.

➋ Funding of Programs of Mea-sures, access to funds and parti-cularly to EU Structural Funds;economic analyses for determi-ning the most cost effective com-bination of measures; value ofecological services and applica-tion of cost recovery.

➌ New approaches to river andaquifer restoration: natural waterretention measures, ecologicalflow, ecological focus areas,reduction of agricultural impactson water (buffer strips, changes inagricultural practices, etc.).

➍ Water governance in trans-boundary basins: WFD interna-tional districts, role and means ofInternational Commissions, Bi andMultilateral agreements and UNConventions;

➎ Implementation of WFD princi-ples in EU neighboring coun-tries, experiences of EECCA andMediterranean Partner countries.

Mr. Peter Gammeltoft, Head of theDG Environment’s Water Unit of theEuropean Commission, addressed theparticipants via videoconference and recalled the objectives of the”Blueprint to Safeguard Europe'sWaters”.

The ”EUROPE-INBO” group mem-bers made recommendations tofurther improve water resourcesmanagement in the EuropeanUnion and in the Partner Countries,relying in particular on their practi-cal experience gained in the field.

The ”EUROPE-INBO” group, CEENBOand MENBO support the initiative of theEuropean Commission of greater invol-vement of Basin Authorities in the acti-vities of the Common Implementa-tion Strategy (CIS).

In such a background, they supportINBO initiative to facilitate a realEuropean Network of Basin Autho-rities for analyzing the best practicesand dealing with issues raised by theimplementation of the directives atbasin level and report to the EuropeanCommission and to the StrategicCoordination Group (SCG) to whichINBO is member.

183 participants coming from 21 countries © IOWater - C. Runel

The opening ceremony © IOWater - C. Runel


Events 2013It seems necessary to improve the WFDrelationship and coordination with theDirectives on ”Urban Wastewater”,”Nitrates”, ”Drinking Water”, ”Ground-water”, ”Bathing waters”, ”Floods”,”Marine Strategy Framework Directive”and ”Environmental Quality Stan-dards”in particular.

It is imperative that issues relatedto floods, droughts, adaptation toclimate change be addressed inthe future Management Plans.

Consistency between managementplans and urban planning or land usedocuments must be improved.

Coordination between different admi-nistrative services, that implementthese directives, should be increased,

Achieving the ”Blueprint” goals and improving WFD implementationrequire:

l Increasing the prevention ofagricultural pollution and con -tinuing investments in domes-tic and industrial wastewatertreatment;

l Achieving better integrationbetween the Water Directivesand sectoral policies (inclu-ding CAP, industry, energy,transport);

l Increasing means for inspec-tion and control of abstrac-tions;

l Facilitating the reuse of treatedwastewater;

l Improving the bond betweenthe identification of pressureson Water Bodies and the mea-sures to be taken;

l Grading the pressures andidentifying the sectors respon-sible for the most significantdamage.

The ”one out all out” or ”limiting fac-tor” principle should be adapted by theproduction of sub-indicators so that thecitizens and their elected representa-tives may really see the positive resultsof the WFD implementation.

It is urgent to provide operationalmethodological elements and additio-nal orientations to estimate environ-mental and resource costs. Thesame applies to the assessmentand quantification of the benefitsexpected from improved WaterBody status.

New approaches to the restoration ofaquatic environments, to natural reten-tion and to the reduction of damage tothe hydro-morphology of rivers, mustbe developed. The exchange of goodpractices (e.g. RESTORE) is essential.

Flood Management Plans shouldinclude the functioning of aquatic eco-systems in the planned developmentsand favor the use of wetlands and natu-ral areas.

We should recommend the use of"green infrastructure".

Water Governance in transboun-dary basins must be improvedespecially in International Districtsestablished for WFD implementation.

The role and means of InternationalCommissions for transboundary riversshould be strengthened to ensureeffective WFD implementation.

The involvement of stakeholdersand of the public is crucial forimproving water resources mana-gement. Their information and partici-pation in decision-making processesshould be further developed. Specialattention should be paid to the involve-ment of youth in water governance.

Specific cooperation with all countriesneighboring the European Union, andfirstly with the Candidate Countriessharing a same transboundary riverbasin with Member States should becontinued and expanded with the sup-port of the regional institutions.

The national information systems andtheir harmonization with internationalreporting mechanisms, the training ofmanagers and the participation ofusers, local authorities and associa-tions should be strengthened.

The participants thanked the EastAegean Basin Directorate and the Bulgarian Ministry of the Environmentfor their outstanding welcoming inPlovdiv.

They congratulated the Turkish Authori-ties and especially Professor AhmetMete Saatçi, SUEN President, for themasterful way in which the Presidencyof EUROPE-INBO Group has beenconducted since the Istanbul Confe-rence in 2012.

Mr. Nikola KARNOLSKY, Director ofthe Bulgarian East Aegean Basin,was elected new President ofEUROPE-INBO Group until the nextAssembly to be held in Bucharest,Romania, from 12 to 15 November2014.

Very attentive participants © IOWater - C. Runel

www.inbo-news.org


In February 2011, the UN GeneralAssembly declared 2013 as ”Interna-tional Year of Water Cooperation”,in order to establish and foster initia-tives in the field of water for maintai-ning peace and security.

Mexico is committed to waterresour ces conservation and sustai-nable use.

The President Enrique Peña Nieto sta-ted that ”Mexico has a Global Respon-sibility”.

The National Water Commission(CONAGUA) agreed with UNESCO toestablish the conditions needed for theimplementation of joint activities underthis International Year of Water Coope-ration.

A Technical Cooperation Agreementwas signed by the Minister of the Envi-ronment and Natural Resources,through the National Water Commis-sion, and UNESCO.

The document was signed by Dr. Blanca Jiménez-Cisneros, Directorof UNESCO’s Division of Water Scien -ces and by the Director General ofCONAGUA, Dr. David Korenfeld.

Among the activities carried out, theclosing ceremony in Mexico inDecember 2013 of the InternationalYear of Water Cooperation had animpact on the entire Latin American andCaribbean region.

A report was published to summarizeand assess the main activities organi-zed during the year and the commit-ments made by countries related to themanagement and conservation of thisvital liquid: water.

United Nations

The closing ceremony of theInternational Year of WaterCooperation took place in Mexicoon 5 and 6 December 2013.

It was organized by UNESCO onbehalf of UN-Water, with supportfrom the Government of Mexicothrough the National Water Commis-sion (CONAGUA).

During the first day devoted to les-sons learned from the InternationalYear, a high-level plenary sessionaddressed “Cooperation, a key to

peaceful water sharing”: Mr. Jean-François Donzier, Secretary ofthe International Network ofBasin Organizations, made anintroductory speech on the bestBasin Management practicesused over the World.

The second day, entitled "Beyond theInternational Year: recommendationsfor action" was an opportunity to spe-cify the action to take for the future.

Events 2013

International Year of Water Cooperation


Events 2014

The Water Governance Initiative (WGI),coordinated by the Organization forEconomic Cooperation and Develop-ment (OECD), follows the commit-ments made during the 6th World WaterForum held in Marseilles in 2012.

The goal of the initiative is to firmlyestablish good water governance prin-ciples, based on the experience gained

by institutions and countries worldwideand proposals from four workinggroups established in March 2013.

INBO, IOWater and UNESCO facili-tate Working Group 3 on watergovernance in basins of nationaland transboundary rivers, lakesand aquifers.

This work in the basins will lead to theproposal for principles of good watergovernance along the following lines:

l Legislative and institutional frame-works such as treaties, regionalagreements, regulations, manage-ment plans and any other legalprovision for a balanced use ofresources and soils;

l Strengthening and establishmentof national or transboundary river,lake and aquifer basin organiza-tions capable of achieving sustai-nable water resources manage-ment;

l Development of analyses andassessments allowing the orienta-tion of decision making;

l Joint management of surface andground water resources;

l Establishment of a set of gover-nance indicators at the level ofbasins.

This work was presented at the WorldWater Forum during the sessions plan-ned on the theme ”Effective Gover-nance (4.2.)”, and more particularlyduring the session 4.2.3 on ”strengthe-ning basin governance to managewater resources on different scales.”Delphine ClavreulWater Governance ProgramRegional Development Policy [email protected]

www.oecd.org

OECDWater Governance Initiative

3rd Plenary Meeting of the Initiative 28-29 April 2014 - Madrid - Spain

3rd Istanbul International Water Forum

The International Water Forum organi-zed in Istanbul from 27 to 29 May2014, made contributions to the next7th World Water Forum, to be held inDaegu (Korea) in April 2015.

Water resources management and fairallocation is a more and more crucialissue. International law comes to therescue to prevent or peacefully resolvewater-related conflicts.

However, the general principles formaking fair allocations and the criteriaused to significantly assess thedamage are often vague and need tobe clarified.

The topic of this 3rd Istanbul Forumwas: ”Water Regulation and Safety:Risk Assessment and Challenges,Opportunities to seize”.

www.iusf.org.tr


Events 2014UNECE

Strengthening cooperation on shared water resources

Adaptation to climate change in basins UNECE and INBO have joinedforces to materialize one of thecommitments made during theWorld Water Forum in Marseilleson adaptation to climate changeon the basin scale.

For over two years, they have workedon the subject with a score of basinorganizations worldwide and a dozeninternational partners.

A Platform of Basin Organizationsworking on adaptation to climatechange was established both toexchange good practices, collectthe first lessons learned fromundertaken actions and dissemi-nate them.

This group has also developed a document on ”Water and ClimateChange Adaptation in Transboun-dary Basins: Lessons Learned andGood Practices” for rivers, lakes andaquifers.

This publication completes the ”Gui-dance on Water and Adaptation toClimate Change” drafted by UNECEin 2009.

Different versionscan be downloaded from:

www.basins-management-publications.org

www.inbo-news.org

In the framework of the 2013-2015work program, the Parties to the UNConvention (1992) on the Protectionand Use of Transboundary Water-courses and International Lakes haveplanned to organize two workshops to

promote the exchange of expe-riences and good practices bet-ween joint bodies for transboun-dary water cooperation of thewhole World in order to learn lessonsfrom them and have recommendations.

The first of these workshops tookplace in Geneva on 23-24 Septem-ber 2013.

The second workshop which tookplace on 9 and 10 April 2014 focu-sed on the technical aspects ofcooperation within the frameworkof joint bodies.

The debate highlighted recent suc-cesses in establishing new agreementsand joint bodies.

At the Workshop “River Basin Com-missions and Other Joint Bodiesfor Transboundary Water Coopera-tion” co-organized with INBO, the par-ticipants exchanged their experienceson the work of joint bodies, notablyinter-sectoral coordination, infrastruc-ture, groundwater management, envi-ronmental protection and governanceissues, including financing and com-

munication. Draft principles for effec-tive joint bodies, focusing on jointbodies’ establishment, structure andfunctions, their operation and their fun-ding were agreed upon. Iulia Trombitcaia UNECE [email protected]

More information on the meeting:

www.unece.org/env/water/workshop_joint_bodies_2013.html

Second workshop - Geneva - 9 - 10 April 2014


Events 2014Africa WaterForum 2014The Africa Water Forum 2014 washeld in Ouagadougou from 12 to 14 June 2014, gathering over 650participants around the question:”how to facilitate access to waterand sanitation services for eve-ryone in Africa?”.

Faced with quick population growthand urbanization (the continent willhave nearly 3 billion people by 2050,including 60% of urban people), andwith the effects of increasing climatedisturbance, access to safe drinkingwater and improved sanitation foreveryone in Africa, as well as availa-bility for other water uses, such asirrigation and energy production, arebecoming, more than ever, majorchallenges.

In this event, jointly organized by theGovernment of Burkina Faso and 2IEin partnership with the African Minis-ters Council on Water (AMCOW) andthe World Water Council, INBOSecretariat intervened as facili-tator in the two following ses-sions:

l Cooperation and develop-ment of large hydraulicstructures in transboundarybasins in Africa;

l Pedagogical Innovation forincreasing capacity buildingin the water and sanitationsector.

www.2ie-edu.org

AFRICA WATER FORUM 2014

L’Afrique se prépare au 7ème Forum Mondial de l’Eau

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso12 au 14 juin 2014

Mexican Basin Organizations integrateNANBOThe North American Network ofBasin Organizations (NANBO) orga-nized an information forum at the 2nd Water Week of Latin America in2014, which took place from 23 to 27 June in the City of Mexico.

The President of the Network, Mr. AbelJimenez Alcazar, highlighted theobjectives, services, achievements andactivities that the Network is develo-ping to promote Integrated WaterResources Management (IWRM) inCanada, the United States and Mexico.

He stressed the efforts NANBO made toestablish collaboration schemes bet-ween its members, to promote thetransfer of knowledge and experiencesthat contribute to improving watergovernance and management.

NANBO Chief Executive, Mr. NormandCazelais, presented some importantexperiences of the network action inprocesses of twinning basin organiza-

tions from the Canadian Province ofQuebec, France and Mexico.

Following this presentation, the Coun-cils of the Lerma Chapala Basin, Guer-rero Coast, Balsas River Basin, RioGrande Basin and Oaxaca Coast Coun-cils became NANBO members.

This great meeting allowed NANBO toposition itself in the Mexican and LatinAmerican context, to strengthen its col-laborative opportunities in the region.

www.monroban.org

Mr. Abel Jiménez Alcazar

North-American Network of Basin Organizations (NANBO)

Third International Forum on Integrated Water Management

The third International Forum onIntegrated Water Managementtook take place at the UniversityLaval (Quebec City, Canada) onMay 7-9, 2014.

The event addressed the issues oftransboundary water management in acontext of climate change.

The event was organized by the NorthAmerican Network of Basin Organiza-tions (NANBO), the Regrouping of theRiver Basin Organizations of Quebec(ROBVQ) and the St-François River

Basin Organization (COGESAF); in col-laboration with the Quebec Metropoli-tan Community, the University LavalEnvironment, Development andSociety Institute and the researchconsortium on climatology and adap-tation to climate change OURANOS.

The 500 participants addressed the fol-lowing themes:

l Governance and Strengthening ofInstitutional Capacities;

l Water Resources and its usesmanagement;

l Risks Management and Adaptationto Climate Change:

Three case-studies, including the Great Lakes / St-Lawrence and the RioGrande systems and the Rhine Basin,were presented.

Two roundtables answered the follo-wing questions:

l In a context of climate change howcan we promote transboundarywater management on the water-shed scale and for what benefits?

l What integrated water manage-ment for the Great Lakes and St-Lawrence System?

Jérôme SpaggiariCoordinator International Forum on Integrated Water [email protected]

www.rv-eau.ca

3ème é dition

3rd e dition

The third International Forum on IntegratedWater Management


Events 2014

International River Symposium

The 17th River Symposium washeld in Canberra, Australia, from15 to 18 September 2014 in theMurray-Darling River Basin.

This basin, which received a large partof the 13 billion dollars committedsince 2007 by the Australian Govern-ment to the water reform, served as a

background to the discussions underthe general theme of ”Large RiverBasins”.

The International River Symposium issupported by the Global Partnershipfor the Promotion of IntegratedRiver Basin Management, whichincludes the International River Foun-

dation, the Nature Conservancy, theWorld Wide Fund for Nature (WWF),the International Network of BasinOrganizations, the Global Environ-ment Fund, the International Union forConservation of Nature, the Internatio-nal Commission for the Protection ofthe Danube and the Great Rivers Part-nership and the Global Water Partner-ship.

The symposium is a true internationalplatform for sharing knowledge andinnovative ideas on all aspects of rivermanagement around the world. Itintends to be a ”think-tank” bringingout the best practices.

Mr. Jean-François Donzier, Secretaryof the International Network ofBasin Organizations, was invited topresent the final conclusions of theSymposium.

The 2014 ”International River Prize”was awarded to the International Com-mission for the Protection of the Rhine.

www.riversymposium.com

For better management of great rivers

www.riversymposium.com

SITWA: YEAR 2 Strengthening Institutions for the management of Transboundary Water resources in Africa

With financial support from theEuropean Union, ANBO has beenimplementing the ”StrengtheningInstitutions for TransboundaryWater management in Africa”(SITWA) Project since 2012, withtechnical support from the GWP(Global Water Partnership).

The main objective is to strengthenregional cooperation at political, eco-nomic and stakeholder level for sus-

tainable management of transboun-dary water resources in Africa, tocontribute to peace and security, sta-bility and poverty reduction, based onAfrican knowledge.

The specific objectives are to makeANBO a sustainable and influentialorganization at the service of the Afri-can Ministers Council on Water(AMCOW), through a technical assis-tance program to basin organizations

(RBOs) and the Regional EconomicCommissions (RECs).

After validation of the 2014-2016action plan in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,SITWA project embarked on a secondoperational phase. It has completedthe drafting process of the ”2015-2025 10-year strategy and the 2015-2019 five-year action plan”, markedby five sub-regional consultationworkshops.

The document was validated by allparties and submitted to the GeneralAssembly for approval. Meanwhile,three studies have been validated inKampala, Uganda in September 2014by major basin organizations, after aconsultation process held in Kigali inJuly 2014.

These studies concern IWRM Plan-ning, Climate Change Adaptation andjoint Infrastructure Development inAfrican transboundary river basins.

The African Water InformationSystem (AWIS) gathered in Saly,Senegal, its Focal Points and speci-fied the rules to power the system.

A training program was organized onthe financing of RBOs as part of a jointoperation with ICA (The InfrastructureConsortium for Africa) and SIWI(Stockholm International Water Insti-tute). Tanor Meïssa Dieng Interim Coordinator of the Project [email protected]

Follow us on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/sitwaproject


Workshop in Kampala


Events 2014

The mountain people are getting mobilized to anticipate the effects of climate change on water resources The ”4th International Conferenceon Water in Mountains”, organizedby Asters (Upper-Savoy NaturalSpace Conservancy), the Endow-ment Fund ”Living Mountain”, theInternational Office for Water(IOWater) and the InternationalNetwork of Basin Organizations(INBO) took place on 8, 9 and 10 October 2014, in Megeve(Upper Savoy - France).

Following previous meetings in 2002,2006 and 2010, this conference issuedan alert to the need to quickly adoptstrategies to adapt to the impacts ofglobal warming on water resources inthe mountains, which are areas wherethe main large European rivers Ebro,Danube, Po, Rhine, Rhone, and Vistula... and their major tributaries, originate.

Global warming now seems to beunavoidable and the Europeanmountains are already among thefirst victims!

With the decrease in snow cover andglacier melt, the water regimes of allmajor European rivers coming frommountains are now changing.

However, the flow regularity of theserivers is crucial for the supply of drin-king water to populations and for theeconomic development at the foothillsand in the plains (hydropower, inland

navigation, irrigation, tourism or stillthe cooling of thermal or nuclear powerplants...).

Meeting water needs in the future andfor all purposes is thus everybody'sbusiness.

Water management in the upperriver basins is a strategic issue forthe mountain people, but also forthe populations and economies …in the plains!

It is thus necessary to act quickly if we want our mountains to remain”Europe’s Water Towers”.

Flood frequency and intensity willgreatly increase in autumn, winter andspring, as well as summer droughts.

Climate change in mountains will alsogenerate severe erosion, landslides,degradation in river quality and anincrease in water temperature. Hydro-power production could be reduced by15%, cooling of thermal and nuclearpower plants will be more difficult,river navigation will have to adapt,competition between water uses willbecome fiercer.

Time is running out: we must nowidentify and model these changes atlocal level in order to undertake thefield actions that are urgently needed!

Field experiments were presentedat the ”Conference on Water inMountains”. They work and pro-duce results that can be replicated;we must disseminate them.

l First, saving water and facilita-ting recycling: leak detection indrinking water supply systems, thereuse of treated wastewater,groundwater recharge, promotingthe efficient use of water mustbecome a priority.

l Next, rethinking the manage-ment of water, lakes, wetlandsand mountain soils, taking intoaccount the strategic constraintsof the supply of water to the popu-lation and agricultural, industrialand tourist economies at the foo-thills and in plains downstream.We must develop ”a new culture ofrisk”.

l Finally, better recognizing therole of mountains for the com-munity as a whole from ups-tream to downstream areas,under integrated basin poli-cies.

This will require strengthening theinstitutional and financial mecha-nisms and refocusing them towardsthese new priorities, as in the case ofthe new French Law ”GEMAPI”(Management of Aquatic Ecosys-tems and Flood Prevention).

Planning must be made in the basins oflarge rivers and based on strong inter-sectoral and international cooperationwhen river basins are transboundary asin the case of the Rhone, with French-Swiss cooperation.

With the Water Framework Direc-tive of 2000 and its related Direc-tives, the European Union has aneffective tool to truly apply theseadaptation strategies. Moreover, itrequires from the Member Statesthat they incorporate appropriatemeasures in the coming BasinManagement Plans and Programsof Measures 2016 - 2021 then2021-2027.

Let's quickly implement them!

The participants also decided to esta-blish a ”Network of Water Stake-holders in Mountains” to sustaintheir work between two ”Megeve”conferences, to exchange and promotethese good practices.

Anne-Laurence [email protected]

www.egem2014.org

4th International Conference on ”Water in Mountains”



Haute-Savoie


”FOR FACILITATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE”

12 - 15 November 2014 - Bucharest - RomaniaDeclaration of Bucharest

The 12th Conference of the”EUROPE-INBO” group took placein Bucharest, Romania, from 12 to 15 November 2014, at the invita-tion of the Romanian Ministry ofEnvironment and Climate Change,the National Agency ”APELEROMANE” and the National Insti-tute of Hydrology and Water Mana-gement.

It gathered 134 participants, repre-sentatives of national administra-tions and basin organizations aswell as of NGOs, companies, inter-national and regional organiza-tions, coming from 33 countries.

The work of the conference was organi-zed around four roundtables addressingthe following issues:

l Preparation of the 2nd BasinManagement Plans of theEuropean Water FrameworkDirective (2016 - 2021),

l Natural Water Retention Mea-sures and River Restoration,

l Implementation and funding ofPrograms of Measures,

l Water governance in Trans-boundary Basins.

Prior to the EUROPE-INBO conference,two workshops were organized:

l A technical workshop on riverrestoration and Natural WaterRetention Measures,

l A workshop on the Europeanregional process of the 7th World Water Forum.

The conference allowed reminding thatthe preparation of the next Basin Mana-gement Plans required integratingwater quantity issues, adaptation to cli-mate change and better coordinatingthe directives between themselves andensure a link with sectoral policies(agriculture, energy, navigation…).

Just before implementing the secondManagement Plans, coordination withthe Marine Strategy Framework Direc-tive and the Flood Directive appearsessential.

The participants were pleased with theholding of joint meetings between theWater, Marine Environment and NatureDirectors at European level and with theorganization by the European Commis-sion of a joint workshop on water,nature and marine strategy in Decem-ber 2014 to think about coordinatingthe directives implementation in thesethree sectors.

Since the release of the ”Blueprint”,there has been a better consideration ofthe quantitative issues in WFD Mana-gement Plans and tools. This is parti-cularly the case through the productionof guidance documents on wateraccounts. The development of scarcityand drought management plans inmany countries are going in the gooddirection.

Communication with populations aboutprogress made in the status of WaterBodies in 2015 is to be increased inso-far as that recovering good status willtake time.

Non-point source pollution andhydro-morphology are the mostsignificant pressures affectingrivers.

To move forward, it is necessary toprogress towards better integra-tion among the European Direc-tives (Flood Directive, Habitats Direc-tive, Birds Directive and the RenewableEnergy Directive) and improve thecoordination and complete it withsectoral policies of the Union (CAP,energy, transports, etc.). Betterintegrated basin management isnecessary to ensure the restora-tion and protection of water eco-systems or apply Natural WaterRetention Measures.

It is necessary to better integrate thevarious policies, communicate on thebenefits of river restoration and NaturalWater Retention Measures and mobi-lize the partners from the different sec-tors concerned.

In addition, better commitment of localcommunities in ecosystem restorationprojects is needed with a greater mobi-lization of the elected representativesfor these projects.

The lack of knowledge of the multiplebenefits of ”green infrastructure” isan obstacle to its implementation on alarge scale, especially in the BasinManagement Plans, Flood Risk Pre-vention, Natura 2000 actions and RuralDevelopment Plans.

134 participants coming from 33 Countries - © IOWater - C.Runel

Events 201412th European Conference ”EUROPE-INBO 2014”


Events 2014The participants underlined the impor-tance of consistency between the mea-sures taken to achieve environmentalobjectives and the policies and prac-tices of the agricultural sector.

The ongoing preparation of the RuralDevelopment Plans is an opportunityfor taking river hydromorphologyinto account. The participants askedthe water managers to be closer to theircolleagues of the agricultural sector toinclude measures for reducingagricultural pressures and pollu-tion and to limit financing for prac-tices having strong negativeeffects on the quality of WaterBodies.

The next Basin Management Plansshould be based on a more exhaustiveeconomic analysis of pressures and onquantification of costs and impacts ofthe measures needed to comply withthe objectives of the WFD. For this pur-pose, it is necessary to establish clearand transparent methodologies, im -prove common knowledge, but also, ifneeded, to agree on a practical guideunder the Common ImplementationStrategy (CIS) to complete and updatethe WATECO guidance document.

The participants took note of theentry into force on 17 August 2014of the 1997 United Nations Con -vention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of InternationalWatercourses.

This convention, as well as the UNECEWater Convention of 1992, is a solidbasis for international cooperation intransboundary basins.

Whatever the scale, good know-ledge and easy access to data andinformation on the status and evo-lution of water resources and oftheir use is a key to a successfulwater policy.

For better communicating with thedecision makers and the generalpublic, the members of ”EUROPE-INBO” group insisted on the need fordeveloping tools for data interpretation.

The participants recommended increa-sing the exchange of experience on theways of producing and sharing compa-rable data among stakeholders, as wellas on the tools and methods used forthe analysis and interpretation of dataand the dissemination of knowledge todecision makers and the generalpublic.

With regard to the Flood Directive,it was reminded that Flood RiskManagement Plans should bedeveloped in each basin.

The participants also reminded theimportance of involving field stakehol-ders and the public. Appropriation byall users of water policies and of theresulting measures is essential toadvance and increase efficiency.

The Monitoring Program could be agood communication tool if based onstandardized methods improving theunderstanding, comparison and use ofinformation.

The participants also stressed that theindicators used to characterize the sta-tus of Water Bodies are too general.They do not reflect the effectiveness ofthe actions undertaken during the pro-gram cycle. Less aggregated indica-tors, used at local and national levels,would allow a better understanding ofthe results of the efforts made.

The ”EUROPE-INBO 2014” confe-rence is a new important step forassessing implementation and for for-mulating sound proposals to improveWFD implementation in the nextcycles, especially for the 2016-2021period.

Ms. Daniela RADULESCU (Roma-nia), was elected President of theEUROPE-INBO Group for the yearto come, until the next conferencein 2015.

The next ”EUROPE-INBO 2015”International Conference willtake place in Thessaloniki inGreece from 21 to 24 October2015.

The delegates decided to hold next”EUROPE-INBO” conferences in2016 in Lourdes, France, and in 2017in Dublin, Ireland.

Closing ceremony - © IOWater - C.Runel

www.inbo-news.org

(12-17 April 2015)


Events 2014Mekong River Basin

Regional seminar for exchange of experiences on Integrated Water Resources Management 15, 16 and 17 October - Vientiane - Laos

Organized under the auspices of theLao Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironment, with the support of theFrench Embassy and financial supportof the Loire-Brittany Water Agency, theseminar gathered over 100 expertsfrom the Mekong River Basin,representatives of local and nationalauthorities, donors and the civilsociety.

The Lao Vice-Minister of NaturalResources and Environment, Mr. Sisa-vath Vithaxay, the French Ambassadorto Laos, Mr. Yves Carmona, and theChairman of the Loire-Brittany BasinCommittee, Mr. Joel Pélicot, openedthe seminar.

Three thematic sessions allowed theCambodian, Vietnamese, Burmese,Chinese, Lao, Thai and French delega-tions to exchange the experiences andgood practices in integrated waterresources management, developed bythe countries of the Mekong RiverBasin.

The first two days of the seminar werean opportunity to discuss recent pro-gresses made in some countries, at the national level and in pilot riverbasins, to strengthen synergies with theMekong River Commission (MRC),especially regarding institutional orga-nization, data management and funding.

A delegation of young representativesof the countries of the Mekong RiverBasin also participated in the seminarand presented the Declaration hereaf-ter.

During the third day, the participantsmade a field visit to the Nam NgumRiver Basin.

INBO, IOWater, the Rhine-MeuseWater Agency and the InternationalSecretariat for Water (ISW) provi-ded technical support for the suc-cess of this event.

All the participants received their”Blue Passport of Basin Citizen”.Chanthanet BoualaphaMinistry of Natural Resources and [email protected]

www.monre.gov.la

The 6th ”European River Restora-tion” Conference was held from 27to 29 October in Vienna. Its topicwas: ”Establishing relationships bet-ween restoration projects and innova-tive river management”.

An issue was at the core of the debate:how to innovate in integrated riverbasin management by using, in parti-cular, Green Infrastructure, NaturalWater Retention Measures andContemporary River Corridor Manage-ment?

n A Green Infrastructure is asemi-natural space, designed andmanaged to provide a wide rangeof ecosystem services.

n Natural Water Retention Mea-sures (NWRM) aim to reducevulnerability to floods anddroughts.

n ”Contemporary River CorridorManagement” (CRCM) requiresa cross-sectoral commitment andcooperation among stakeholdersat local, regional, national andinternational levels. The results ofCRCM practices conducted on six

Central European rivers were pre-sented and are available on:www.see-river.net.

Jean-François Donzier, INBO Secre-tary, presented the events on BasinManagement in the next World WaterForum.

Finally, the 2nd European Riverprize wasawarded to the River Mur in Austria.

www.errc2014.eu

”European River Restoration Conference”

Linking restoration and innovative river management


Events 2014UNEP

The 1st International EnvironmentForum for Basin Organizations wasco-convened by the United NationsEnvironment Program (UNEP) andthe International Network of BasinOrganizations (INBO) in Nairobi,Kenya, from 26 to 28 November2014.

The primary objective was tostrengthen basin organizations askey building blocks for effectivewater environmental governance.

During a Technical Segment, on 26and 27 November, participants sha-red their perspectives and presentedtheir experience related to four mainthemes:

l Water Quality and EcosystemHealth,

l Water-Energy-Food Nexus andAdaptation to Climate Change,

l Environmental Laws and Regula-tions,

l Institutional Challenges. A High-Level Segment took placeon 28 November 2014, during whichrepresentatives of the countries andbasin organizations deliberated on theway forward based on the conclusionsof the Technical Segment.

Participants underscored the impor-tance of sustainable freshwater gover-nance under the UN post-2015 Sustai-nable Development Goals, in light ofthe current worrying state of the globalresources.

They highlighted that basin mana-gement has taken a positive deve-lopment in many countries and thatthere are many experiences world-wide which show that integratedand sound water resources mana-gement organized at the basinlevel is essential today. They stressed that sustainable basinmanagement needs ambitious andlong-term commitments from Govern-ments, regional, national and local sta-keholders, as well as the internationalcommunity, to deal with the great manyenvironmental economic and socialchallenges ahead: l Basin organizations are custodians

of vital resources for humanity. l The protection and the restoration

of freshwater ecosystems for secu-rity should be prioritized.

l Establishing or strengtheningcapacities to assess and monitorfreshwater resources and relatedecosystems is essential.

l Cooperation between all relevantstakeholders, at the international,regional, national and local levels,and riparian countries needs to bereinforced.

Strengthening Basin Organizations

Basin organizations are in a uniqueposition to coordinate the work of riparian countries, international deve-lopment partners, local authorities, private companies and other stakehol-ders at the basin level to develop cohe-rent actions for the achievement of sha-red environmental targets and to pro-mote sustainable use of the world’sfreshwater.

More information on the Forum:

www.unep.org/delc/forumbasinorganizations

First International Environment Forum for Basin Organizations26 - 28 November 2014 – Nairobi - Kenya


www.inbo-news.org

All informationis availableon the Web

www.inbo-news.org

1.50 Million visits per year


Events 2015African Network of Basin Organizations (ANBO)

The African Network of Basin Orga-nizations (ANBO) gathered all itsmembers and partners in AddisAbaba on 12 and 13 February 2015for its fifth General Assemblywhose main objective was to vali-date its ten-year strategy and 5-year action plan.

His Excellency Mr. Alemayehu Tegenu,Ethiopian Minister for Water andEnergy, Mrs. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime,Commissioner for Economy and Agri-culture in the African Union, openedthe meeting.

In December 2014, the African capitalhad already hosted the meetings of thesteering committee of the Project”Strengthening Institutions forTransboundary Water managementin Africa” (SITWA) and that of ANBOCoordination Board.

The meeting of February 2015 was theoccasion to welcome the new mem-bers, to discuss the new projects initia-ted by financial partners and exchangeon the analysis of the existing situationregarding the application of the Interna-tional Conventions on TransboundaryRiver Basins.

The fourth General Assembly, whichhad taken place in Dakar in 2010, hadapproved, among others:

l The development of viable finan-cing mechanisms for the Africanbasin organizations and their quickimplementation.

l The Regional Integrated Develop-ment Program of the Fouta Djalon.

The 2015 General Assembly was theoccasion to examine the new orienta-tions of the Network, the statutory and

financial reports and renew its bodies.It approved the ten-year 2015-2025strategy by the Network, as well as thelogical framework of the project forsupport to the Network financed by theUNDP/GEF.

Following this high-level meeting, theother significant date in ANBO diarywill be the meeting with donors andpartners in development, which willtake place mid-2015 and make it pos-sible to sign funding agreements forthe implementation of ANBO strategy.

Hawa S. DiopCommunication Officer GWPO/ANBO-SITWA-EU [email protected]

www.raob-anbo.org

5th ANBO General Assembly 12 - 13 February 2015 - Addis Ababa - Ethiopia

Réseau Africain des Organismes de Bassin - RAOBAfrican Network of Basin Organizations - ANBO

The 6th General Assembly of theRegional Water Partnership forWest Africa (GW /WA) was organi-zed around the theme ”Africafacing the challenges of the post-2015 development: what role forpartnerships in the context of cli-mate change?”.

The event was sponsored by the Minis-ter for Water of Benin and the partici-pants included the President of GWP /WA, the Executive Secretary of the Glo-bal Water Partnership (GWPO) and thePresident of the National Water Partner-ship of Benin (Benin NWP).

INBO was represented at high levelby its Secretary General.

The meeting gathered nearly one hun-dred West African and European parti-cipants who discussed four maintopics:

l Role of networks in post-crisisreconstruction;

l Global dialogue on SustainableDevelopment;

l Sustainable natural resourcesmanagement;

l Role of youth in development.

In view of the UN General Assemblyorganized four months later in NewYork, the participants launched the”Call of Cotonou to water stakehol-ders in the West African Region”.

The call invites all water stakeholdersin West Africa to get moving and mobi-lize their national and international net-works to:

l Advocate the adoption and imple-mentation of a SustainableDevelopment Goal (SDG) spe-cific to water;

l Accompany the States in theregion in achieving this ”Water”objective;

l Promote the integration of the”water” issue into the componenton adaptation to climate change ofthe COP21 2015 in Paris.

The GWP/WA Technical Committeewas renewed during the GeneralAssembly.

The activities of the GWP/WA Presidentwere evaluated and Professor AbelAFOUDA was reappointed to this func-tion for the next two years.

6th General Assembly of partners 7 - 8 May 2015 - Cotonou - Benin

Regional Water Partnership for West Africa (GWP/WA)

West Africa


Events 2015

The participants of the InternationalConference ”Water Conservation andEffectiveness of Water Use” gathered inMinsk on 21st of May 2015 within theframework of the Network of Water-Management Organizations (NWO)from Eastern Europe, Caucasusand Central Asia (EECCA), and dis-cussed the following topical issues:

l Growing water scarcity andsecurity challenges;

l Application of high technolo-gies in all areas of water regu-lation and use;

l Problems related to wateraccounting and service quality.

The participants have agreed that themain causes of water stress are:

◆ Increasing water consumption as a consequence of populationgrowth, economic developmentand climate change;

◆ Poor control of water resources;

◆ Weak policy coordination amongwater-related sectors, such asagriculture, energy and the envi-ronment;

◆ Lack of clear planning in manycountries.

There are no clearly defined mecha-nisms for searching tradeoffs in case ofconflicting interests of water users:agriculture, land reclamation, watertransport, fishery, hydropower, etc.

At all water hierarchical levels, even ifwater service prices are applied, thereis no real interest from the stakeholdersin the use of economically-basedmechanism for water distribution anduse.

The participants deemed it necessaryto make more efforts to counteract thefactors causing water stress throughcommon organization of water-mana-gement organizations and water users.

Solutions for better integrated waterand land resources managementshould be based on reasonable wateruse by all users, with the help of deci-sion making support system and waterconservation technologies, reductionof water losses, reuse of wastewater inagriculture and industry, intensificationof production of traditional anddrought-tolerant crops.

The participants mentioned the Net-work work progress in 2013-2014,including:

➨ Collection of information andscientific publications:www.eecca-water.net ;

➨ Extension of the knowledge baseon CAWater-Info portal:www.cawater-info.net ;

➨ Participation of EECCA NWOs’members in international events,such as the 7th World Water Forumheld in Korea on 12-17 April 2015.

The participants stressed the need oftaking measures for wider involvementof Basin Organizations in the networkactivities.

The effectiveness of Basin Organiza-tions can be improved strongly throughpublic involvement.

The participants thought it necessary tointensify the Network activities by:

➊ Regularly sending messages onnational events on water manage-ment and information on newpublications, software, methodo-logies and training materials.

➋ Strengthening the Network’s natio-nal centers, in order to create amulti-stakeholder platform forimproving national water sectors.

➌ Building a bridge between the Net-work’s members and water andagriculture decision makers inEECCA countries.

➍ Enhancing cooperation with natio-nal focal points of internationalnetworks and organizations, suchas the Global Water Partnership(GWP), International Com missionon Irrigation and Drainage (ICID)and others.

➎ Increasing the support of the Per-manent Technical Secretariat ofthe International Network ofBasin Organizations (INBO) towater management organizationsof EECCA countries.

➏ Developing twinning agreementswith European basins for exploringpossibilities for adaptation ofEuropean Water Directives to theconditions and needs of theEECCA region.

The participants proposed to organizethe Network conference in 2016 on the theme ”Cultural and educationalaspects of water management inEECCA countries”.

This Conference was successfullyorganized in Almaty from 6 to 11 February with the presence of INBODeputy Secretary General.

Finally, the participants thankedUNECE and GWP CACENA for the sup-port and assistance provided in theorganization of this Conference as wellas the Russian Government for its longstanding support to the Network.Iskander BeglovEECCA-NBO [email protected]

www.eecca-water.net

International EECCA NBO Conference

The participants in the Conference

INBO speech

”Water Conservation and Effectiveness of Water Use”21 May 2015 - Minsk - Belarus


Events 2015

The 5th meeting of the OECD WaterGovernance Initiative gatheredmore than 70 participants aroundfour objectives:

l Outcomes of the ”governance”sessions of the 7th World WaterForum;

l The sharing of experience on watergovernance reforms, initiativesand events, with a focus on thehost country, the United Kingdom;

l Ways to develop OECD WaterGovernance Initiative;

l Proposal of a series of indicatorsto assess the performance of watergovernance.

INBO has especially contributed to thefollowing principles:

l Principle 2: Manage water on theappropriate scale(s) within inte-grated basin governance systems;

l Principle 5.d: Encouraging thedesign of harmonized and consis-tent information systems on thebasin scale, including in the caseof transboundary water.

Delphine ClavreulWater Governance ProgramDivision of Regional Development [email protected]

www.ocde.org

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Water Governance Initiative Meetings 5th Meeting - 25 - 27 May 2015 - Edinburgh - Scotland

5th plenary session

6th Meeting - 3 November 2015, OECD Headquarters, Paris

This meeting, which gathered 44 OECDInitiative members, aimed to engagethe delegates in a series of practicalexercises on water governance to digdeeper into the role of the various sta-keholders.

It allowed discovering a range of tech-niques based on the ”Wat-A-Game”toolkit and the ”CoOPLAaGE” set, pro-posing a new strategy for the participa-tion of stakeholder groups.

It dealt with:

l A general introduction on partici-patory water governance;

l An imaginary case study in whichthe participants were invited tochoose a role and react as theywould do in real operations.

Each participant had to fill in an optionsheet mentioning one or two proposalsand describing the implementationlevel, the estimated intensity ofresources required and the expectedimpacts.

All options were then gathered into acollective matrix and discussed(consistency, feasibility, efficiency,etc.).

The participants had then to decidehow the participatory process shouldbe organized in order to get a watermanagement plan.

This participatory simulation allowedbetter understanding of complexities atbasin level. Delphine L’[email protected]

http://oecd-wgi.watagame.info

The Water Governance Initiative(WGI), coordinated by OECD, follows the commitments made atthe 6th World Water Forum held inMarseilles in 2012.

The goal of the initiative is to firmlybase the principles of good WaterGovernance on the experiences ofinstitutions and countries from allover the world and on proposals ofthe four working groups establishedin March 2013.

INBO, IOWater and UNESCO arefacilitating working group 3 onGovernance of the Basins ofnational or transboundary Rivers,Lakes and Aquifers.

This work on the basins aims to pro-pose good rules of governancearound the following issues:

l Legislative and institutional fra-meworks;

l Strengthening and creation ofBasin Organizations for nationalor transboundary rivers, lakesand aquifers capable of ensuringsustainable water resourcesmanagement;

l Development of assessmentsand inventories to guide deci-sions;

l Establishment of good gover-nance indicators on the basinscale.

This work was presented at the 7th World Water Forum during themeetings planned to deal with thetheme ”Effective Governance (4.2.)”and more specifically in session4.2.3 on ”Strengthening BasinGovernance for managing waterresources at different levels”.


Events 20157th World Water Forum - Daegu-Gyeongju - South Korea - 13 - 17 April 2015

The topics of river basin manage-ment and transboundary coopera-tion were widely discussed duringthe recent World Water Forum inKorea and tangible progress hasbeen achieved!

The International Network of BasinOrganizations (INBO), UNESCO,UNECE, OECD, the GEF, SIWI, IUCN,Green Cross, IOWater, ANBO wereentrusted with the coordination,together with their many partners,of more than a dozen thematic orregional official sessions entirelydevoted to this issue and that haverequired a wide preparatory mobi-lization for more than a year.

These sessions allowed addressing thetopics of integrated management andgovernance in the basins of rivers,lakes and aquifers, whether national ortransboundary, as well as the centralissue of the now essential adaptation tothe effects of climate change on waterresources.

Issues, such as the statute andresources of transboundary basin orga-nizations, planning procedures, imple-mentation and financing of joint infra-structure, establishment of integratedwater information systems andexchange of data and informationamong riparian countries, implementa-tion of UN Conventions, better consi-deration of transboundary aquifers andjoint management of surface andgroundwater, users and citizens’ parti-cipation in river basin management aswell as education of the populationsand improvement of professional trai-ning for the different stakeholdersinvolved, were discussed in depth andillustrated by the presentation of manyvery practical case studies.

As part of the regional process, andthis is an innovation, two ”Inter-Regional Days” were organized inGyeongju, firstly, by the Africa - ArabCountries - Europe Regions on”cooperation to reduce conflictsand improve transboundary watermanagement” and, secondly, by theAfrica - America - Asia - Europe -Mediterranean Regions on ”adap -tation to the impacts of climatechange on water resources”.

A regional session ”Europe” show -cased the implementation of the Euro-pean Water Framework Directive andthe preparation of the next Basin Mana-gement Plans by the 28 Member Statesof the European Union and associatedneighboring countries.

Although there are still different sensiti-vities, particularly on transboundarywater management, an overwhelmingmajority of participants converged onthe relevance of national and tranboun-dary basin approaches to address themajor global challenges of waterresources management.

The overall conclusions andrecom mendations of the debateswere, for the first time in a WorldWater Forum, presented to theattending Ministers, who welco-med the many contributions andefforts made by the regional andthematic processes.

On the themes of basin manage-ment, these recommendations can besummarized as follows:

l It is important to maintain andrecover sound water cycle throughpromoting relevant internationalcooperation as well as managingwater cycle and river basins inintegrated and comprehensivemanner.

l Cooperation and dialogues overtransboundary waters among ripa-rian countries offer significantprospects for their sustainabledevelopment, regional integrationand enhancement of mutuallybeneficial relations in economic,social and environmental fields.

l In many regions, riparian countriesof transboundary basins have crea-ted joint commissions, authoritiesor international organizations,improving dialogues, exchangesof useful information, conflictresolutions and benefit sharing.

l One of the keys to building trustcould be facilitating data and infor-mation exchanges among ripariancountries of transboundary basinsand aquifers.

l Cooperative efforts in the field oftransboundary waters are stronglyencouraged.

l The recent entry into force of theUN Convention on the Law of theNon-Navigational Uses of Interna-tional Watercourses in August2014, as well as the amendmentsfor the opening of the Conventionon the Protection and Use of Trans-boundary Watercourses and Inter-national Lakes to all UnitedNations Member States are usefulin this context, noting that they canonly apply when appropriate.

It is time to take stock of the situation… ”Integrated river basin management is crucial to ensure water resources sustainability”

The 16 themes coordinators at the Closing Ceremony © IOWater - C.Runel

Closing Ceremony © IOWater - C.Runel


Events 20157th World Water Forum - Daegu-Gyeongju - South Korea - 13 - 17 April 2015

It is time to take stock of the situation… ”Integrated river basin management is crucial to ensure water resources sustainability”

l There is a need for reasonable andsustainable management of trans-boundary aquifers, and countriesare encouraged to enter into effec-tive dialogues to this end.

l Capacity building in terms of watergovernance is also crucial.

We will add a broad consensus to pro-mote joint management of surface andgroundwater in the same territory.

These recommendations were the subject of the DGIC (DaeguGyeongju Implementation Commit-ment), officially signed at the closingceremony of the Forum by the 16 themes coordinators, including theInternational Network of Basin Organi-zations (INBO) under theme T4.3 -”facilitating cooperation to avoidconflict and improve transboundarywater management”.

The Forum Ministerial Declarationstressed the need to promote goodgovernance at all levels includingbasin level, based on, inter alia, waterplanning, public participation and thesound management of physical infra-structure and natural systems as ameans to effectively tackle the watersecurity related challenges.

The Ministers recognized the leadingrole that riparian countries have onadvancing cooperation on transboun-dary waters. They recognized thattransboundary water cooperation basedon win-win solutions can contribute tosustainable development and soundmanagement of the transboundarywaters between riparian countries andpeace and stability of the nations.

They noted the key role of the UnitedNations in promoting internationalwater cooperation at the global level.Several of the principles of the relevantinternational Conventions on water canbe useful in this regard.

They emphasized that IntegratedWater Resources Managementsupported by appropriate landmanagement at the basin level iscrucial to sustainable water mana-gement and planning.

… here is, finally, the official reco-gnition that INBO has been waitingfor too long!!

In parallel to the official sessions of theForum, several side events allowedpresenting a broad range of field expe-riments and direct exchanges amongmanagers of basin organizations, espe-cially the two sessions on examplesof fruitful cooperation supported bythe French Water Agencies, in Eastand Southeast Asia, on the one hand,and in Africa, on the other, as well as asession on river basin managementorganized at the French Pavilion, withthe support of the French Water Part-nership.

Of course, all the problems will notbe solved as by magic, but unques-tionably basin management andtransboundary cooperation havescored during the World WaterForum in Korea!

All the papers and photographs ofthese events, organized during the lastWorld Water Forum in Daegu andGyeongju from 12 to 17 April 2015, areavailable and can be downloaded onINBO website.

www.inbo-news.org

Mr. Lupercio Ziroldo Antonio INBO World PresidentOpening of the session on transboundary cooperation © IOWater - C.Runel

Presentation of the report on water demand in the Mediterraneanby the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation © IOWater - C.Runel


Events 2015

The UN initiative of a decade on”Water for Life” was to promoteefforts to fulfill international com-mitments made on water between2005 and 2015.

On the initiative of the Government ofTajikistan, an International Conferencetook place in Dushanbe from 9 to 11 June 2015 for reviewing the contri-bution of the International Decade tothe implementation of the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) and fordrafting recommendations for newmeasures to be taken after 2015 for the

development and implementation of the Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs) related to waterresources.

The event gathered 1,500 participantsfrom over 99 countries.

The Secretary General of the Uni-ted Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon,reminded that the results of theMDGs were mixed: the huge pro-gress made on access to safe waterwas much more modest in terms ofadequate sanitation, still unreachablefor 2.5 billion people.

The Secretary-General called on theregional States to cooperate in themanagement of the transboundaryresources of Central Asia. He also sup-ported the proposal of the President ofTajikistan, Mr. Emomalii Rahmon, tolaunch a new International Decade forAction on the topic ”Water for Sustai-nable Development”.

INBO intervened to promote river basinmanagement, the exchange of bestpractices and transboundary coopera-tion.

Thus, during the roundtable on”cooperation for water management: acatalyst to achieve the MillenniumDevelopment Goals”, INBO called forthe establishment of a Science-Policy Interface and the deve -lopment of Water Information Sys-tems at the basin level, includingtransboundary ones, while keeping

in mind the need for interoperability ofdata provided by a myriad of produ-cers.

On the occasion of the high-level ses-sion on regional perspectives of theimplementation of the ”Water for Life”Decade, INBO welcomed the positiverole played in Europe by the HelsinkiWater Convention (UNECE, 1992) andmore widely by organizations workingall over the world on capacity buildingin the water sector like the UNWaterDecade Program on Capacity and theInternational Network of Water TrainingCenters.

waterforlifeconf2015.org

International Decade for Action

Mr. Ban Ki-moon

International Conference ”Water for Life”9 - 11 June 2015 - Dushanbe - Tajikistan

During the 2015 edition of the Stock-holm Water Week, the discussions ofcourse largely focused on ”Water forDevelopment”, chosen as the maintheme before the adoption of the 2030Agenda and its Sustainable Develop-ment Goals (including Goal 6 on water)at the United Nations General As -sembly from 25 to 28 September 2015in New York.

With the perspective of the organizationof the COP21 on Climate in Paris inDecember 2015, adaptation to climatechange was also one of the most dis-cussed topics.

In this context, INBO was particularlyinvolved in the official event for thepresentation of the ”Lima-ParisAction Agenda (LPAA)” componentof the COP21, organized by the Peru-vian presidency of the COP20 and theFrench Ministry of the Environment,Energy and the Sea (MEEM). Its inter-vention aimed to present the ”ParisPact on adaptation to climatechange in the basins of rivers,lakes and aquifers”.

This initiative, launched by INBO onrequest from the LPAA organizers,summarizes the principles and actionsthat should be implemented to ensureadaptation to climate change in basins.

On this occasion, Basin organizations,local and national governments, com-panies, NGOs and donors were invitedto join the ”Pact” and commit them-selves to implement these principlesand actions through tangible projects.

www.worldwaterweek.org

www.riob.org/cop21

Stockholm Water Week 23 - 28 August 2015 - Stockholm - Sweden


Events 2015

The Forum ”Agro-Cities and ClimateChange: present and future” wasorganized by the Institute of the Ameri-cas (IDA), the Observatory of Changes inLatin America (LOCAL), the InternationalEurope-Latin America-the CaribbeanNetwork (ALEC), the ”Territories, Vulne-rable Populations and Public Policies”Chair of the University of Limoges, theAutonomous University of Sinaloa andthe Municipality of Ciudad Juárez.

It gathered representatives from acade-mia, companies, civil society and localand national governments to initiate amultidisciplinary debate on practicesand public policies that give sustainablesolutions to develop the areas facing cli-mate change.

The thematic workshops covered thefollowing topics:

l Territories and the environment;

l Deforestation, desertification;

l Energy transition;

l Creative economies;

l Low carbon economy;

l Eco-education system;

l Gender and the environment.

INBO presented the tools of Integra-ted Water Resources Management(IWRM) in basins as a key means forclimate change adaptation to reconcilethe different uses of water, including insituations characterized by the scarcityof water resources or frequent extrememeteorological events (droughts,floods).

It also presented the ”Paris Pact onadaptation to climate change in thebasins of rivers, lakes and aqui-fers”. This initiative, launched by INBOon the request of the Peruvian Presi-dency of COP20 and the French Ministryof the Environment, Energy and the Sea(MEEM) on the occasion of the ”Waterand Adaptation” Day of the COP21 in

Paris, summarizes the principles andactions that should be implemented toensure adaptation to climate change inthe basins.

Basin organizations, local and nationalgovernments, companies, NGOs anddonors are invited to join and committhemselves to apply these principlesand actions through tangible projects,presented under the Lima-Paris ActionAgenda (LPAA).

Forum ”Agro-Cities and Climate Change” 26 - 28 August 2015 - Hermosillo - Sonora - Mexico

University of Geneva (UNIGE)Cooperation and Benefit Sharing in the Senegal and Niger River Basins

The use of shared water resources forenergy purposes is a significant chal-lenge in the socioeconomic develop-ment of West Africa.

In order to reinforce transboundarywater cooperation, riparian States sha-ring the Senegal and Niger RiverBasins established the Organization forthe Development of the Senegal River(OMVS) in 1972 and the Niger BasinAuthority (NBA) in 1980 to achieveequitable allocation of social, econo -mic and environmental benefitsamongst them.

The Platform for International WaterLaw of the Faculty of Law of the Univer-sity of Geneva and the Geneva WaterHub organized a Round Table on”Cooperation and benefit-sharingin the basins of the Senegal andNiger rivers” at the headquarters ofthe World Meteorological Organizationin Geneva, on the 24th of September2015.

Participants in the Round Table inclu-ded three experts from West Africa: Mr.Tamsir Ndiaye, Director of the Agencyfor the Management and Exploitation ofthe Diama Dam, Mr. Aminou Tassiou, Former Ministerfor Hydraulics of the Republic of Niger,and Mr. Akambi Afouda, President ofthe Global Water Partnership in WestAfrica (GWP-West Africa).

The Round Table was divided into twosessions devoted respectively to ”TheEvolution of the Factors of Cooperationwithin the NBA and OMVS” and ”Com-mon water structures and the Sharingof Benefits in the Senegal River andNiger River”.

The experts pointed out that the tworiver basin organizations had differentlevels of cooperation.

They underlined the interest of com-mon water structures as a factor forintegration in shared basins. Komlan Sangbana Senior Lecturer [email protected]. Mara Tignino Coordinator of the Platform for International WaterLaw, Faculty of LawUniversity of [email protected]

www.unige.ch/droit/eau

The round table


Events 2015UNITED NATIONS

The eight Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) have given, from 2000to 2015, a framework for action to theinternational community that aimed atreducing extreme poverty and childmortality, fighting against epidemicsincluding AIDS, improving access toeducation, gender equality, and sustai-nable development.

The United Nations General Assem-bly of September 2015 adopted anew frame of reference: the 2030Agenda and its seventeen Sustaina-ble Development Goals (SDGs).

It was the culmination of a long processof consultation between governmentsand a wide range of partners, includinga large number of organizations repre-senting the civil society.

The International Network of BasinOrganizations (INBO), through itsspecial consultative status with the UNEconomic and Social Council (ECO-SOC) was accredited to attend the pro-ceedings of the Summit and participatein the many side events at the UN inNew York.

INBO Secretary General was able topromote the ”Paris Pact on waterand adaptation to climate changein the basins of rivers, lakes andaquifers”.

In his speeches, he particularly high-lighted the turn that represent SDGs,and especially the adoption of a speci-fic goal dedicated to water: Goal 6,”Ensure availability and sustaina-ble management of water and sani-tation for all”.

This goal and several others related towater management and risks includethe main directions that INBO has beenpromoting for over 20 years and open

up new perspectives for integratedbasin management worldwide inclu-ding transboundary basins.

The Paris Pact allowed basin organiza-tions and their partners to committhemselves at the COP21 in Paris, onthe occasion of the official ”Water andAdaptation” Day on 2 December 2015,towards a practical implementation ofthese Sustainable Development Goals.

www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment

Adoption of Sustainable Development Goals by the UN General Assembly

25 - 28 September 2015 - New York - USA


Switzerland

INBO participated in the first LemanMeeting organized in Geneva by theBank of Geneva (Swiss subsidiary of”Caisse d'Epargne Rhône Alpes”) on thetopic ”The Leman and Rhone facingclimate change”.

This event was organized in partnershipwith the University of the Alps, the LivingMountain Foundation and the EuropeanFoundation for Sustainable Developmentof the Regions (FEDRE).

The meeting, facilitated by the journalistMarjorie Thery, was attended by Stepha-nie Paix, President of the Bank of Geneva,Christian Lefaix, CEO of Leman Bank andClaude Haegi, President of the EuropeanFoundation for Sustainable Developmentof the Regions (FEDRE).

Organized before the Paris COP21 onClimate, the event allowed discussingwater sharing and its economic conse-quences for Geneva and the Lake Lemanarea in relation to climate hazards and

Mr. Jean-François Donzier, INBO Secre-tary General, presented operational solu-tions for adapting to climate change indue time. He also called for the signingof the ”Paris Pact on adaptation toclimate change in the basins oflakes, rivers and aquifers” before theCOP21.

LA BANQUE DU LÉMAN ORGANISE « LES 1ÈRESRENCONTRES DU LÉMAN »

La Banque du Léman organise « Les 1ères Rencontres du Léman »

Le vendredi 2 octobre 2015, la Banque du Léman, filiale suisse de la Caisse d’Epargne Rhône Alpes aorganisé sa 1ère rencontre sur le thème « Léman et Rhône face aux changements climatiques », dansles locaux de la Société Nautique de Genève.

Cet événement a été organisé en partenariat avec l’Université des Alpes, la Fondation MontagneVivante et la Fondation Européenne pour le Développement Durable des Régions (FEDRE). Plusieurstitres de presse ont soutenu cette rencontre : TV8 Mont-Blanc, Acteurs de l’économie et l’AGEFISuisse, en présence de journalistes de la presse régionale française et suisse.

La rencontre animée par Marjorie Thery (journaliste économique à l’AGEFI) s’est déroulée enprésence de Stéphanie Paix, Président de la Banque du Léman, Christian Lefaix, Directeur général dela Banque du Léman et Claude Haegi, Président de la Fondation Européenne pour le DéveloppementDurable des Régions (FEDRE).

En amont de la conférence mondiale sur le climat qui s’ouvre à Paris fin novembre, l’événement apermis de débattre sur le partage de l’eau et ses conséquences économiques pour Genève et leterritoire lémanique au regard des aléas climatiques.

1 / 2

First Leman Lake Meeting 2 October 2015 - Geneva - Cologny - Switzerland

Address of INBO Secretary General


Events 2015Brazil

The ”National Meetings of BasinCommittees” (ENCOB) are thegreatest national events on waterresources in Brazil.

The 17th Symposium was organized bythe Brazilian Water Resources Associa-tion (ABRH), with the support of ANA(National Water Agency) and the Brazi-lian Network of Basin Organizations(REBOB).

It focused on ”Water security and sus-tainable development: knowledge andmanagement issues”.

It gathered representatives of adminis-trations, researchers and decisionmakers to exchange good practices ofIntegrated Water Resources Manage-ment (IWRM) on the basin scale.

The many sessions gave an opportunityto discuss, among other things, theprogress of the National Program forthe consolidation of the National Pactfor Water Management (Progestão), theNational Water Security Policy (PNSH),the Brazilian Atlas of pollution reduc-tion in basins and the National Policyon Dam Safety.

An international seminar on ”accoun-ting water resources and uses” washeld as a side event to the Symposiumon 24 November, in order to presentthe methodologies to effectively quan-tify the available resources and thewater consumptions of different uses.

These methodologies are valuabledecision making support tools to deter-mine the allocations of water volumesattributable to these various uses andto make political arbitration.

INBO presented its experience ofIntegrated Water Resources Mana-gement over the World and accoun-ting of water resource and uses.

It expressed its great interest in thisevent gathering almost all the Brazilianstakeholders in basin management,noting that other countries could use-fully replicate this kind of event modelto promote the dissemination of bestpractices and contribute to the mobili-zation of field practitioners.

www.encob.org

17th ”ENCOB” 4 - 9 October 2015 - Caldas Novas - Brazil

The PCJ Basin Agency participated in ”EUROPE-INBO” Conference in Greece

Coordinator of the PCJ Agency’s Infor-mation Systems, Mr. Eduardo CuocoLeo attended the 13th ”EUROPE-INBO”Conference on the implementation of

the Water Directives of the EuropeanUnion, held from 21 to 24 October2015 in Thessaloniki, Greece.

A specific workshop was devoted to the”EcoCuencas” project in which thePCJ Basin Agency is a partner of theInternational Office for Water, the Orga-nization for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment (OECD), Asconit, JucarBasin Authority (Spain), Ecologic Insti-tute (Germany), REBOB and Irager(Peru).

The project particularly focuses onadaptation to climate change andthe use of economic mechanisms.

”EcoCuencas” will be a crucial pro-ject for all countries concerned toexchange experiences, good practicesand discuss about obstacles to the

implementation of recovery mecha-nisms and financial incentives forinvestments in water management.Ivanise Pachane MilanezPress Bureau PCJ Agency [email protected]

www.agenciapcj.org.br

www.aquacoope.org/ecocuencas

EcoEcoCuencasCuencas

Opening ceremony of the 17th ”ENCOB” More than 1,500 participants from all over Brazil

Workshop on ”EcoCuencas” project in Thessaloniki


Events 2015

June 1-4, 2016Merida, Yucatan. Mexico

SAVE THE DATE

10th GENERAL ASSEMBLYINTERNATIONAL NETWORKOF BASIN ORGANIZATIONS

Chichen Itzá, Yucatan ›››

It is one of the main archeological sites of the Yucatan peninsula. Important and renowned relic of the Mayan civilization. The archeological site of Chichen Itza was inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1988.

Registration is open at:www.riob.org/inscription/riob-2016.phpContact: [email protected]

”WATEC Israel” is a biennial three-day exhibition taking place at the IsraelTrade Fairs & Convention Center in TelAviv.

The 8th edition gathered 160 exhibitorsand nearly 10,000 visitors from 90 countries.

The professional conference is the coreof WATEC on issues such as drinkingwater production, wastewater treat-ment, membrane technology, watersupply systems and sewerage sys-tems, desalination and other ”nonconventional” water resources.

INBO Secretary General, Mr. Jean-François Donzier, was invited to give akeynote address on Integrated WaterResources Management in river basins.

His presentation especially concernedtransboundary water management in acontext of climate change in arid coun-tries. He presented the ”Paris Pact onadaptation of water resources inthe basins of rivers, lakes andaquifers” which is open for signatureas part of the COP21 of December2015 in Paris.

8th International Exhibition and 5th International Conference on Water Technologies and Environmental Control13 - 15 October 2015 - Congress Center - Tel Aviv - Israel

Centre des congrès de Tel-Aviv, Israël

www.watec-israel.com

Organisateurs WATEC Israël:

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13th International ”EUROPE-INBO 2015” Conference

Events 2015

”TO FACILITATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EUROPEAN WATER DIRECTIVES”

The 13th Conference of the”EUROPE-INBO” Group took placein Thessaloniki, Greece, from 21 to24 October 2015, at the invitationof the Greek Ministry of Recons-truction, Production, Environmentand Energy and the Special Secre-tariat for Water.

It gathered 193 participants, repre-sentatives of national administra-tions and basin organizations as well as of international and regional organizations and NGOs,coming from 32 countries.

The Conference allowed reaffirmingthat integrated water resources mana-gement in the basins of lakes, riversand aquifers is unavoidable to ensurethe preservation of this resource, facethe multiple identified pressures, andto adapt to the effects of climatechange.

The conference was organizedaround four roundtables:

➊ Measures for adaptation of water resources to the effects of climatechange,”water” componentof the COP21 in Paris in 2015 and preparation of the 2nd River BasinManagement Plans (2016-2021):

Taking into account the effects of cli-mate change requires efforts and addi-tional resources for adaptation mea-sures to be quickly developed andapplied in national and transboundarybasins.

Actions have already been under-taken for the preparation of the 2nd River Basin Management Plansand their Programs of Measures(2016-2021).

But it is clear that, for the preparation ofthe 3rd cycle (2022-2027) required bythe WFD, it is necessary that adaptationmeasures be thought of when develo-ping the River Basin Management Plan,so that they become an integral part ofthe latter.

Integration with other EU Directives,such as the Flood Risk Managementand Marine Strategy Framework Direc-tives, is to be entirely achieved asquickly as possible.

Natural Water Retention Measuresshould be introduced when takinginto account the benefit that can beexpected from them for the adapta-tion.

A multisectoral approach is essentialand stronger harmonization betweenthe Water-related Directives and thesectoral policies of the European Unionshould be looked for, especially regar-ding agriculture, energy and waterwaystransport.

It is also necessary to promote and formalize the signing, at the highestlevel of the represented Countries and

Organizations, of the ”Paris Pact foradaptation to the effects of climatechange in the basins of rivers,lakes and aquifers”, launched onINBO initiative on the occasion of theCOP21 2015 of Paris and of the officialday of December 2 dedicated to ”waterand climatic change”.

Many experiments were undertaken foradaptation to climate change: the mostsignificant are recorded in the publica-tion ”Water and Climate ChangeAdaptation in TransboundaryBasins: Lessons Learned and GoodPractices” published by the UnitedNations (UNECE) and INBO and nowavailable in French and English.

➋ Water governance in Transboundary Basins:

To improve governance in transboun-dary basins, it is necessary to streng-then the International Commissions ofthe corresponding Districts, that have akey role in the implementation of theEU Directives, even beyond the EU bor-ders, and we must go towards effectiveimplementation of United Nationsconventions: the 1992 Water Conven-tion of Helsinki and 1997 Conventionof New York.

Cooperation agreements should besigned between riparian (EU or EUneighboring) countries, if they do notalready exist.

The already established Commissionsshould be privileged tools for achie-ving appropriate governance, based onmutual trust, common understandingof the basin issues and accurate,accessible and shared data, and on thefield practitioners’ involvement on bothsides of the border.

The work conducted by INBO andUNESCO within the OECD's WaterGovernance Initiative, may alsoenable progress in the governance ofnational and transboundary basinsinside the EU and beyond, including inEU neighboring countries.

➌ The financing of water policy and economic analyses:

The funding of Programs of Measuresfor the effective implementation of theWFD and its ”daughter” Directivesremains a concern for managers and isa condition for achieving the objec-tives.

The polluter-pays and user-pays princi-ples and the need for cost recoveryshould guide the establishment ofmulti-year and stable financing sys-tems that are up to the investment andoperation needs in the basins.

193 participant coming from 32 Countries - © IOWater - C.Runel

21 - 24 October 2015 - Thessaloniki - Greece


Events 2015

www.riob.org

The 2nd and 3rd River Basin Manage-ment Plans should be based on a morecomprehensive economic analysis ofpressures on water resources and pro-per quantification of costs and impactsof the measures needed to comply withthe WFD objectives.

This will determine the combina-tions of measures that have thebest cost/efficiency ratio.

For such a purpose, clear and transpa-rent methodologies should be establi-shed as well as economic researchincreased to better understand the costof inaction, the disproportionate costsand have reliable cost/benefit analysesthat are comparable between the Mem-ber States.

The participants underlined the needfor action at European and nationallevels to increase the consistency ofEU environmental objectives and sec-toral policies, especially for agricultureand to better ensure synergy of availa-ble funding possibilities.

An effort should be made so that thefinancial resources available at Euro-pean level and at other levels find grea-ter use in the measures for waterresources management.

The EU and Member States should alsomaintain a high level of financial sup-port for solidarity with the Southern andEastern neighboring countries, to pro-mote better governance and the reali-zation of investments and actions thatare essential, especially in sharedbasins.

It is also necessary to support thedevelopment of solidarity financing foraccess to water and sanitation both forpublic health purpose and for preven-ting the degradation of water quality.

➍ Local processes for the application of the Directives, participation of local stakeholders and public involvement:

The involvement of stakeholders andthe public is crucial to improve waterresources management.

Their participation since the beginningin decision-making processes need tobe developed for greater appropriationof the measures of River Basin Mana-gement Plans, which implies that theiraccess to the outcomes of monitoringand to knowledge on water should befacilitated.

It is also essential to ensure the activeparticipation of local public and privatecontracting authorities and economicsectors in the WFD implementationprocess, as they are mainly the ones incharge of applying the recommendedmeasures.

The participants in the conferencerecommended that European basinorganizations and decision makers pro-mote the development of local ap -proaches that lay out overall goals foruse, development, quantitative andqualitative protection of water resour -ces on a suitable local scale.

Cross-border local approaches canalso help to ensure the consistency ofactions undertaken on both sides of theborders in the same transboundarybasin.

Information sharing and harmonization,including spatial information, must gobeyond the EU territory and concern allthe riparian countries of the sametransboundary basin, thus promotingthe emergence of coordination in thedevelopment of River Basin Manage-ment Plans.

The ”EUROPE-INBO 2015” confe-rence is a new important step notonly for assessing the implementa-tion of the first cycle of River BasinManagement Plans (2010-2015),but also for formulating proposalsto improve the implementation ofthe WFD and associated Directivesand better take climate change intoaccount in the next cycles, espe-cially for the 2016-2021 period.

While welcoming the progress made inWFD implementation, as presented byMr. Pavel Misiga, Chief of theWater Department of the DG Envi-ronment, in his speech at the OpeningCeremony of the Conference, the”EUROPE-INBO” Members considerthat the efforts made in the implemen-tation of measures should be markedlyincreased so that all Water Bodiesachieve ”Good Status” within a reaso-nable time.

The ”EUROPE-INBO” Group thankedMrs. Daniela Radulescu (Romania)for the effectiveness of her Presidency(2014 - 2015).

Professor Jacques Ganoulis, SpecialSecretary for Water in the Ministry ofEnvironment & Energy of Greece, waselected President of the ”EUROPE-INBO” Group for the year to come, untilthe next conference in October 2016.

The next two EUROPE-INBO mee-tings will be held respectively inLourdes, from 19 to 22 October2016, and in Dublin in autumn2017.

Closing ceremony - © IOWater - C.Runel

EcoEcoCuencasCuencasEnergy for everyone

EURO-RIOB

EUROPE-INBO


Events 2015

More than 150 experts from 27 coun-tries (mainly Africans and Europeans,with some representatives from LatinAmerican and Asian countries) partici-pated in this conference organizedunder the auspices and with the techni-cal and financial support of UNESCO,as part of its FRIEND-Water program.

Among the other partners of this event,the ”Agence Universitaire de la Franco-phonie” (French-speaking UniversityAgency) and the Institute of Researchfor Development provided support.

The aim of the conference was toexchange experiences on the develop-ment of African basins and on themonitoring and modeling of hydrologicchanges that affect them. This repre-sents a serious challenge as the weak-nesses of hydrological monitoring net-works in the African countries are stri-king: low number of gauging stationswith a very uneven geographical cove-rage, data not collected / recorded fordecades, difficult access to weatherand climate data, lack of monitoring ofsediment flows and water quality withthe exception of a very small number ofstations managed by internationalbodies.

Alongside representatives of universi-ties, NGOs, African basin organizations(OMVS, CICOS, VBA, etc.), ANBO,INBO made a speech to remind theneed to exchange and share hydro-logical information between ripa-rian countries of transboundaryriver basins, with a focus on WestAfrica and the Niger, Volta andSenegal Rivers.

en.unesco.org/node/239356

UNESCO

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International Conference on Hydrology in the Large River Basins of Africa

26 - 30 October 2015 - Hammamet - Tunisia

A Working Group on Space Hydro-logy, facilitated by IOWater, INBOSecretariat, was established in2014 and gathers the CNES, IRD,AFD, IRSTEA, BRLi and CNR.

The working group met on three occa-sions in 2015: in February on the pre-mises of the CNR in Lyons, in June onthe CNES site in Toulouse and in Octo-ber at the BRL head office in Nimes.The last meeting took place at the AFDin Paris on 4 February 2016.

Two members of the InternationalCongo-Ubangi-Sangha Basin Com -mission (CICOS) attended the mee-ting in Nimes for future cooperation:the Congo Basin has been chosen to bethe pilot basin for the SWOT project asit has already a hydrological monitoringproject funded by AFD and FFEM, andEuropean satellite altimetry projects.

The SWOT (Surface Water and OceanTopography) satellite program is aFrench-American project of Earthobservation satellite that will providefor 2020 the spatial and temporal varia-tions in the water levels of major riversand lakes, in the flows of large riversand in the ocean levels.

This union between space andhydrology at the service of IWRMshould provide basin organizationswith new tools for measurementsand hydrological monitoring.

Satellite altimetry is a componentamong others of operational hydrology.

swot.cnes.fr

Working Group on Space Hydrology

Meeting in October at BRL home office in Nimes


Events 2015

INBO participated in the seventhMeeting of the Parties to theUNECE Convention of 1992 on theProtection and Use of Transboun-dary Watercourses and Internatio-nal Lakes.During the plenary session, it wasespecially invited to organize an eventfor presenting the ”Paris Pact onwater and adaptation to climatechange in the basins of rivers,lakes and aquifers”.On this occasion, many representativesof basin organizations and govern-ments signed the Pact.The Meeting of the Parties also revie-wed the progress made in the Conven-tion implementation activities. The 2016-2018 work program was alsodiscussed. Among important issues,participants also approved:l Supporting accession to and

implementation of the Convention;l Assessing the benefits of trans-

boundary water cooperation;l Promoting climate change adapta-

tion in a transboundary context;l Assessing the water-food-energy-

ecosystems nexus in transboun-dary basins;

l Improving water governancethrough Dialogue on National Poli-cies under the European UnionWater Initiative (EUWI);

l Developing partnerships, in thelight of the ”globalization” of theUNECE Water Convention (Hel-sinki, 1992);

l The entry into force in 2014 of theUnited Nations Convention on theLaw of Non-navigational Uses ofInternational Watercourses.

On these last points, in fact, and follo-wing the entry into force in 2013 of theamendment allowing accession by allMember States of the United Nations tothe 1992 Water Convention, this ses-sion of the Meeting of the Parties mar-ked the transition to a global legal andintergovernmental framework of theConvention for transboundary watercooperation. The meeting was distin-guished from previous editions by anunprecedented participation of coun-tries from outside the UNECE region(74 countries represented), parties tothe Convention or not. Several non-member States expressed their inten-tion to accede.

The Meeting of the Parties adopted adecision on establishing a frameworkfor the implementation of the Conven-tion worldwide, complemented by adecision on cooperation with partners.

The Meeting also stressed that the implementation of the 2030Agenda and the Sustainable Deve-lopment Goals (SDGs), the SendaiFramework for Disaster RiskReduction and the COP 21 Parisagreement will require enhancedcooperation between sectors andacross borders.

It therefore emphasized the importantrole of the Convention to support coun-tries in their efforts to achieve the 2030Agenda for Sustainable Developmentand the other global commitments.

In this respect, the inclusion of a targeton transboundary cooperation in theSDG on water and sanitation representsan important political recognition.

The meeting of the parties took theopportunity to publish:

l A Policy Guidance Note on theBenefits of TransbouncaryWater Cooperation, which aimsto help governments and all stake-holders develop a better under -standing of this important issue;

l The report ”ReconcilingResour ce Uses in Transboun-dary Basins: Assessment ofthe Water-Food-Energy-Eco-system Nexus”.

The Meeting of the Parties adopted adecision on the establishment of areporting mechanism on the imple-mentation of the provisions of theConvention. A pilot reporting exercisewill be carried out in the year 2016-2017. This monitoring tool will assessthe progress made in transboundarycooperation with respect to theConvention but also to the SDG (target6.5).

Finally, the 2016- 2018 work programwas adopted. Activities detailed in thelatter will support countries worldwideto apply the Water Convention princi-ples, to cooperate on transboundarywater management and to address glo-bal challenges such as climate change,soil erosion, water pollution, floodsand droughts.

A workshop on promoting transboun-dary cooperation under the provisionsof the Water Convention in the MiddleEast Northern Africa (MENA) regionwas organized as a side event of themeeting of the parties.www.unece.org

UNECE

7th Meeting of the Parties (MOP 7) to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses

and International Lakes17 - 19 November 2015 - Budapest - Hungary


Events 2015COP21

30 November - 12 December 2015 - Paris342 organizations worldwide have signed

the Paris Pact on Water and Adaptation to Climate Change in the basins of rivers, lakes and aquifers

As part of the ”Lima-Paris ActionAgenda”, Peru, supported by France,organized on the 2nd of December2015, the official day on ”Waterand Climate Change Adaptation” ofthe COP21 in Paris, under the jointchairmanship of Mrs. SégolèneRoyal, French Minister for the Environ-ment, Energy and the Sea, Head of theFrench Delegation to the COP21, andMr. Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, PeruvianMinister for the Environment, organizerof the COP20 in Lima in 2014.

So, for the first time in the COP his-tory, the issues of freshwater areofficially taken into account!

”The Paris Pact on water and adap-tation to climate change in thebasins of rivers, lakes and aqui-fers” was presented at the dayopening.

”The Paris Pact is the first concretecommitment of the COP 21: We call allwater stakeholders to join it. (...). Thispact will give a boost and can be consi-dered as an innovative instrument”,Mrs. Ségolène Royal said, when sheformally signed the document along-side the Peruvian Minister for the Envi-

ronment and Mrs. Charafat Afailal,Minister in charge of water in Morocco,the country that will be the organizer ofthe COP22 in 2016.

Mr. François Hollande, President of theFrench Republic, also declared at theofficial closing session of the ActionDay, this last Saturday, 5th December:”It was important that initiatives belaunched here in Paris (...) there is theParis Pact for water which gathers 342 organizations and 87 Countries(…)”.

Drafted by the International Networkof Basin Organizations (INBO) onthe request of the organizers, the ”ParisPact” aims at a global mobilization ofthe basin organizations and all otherstakeholders involved, multilateral andinternational organizations, govern-mental administrations, local authori-ties, companies and all economic sec-tors, the civil society, for startingwithout any delay the actions needed toadapt freshwater management to theeffects of climate change: all organi-zations involved in integrated riverbasin management were invited tosign this ”Pact”.

Thus to date, 342 organizations havealready signed the ”Paris Pact” in87 countries, which shows that everywhere it greatly mobilized all sta-keholders in water resources manage-ment, because we have to actquickly before it is too late!

Mrs. Royal has encouraged all waterstakeholders to sign the Pact and ”thusto add their tributary flows to swell themainstream”.

Mr. Jean-François Donzier, INBOSecretary General, presented thePact during the official day on ”Waterand adaptation to climatic change” andreminded that climate change isalready affecting and will increasinglyaffect the quantity and quality of fresh-water and aquatic ecosystems, espe-cially through the intensity and greaterfrequency of extreme hydrologicalevents, such as floods and droughts:”In these perspectives, the basinsare natural areas where waterflows on the surface and in thesubsoil: appropriate water resour -ces management and adaptationshould be organized at that level”.

The ”Paris Pact” includes two compo-nents: part one is describing thecontext and providing general princi-ples for adaptation to climate change inbasins, and part two is listing thecommitments to be made by the signa-tories to organize adaptation to climatechange and take appropriate measures.

The action of basin organizations andall other stakeholders involved isessential to increase the resilience ofour societies to the risks facing waterresources in the context of climatechange.

The round table, organized duringthis ”Water and Adaptation” Day andfacilitated by INBO, allowed presentingreal examples of adaptation projects indifferent basins in China (Hai RiverBasin), India (aquifer management),Mexico (Mexico Valley), South Ame-rica (Ecocuencas project), the SenegalRiver (OMVS), the Niger River (NBA),the Congo River and its tributaries(CICOS) and Morocco (ABH), as wellas the Mediterranean Water InformationSystems and the platform of pilotbasins to test adaptation mea-sures, led by UNECE and INBO.

These projects show thatwe can act quickly if thestakeholders are gettingmobilized!

www.inbo-news.org

Mrs. Ségolène Royal and Mr. Manuel Pulgar-Vidalsigning the Pact © IOWater - C.Runel

UN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE

CONFÉRENCE DES NATIONS UNIESSUR LES CHANGEMENTS CLIMATIQUES


Events 2015Réseau Africain des Organismes de Bassin - RAOBAfrican Network of Basin Organizations - ANBOANBO

ANBO adopted its 2015-2025 stra-tegy during its General Assemblyin February 2015 in Addis Ababa.

A conference of donors will be organi-zed at the end of the first half of 2016 inorder to seek funding for this 10-yearstrategy and the action plan associatedwith it.

The annual meeting of ANBO Coor-dination Committee was organizedin Dakar on 15 and 16 December2015, with support from the team ofthe European project ”Strengtheningthe Institutions for TransboundaryWater management in Africa (SITWA)”.

Many organizations attended the mee-ting alongside members of ANBOCoordination Committee, including theDirectorate General for Developmentand International Cooperation of theEuropean Commission (DG DEVCO),the Global Water Partnership (GWP)and INBO.

The sessions were chaired by theSecretary General of OMVS, Mr.Madine Ba and by ANBO President,Ms. Tracy S. Molefi.

The main objective of this meeting wasto validate the final report on ANBOgovernance (which includes recom-mendations on new statutes andoptions to reorganize the Secretariat)and the selection of two basins that willbe supported in strengthening theirlegal and institutional framework.

The Organization for the Develop-ment of the Senegal River (OMVS)confirmed that it would continue itsrole of ANBO Permanent TechnicalSecretariat.

The Coordination Committee approvedthe proposal to provide ANBO Secreta-riat with:

l A team of four people: an Exe-cutive Secretary, a Program Offi-cer, a Director of Finance andHuman Resources and an officerresponsible of the administrativesecretariat,

l An advisory function for sup-port to and supervision of stu-dies and capacity building pro-grams,

INBO made proposals for the develop-ment of the African Water Documen-tation and Information System(AWIS).

Many requests for review of the propo-sed statutes were made during the dis-cussions and it was therefore agreedthat a new proposal would be availablein March 2016 for adoption in June.

Two basins were selected toreceive support for strengtheningtheir legal and institutional frame-work:

l The Lake Kivu and Ruzizi RiverBasin has already a basin organi-zation: the Lake Kivu and RuziziRiver Basin Authority (ABAKIR).

ANBO will support the process ofratifying the Convention that wassigned by the three countries:Rwanda, Burundi and DRC.

l The Mejerdha Basin shared bet-ween Tunisia and Algeria: ANBO isresponsible for supporting theorganization of high level meetingsbetween the two riparian States inorder to advance the constitutionof a basin organization.

The participants concluded their workby stressing once again the importanceof having sustainable funding mecha-nisms. Hawa S. DiopCommunication Officer SITWA [email protected]

www.raob-anbo.org

The 10-year Strategy (2015-2025) of the African Network of Basin Organizations

15 - 16 December 2015 - Dakar - Senegal

ANBO Coordination Committee - Dakar - 15 - 16 December 2015

Steering Committee of SITWA project - Dakar - 17 December 2015


Events 2016

INBO participated in the InternationalConference of the Network of BasinOrganizations of Eastern Europe, Cau-casus and Central Asia (EECCA NBO)in Almaty (Kazakhstan) on 9-10February 2016.

This 2016 annual meeting focused onissues of culture and water-related edu-cation in the countries of the region.The participants also discussed aboutthe need to reform the InternationalFund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS)and about getting involved in the moni-

toring and implementation of the watercomponent of the Chinese "silk road2.0" project presented during the mee-ting. The German-Kazakh Universitypresented its International Master Pro-gram on Integrated Water ResourceManagement (IWRM) to officials fromCentral Asia and called for the interven-tion of IOWater trainers.

INBO presented the results of theCOP21 for the water sector, and under-lined the success of the Paris Pact onwater and adaptation to climate changein basins. The stakeholders in basinmanagement in the region were invitedto join the initiative.

The Conference allowed electing thenew President and Deputy Secretary ofEECCA-NBO, Messrs. D.V.Kozlov (Rus-sia) and A. D. Ryabtsev (Kazakhstan).

Participating in the conference alsoprovided an opportunity to have closerrelations with the Kazakh representa-tives of water management that couldlead to new basin management pro-jects or to applications on water infor-mation.Prof. Victor Dukhovny Executive Secretary EECCA [email protected]

www.eecca-water.net

Eastern Europe - Caucasus - Central Asia International Conference of the Network of Basin Organizations

of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia EECCA NBO

9 - 10 February - 2016. Almaty - Kazakhstan

INBO Speech

Morocco

In preparation for the COP22, theMoroccan government will organize aninternational conference on "Water andClimate" on 11 and 12 July 2016 inRabat. The Ministry for Water of Moroccosupervises the preparation of the event,in partnership with the French Ministryof the Environment, Energy and the Sea(MEEM) and the World Water Council.

As part of the event planning, two pre-paratory meetings were held in Rabaton 16 February and 14 April 2016. INBO attended as a member of theOrganization Committee.Both meetings defined the roles of theMembers of the Organization Commit-tee, the schedule of the event prepara-tion and its main theme, namely "WaterSecurity for Climate Justice".The event program was also discussed.

It was agreed that it would include fourthematic sessions on :l Water Vulnerability to Climate

Change,

l Place of Water in the Implementa-tion of the Paris Agreement,

l The water-energy-food-safety-health-education Nexus,

l The Place of Water in the Finan-cing Mechanisms related to Cli-mate Change.

A round table entitled "Water in Africa:Towards Climate Justice" will also beorganized.

INBO Permanent Technical Secretary isinvited to speak in the first session onthe need for effective Water InformationSystems (WIS) to ensure that watermanagement and the account taking ofthe impacts of climate change arebased on sound knowledge. As a partner of INBO, UNECE shouldalso intervene in the second session onthe Paris Pact and follow-up of thecommunity of signatories through theplatform of pilot basins working onadaptation to climate change.

Preparatory meetings of the International Conference on Water & Climate

16 February and 14 April 2016 - Rabat - Morocco


Events 2016The 2016 European River Symposium

The 2016 European River Symposiumwas organized by the InternationalRiver Foundation, in association withthe International Association of Water-works in the Danube Catchment Area(IAWD).

INBO was also a partner together withthe International Commissions for theProtection of the Rhine and DanubeRivers (ICPR, ICPDR), WWF, GWP,Ramsar and the European Center forRiver Restoration (ECRR).

The main themes of the Symposiumwere best practices of river basinmanagement and the building of las-ting partnerships.

It gathered 180 participants from over30 European countries, representativesof governmental, intergovernmental,research organizations and of the civilsociety. INBO spoke as a panelist in around table dedicated to building part-nerships for sustainable waterresources management.

The event included the award of the”European River Prize”, rewarding themost outstanding restoration pro-grams. The finalists were the restora-tion programs of the Trent (UK), Aragon(Spain) and Segura Rivers (Spain) andit is ultimately the latter which won theprize in 2016.

The 19th ”International River Sympo-sium” will be held in New Delhi from12 to 14 September 2016.

www.errconference.eu

EuropeanRiverSymposiumFeaturing the IRF Riverprize

2 - 3 March - Vienna - Austria

Lebanon

Following the launching of the ParisPact on water and adaptation to climatechange in basins and its signature bythe Lebanese Minister for Water andEnergy, Mr. Arthur Nazarian, a sympo-

sium was organized in Lebanon on themost relevant adaptation policies forthe basins of the Mediterranean region.INBO, the Mediterranean Network ofBasin Organizations (MENBO) and

GWP were partners of the event.INBO was able to promote the ParisPact and present possible variations ofpractical actions to be implemented foradaptation in basins.

On this occasion, many participantssigned the Paris Pact and committedthemselves to apply its principles andactions for adaptation to climatechange.

Symposium on adaptation to climate change in the Mediterranean Basin 15 March 2016 –- Beirut - Lebanon


Events 2016

The International Summit on AfricanGreat Lakes aims to improve coordina-tion, build capacities and promote eco-system management policies, basedon scientific knowledge, in basins.

This initiative was launched by TheNature Conservancy with support fromthe MacArthur Foundation, the CriticalEcosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF),the Albertine Rift Conservation Society(ARCOS), the Lake Tanganyika Autho-rity (LTA) and the United Nations Envi-ronment Program (UNEP).

INBO is partner of the event and mem-ber of the Technical Committee and ofthe Summit Organization Committee.

To discuss the event planning, themeeting of the organization committeein March 2016 gathered thirty partici-pants, including many basin organiza-tions of the Great Lakes region (e.g. theNile Basin Initiative, the Lakes Victoria,Tanganyika, Kivu Basin Commissions),intergovernmental organizations (e.g.UNEP) and nongovernmental organiza-tions (e.g. WWF, IUCN, Friends of LakeTurkana) and universities (e.g. Nairobi,Dar Es Salaam, Bujumbura).

It enabled to formally confirm thepatronage of the Ministry of Water andEnvironment of Uganda to host theevent in Kampala, to decide of thesummit title (”African Great Lakes:conservation and development in acontext of climate change”), its timing(May 2017) and the role of the differentmembers of the organization commit-tee, divided into four subcommittees:Summit logistics, program, funding,marketing and communications.

As an active member of the “program”and “marketing and communication”committees, INBO was also responsi-ble for the organization of the sessionon "Basin Governance and Funding".

International Summit on African Great Lakes Meeting of the organization committee

14 - 15 March 2016 - Nairobi - Kenya

Senegal

INBO participated in the second mee-ting of the World High-Level Panel onWater and Peace which took place from5 to 7 April 2016 in Dakar, Senegal – afounder member of the initiative. Thepanel was launched by the FederalDepartment of Foreign Affairs of Swit-zerland and the Geneva Water Clusteron the occasion of a constitutive mee-ting in November 2015. It aims to faci-litate a high-level political debate onwater-related conflict prevention and adialogue on water resources manage-ment as an instrument for peace andcooperation.

It gathers twelve high-level personali-ties, including Messrs. Danilo Türk(former Slovenian President), AndresTarand (former Estonian Prime Minis-ter), Mansour Faye (Water Minister ofSenegal) and Prince Hassan Bin Talalof Jordan.This second meeting opened with anaddress by the Prime Minister of Sene-gal, HE Mohammad Dionne. The dis-cussions then focused on the draftingof proposals to prevent and resolvewater-related tensions internationally.

Two main topics were discussed: l financial incentives for transboun-

dary cooperation,

l and protection of water infrastruc-ture against violent conflict andterrorism.

INBO presented the experience andgood practices of basin organizations,members of its network. The Organiza-tion for the Development of the Sene-gal River (OMVS) was once again pre-sented as a success story of trans-

boundary cooperation. One of its majorachievements, the Diama dam (to pre-vent the rise of salt water intrusion),was a technical visit at the end of themeeting.The next meeting of the panel will beheld in Latin America in 2016 and willdeal with water-related intersectoralconflicts.

Meeting of the World High-Level Panel on Water and Peace

5-7 April 2016 - Dakar - Senegal

CEE-ONUWith UNECE, INBO continued run-ning the network of basin organiza-tions working on climate changeadaptation, established according tothe recommendations made in Mar-seilles. It contributed to the prepara-tion and implementation of the thirdworkshop held in Geneva on 6 and 7April 2016, which gathered about fiftyparticipants from European, African,

Central Asian and (for the first time)South American basins.

Another similar workshop is schedu-led for September.

www.unece.org/env/water


Events 2016World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

INBO participated in the round tableorganized by the World MeteorologicalOrganization (WMO) and the World Bank(WB) in partnership with the Global Fra-mework for Climate Services (GFCS)and the Global Facility for DisasterReduction and Recovery (GFDRR).

The event aimed to promote increasedinternational support to the developmentand improvement of investment andtechnical assistance dedicated to Natio-nal Meteorological and HydrologicalServices (NMHS).

It gathered a wide range of participants,representatives of multilateral develop-ment banks (e.g. African Development

Bank -AfDB, Asian Development Bank,AsDB, Islamic Development Bank -IDB),bilateral donors (e.g. DFID, AFD, JICA,USAID) and National Meteorological andHydrological Services (NMHS) of deve-loped and developing countries. Thesestakeholders initiated thinking on theprinciples and best practices to be usedto meet the need for better coordinationof the different NMHS capacity buildingprograms, including:

l Hydromet Africa (Regional Frame-work Program to improve NMHSs insub-Saharan Africa, jointly develo-ped by AfDB, WMO, WB andGFDRR).

l The CREWS initiative (on strengthe-ning the systems for prevention,information and warning to the riskof dangerous hydrometeorologicaland climate events).

l The WISER Program (strengtheningof meteorological and climate ser-vices in East Africa).

The participants in the roundtableemphasized, on the one hand, the keyrole that the National Meteorological andHydrological Services (NMHS) will playin achieving the Sustainable Develop-ment Goals of Agenda 2030 and, on theother, difficulties in establishing sustai-nable and autonomous funding mecha-

nisms of ODA for these services. Theyalso stressed the need to finance notonly infrastructure but also capacity buil-ding of the staff, the services for endusers and the infrastructure operationand maintenance.

Just Like the 2016 call for action of theINBO Paris Pact (especially targetingprojects for strengthening monitoringnetworks and Water Information Sys-tems), this initiative will help promotethe idea that good water management isonly conceivable with good knowledgeof the resource: we can only managewhat we know.

Round table of development partners ”Strengthening Hydrometeorological Services

for Sustainable Development” 13 - 14 April 2016 - Geneva - Switzerland

Brazil

For the "Pollutec" exhibition of equip-ment, technology and environmentalservices, year 2016 is not only markedby its longevity: in France (27), Algeria(12) and Morocco (8), it is also theyear of the first Chinese and Brazilianexhibitions.

Pollutec Brasilia was organized byReed Exhibitions with the support ofmany sponsors, including the two lar-gest: ABES (Brazilian Federation ofSanitary and Environmental Enginee-ring) and Suez.

Water was the main topic of the techni-cal conference and workshop program,in this State of São Paulo that wasaffected by an unprecedented watercrisis in 2014 and 2015. Water mana-gement is a federal priority. On ave-rage, 4.5 billion Euros are investedeach year in the water cleaning sectoralone.Over 80 exhibitors from 12 countriespresented their expertise, solutions andenvironmental innovations and nearly4,000 people visited the exhibition.INBO participated in Pollutec Brasiliaand in the 6th national water confe-rence. INBO Permanent TechnicalSecretary has notably been invited topresent his principles for basin mana-gement as well as the Paris Pact foradaptation to climate change.

The HYDRUS-BRAZIL association isthe Contracting Authority for the pilottraining of professionals in the watersector that was launched by the Secre-tariat of Employment and Labor of theState of São Paolo. The HYDRUS-BRAZIL Foundation,established at the 7th World WaterForum, aims to establish and develop aWater Training Center in São Paolo. Itassociates REBOB in the organizationof training courses for the members ofthe Brazilian Basin Committees.

Pollutec Brazil and the 6th national water conference

12 - 15 April 2016 - São Paulo - Brazil

WORLD BANK


- Programme -Programme

Français-Anglais / French-EnglishnarF hcner F / / FsainglA-saiçn hsinglE-


SAVE THE DATE






Plan for Action and PartnershipFor developing and strengthening river basin organizations

The goal of the ”INBO Action Plan"is to support all initiatives for theorganization of Integrated WaterResource Management at the levelof river, lake and aquifer basins,whether national or transboundary,by using the many experimentsthat allow reconciling economicgrowth, social equity, environmen-tal conservation, water resourcesprotection and participation of theCivil Society.

Output ➊Organization of twinning arrangements between Basin Organizations

Proposed services:

n Direct exchanges of experiencesbetween twin basin organizations,

n European twinning projects.

Output ➋Mobilization of professional know-how of Basin Organizations Proposed services:n Assistance

with the implementation of institutional reforms,

n Launching of pilot projects,n Support to countries sharing

a transboundary river basin,n Drafting of Basin Management

Plans,n Setting-up specialized teams

in the new Basin Organizations,n Establishment of institutional

mechanisms for the water users’participation in decision-makingand activities of Basin Organizations,

n Financial simulation,n Audits, ...

Output ➌Synthesis and dissemination of available knowledge and know-how

Proposed services:

n Contributing to better knowledgeand know-how on Basin Organiza-tions and IWRM,

n Making available a set of commonperformance indicators,

n Training to good practices,

n Publications and Handbooks,

n Promotion of basin managementin international events.

Output ➍Establishment and development of water information systems

Proposed services:

n Exchange of information, documentation and data,

n Definition of common standards,

n Assistance with the structuring of Documentation Centers and Databases in each countryconcerned,

n Design of monitoring networksand databases,

n Dissemination of information to professionals and decisionmakers,

n Decision-making support tools.

Four main outputs are expected

8 B.O. Regional Networks - 8 Réseaux Régionaux des O.B.

INBO: 192 full Members or permanent observers in 88 countries

48Report of Activities 2013 - 2016Target 1

Plan for Action and PartnershipTarget 1: Organization of twinning arrangements between Basin Organizations

Burkina Faso

The Mouhoun Basin was selected to bethe pilot basin for the establishment ofa new Water Policy in Burkina Faso.

IOWater, INBO Secretariat, is imple-menting a project which started in2013 for a 2-year duration. It aims tosupport the Burkinabe Authorities intheir approach to IWRM, through thedevelopment of methodologies andtools for knowledge and good waterresources management in the Mou-houn Basin, under the partnership bet-ween the Mouhoun Water Agency(AEM) and the French Adour-Garonne and Seine-NormandyWater Agencies.

A first mission on the topics of plan-ning and governance took place in Bur-kina Faso in March 2014.

It was the opportunity to help in thedrafting of the Masterplan for WaterDevelopment and Management(SDAGE) of the Mouhoun, which wasfinally adopted in July 2014.

The French partners received a high-level delegation of AEM and the Minis-try of Water and Hydraulic Structures toshow concretely and through case stu-dies the French ”Water Police” prac-tices.

Finally, in the context of the gradualestablishment of the ”FinancialContribution to Water” adopted inBurkina Faso in 2009, a fact-findingmission took place early 2015 in

Dédougou, AEM home office, to workon the recovery of this tax on waterwithdrawals in the basin.

Knowledge and characterization ofusers being a prerequisite, capacitybuilding in data management has alsobeen proposed.

The Mouhoun Water Agency hasnow a ”SDAGE”, the first one inBurkina.

Cooperation efforts are now focusingon the implementation of a Program ofMeasures to achieve the selectedobjectives.

The Mouhoun River

Mouhoun Water Agency

COP21: Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA)Signing of cooperation agreements on adaptation to climate change

between France, China and Mexico

➊ Support to the establishment of the ”Greater Mexico” MetropolitanWater Organization and to the ”Mexico Valley” Basin Council:

This 4-year project was the subject of twoagreements signed on 2 December at theCOP21, between SEMARNAT, CONAGUAand MEEM on the one hand, and betweenthe Mexico Valley Basin Council and theSeine-Normandy Water Agency, on theother, also involving SIAAP, Seine GreatLakes and IOWater.

➋ Support to integrated management of the Hai River and its tributaries (Beijing and Tianjin basins):

It is a new 3-year agreement, from 2016 to2018, for the launching of the third phase of theproject initiated in 2011, signed by the Hai RiverConservancy Commission (HRCC) and theSeine-Normandy Water Agency and also invol-ving SIAAP, Seine Great Lakes and IOWater onthe French side.

This signing ceremony at the opening of theCOP21 official Day on water and adaptationwas chaired by Mrs. Ségolène Royal.

CONFÉRENCE DES NATIONS UNIESSUR LES CHANGEMENTS CLIMATIQUES

www.siaap.fr

Ministèrede l’Écologie, du Développement durable, et de l’Énergie

Signatories of the French-Mexican agreement © IOWater - C.Runel


Target 1: Organization of twinning arrangements between Basin Organizations Canada - Quebec

Twinning arrangements between basin organizations from France and Quebec Three twinning arrangements weresigned in February 2015 by basin orga-nizations in France and Quebec. Theseagreements are the result of a twin-ning program jointly coordinatedby the Regrouping of the RiverBasin Organizations of Quebec(ROBVQ) and the French Associa-tion of French Public Local BasinAuthorities (AFEPTB).

A three-year collaboration

This collaboration between ”ROBVQ”and ”AFEPTB” was initiated on the side-lines of the World Water Forum in Mar-seilles in 2012. In the years that follo-wed, a partnership agreement betweenboth networks was signed in Vogüe, inFrance, then in Lac-Beauport, in Que-bec.

Following a call for proposals, threenew twinning arrangements wereselected to obtain financial and techni-cal support.

Thus, the Vidourle ”EPTB” was twinnedwith Saguenay RBO, the Seine-GreatLakes ”EPTB” with the 7 rivers BasinAgency and the Gardons ”SAG”E withCOPERNIC, the Organization for Dia-logue in the Nicolet River Basin. Thesetwinning agreements were selected onthe basis of similar interests: e.g. urbanwater management or flood preventionand management.

The first twinning agreement as the model

These were not the first twinning agree-ments between France and Quebec.Similar initiatives were undertaken bythe Jacques-Cartier Basin Corporationand Dordogne ”EPTB” or between Cha-rente ”EPTB” and COVABAR (RBO res-ponsible for the Richelieu River).

The twinning charters

The twinning charters ratified by theseorganizations are the starting point forcollaboration.

An exportable twinning program

This twinning program was made possi-ble through a financial contributionfrom the Permanent Commission ofCooperation between France and Que-bec. An additional objective of the pro-gram is to produce exportable toolsfacilitating twinning between basins.The North American Network ofBasin Organizations has been anactive contributor in the selection oftwinning agreements, producing amodel twinning charter and writing atwinning guide.

It has been planned with the NationalWater Commission of Mexico (CONA-GUA) to expand twinning projects toMexico.Antoine VervilleDeputy Director GeneralROBVQTel.: (418) 800-1144 #[email protected]

www.robvq.qc.ca

COPERNIC participation in a local Water Commission with the Gardons SAGE

Drawing on four twinning experiencesbetween organizations from France andQuebec, the North American Net-work of Basin Organizations(NANBO) and the Regrouping of theRiver Basin Organizations of Que-bec (ROBVQ) have partnered topublish a twinning guide and a trilin-gual model charter. These tools will allow organizations toundertake twinning projects with simi-lar organizations elsewhere, whilebenefiting from the experience of theirpeers.

Specifically, the guide offers a six-stepmethod to establish a functional andbeneficial twinning project for eachpartner involved. It also gives someadvices to ensure the success of theapproach. The guide is available in French,English and Spanish at:http://bit.ly/1WBUpfF

Caroline Gagné Communication / marketing OfficerROBVQTél. : (418) 800-1144 #[email protected]

www.robvq.qc.ca

A guide for successful twinning projects!Experience between Franceand QuebecThe program of ROBVQ and theFrench Association of PublicLocal Basin Authorities(AFEPTB) allowed establishingfive twinning projects betweenbasin organizations in France andQuebec to improve practices inboth countries regarding dammanagement, adaptation to cli-mate change, public involvementin water management or control ofinvasive species.


Target 1: Organization of twinning arrangements between Basin Organizations

In 2005, the Intermunicipal Con -sortium of the Piracicaba, Capivariand Jundiaí River Basins (PCJ) andthe French Loire Brittany WaterAgency (AELB) participated inINBO-facilitated TwinBasin project.

In 2006, the PCJ Consortium and AELBsigned a multi-year cooperation agree-ment.

It has resulted in constant and fruitfulexchanges between both partners andallowed disseminating the experiencesof the PCJ Consortium and the Agencyto other basin institutions in Brazil.

The PCJ Consortium is a successfulmanagement system model imple-mented in the PCJ Basins and it cancontribute to develop similar approa -ches in Brazil.

A new step forward in the cooperationbetween France and Brazil was taken inMay 2013, by organizing a seminarand a technical visit in the RioGrande do Sul (RGS).

RGS is the southernmost BrazilianState and encounters a paradoxicalsituation: since 1988, it has been hou-sing the oldest Basin Committee inBrazil, which meets every month as the25 other committees created since, butthere is not yet a Basin Agency, while

the Law for its establishment was pas-sed in 1994.

Representatives of the PCJ Consor-tium, AELB and "Gaúcho" Forum ofBasin Committees met on May 23rdand 24th, in Porto Alegre (RGS), to dis-cuss the establishment of a tripartitecooperation.

The Loire Brittany Agency’s Manager,Michel Stein, remarked that the “PCJConsortium is a successful example inBrazil, and experiences should bereproduced in other national realities”.

”The PCJ Basins took the Frenchmanagement system as reference,which was important for the consolida-tion of our management system. Ibelieve that with our partners from LoireBrittany, we could contribute toimprove water resource management inRio Grande do Sul” recalled the PCJTechnical Manager, Alexandre Vilella.

The partners defined a cooperationprogram for the years 2014-2015,with the aim to help the Basin Commit-tees of Rio Grande do Sul to overcometechnical and institutional difficultiesthat hinder better implementation ofIntegrated Water Resources Manage-ment.

The following actions are planned:

l Finalization of a reference docu-ment comparing the situation ofwater management in the RGS andthe PCJ and Loire-Brittany basins;

l Organization of seminars in the RioGrande do Sul on the topics ofgovernance and tools for Integra-ted Water Resources Management(planning, funding and monitoringsystems);

l Organization of a technical visit ofthe Basin Committees of RioGrande do Sul in the PCJ basins(located about 1,000 km to thenorth).

Murilo F. de Sant’AnnaPCJ Consortium Tél. / Fax: +55 19 3475 94088 [email protected]

www.agua.org.br

Brazil

PCJ Consortium - ”Gaúcho” Forumand the French Loire-Brittany Water Agency: Cooperation with the ”Gaúcho” Forum of Basin Committees

Meeting of the ”Gaúcho” Forum of Basin CommitteesPorto Alegre - 2013

Seminar in May 2013 in Porto Alegre

The Piracicaba River



On 26 September 2013 in Lima, theArtois-Picardy Water Agencysigned an institutional cooperationagreement with the PeruvianNational Water Authority (ANA)and the "Chili" River Basin (Arequipa area).

Under the agreement, French specia-lists went to Arequipa, to share expe-riences with stakeholders of theQuilca-Chili Basin.

In addition to meetings with membersof the Basin’s Water ResourcesCouncil, the French experts madeseveral field visits, especially at thewater intake for the supply of Arequipa

(Tomilla I station) and at the Charcani Ihydropower plant.

They met with the Directorate Generalof SEDAPAR, which presented the was-tewater treatment project of the Enlo-zada plant.Giuliana Retamozo RomeroSDGCCI ExpertAdministrative Water Authority I Caplina Ocoñ[email protected]

www.ana.gob.pe

Peru

Twinning between Quilca Chili and Artois-Picardy Basins

Signing of the cooperation agreement between ANA and the Artois-Picardy Water Agency

AGENCE DE L EAUARTOIS . PICARDIE

Hungary

Twinning arrangement with the French Water Agencies

After the Val de Loire, Normandy andBrittany in recent years, a study tourwas organized in late September withour French Partners of the Loire-Brit-tany Water Agency in the Upper River

Basins of the Loire and Allier. Our Hun-garian delegation was led by PeterKovacs, State Secretary for Water,Ministry of Rural Development.

Various visits on the topic of river deve-lopment and protection against floodsembellished this working week andexchanges.

Meetings with technicians and electedofficials were thus planned in differentflood control installations, where theflood warning system was presented.

After a visit to the trout farm of Chan-teuges, the Hungarian delegationmembers were able to familiarizethemselves with the restoration of thenatural environment of the OndaineRiver and with the control of invasiveplants.

As part of our French-Hungarian part-nership, thinking is underway toexpand our cooperation to a third coun-try, the Ukraine or Romania, for exam-ple, which share the Tisza River Basinwith Hungary.Peter Kovacs State Secretary for WaterMinistry of Rural [email protected]

www.kvvm.hu

The delegation on the site for rehabilitation of the Ondaine river


Target 1: Organization of twinning arrangements between Basin OrganizationsChina

French-Chinese cooperation in the Hai River Basin

China is facing many water manage-ment challenges.

To face those, the Chinese Governmentis developing many internationalcooperation activities, and, in particu-lar, an agreement was signed on 21 December 2009 by the ChineseMinistry of Water Resources and theFrench Ministry of the Environment,Energy and the Sea (MEEM).

Under this agreement, the Hai RiverBasin, which covers 318,000 km2

and includes the municipalities ofBeijing and Tianjin, was selectedfor the implementation of a pilotproject: It aims to test the applicationin China of some mechanisms for riverbasin management, water pollutioncontrol and ecosystem protection,which are used in France and in theEuropean Union.

The project partners are, for the Chi-nese part, the Ministry of WaterResources, the Hai River Water Conser-vancy Commission and the WaterBoards of Tianjin City Hall and HebeiProvince, and for the French part, theMinistry of the Environment, Energyand the Sea (MEEM), the Seine Nor-mandy Water Agency (AESN), thePublic Sanitation Utility of Greater Paris(SIAAP), the Interdepartmental Institu-

tion of the Seine Great Lakes and IOWa-ter, INBO Secretariat, that is in chargeof the technical coordination of the pro-ject.

The first phase (April 2011 / March2012) contributed to a mutualunderstanding of the operation ofbasin institutions and proceduresand means they use in France andChina.

The pilot sub-basin of the Zhou River

The second phase of the project (Octo-ber 2012 - December 2015) focusedon the Zhou River Basin: 2,114 km2, 1 million inhabitants and 80% of thedrinking water supply of the 5th mostpopulated city of the country, Tianjin.

It was developed in three steps:

l Support to the completion ofthe basin situational analysis,

l Establishment of a coordina-tion group,

l Support to the drafting of aBasin Management Plan and aProgram of Measures.

Since October 2012, French expertmissions in China have allowed an in-depth presentation of a wide range ofuseful technical and institutional toolsfor the process. Emphasis was alsoplaced on building the capacity of theChinese partners, who thus benefitedfrom training sessions on Basin Mana-gement, on ecological engineering andon water quality monitoring, etc.

Finally, study tours organized in Francehave shown to the Chinese partners thereal practices of applying successfullybasin policies in the entire EuropeanUnion.

All activities carried out contributed tothe quick progress of the project. Thus,the situational analysis and characteri-zation of the Zhou River sub-basin weremade and presented in September2014 at the project Steering Commit-tee.

Based on the conclusions drawn fromthe situational analysis, year 2015 allo-wed the drafting of a Management Planand Program of Measures to meet themajor challenges of the sub basin.

Thus, at the end of phase II in late2015, the Chinese partners integratedall tools and processes useful toachieve the development of a trueBasin Management Plan.

Given the success of this French-Chi-nese cooperation, the partners of bothcountries agreed to continue thiscooperation for a three year period star-ting in January 2016.

In the presence of the French Ministersfor the Environment and InternationalCooperation, this agreement wassigned in Paris on 2 December 2015 atthe Water Day, organized duringthe COP21 on the topic of adaptationand resilience to climate change.

This new phase plans an expansionof these actions to the Luan RiverBasin (45,000 km2, 1 million inhabi-tants); another bigger tributary of theHai River.

Ms. Kang JieHai River Water Conservancy Commission [email protected]

www.hwcc.gov.cn

Copil Hai He - March 2016

Signatories of the French-Chinese agreement at the COP 21 in Paris © IOWater - C.Runel



Flood Directive:

Austria, France and the Nether-lands are implementing the Euro-pean twinning on the Flood Direc-tive in Croatia.

Adopted in 2007, the Flood Directiveimposes the same schedule to the fourcountries participating in the twinningagreement, thus providing richexchanges and allowing Croatia toadjust its practices to higher levels bybenefiting from the methodologicaldevelopment efforts made by the mostadvanced countries.

The Directive schedule, which will besynchronized with that of the Water Fra-mework Directive, thus plans the follo-wing deadlines for the 3 stages of pre-paration of Flood Risk ManagementPlans to be developed in each hydro-graphic basin / unit:

l Preliminary Flood Risk Assess-ment (PFRA) with selection ofAreas with Significant Poten-tial Flood Risk (ASPFR) byDecember 2011;

l Hazard and risk mapping ofASPFR by December 2013;

l Flood Risk Management Plan(FRMP) including its Program ofMeasures by December 2015.

The 15-month project particularlyfocuses on the mapping of flood risk intwo priority pilot areas: The Kupa onthe Black Sea Basin and the delta of theNeretva, an Adriatic River with specificflood characteristics.

A training program supports the prepa-ration of the Flood Risk Manage-ment Plan (FRMP) with its Programof Measures and associated economicanalysis.

Water Framework Directive and pollution by hazardous substances discharged into aquatic environments:

Many sectors of activity are producingor using these hazardous substancesand release them into the environment:industry, agriculture, but also urbaninfrastructure and equipments, hospitaland medical activities, craftsmanshipand even domestic activities.

The European Directive on hazar-dous substances requires that thoseare:

l Banned for the most dangerous ofthem,

l Subject to measures to protect usfrom them and especially toreduce their discharges for theothers.

For 14 months, France and Austriahave successfully implemented thisEuropean twinning agreement withCroatia.

The closing ceremony took place in theprestigious hall of the Croatian Cham-ber of Economy on 5 July 2013 inZagreb, illustrating the partnership for-ged with the interested parties in theeffort needed to reduce the dis-charges of hazardous substances.

The twinning agreement has thus sup-ported the Croatian partners at differentlevels:

l Inventory of substances usedand discharged, and of their pre-sence in surface water, groundwa-ter and marine waters;

l Adaptation of the monitoringnetwork to the problem of hazar-dous substances;

l Installation of new performinganalysis equipment, with a bud-get of € 400,000 provided by theEU through the project;

l Development of quality assu-rance procedures and tools toensure the reliability andrepresentativeness of the re -sults. The National Laboratory,which benefited from capacitybuilding, received its accreditationduring the project!;

l Improvement of governance,use and exchanges of data bet-ween the different partners.

The Croatian institutions, beneficiariesof this project, were mainly the Minis-try of Agriculture and the CroatianWater Company.

On the French and Austrian sides, thetwinning partners are: the FrenchMinistry of Ecology, Sustainable Deve-lopment and Energy (MEDDE), theInternational Office for Water, theNational Institute for the Environmentand Industrial Risks (INERIS), theNational Laboratory of the Environment(ESA), the Geological and MiningResearch Center (BRGM), the FrenchWater Agencies, as well as the AustrianEnvironment Agency (UBA) and theAustrian Ministry of Agriculture, Envi-ronment, Forestry and Water.

A total of forty French and Austrianexperts worked together with theirCroatian colleagues to carry out theactivities of this twinning agreement,which are a powerful boost forexchange and progress.Dunja BarišicWFD [email protected] CibilicFlood [email protected]

Croatia - European Union

Closing meeting of the ”hazardoussubstances” twinning agreement

European institutional twinning agreements with the 28th Member State for better water management



Twinning agreement on the Flood Directive

In April 2014, Austria, France andthe Netherlands closed the twin-ning project on the European FloodDirective with Croatia, whichbecame a full EU Member State inJuly 2013.

Adopted in 2007, the Flood Directiveimposed its schedule to the four coun-tries participating in the twinning pro-ject. The schedule of the Directive,which eventually will be synchronizedwith that of the Water Framework Direc-tive, gives the following deadlines for

the 3 stages of preparation of FloodRisk Management Plans to bedeveloped in each river basin/hydrographical unit:

n Preliminary Flood Risk Assess-ment (PFRA) with selection ofAreas with Significant PotentialFlood Risk (ASPFR) by December2011;

n Hazard and risk mapping ofASPFR by December 2013;

n Flood Risk Management Plans(FRMPs), including their Programof Measures by December 2015.

This 16-month project especially focu-sed on the mapping of flood risk in twopriority pilot areas:

n the Kupa River in the Black SeaBasin,

n the delta of the Neretva River in theAdriatic Sea Basin with specificflood characteristics.

A training program allowed supportingthe preparation of the Flood Risk Mana-gement Plan (FRMP) with its Programof Measures and associated economicanalysis.

A model for identifying the data neces-sary for preparing the plan was alsodeveloped for dissemination of thispilot experience to other Croatianbasins.Alan CibilicFlood twinning [email protected]

Croatia - European Union

Delta of the Neretva River

”For better river basin management over the World”

10th World General Assembly of INBOMerida - Mexico - 1 - 4 June, 2016

� Wednesday 1st June 2016 ARRIVAL OF THE PARTICIPANTS - REGISTRATION

09:30 Meeting of INBO Regional Networks

17:00 Meeting of INBO World Liaison Bureau

20:00 Welcome cocktail

� Thursday 2nd June 2016 FIRST OFFICIAL DAY

09:30 First statutory session of INBO General Assembly

11:00 Official Opening Ceremony

12:00 Presentation of water issues and institutions in Mexico

14:30 First topical round table: Adaptation to climate change in basins

16:30 Second topical round table: Mandate, composition, role and means of the Basin Councils and Committees

20:00 Official Dinner

� Friday 3rd June 2016 SECOND OFFICIAL DAY

09:00 Third topical round table: Sustainable basin management: planning and funding

11:00 Fourth topical round table: Participation of the economic sectors and citizens

14:30 Forum of International Cooperation Organizations

16:00 Closing of the General Assembly

� Final resolutions

� Merida Declaration

� Transfer of INBO World Presidency to Mexico

� Saturday 4th June 2016 THIRD OFFICIAL DAY

08:30 Technical Visit - Discovery of Yucatan

To participate,Please register!

www.inbo-news.org



A 2-year technical assistance projectfor capacity building of the Ministry forthe Environment of the Republic ofMacedonia for the development oflegislation on water was financed bythe European Union.

The project especially focused on:

l The improvement of the legislativeframework for water resourcesmanagement in the Republic ofMacedonia;

l The development of the first ele-ments of a Basin ManagementPlan for the Vardar River.

A thorough analysis of the Macedonianlegislation on water management wascarried out to identify disparities withthe obligations of the various Europeanwater-related Directives.

Recommendations for amending exis-ting laws were proposed and the mis-sing texts in secondary legislation weredrafted.

Before their adoption by the Parliament,the Ministry for the Environment requi-red a regulatory impact assessment ofthe proposed new texts.

The five initial elements developed bythe project for the Vardar River BasinManagement Plan include:

l Establishment of an official list ofthe Basin Water Bodies with defi-nition of their typology;

l Characterization of the identifiedWater Bodies;

l Identification of pressures onWater Bodies and identification ofthose at risk;

l Inventory and mapping of protec-ted areas;

l Development of a new MonitoringPlan.

One of the project priorities wasthe training and capacity buildingof the Ministry’s water departmentstaff.

Many training courses of short durationwere implemented, as well as traininghandbooks presenting the methodo-logy used at the different stages of thepreparation of the Vardar River BasinManagement Plan.Ylber MirtaHead of Department for Waters, [email protected]

www.moepp.gov.mk

Institutional capacity building and improvement of legislation for water resources management

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Final project meeting

DG ENVIRONNEMENT

DG Environment

Tunisia - European Union

The International Office for Water, theAustrian Environment Agency, ”INE-RIS” and the Swedish ChemicalsAgency participate in the Europeantwinning agreement ”InstitutionalSupport to the management andcontrol of chemicals in Tunisia” toimplement the European REACH(Registration, Evaluation, Authorizationand Restriction of Chemicals) and CLP

regulations (Classification, Labelingand Packaging of dangerous chemi-cals).

This project aims to promote in Tunisiaan industry more respectful of healthand the environment while increasingits competitiveness and preparing theTunisian industrial sector to manage-rial, organizational and technologicalchanges.

The project includes actions forstrengthening the legal basis, esta-blishing an institutional organiza-tion and for the capacity building ofthe Tunisian Technical ChemicalCenter.

This project is funded by the EuropeanUnion and is being carried out betweenMarch 2012 and March 2014.Ms. Khaoula CherifRTA [email protected]

REACH-CLP: European twinning agreement on the management and control of chemicals


Target 1: Organization of twinning arrangements between Basin OrganizationsTurkey - European Union

Bathing Water DirectiveLaunched in January 2013, thebathing waters twinning projectwith Turkey was completed in June2015.

It was coordinated by IOWater,INBO Secretariat, on behalf of theFrench Ministry of Social Affairsand Health, in collaboration withthe Italian Minoprio Foundation,mandated by the Regional Councilof Lombardy, and GIP Inter.

The overall objective was to reducebathing-related risks to public health,through the integration of the provi-sions of the new European Directive2006/7/EC into Turkish legislation andintroducing innovations to strengthenmonitoring.

This twinning project involved 35 spe-cialists from French and Italian admi-nistrations and institutions that carriedout more than 170 assignments on allthe health and environmental aspectsof bathing.

Capacity building of the Ministry ofHealth and Turkish Public Health Insti-tution as well as of provincial laborato-ries and other Ministries and partnerswas developed and their assignmentsupdated according to the innova-tions introduced by the new European Directive.

The twinning project especially helpedto:

n Prepare a new classificationsystem for bathing areas;

n Develop bathing areas profilesof their vulnerability to pollu-tion, and an action plan to improvewater quality;

n Collect health and environmen-tal data;

n Globally monitor bathingareas, including the implemen -tation of monitoring programs,public information and crisismanagement, especially in case ofthe development of cyanobacteriaand toxic algae;

n Improve the technical capacityof test laboratories.

A major training program was conduc-ted for executives from the Ministry ofHealth, Public Health Institution, Pro-vincial Health Departments and partnerMinistries and Institutions.

www.thsk.gov.tr

Success for three European institutional twinning projects

Group of experts in the seminar on monitoring for bathing waters

Flood DirectiveThe project ”Capacity building for theImplementation of the Flood Direc-tive”was launched to support theDirectorate General for WaterManagement of the Ministry ofForestry and Water Affairs in its newcoordination mission for better floodrisk management in Turkey.

It has been developing for over 2 years with the support of majorFrench and Romanian Public Insti-tutions working on this directive intheir respective countries: theDirectorate General for Risk Preventionof the French Ministry of Environment(MEDDE), the ”CEREMA”, the NationalAgency Apele Romane and its Instituteof Hydrology and Water Management,coordinated by IOWater, INBO Secreta-riat.

The project aimed at developing the main tools planned for in the EU Directive:

n Transposition of the Flood Directive(FD) into Turkish legislation andadaptation of the institutional orga-nization;

n Implementation of the 3 prepara-tory steps for a Flood RiskManagement Plan in the pilot”Bati Karadeniz” Basin. Theusers were consulted in these keystages. A methodological gui-dance document was drafted to bedisseminated to the 25 other Tur-kish basins and training activitieswere tested in three basins;

n Preparation of the National FloodDirective Implementation Plan,integrating economic analysis.

A key moment was the consultationwith stakeholders in Karabük on 27 August 2013 on the results of thePreliminary Flood Risk Assessment(PFRA) for the pilot ”Bati Karadeniz”Basin for validating the first stage of theFlood Risk Management Plan.

Water Framework Directive This twinning agreement on theimplementation of the FrameworkDirective was carried out betweenSeptember 2011 and February2014.

This project, implemented by theNetherlands, France and Spain, aimedto support the Turkish Ministry ofForestry and Water Affairs in develo-ping monitoring plans for six pilotbasins and a national monitoringplan.

On the French side, experts from the”MEDDE”, Seine-Normandy WaterAgency, ”IRSTEA”, ”IFREMER”, and

coordinated by IOWater, INBO Secreta-riat, contributed to this work.

In 2014, the Twinning project was com-pleted with the finalization of theNational Plan for the Implementa-tion of Monitoring Programs, inclu-ding institutional and legislativerecommendations in particular, butalso an estimate of the costs incurred toharmonize Turkish practices with therequirements of the EU Water Frame-work Directive in the monitoring ofWater Bodies.

www.aquacoope.org/turkeybw


Turkey - European UnionTraining of trainers on WFD implementation and development of River Basin Management Plans in Turkey

The General Directorate for WaterManagement at the Ministry ofForestry and Water Affairs prepared25 Action Plans for Basin Protectionthat, by 2023, should be converted intoWFD-compliant River Basin Mana-gement Plans.

Turkey has established BasinManagement Committees for its 25 river basins.

In this context, an EU technical assis-tance project, in which IOWater, INBOSecretariat, contributed to support theTurkish Leader WYG, due to its formerlong cooperation with the Turkishauthorities on water management, wasundertaken to:

l Train the future Turkish trai-ners on WFD implementationand the development of RiverBasin Management Plans;

l Build capacities and ensurethe proper operation of theBasin Management Commit-tees.

The training courses were held fromOctober 2014 to May 2015 with theparticipation of 57 representatives ofvarious public authorities, universitiesand NGOs.

During the training, 9 international trai-ning experts provided more than 80 hours of training on the WFD andRiver Basin Management Plans for atotal of 177 men-days.

In this training program, more than 30 hours of interactive ”role play” ses-sions were also carried out and 30 pre-sentations on the EU's experiences inWFD implementation and developmentof Management Plans were provided aswell as 30 hours of exchanges betweentrainers and participants in plenarysessions. Some field visits were alsoorganized in Turkey.

www.ormansu.gov.tr

Training of trainers

Morocco - European Union

The ”Governance and IntegratedWater Resources Management inMorocco” project was prepared bythe Water Department of the DelegateMinistry in charge of Water at theMinistry of Energy, Mines, Waterand the Environment (MEMEE) ofthe Kingdom of Morocco, to benefitfrom the European experience in orderto advance its mission of waterresources management and coordina-tion of River Basin Agencies.

France was chosen as the leader ofthis twinning project in partnershipwith Spain and Romania and Aus-trian experts.

Since 1995, Morocco has had a WaterLaw that constitutes the legal basis forwater policy and that allowed, firstly, to

establish the principles of IntegratedWater Resources Management and,secondly, to institutionalize waterresources management at river basinlevel and the ”user pays” principles.

A new water law is being preparedand will benefit from the expe-rience acquired in the implementa-tion of the Water Framework Direc-tive (WFD) in the three EU MemberStates.

The project will allow:

l Improving River Basin Mana-gement Plans through a pilotexperience in the Sebou Basin;

l Establishing a national pro-gram for regulatory conver-gence in the water sector.

This 2-year project of great importancefor the entire Moroccan water sectorhas been implemented since October2015, with the support of the FrenchWater Agencies, BRGM, the Internatio-

nal Office for Water, INBO Secretariat,and the main Spanish and Romanianpublic institutions working on the WFDin their respective countries.

An ambitious project for Governance and Integrated Water Resources Management

The Ourika Valley in Morocco



Plan for Action and PartnershipTarget 2: Mobilization of professional know-how of Basin Organizations

Volta Basin Authority (VBA)

The project for capacity building ofthe Volta Basin Authority (VBA) isfunded by the European Union(ACP-EU Water Facility), the Seine-Normandy Water Agency (AESN)and the French DevelopmentAgency (AFD).

Since 2012, the International Net-work of Basin Organizations (INBO)has been implementing the project,which aims to build the capacity of:

l The Stakeholders Forum forBasin Development, an advi-sory body of VBA;

l The Experts’ Committee, VBAexecutive body,

l The Executive Directorate.

In January-February 2013, Mem-bers of the Experts’ Committee andExecutive Directorate made a visitto France in the Seine-Normandyand Adour-Garonne Water Agen-cies and met in Toulouse membersof the Planning Commission,DREAL (Regional Directorate forthe Environment, Development andHousing) and of the Coteaux deGascogne Development Company(CACG).

The project also allowed the parti-cipation of the VBA ExecutiveDirector in INBO World GeneralAssembly, held in Fortaleza, Brazil,from 12 to 16 August 2013. He wasable to participate in the topical round-

table ”Institutional frameworks foraction of Basin Organizations, of localauthorities, water users and the public,role of Basin Committees” and ex -change with his counterparts in chargeof Transboundary Basin Authorities.

The second meeting of the VBAStakeholders’ Forum was heldfrom 21 to 23 October 2013.

It allowed strengthening the relationsbetween the various stakeholders of thesix VBA Member States. At the sametime, an expert from the Adour-GaronneWater Agency presented the dialogueprocess in the river basin and maderecommendations for the functioningof the Stakeholders’ Forum.

A session was organized on the prepa-ration of the Master Plan for WaterDevelopment and Management.

Particular attention will be paid to infor-mation and communication to thegeneral public about the VBA activities.Charles A. BineyExecutive DirectorVolta Basin AuthorityFax: + 226 50376486

[email protected]

www.abv-volta.org

Implementation of priority actions of the 2010-2014 Strategic Plan


The International Network of BasinOrganizations has been helping theVolta Basin Authority (VBA) since2012 through a capacity buildingproject for the implementation ofits 2010-2014 Strategic Plan, withsupport from the European Union,the French Development Agency,the French Seine-Normandy andAdour-Garonne Water Agencies.

The VBA Council of Ministers was heldin Lome, Togo, in March 2014, beforethe Committee of Experts. During thisstatutory meeting, the Ministers of thesix Member Countries adopted resolu-tions, including hiring experts tostrengthen the team of the VBA Execu-tive Branch, and provide moreresources to fulfill its mission.

A mid-term review was conducted inAugust 2014, which validated theorientations of the project.

The next steps include a support tothe Strategic Plan and to the deci-sion-making support tool thataccompanies it, as well as to theWater Charter of the Volta Basin.

Charles A. BineyExecutive ManagerVolta Basin Authority (VBA)Fax: + 226 50376486 [email protected]

www.abv-volta.org

Capacity building of the Executive Branch


The Volta river


Target 2: Mobilization of professional know-how of Basin Organizations

Niger Basin Authority (NBA)

Flood control in the Niger Basin The project for support to the NigerBasin Authority (NBA) by the GermanInternational Cooperation Agency forDevelopment (GIZ) on flood controlends in early 2016.

The Deltares / UNESCO-IHE / IOWatergroup, in charge of the project imple-mentation, has carried out:

l Mapping of flood risk in the basinand in pilot zones (Niamey inNiger and Malanville in Benin);

l Development of a flood forecastingmodel;

l Improvement of hydrological datamanagement (Niger HYCOS);

l Improvement of the warning sys-tem.

Training courses are also provided bythe group to strengthen the abilities ofthe NBA teams.Abdoulaye KayaNiger Basin Authority (NBA)[email protected]

www.abn.ne

Flood risk in Niamey

Volta Basin Authority (VBA)

Started in 2012, the Volta BasinAuthority (VBA) Capacity BuildingProject for the implementation ofpriority actions of the 2010-2014Strategic Plan was completed in2015.

Coordinated by INBO, it received sup-port from the Water Facility of the Euro-pean Union, the French DevelopmentAgency, the Seine-Normandy andAdour-Garonne Water Agencies.

In April 2015, members of the VBACommittee of Experts and ExecutiveDirectorate undertook a working visit toFrance. The delegation got acquainted with theactivities of the Canal de ProvenceCompany (SCP), the National SpaceCenter (CNES), the Coteaux de Gascogne Development Company(CACG), and IOWater’s National WaterTraining Center (NWTC) and NationalWater Information and DocumentationCenter (CNIDE) in Limoges.A study was made of the future WaterCharter to prepare arguments for thestakeholders. An information leafletwas published.

A closing workshop was organizedby VBA and INBO in Ouagadougouin April 2015.

It gathered representatives of ripariancountries of the Volta, of the VBA Exe-cutive Directorate, and of its partners.

The workshop allowed discussing thepreparation of the Water Charter andMaster Plan, two major products thatVBA will develop in the coming years.

www.abv-volta.org

Towards a Master Plan and a Water Charter

Volta HYCOS The Volta Basin Authority (VBA) hasreceived funding from the African WaterFacility, hosted by the African Develop-ment Bank, and support from the Inter-national Union for Conservation ofNature / Swedish International Deve-lopment Agency (IUCN / SIDA) throughthe implementation of the VoltaHYCOS Project.

This support includes a training com-ponent made of five modules:

l Use of satellite data for IWRM,

l Gauging with Acoustic DopplerCurrent Prolfiler (ADCP) and reel,

l Data management by Hydrometsoftware,

l Hydrological modeling and floodforecasting,

l Installation and Management ofData Collection Platforms.

These training courses were organizedat the AGRHYMET Regional Center inNiamey, between March and April2015 by the group AGRHYMET / CNR(National Company of the Rhone) /

IOWater, INBO Secretariat, supportedby the know-how of the IRD and inde-pendent consultants.

A total of 53 participants from thesix Member States and VBA Execu-tive Secretariat were trained usingsome appropriate educationalmaterials.

Visit of the NWTC by VBA delegation

acp euFacilité pour l’Eau


Target 2: Mobilization of professional know-how of Basin Organizations Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC)

The "conventional" Lake Chad Basin(i.e. hydrologically active) covering967,000 km2 is under the jurisdictionof the Lake Chad Basin Commis-sion (LCBC), which gathers six coun-tries (Cameroon, Central African Repu-blic, Libya, Niger, Nigeria and Chad).

The main challenge for LCBC is tocontribute to improving the qualityof life of people in the basin, whichpasses, among other things, bycontrolling the drying out of thelake and its tributaries.

It is necessary to ensure a sound use ofthe basin’s water resources, coordinateregional efforts and settle disputesrelating to the use of these resources.

LCBC, established in 1964, initiated aninstitutional reform in 2008.

In this context, the Conference ofHeads of State and Government adop-ted on 30 April 2012 the Water Char-ter of Lake Chad Basin.

Various projects are implemented byLCBC, including the "Lake ChadConservation Project - Contributionto the Development Strategy forthe Lake", funded by the FrenchGlobal Environment Facility(FFEM).

This project which started in 2012 isplanned for a 3-year period and hasthree components entrusted, amongothers, to the Research Institute forDevelopment (components 1 and 2)and the International Office for Water,INBO Secretariat, (component 3):

➊ Component 1: Summary of know-ledge and definition of manage-ment constraints;

➋ Component 2: Reliability of thehydrological model;

➌ Component 3: Support for theentry into force of the Water Char-ter and strengthening relationswith other African basin organiza-tions.

Component 3 should allow:

l The implementation of the WaterCharter through its ratification byall the Member States and prepa-ration of appendices;

l The signing of the United NationsConvention of 21 May 1997 on theLaw on the use of internationalwatercourses for purposes otherthan navigation;

l The exchange of experience withbasin organizations of West andCentral Africa.

Four workshops for disseminating theCharter, which gathered parliamenta-rians, decision-makers, practitionersand water users, took place in Ndja-mena (January 2013), Niamey (March2013), Abuja (May 2013) and Yaoundé(December 2013).

These actions should allow strengthe-ning the legal and institutional frame-work of LCBC to ensure better integra-ted water resources management in thebasin. Dr. Moustapha NgaidoEnvironmental [email protected]

www.cblt.org

Conservation and development of Lake Chad

The LCBC workshop in Niamey in March 2013

The Water Charter of Lake ChadBasin was adopted in N'djamena on30 April 2012 by the 14th Summit ofHeads of State and Government ofthe Member States of Lake ChadBasin Commission.

The Charter comprises one hundredarticles and is supplemented by fiveappendices.

To ensure the operability of the Charter,the International Office for Water, INBOSecretariat, with funds from the FrenchFund for Global Environment(FFEM), has provided support to faci-

litate national workshops for the ratifi-cation of the Charter, for the drafting ofnew Terms of Reference of new annexesand exchanges with other Basin Orga-nizations in the region.

A sub-regional workshop to shareexperiences on transboundary watermanagement was held in Yaoundé(Cameroon), on 25 and 26 March2015.

This meeting allowed exchanges,including on obstacles to the imple-mentation of the Water Charters of theSenegal, Niger and Chad Basins.

A new Annex, on updating the mis-sions, the responsibilities and functio-ning of the Lake Chad Basin Commis-sion's bodies, is also being drafted withthe support of two regional legal advi-sers. Michel Dimbele-Kombe Director of the Basin ObservatoryLake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC)Fax: +235 252 41 [email protected]

www.cblt.org

Implementation of the Water Charter

The sub-regional workshop



Started in early 2012, the project forsupport to water resources manage-ment in the Congo River Basin, whichreceives funding from the EuropeanUnion and the Rhine-Meuse WaterAgency (AERM) ended in 2014.

For three years, training courseson operational hydrology havebeen organized for the NationalHydrological Services of the coun-tries of the International Congo-Ubangi-Sangha Basin Commission(CICOS), and support given for theestablishment of a Masterplan forWater Development and Manage-ment (SDAGE) through a participa-tory approach.

Several activities were organized in2014, especially exchanges about the”SDAGE’s” objectives and their appro-priation by Non-State stakeholders,with the support of IOWater, INBOSecretariat, Solidarity-Water Europeand ”Eau Vive”.

The CICOS representatives were alsoinvited by ”AERM” to take part in theRhine-Meuse Basin Committee.

The project-closing workshop, co-fun-ded by German Cooperation, whichtook place in November 2014, was

indeed the first meeting of the Regio-nal Consultative Hub established byCICOS for the ”SDAGE” implementa-tion. Damien BrunelCICOS [email protected]

www.cicos.info

Water Facility of the European Union: Project for helping CICOS


Participation in the AERMBasin Committee

Congo River Basin - CICOS

The International Commission ofthe Congo-Ubangi-Sangha Basin(CICOS), which was mandated by itsMember States to ensure sustainabledevelopment in the region through a fair and consistent water resourcesmanagement in the basin, has deve -loped a Master Plan for Water Development and Management(SDAGE).Given the hugeness of its basin (3.8 Mkm2) CICOS wanted to start theprocess of developing the ”SDAGE”on two fundamental bases:l Good ”SDAGE” ownership,

ensuring the participation of thebasin’s stakeholders and waterusers;

l The creation of a hydrologicalmodeling to better understand thefunctioning of the river basin andits possible resource allocations.

Two projects are going to help this ini-tiative:

l Project for support to waterresources management in theCongo River Basin, financed bythe European Union and mana-ged by IOWater, INBO Secretariat.This project includes a trainingcycle on operational hydrology forthe National Hydrological Services(NHS) and CICOS, and support tothe implementation of the partici-patory component of the”SDAGE”;

l Project for monitoring waterresources and prospects forthe Congo Basin, funded by theFrench Global EnvironmentFacility and managed by CICOS,with a technical assistance fromthe French Development Agency.

A component corresponds to the deve-lopment of a resources allocationmodel on the basin scale.These bases being completed by early2015, the ”SDAGE” then will be initia-ted with the objective of giving peoplewhat they really need.

In 2013, the International Commis-sion of the Congo-Ubangi-SanghaBasin (CICOS) carried out an audit ofits activities in Integrated WaterResources Management (IWRM) and ofits shipping activities. The mainconclusions are as follows:

CICOS made significant progress inrecent years and should continue toassert itself as a major stakeholder indevelopment in Central Africa, particu-larly through its IWRM mandate confer-red in 2007.

Although CICOS has developed itsStrategic Action Plan, it still lacks theprecise definition of a framework inwhich to place all its projects.

The Master Plan for Water Deve-lopment and Management shouldremedy this.

Without prejudging the decisions of the Ministers’ Committee, variousmeasures could be considered.

The General Secretariat should bestrengthened to aim for better imple-mentation of the mandate.

CICOS must be an active party in theimplementation of large transboundaryhydraulic structures. Besides the tech-nical aspects, it also has an institutio-nal role in this kind of project, along-side the Economic Commissions forRegional Integration (CEMAC andECCAS).

The recent accession of Gabon allowsthe definition of common specific acti-vities.

The integration of Angola would be anasset and would have significantconsequences for the institution, whichwould see its "center of gravity" movingto the south.

Regarding the internal financing of theinstitution, the current mechanismappears satisfactory. Fee mechanismswill be studied in the medium term,once the national IWRM processes aresufficiently advanced.

Institutional audit Towards the ”SDAGE”



Target 2: Mobilization of professional know-how of Basin Organizations Congo Basin - ”CICOS”

The International Congo-Ubangi-Sangha Basin Commission (CICOS)was established in 1999 by Cameroon,the Central African Republic, Congoand the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC).

Gabon and Angola joined the institu-tion later.

”CICOS”mandate is to promote inlandwaterway transport and develop waterresources in the basin.

The implementation of projects andprograms of ”CICOS” and of its Mem-ber States is supported by varioustechnical and financial partners.

To enhance the effectiveness of thissupport, a profile analysis of the part-ners operating in the sectors of inlandnavigation and water management wascarried out at national and regionallevels.

This study, financed by GermanCooperation (GIZ) and entrusted to

IOWater, INBO Secretariat, combined aliterature review, interviews with part-ners in each country and field investi-gations.

A comprehensive list of partners wasdeveloped, indicating the partners’position in relation to ”CICOS” and thenature of the projects implemented.

Based on the major trends thus obser-ved, a number of recommendations to”CICOS” for mobilizing funding wereestablished.Damien BrunelCICOS [email protected]

www.cicos.info

Cartography of partners of the International Congo-Ubangi-Sangha Basin Commission

The Congo River

Burkina Faso

After the adoption of the MouhounMaster Plan for Water Develop-ment and Management (SDAGE) inJuly 2014, year 2015 was devoted toaccompanying the Mouhoun WaterAgency (AEM), with the support ofthe French Adour-Garonne andSeine-Normandy Water Agencies,in the operational implementation ofthe ”SDAGE” and in strengthening itsdepartments and services with assi-gnments dealing with:

l Development of knowledge ofwater resources to support theWater Resources Department inthe definition of monitoring;

l Drafting of the ”AEM” Multi-YearAction Plan;

l Recovery of the Financial Contri-bution regarding water.

A pilot Water Police service was esta-blished in the Kou sub-basin.

A visit to France allowed the variousstakeholders to exchange on the diffi-culties encountered, to participate in aBasin Committee and work with theircounterparts on topics such as: com-munication, Programs of Measures andtheir funding.

Mouhoun Water Agency: Towards the implementation of the ”SDAGE”

Throughout 2015, the Nakanbe WaterAgency (AEN) continued its ”SDAGE”elaboration, with the support of theLoire-Brittany Water Agency(AELB), by adopting the NakanbeBasin assessment and working onBasin Development scenarios.

A training course for the members ofthe Basin Committee was organized asa side event of the Water AssessmentAdoption session.

As the White Volta is a transboundaryriver, an IWRM project was also startedwith the support of the AELB in the

downstream sub-basin of the WhiteVolta in Ghana.

The first phase of this project was com-pleted in 2015 with a three-day work -shop, led by IOWater, INBO Secretariat,and two experts from AELB, on thetopics of joint planning between Bur-kina Faso and Ghana and sustainablefinancing of basin agencies. A reportwas drafted on this occasion and theoutlines of the 2nd phase were drawn.

Integrated management of the Nakanbé in Burkina Fasoand the White Volta Basin in Ghana

The Nakanbe

The Mouhoun




SAVE THE DATE





Mono Basin Authority (MBA)On 30 December 2014, the Heads ofState and Government of Benin andTogo signed the draft Convention onthe Statutes of the Mono River whichcrosses both countries, creating theMono Basin Authority (MBA).

Alongside ECOWAS’ WaterResources Coordination Unit,IOWater and pS-Eau, the FrenchRhone Mediterranean CorsicaWater Agency (AERMC) is helpingthe gradual process of MBA esta-blishment.

The objectives are twofold:

l To assist in the successful imple-mentation of Integrated BasinManagement;

l To encourage the development ofcooperation on water and sanita-tion projects supported by theFrench local Authorities in thewhole basin.

A first pilot year allowed approachingthe central government, local authori-ties and civil society partners to iden-tify a set of needs and actions to betaken, both at transboundary level(MBA) and at national level in Togo andBenin: drafting of a Master Plan forWater Development and Management(SDAGE), establishment and structu-ring of Basin Committees and LocalWater Committees, thinking about theestablishment of funding mechanisms,strengthening the Information Systems,building of drinking water and sanita-

tion infrastructure and support to thegovernance of services.

The originality of the approach is basedon the relationship between the writingof planning documents, the program-ming and financing of short-termactions and the development of coope-ration projects on IWRM and access to

drinking water supply and sanitationservices.

The participation in July 2015 of theWater Resources Directors of Togo andBenin in two meetings of exchangesand information in France took placeunder this framework.

Working session at AERMC in Lyons


Target 2: Mobilization of professional know-how of Basin Organizations Chile

The Chilean Ministry of PublicWorks (MOP) - General Directorateof Water (DGA) - is working to deve-lop an Action Plan for improvingwater resources management.

It thus requested assistance from theWorld Bank to assess the situation andformulate a national strategy for impro-ving the institutional framework, with aparticular focus on the necessaryreforms.

The Chilean model is unique as all sur-face water resources are distributedamong the holders of water rights. Thetype of use is not specified and a market

for water rights, without State regulation,allows the resale of these rights betweenprivate operators and users.

Aiming for integrated water resourcesmanagement, having a strategic visionat basin level, promoting decentralizedand participatory management, preser-ving the environmental flow of a river,applying the user-pays principle, are allconcepts and challenges that remainvery difficult to achieve with the currentlegal and institutional framework.

www.mop.cl

The market of water rights and Integrated Water Resources Management

WORLD BANK

The Maipo River - Chile

Colombia

With the support of the French Adour-Garonne Water Agency, a coopera-tion program with the ColombianGovernment (2013-2015) focused on3 large lines of work:

➊ Support to the implementationof the National Policy on Inte-grated Water ResourcesManagement (NPIWRM) and tothe establishment of the firstStrategic Plan for the Magda-lena River Basin, the largest riverbasin of the country.

It also contributed to the organiza-tion of a ”Regional Environmen-tal Council” in the macro-basin.Financial tools were also studiedto facilitate the operational imple-mentation of the NPIWRM.

➋ Consolidation of the NationalWater Information System, ofwhich the Institute of Hydrology,Meteorology and EnvironmentalStudies of Colombia (IDEAM) is aleading technical member.

The program highlighted theimportance of the interoperabilityof databases and of the develop-ment of a language common to alldata producers.

➌ Pollution control, and more par-ticularly the consolidation/upda-ting of the decrees on the tax forwater use and sanitation and theorganization of industrial pollutioncontrol, topics that are respectivelydeveloped with the Ministry of theEnvironment and the RegionalEnvironmental Authority, the”CAR” of Cundinamarca.

Many working sessions led to technicalpresentations on IWRM tools in linewith the Colombian context, to trainingcourses, to the production of referencedocuments supporting the proposedguidelines. These sessions involvednearly 140 officials coming from 17 Colombian organizations.

During the assessment made in March2015, the Vice-Minister of the Environ-ment expressed his interest in conti-nuing this cooperation project, in thevery particular context of a possibleColombia’s integration into OECD.Mauricio BayonaWater Resources DepartmentMinistry of the Environment and Sustainable De-velopment (MADS)[email protected]

www.minambiente.gov.co

Lake Tota - Corpoboyaca Region

IWRM Assessment and prospects


Target 2: Mobilization of professional know-how of Basin Organizations Brazil

Triangular cooperation in Brazil The triangular cooperation pro-gram involving the Basin Commit-tees of the State of Rio Grande doSul in the far south of Brazil, theBasin Committee of the FrenchLoire-Brittany Water Agency andthe Inter-Municipal Consortium ofPiracicaba, Capivari and JundiaíBasins in the State of São Paulo,allowed the realization of manyactivities in 2015.

A reference document comparing thecurrent situation of water managementin the three regions concerned was draf-ted in French and Portuguese. It will bemade available online to the public inthe form of sheets.

Exchange workshops enabled membersof the Rio Grande do Sul Basin Commit-tees to think, using the experience of theLoire Brittany Water Agency, about thechallenges of articulating different plan-ning scales with the organization of sta-keholders to ensure the effective imple-mentation of the planned actions.

They participated in a technical visit inthe PCJ Basins and in the Rio de JaneiroState in order to know about the experi-ments of establishing Brazilian BasinAgencies and tax-aid mechanisms inthese two contrasting contexts.

This first phase of the triangular coope-ration was completed in December2015 with a working seminar on theestablishment of Basin Agencies in theRio Grande do Sul.

The region, regrouping the UruguayRiver tributaries is candidate for apilot experiment for establishing aBasin Agency in this State.

The presentation of detailed data on theearly years of operation of the FrenchAgencies, in the 1970s, strongly inte-rested Brazilian stakeholders facingsimilar issues to those encountered by

the pioneers of the French basin watermanagement system fifty years ago.

Following these positive results, a newphase of the triangular cooperation pro-gram has just started. Comparison ofexperiences in the development of BasinAgencies in different Brazilian Statesand in the Loire-Brittany Basin will bemade more thoroughly.

Technical visit to the rice grower cooperative at the São Marcos dam

Ecuador - ”SENAGUA”

The recent Constitution declares ”aright to water for all”, in which water isa strategic national heritage, for publicuse, unalienable, indefeasible, imper-ceptible and essential for life.

It also establishes a single ”WaterAuthority” for water resources planningand management: the NationalSecretariat for Water (SENAGUA)

is thus responsible for the implementa-tion of integrated water managementpolicies.

The new water law, enacted on 6 August 2014, structures the terri-tory into 9 River Basin Districts andplans the establishment of BasinCouncils.

Each district is managed by a decentra-lized division of ”SENAGUA”.

On the occasion of the French-Ecua -dorian Water Days in October 2014, the Adour-Garonne Water Agency(AEAG) and IOWater, INBO Secretariat,signed a cooperation agreement with ”SENAGUA” for the following:

l Establishment of a pilot BasinCouncil and organization of aninter-ministerial technical secreta-riat of this Basin Council;

l Methodological support to thedrafting of the Basin ManagementPlan;

l Participatory Review of the pro-gram funding mechanisms;

l Development of a Water Informa-tion and Data Management Sys-tem.

The assignments already carried out inthis context allowed:

l Interactive work with all partners ofthe ”National Strategic Water Sys-tem” to facilitate data exchange;

l Proposals for the training of stake-holders, widening the consultationcircle, organizing commissionsand working groups.

The strong political will and populationsupport are major assets for the coun-try and will facilitate achieving theobjectives of this cooperation.

Manabí pilot River Basin District

Zone de projet : province de Manabí

Project area: Manabi Province


Target 2: Mobilization of professional know-how of Basin Organizations Peru - National Water Authority

Under the institutional cooperationagreement signed in September2013 with the National WaterAuthority of Peru, the FrenchArtois-Picardy Water Agency isproviding support to a projectaiming to:

l Implement an ecological taxsystem (economic fees for waterabstraction and wastewater dis-charges);

l Develop Water ResourcesBasin Councils (CRHC) andManagement Plans.

The Chili River Basin was selectedas pilot area for this project.

Today, the implementation of eco-nomic fees in Peru is effective,based on the calculation methodrecommended in the World Bankstudy.

The amounts collected are growing,from 50 Million Sols (1 € = 3.5 sols)in 2012 to more than 100 million in2013.

The ”Cuenca del Chili” Basin Councilis operational and a first ManagementPlan is developed.

The mission of experts who went therecould identify the priorities of thiscooperation:

l Better structuring of their BasinCouncil (method for appointingmembers, internal rules ...);

l Development of a Technical Secre-tariat (embryo of a Water Agency);

l Limitation of informal activitieswithout a land license or withoutany authorization for water abstrac-tion / pollution;

l Public consultation and involve-ment of stakeholders.

The new 2015 cooperation phase plansto develop:

l A paper in Spanish on the BasinCommittee: statute, role, methodfor appointing members, opera-tion, thematic and geographicalworking groups;

l A paper and a poster on the econo-mic fee system and river basinmanagement in Peru;

l A study tour of a Peruvian delega-tion in France.

Géraldine [email protected]

www.eau-artois-picardie.fr

The World Bank supports ”ANA”The National Water Authority(ANA), established in 2008 andattached to the Ministry of Agricul-ture, has for mission to developpolicies and strategies for integra-ted water resources managementin Peru.

The field implementation of ”ANA’s”missions is relayed by three levels ofdecentralized organizations, accordingto a geographic distribution by majorriver basins:

l 14 Administrative Water Authori-ties (AAA);

l 72 Local Water Authorities (ALA);

l 17 Water Resources Basin Coun-cils (CRHC).

”AAAs” and ”ALAs” have more than900 staff members.

The main objective of the WorldBank study, in which the Internatio-nal Office for Water, INBO Secreta-riat, contributed, was to identify a

set of recommendations for ”ANA”to better fulfill its missions.

”ANA” needs to have adequate finan-cial resources, based, in particular, onthe new system of economic fees, thathas just been implemented in Peru.

www.ana.gob.pe

In Peru, there are now economic fees for water use!

WORLD BANK

AGENCE DE L EAUARTOIS . PICARDIE

The Chili River

Economic incentives for water use As part of this project funded by theWorld Bank and then by the Artois-Picardy Water Agency, the Interna-tional Office for Water, INBO Secre-tariat, advised ”ANA” for the imple-mentation of these financialmechanisms.

Thus, pragmatic elements were propo-sed for the implementation of the”user-pays” and ”polluter-pays” prin-ciples.

How to calculate economic incentives? What economic basis to justify them tofuture taxpayers?

Adjustments are now needed to answerthe following questions: What destina-tion for the levied amounts? In which financial circuits and what arethe eligibility criteria?

This is why the project will continuewith support from the Artois PicardyWater Agency for answering these newquestions.

www.ana.gob.pe


”EcoCuencas”Economic mechanisms to facilitate adaptation to climate change Over the past 25 years, great progresswas made in Integrated Water Resour -ces Management Policy (IWRM) inLatin American basins.

However, the theme of adaptation toclimate change is worth pursuing,while the countries in the regionalready know its effects.

Continuing the baseline scenariowould lead to serious conse-quences, with high economic,social and environmental costs.

Faced with these challenges and toenable the use of a widest range ofpossible resources, it is necessary toespecially develop economic manage-ment tools in basins.

Indeed, building resilience to climatechange goes through securing thefinancing of Basin Management Plans,and thus the establishment of financialredistribution mechanisms.

In such a context and under its”WATERCLIMA LAC” program, theEuropean Commission selected the”EcoCuencas project”, coordinatedby IOWater, INBO Secretariat, inDecember 2014.

Activities are planned over 3 years andhave a budget of € 2.5 million finan-ced at about 75% by the EuropeanUnion and by counterparts from thenine European and Latin Americanpartners, to promote the develop-ment of financial mechanisms forclimate change adaptation.

The project plans to design and deve-lop financial tools (fees, payments forenvironmental services, etc.) in threestrategic pilot basins that illustrate thediversity of cases encountered on thecontinent:

l The Brazilian ”PiracicabaCapi vari Jundiaí” basin (PCJ),in the States of São Paulo andMinas Gerais, which are experien-cing a historic drought;

l The ”Chira-Catamayo” Basin,located between Peru and Ecuador,underlines the challenges ofmanaging shared resources in atransboundary context;

l The Colombian Basin of the”Rio Grande II” dam reservoirthat supplies drinking water toMedellin.

The project includes four steps:

➊ An inventory of the effects ofclimate change on basin waterresources, taking into accountexisting institutional responses;

➋ The publication of a guide ofgood practices;

➌ The implementation of mea-sures recommended in the threepilot basins;

➍ The dissemination of the les-sons learned during thesestages.

This project is based on the logic ofexperience sharing from the local levelto the intercontinental level, with aconcern of appropriation and sustaina-bility.www.aquacoope.org/ecocuencas

EcoEcoCuencasCuencas


Workshop "EcoCuencas" in Thessaloniki

!"#$%&'(")&*'"#$+,-./01").&#$2$1)$%'/3"($41*$&##/.*"$+"15$./)(*)")(#$$EcoCuencas's partners: a project that involves two continents


Target 2: Mobilization of professional know-how of Basin Organizations Mekong River Basin

Sediment dynamics is an essentialprocess of river balance, and the-refore a key issue in the manage-ment of large rivers such as theMekong.

A program for the measurement offlows and sediment transport (Dis-charge and Sediment Monitoring Pro-ject) was funded by the French Fundfor Global Environment (FFEM).

This project has received fundsamounting to € 800,000 for a 3-yearperiod (2012-2014) and is usuallyintegrated into the ”Information and

Knowledge Management Program” ofthe Mekong River Commission(MRC), also supported by other part-ners.

The MRC asked two experts fromIOWater, INBO Secretariat, and IRSTEAto evaluate the project results.

This assessment was based on manyproject reports provided by the MRCand on a visit made to the main partiesinvolved in this program: MRC centersin Vientiane, Phnom Penh, Ho Chi MinhCity and WWF.

The evaluation showed that this pro-gram has contributed much in terms oftraining of the field teams and quality ofthe measurements made, even if itappears that some national agenciesstill lack financial resources.

www.mrcmekong.org

Evaluation of the sediment monitoring project

Hydrological Monitoring Stations in the downstream Mekong River Basin

Mekong River Commission

Cambodia

The second phase of this projectaims to improve Water ResourcesGovernance in the Stung Sen RiverBasin, main tributary of Lake TonleSap, with the support of the Loire-Brittany and Rhine-Meuse WaterAgencies.

The results of the first phase (2012-2014) were very encouraging and hel-ped the Cambodian Administration,including the Tonle Sap Authority(TSA) and the Ministry of WaterResources and Meteorology(MOWRAM), to make great progressin the field of Integrated WaterResources Management in the basin.

At national level, the sub-decree detai-ling procedures for the planning andimplementation of a water resourcesmanagement policy in basins wasapproved by the Council of Ministers inJuly 2015 and especially gives a fra-mework for the official establishment ofBasin Committees.

At the level of the Stung Sen River pilotBasin, the training of local representa-tives, selected to be part of the StungSen Basin Committee, and of theTSA and MOWRAM team continues inthe stages of the planning process:

l Definition of goals for the BasinManagement Plan;

l Establishment of the first Pro-gram of Measures;

l Cost estimates and potentialfunding sources;

l Articulation between differentplanning levels: local, riverbasin district and national;

l Role of the various stakehol-ders.

Field trips are also organized with localrepresentatives from the entire basin toraise their awareness of the variousproblems encountered in urban andrural areas.

The finalization of the planning processwill lead, in late 2016, to the first ver-sion of the Basin Management Planand Program of Measures to beimplemented in the Stung Sen Basin.

As the first phase allowed collecting alarge number of data and identifyingvarious sources of information, regu-larly updated by the partner services,

the TSA wants now to develop its inter-nal capacity to manage and make thebest use of these data to produce syn-thetic information needed for decision-making and public information.

Thus the development of newlayers in the Geographic Informa-tion System and the integration ofthe existing data into the data-bases are under way. This alreadyallows:

l Facilitating statistical analysis andonline visualization of hydrologicaldata;

l Developing comparative analysesof data provided by radar imagerywith field data;

l Studying possibilities of analysisfor each sub basin.

Puy LimTonle Sap AuthorityMinistry of Water Resources and Meteorology(MOWRAM)[email protected]

www.tonlesap.gov.kh

Stung Sen Basin pilot Project

Dried tributary of the Stung Chinit



Myanmar

Launching of institutional cooperationA cooperation program has started inMyanmar with the Ministries of Envi-ronmental Conservation and Forestry(MOECAF) and Transport (MOT) withthe support of the French Loire-Brit-tany Water Agency.Strictly speaking, there is currently nowater law in Myanmar, but a NationalPolicy for Water Resources waspromulgated in February 2014.The Ministry of Transport takes care ofthe Secretariat of the National WaterResources Committee.

Basin management experiences mainlyfocused on the Irrawaddy River Basinand its navigability (MOT), and on theInle Lake Basin and its environmentalconservation (MOECAF). Exchanges with both Ministries allo-wed confirming the willingness ofstrengthening Integrated WaterResources Management Policy, whiletesting control and incentive tools forwater uses, the mobilization of ad hocfunding to carry out the action plan andthe development of a genuine monito-ring tool for following up public policyand of an indicator / management chartsystem.

Fisherman on the Inlé Lake

Transposition of the results from the Nam Ngum pilot BasinPhase 2 of the integrated Nam Ngumpilot basin management project wascompleted in October 2015.

With support from the Loire Brit-tany and Rhine-Meuse WaterAgencies, this phase 2 consisted indrafting a guidance documentrecording information on the toolsand methods acquired during theproject and their application to theLaotian context.

The guidance document is composedof 9 ”action sheets” that aim at thepractical implementation of the Natio-nal Strategy for Water ResourcesManagement (2012 - 2020).

The technical missions organized in2015 helped to develop the actionsheets linked to three strategic lines ofwork for the completion of the project:

l Definition of the organizational fra-mework for the drafting of a stra-tegy for each basin;

l Development of an operationalWater Information System;

l Organization of data managementto supply information on the basinstatus.

These lines of work were discussed bya panel of national and regional stake-holders in seminars organized in Marchand September 2015 in Vientiane.

The third phase of the project (2016-2017) aims to continue supporting theLaotian Authorities in the extrapolationto the whole country of the basin mana-gement mechanisms, successfully tes-ted in the Nam Ngum pilot Basin.

The presence of an International Volun-teer, based in Vientiane (2016) then inPhnom Penh (2017), will ensure conti-nuity of action through a permanentand direct follow-up of the project forthe local and national beneficiaries.

Chanthanet BoualaphaMinistry of Water Resources and the [email protected]

www.monre.gov.la

Laos

Workshop on Knowledge Management for river basin planning13 March 2015 - Vientiane


Target 2: Mobilization of professional know-how of Basin Organizations Vietnam

Second phase of the Dong Nai Basin pilot projectThe first phase of Dong Nai pilot pro-ject, developed under a cooperationagreement, signed in June 2007 by theFrench and Vietnamese Ministers forthe environment, has strengthened theinstitutional framework for the conser-vation of water resources in Vietnameseriver basins.An assessment carried out in Novem-ber 2012 noted significant progressmade (new Vietnamese Water Act pas-sed in June 2012, decree establishingriver basin organizations being draf-ted), and paved the way for the prepara-tion of a second phase of the project

funded by the French Loire-BrittanyWater Agency.A kick-off seminar launching thesecond phase of the project was held inHo Chi Minh City on 31 October 2013in the presence of Dr. Lai, VietnameseVice-Minister of Water Resources, Mr.Jacques Oudin, honorary Senator andMember of the Loire-Brittany BasinCommittee, as well as by the Directorof the Loire-Brittany Water Agency, Mr. Noël Mathieu.This seminar was an opportunity togather the approached members of theDong Nai Basin Committee.

The second phase of the project isarticulated around three compo-nents:l Establishment of an operatio-

nal Basin Committee;

l Preparation of the Dong NaiManagement Plan;

l Training in France for the tech-nical team in charge of suppor-ting the Dong Nai Basin Com-mittee.

M. Le Huu ThuanDeputy Director GeneralDepartment of Water Resources ManagementMinistry of Natural Resources and [email protected]

www.monre.gov.vn

Kick-off seminar of October 2013

The development of the second phase(2013-2015) of the Dong Nai project,initiated by IOWater, INBO Secretariat,with the support of the French Loire-Brittany Water Agency, has conti-nued cooperation with the VietnameseAuthorities. This Phase 2 focused on the training ofstakeholders involved in sustainablewater resources management and sup-ported partners to build strong institu-tional and legal bases for the develop-ment of Integrated Water ResourcesManagement in Vietnamese Basins.A circular, dealing with the waterresources planning method, was drafted by the Department of WaterResources Management of the Ministry(DWRM-MONRE) and the NationalCenter for Water Resources Planning &Investigation (NAWAPI).

It specifies the nature of basin planningand the strategy for the development of10-year plans with revision every fiveyears, jointly with the SocioeconomicPlan of the Ministry of Planning andInvestment.The new legislative context involves thedrafting of River Basin ManagementPlans in 3 large areas of northern, cen-tral and southern Vietnam. Eleven priority Basin Plans shouldbe developed by 2020, includingthe Dong Nai. This action should be accompanied bythe strengthening and structuring ofregional teams for water resourcesmanagement. These teams have youngand proficient staffs.

A training session on ”Water ResourcesPlanning: Processes and Practices”was organized for them in October2015 in Hanoi as part of VACI (VietnamwAter Cooperation Initiative). At the end of this 2-day training pro-gram, a training certificate was handedto the 60 participants attesting theacquisition of specific skills in waterresources planning.

M. Le Huu ThuanDeputy Director GeneralDepartment of Water Resources ManagementMinistry of Natural Resources and the [email protected]

www.monre.gov.vn

Training course

Towards the implementation of the new water policy


Moldova

More than twenty years after the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Republic ofMoldova is still facing considerablechallenges.

For more than 13 years, SwissCooperation has supported thedevelopment of innovative anddecentralized water supply andsanitation services.

Thanks to this help, access to drinkingwater was improved for more than40.000 people in Moldova.

In this context, the International Officefor Water (IOWater), INBO Secretariat,was selected by the Swiss CooperationOffice in Moldova (SDC/SCO-M), incollaboration with the Coordination

Office for Technical Cooperation of theAustrian Embassy (ADA), in order toconduct an in-depth analysis of thesituation and present recommenda-tions for action focusing on:

l Developing a water informationmanagement system, that pro-vides complete and reliable data tothe e-governance platform;

l Promoting integrated waterresources management, ac -cording to the provisions of thenew water law;

l Organizing capacity buildingand training, aimed at imple-mentation of a newly adjustedregulatory framework on watersupply and sanitation.

Two French and 2 Austrian experts realized a first mission between 14 and 20 September 2014, in order toanalyze the situation and identify thepriority needs and concrete actions thatcould be implemented in the comingyears with SDC and ADA support onthese 3 topics.

The mission report was presented anddiscussed during a national workshoporganized on 22 October 2014 in Chi-sinau.

Analysis of priority options for water governance


www.inbo-news.org


www.inbo-news.org


Central Asia

Switzerland is committed in a newprogram (2014-2020) for regionalwater resources management inCentral Asia.

This new program includes:

n The strengthening of IntegratedWater Resource Management(IWRM);

n The development of a Water Infor-mation System (WIS);

n The improvement of water mana-gement for irrigation (PPI);

n The training and capacity buildingof partners.

Under a Memorandum of Understan-ding between IOWater, INBO Secreta-riat, and the IMoMo consortium, theSwiss Cooperation Agency (SDC) sup-ported a joint mission of experts, car-ried out in November 2013, to specifyan Action Plan for 2014 to developmonitoring and automated dataexchange between the partners invol-ved in Kyrgyzstan.

In a transboundary pilot basin, thisAction Plan includes the definition of afirst hydrological frame of references(with codification of basins, rivers,lakes and canals) to develop interope-rability and facilitate the exchange of

water data between riparian countries.This frame of references can later beextended to the regional level.

www.aquacoope.org/sdc-ca

The Swiss Cooperation Agency is supporting water management in Central Asia



Nouveau Mécanisme d’Evaluation par les Pairs : ”Peer-Review Mechanism” The consortium formed by theInternational Office for Water(France-leader partner), the Natio-nal Institute of Hydrology andWater Management (Romania) andthe Mediterranean Network ofBasin Organization Secretariat(Spain), is implementing the PeerReview Mechanism and takingcare of its secretariat.

This project responds to the observa-tions collected in the assessmentmade by the European Commission ofthe first 2009-2015 River Basin Mana-gement Plans across Europe. It hasshown important differences betweenthe EU Member States.

To better share the experience of thepractitioners in charge of participativeriver basin management planning intheir own country, the objective of theproject is to set up and run a simple,voluntary and targeted system to allowmutual learning between peers aboutWFD implementation.

Following the first call launched at thebeginning of 2015, 16 ReceivingCompetent Authorities (RCAs) fromRiver Basin Districts located in 11 EU Countries (Denmark, Estonia,Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg,Malta, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden) expressed their interest inhaving answers to some problemsencountered in the implementation oftheir River Basin Management Planfrom their colleagues in other MemberStates.

The Peer Review missions started inAugust 2015 and will continue untilspring 2016.

In parallel, over 60 experts from 15 Member States have registered sofar as candidates to carry out reviewsby sending their Europass CV and profile form to the secretariat.

To join the community for mutualsupport on WFD implementation,please contact us:

[email protected]

Consult the project website:

www.aquacoope.org/peer.review

Water Framework Directive

DG ENVIRONNEMENT

DG Environment

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Localization of the Europeanexperts

”EUROPE-INBO 2016”For the implementation

of the European Water Directives

Lourdes - France19 - 22 October 2016

To participate, please register:www.inbo-news.org

”EUROPE-INBO 2016”: the ”Cirque de Gavarnie” upstream of Lourdes


Plan for Action and PartnershipTarget 3: Synthesis and dissemination of available knowledge and know-how

On 4 June 2015, Ministers fromOECD’s 34 member countriesbacked 12 OECD Principles onWater Governance, and encoura-ged governments to put them intoaction.

Meeting current and future water chal-lenges requires robust public policiestargeting measurable objectives in pre-determined time-schedules at theappropriate scale, relying on clear assi-gnment of duties across responsibleauthorities and subject to regularmonitoring and evaluation.

The Principles provide a framework toassess whether water-related institu-tions perform optimally, learning frominternational experience, but also toseek to catalyse reform processes thatcan help adjust where need be.

The Principles were developed using amulti-stakeholder approach within theOECD Water Governance Initiative, ofwhich INBO is a co-founder.

The Principles were endorsed by agreat number of public, private andnon-profit organizations at the 7th WorldWater Forum in April 2015 in SouthKorea.

These Principles were translatedinto 15 languages.

To support the implementation of thePrinciples, next steps include collec-ting evidence and good practices atlocal, basin, and national levels anddeveloping a set of indicators on gover-nance that can help better measure thestate of play of water-related institu-tions at different levels.

INBO will contribute to best practiceidentification and indicator develop-ment in relation to the Principle 2:”Manage water at the appropriatescale(s)”. Delphine ClavreulWater Governance ProgramDivision of Regional Development [email protected]

www.ocde.org

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

OECD Principles on Water Governance

Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial Development

Welcomed by Ministers at the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting on 4 June 2015

The 12 OECD Principles on Water Governance:

EFFECTIVENESS

Principle 1: Distinguish roles andresponsibilities for water policyma-king, policy implementation, operatio-nal management and regulation, andfoster coordination across these res-ponsible authorities.

Principle 2: Manage water at theappropriate scale(s) within integratedbasin governance systems to reflectlocal conditions, and foster coordina-tion between the different scales.

Principle 3: Encourage policy cohe-rence through effective cross-sectoralcoordination, especially between poli-cies for water and the environment,health, energy, agriculture, industry,spatial planning and land use.

Principle 4: Adapt the level of capa-city of responsible authorities to thecomplexity of water challenges to bemet, and to the set of competenciesrequired to carry out their duties.

EFFICIENCY

Principle 5: Produce, update, andshare timely, consistent, comparableand policy-relevant water and water-related data and information, and useit to guide, assess and improve waterpolicy.

Principle 6: Ensure that governancearrangements help mobilize waterfinance and allocate financialresources in an efficient, transparentand timely manner.

Principle 7: Ensure that sound watermanagement regulatory frameworksare effectively implemented and enfor-ced in pursuit of the public interest.

Principle 8: Promote the adoptionand implementation of innovativewater governance practices acrossresponsible authorities, levels ofgovernment and relevant stakehol-ders.

TRUST & ENGAGEMENT

Principle 9: Mainstream integrity andtransparency practices across waterpolicies, water institutions and watergovernance frameworks for greateraccountability and trust in decision-making.

Principle 10: Promote stakeholderengagement for informed and out-come-oriented contributions to waterpolicy design and implementation.

Principle 11: Encourage water gover-nance frameworks that help managetrade-offs across water users, ruraland urban areas, and generations.

Principle 12: Promote regular moni-toring and evaluation of water policyand governance where appropriate,share the results with the public andmake adjustments when needed.

You can download the OECD Prin-ciples on Water Governance in alllanguages available at:

www.oecd.org/fr/gouvernance/principesdelocdesurlagouvernan-cedeleau.htm

Overview of OECD Principles on Water Governance

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Target 3: Synthesis and dissemination of available knowledge and know-how

Congo River Basin - CICOS

From 10 to 12 No vember 2014, theworkshop on the establishment of theCongo River Basin’s Regional Dia-logue Platform was held in Brazzaville(Congo) and jointly funded by theEuropean Union, the Rhine-MeuseWater Agency and German Coopera-tion.

About one hundred participants fromCameroon, Central African Republic,Congo, Democratic Republic of Congoand Gabon contributed by their activepresence in the success of this work -shop, facilitated by the InternationalOffice for Water, INBO Secretariat, Soli-darity Water Europe and ”Eau Vive”.

The establishment of this RegionalPlatform is essential to enable, throughlinks with the International Commis-sion of the Congo-Ubangui-SanghaBasin (CICOS), the development ofthe Master Plan for Water Develop-ment and Management (SDAGE) ofthe Congo River Basin.

But this ”SDAGE” must also rely on astrong involvement of the basin’s usersand populations. Integrated and soundmanagement of the Congo Rivershould be the key to a prosperity sha-red by these populations.

This principle is the origin of the”Prosper'eau” game, which hasbeen tested with the participants of theworkshop.

A ”Prosper'eau” session proposes tothe participants to split into threegroups (Populations, Politicians andProviders). Starting from a ”water”challenge for the basin (building of adam, diminishing fish resources, cli-mate change...) each group plays itscards and then draw, on the gameboard, solutions ... or oppositions.

CICOS, the fourth player, acts as facili-tator. Raymond JostSolidarity Water [email protected]

www.see-swe.org

”Prosper’eau”: a game to raise awareness on IWRM

Good practices in Basin Management

The document ”Assessment of theexperiences of transboundarybasin organizations - Good prac-tices and recommendations” waspresented and discussed at anexchange workshop, held in Oua-gadougou (Burkina Faso) inNovember 2013.

The African partner institutions are thebasin organizations of the Senegal(OMVS), Niger (NBA), Congo (CICOS)and Volta Rivers (VBA) and the Water

Resources Coordination Center(WRCC) of the Economic Communityof West African States (ECOWAS).

This assessment is built around prac-tices related to four key topics:

l Governance;

l Search for autonomous and sustai-nable financing;

l Strategic planning and implemen-tation actions;

l Optimization of monitoring.

The workshop gathered the concernedorganizations, the French Develop-ment Agency (AFD), which financesprojects in these organizations, theAfrican Network of Basin Organiza-tions (ANBO) and IOWater, INBOSecretariat.

The objective was to exchange andcapitalize on best practices based onthe assessment document, which wasamended at the end of the meeting.

An electronic forum on monitoring wasalso held in September 2012.

Finally, many documents relating to thefour topics will be available soon onthe African Water Information Sys-tem (AWIS) website, managed byANBO.

Frédéric MaurelWater - Sanitation Project ManagerFrench Development [email protected]

www.afd.fr

Assessment of the experiences of five African organizations

Workshop in Ouagadougou - Burkina Faso - November 2013



International Conference on Drinking Water Source Protection

The Regrouping of the River BasinOrganizations of Quebec (ROBVQ) isorganizing the 4th InternationalForum on Integrated Water Mana-gement, to be held in Quebec Cityfrom November 1st to 3rd, 2016.

It will address the water source protec-tion issue.

The conference will address topicssuch as assessment and monitoring ofwater sources, risk management and

emergency measures, protectionmeasures, governance and land useplanning.

This international conference is orga-nized in partnership with the LavalUniversity and the St-François RiverBasin Organization (COGESAF).

http://rv-eau.ca

4eé dition

4 e dition th

Third International Conference on Integrated Water Management

River Basin Organizations (RBOs)in Quebec now have an online toolto access to the appropriate muni-cipal practices in water manage-ment implemented throughoutQuebec!

Municipalities and waterresources management

Over the years, the laws, regulationsand policies for water managementhave multiplied in Quebec and gavegreat responsibilities to County Regio-nal Municipalities (CRM) and the othermunicipalities of the Province.

Municipal stakeholders innovate moreand more to fulfill their legal obliga-tions. In such a context, an onlinedirectory of Quebec good municipalpractices in water management wasdeveloped, the ”Répert'EAU” (WATERDirectory)!

Disseminating examples!

The ”Répert'EAU” provides practicalsolutions to existing problems, itcreates an active community linked bythe sharing of best practices and facili-tates collaboration among water stake-holders to diminish the costs of projectimplementation.

Experience sheets of the ”Répert'EAU”include a project summary and budget,photos, challenges, partners, a spacefor comments, etc. Some of whichwere carried out in partnership withRiver Basin Organizations (RBOs), thusdemonstrating that the missions ofthese organizations are complementaryto those of municipalities.

You can subscribe to an email alert tostay informed about the practicesadded.

The platform was launched on 17 Octo-ber. Good practices are already onlineand more will be added later on, someof which were carried out in partnershipwith RBOs, thus demonstrating that themissions of these organizations arecomplementary to those of municipali-ties.

The directory is available on the Web-site and videos were produced forsome good practices.

You can find them on the YouTubechannel of the Quebec RBOs at:

www.youtube.com/user/lesobvdu-quebecCatherine Ferland BlanchetProject ManagerROBVQ [email protected]

www.robvq.qc.ca

www.reperteau.info

”Répert’EAU”: good practices used in Quebec for water management!


China

The PIANO (Policies, InnovationAnd Networks for enhancing Oppor-tunities for China-Europe WaterCooperation) project won a call forproposals of the European FrameworkProgram for Research for 2020 (2014-2020), which aimed at promoting stra-tegic cooperation partnerships forresearch and innovation betweenEurope and the rest of the world.

It focuses on the development of busi-ness opportunities and cooperation inresearch and innovation betweenEurope and China.

The project inception workshop washeld on 9 April 2015 in Brussels.

The six components of the project werepresented on this occasion. The coor-dinators of each component are:

l International Office for Water, INBOSecretariat,

l Technical University of Denmark,(DTU);

l University of Natural Resourcesand Life Sciences, Vienna -(BOKU), for two components;

l Stockholm International Water Ins-titute, (SIWI);

l Institute for Environmental Protec-tion and Research, (ISPRA).

Among other project partners, there arethe Atkins consulting firm, the NationalLaboratory of Civil Engineering (Portu-gal), the European Water Association(EWA) and the Chamber of Commerceof the European Union in China.

The first component aims at increasingResearch and Innovation in the China-Europe Water Platform (CEWP) bydeveloping the mapping and analysisof stakeholders’ networks and existingoutstanding innovation projects.

European and Chinese social and pro-fessional networks (Twitter, LinkedIn,Facebook, Weibo) will contribute to thefacilitation and visibility of the project.

Case studies of innovative Europeantechnologies in the water sector willalso be presented.

www.project-piano.net

The China-Europe Water Platform


The ”Blue Passport”for basins’ citizensThe "Blue Passport" is a joint ini-tiative of the International Secre-tariat for Water (ISW) and theInternational Network of BasinOrganizations (INBO).

The "Blue Passport" aims to giverecognition to the citizen involvementin water protection, use, conservationand management. It allows interestedbasin organizations, which wouldwish so, to enhance local, individual

and/or collective civic action, for thepreservation of water resources in theirriver basin.

It aims to increase the sense ofbelonging to the community ofpeople of a basin, by recalling thattheir identity is not just that of theircountry of origin but also that of thelocal river basin where they live.

It helps give recognition of their actionto those who are involved in their riverbasin bodies.

Application form for a ”Blue Passport”and information:

www.sie-isw.org/fr/passeport



In the context of European work on”Science-Policy-Society Inter-face”, the Water RtoM - WaterResearch to Market - project finan-ced by the LIFE+ Program (2010-2013), aims to accelerate thetransfer of water research resultsto the Market and improve theResearchers-Users dialogue.

IOWater, project coordinator, theGdansk Water Foundation (Poland),Amphos 21 (Spain), the RomanianWater Association (Romania) and aCommittee of experts have developed astrategy divided into three compo-nents:

l identifying innovative pro-ducts,

l assessing them, quickly at firstvia the ReMAS (Research to Mar-ket Assessment Strategy) tool andthen in more details by specifying,in a language understood by thewater professionals, the missingsteps to make these products ope-rational and marketable,

l promoting them, free ofcharge, via the Web e-fair tool, e-seminars or professional meetings.

The Water RtoM strategy has beensuccessful for 12 research resultsthat have attracted the attention ofprofessionals.

A good practice guide also pro-vides tools to improve the Resear-chers-Users dialogue.

It describes:

n A toolbox to facilitate the disse-mination and promotion of re -search results to the market,

n 10 good practices to improve the"science-society-users" interface,based on the Water RtoM expe-rience

n Some recommendations.The Guide is intended, on the onehand, for water practitioners, basinorganizations, water administrations,municipal water utilities, technologyproviders, as well as for researchers,research donors, technology transferinstitutions.

Convinced of the importance and effi-ciency of such a strategy, the partnerspropose to capitalize the Water RtoMtools and strategy through a permanent”service”.

This service would provide individualsupport to researchers in their strategyfor dissemination of their results, sup-port to research planners by providingin particular an analysis of the distanceto the market for the results of fundedprojects, support to SMEs throughcompetitive clusters or SME networksby providing a watch on research pro-ducts tailored to their needs.

The major difficulty, revealed by themarket study carried out at the end ofthe project, is that, although the res-pondents (researchers, donors andusers) are very interested, they are notwilling to pay for such a service or can-not afford to do so.

The proposed Water RtoM service isin the making ... to see what it becomesin the future. Water [email protected]

www.waterrtom.eu

European Union - Water Research to Market

From Research to Market...

Water Research to Market Guidelines to speed-up the transferof water related research outputs to better implement the Water Directives.

w w w . w a t e r r t o m . e u

The consortium of the EuropeanWaterDiss2.0 project organized, on 2 and 3 December 2013 in Barcelona,its final conference entitled ”Defini-tion of the best strategies to trans-fer research: exchange of Euro-pean ideas, methods and tools”.

In the water sector, sharing researchresults between researchers and usersis a slow and incomplete process: theestimated time for transferring researchbefore integration into public policy,production of new products or services,is often more than 10 years.

During the past three years, the Water-Diss2.0 project partners worked with alarge number of beneficiaries of EUfunding. They defined and testednew strategies to transfer waterresearch to end users.

The final conference of Barcelona pre-sented the whole work and obtainedresults through operational and practi-cal examples.

The conference addressed the follo-wing main questions:

l Why the transfer time of waterresearch is currently more than 10years?

l Why is it so important to developspecific and adaptive strategies fordissemination?

l What are the responsibilities andrespective roles of water mana-gers, scientists and stakeholdersin this transfer?

l Are transfer tools and methodslikely to stimulate innovation?

l What are the actions to be taken bydonors to optimize the quick use ofresearch results on water?

”WaterDiss”[email protected]

www.waterdiss.eu

Better strategies to transfer research results in Europe

WaterDiss

WaterDiss2.0 final workshop – Working group facilitatedby G. Nion (IOWater) and J. Brils (DELTARES)

WaterDiss


Target 3: Synthesis and dissemination of available knowledge and know-howEuropean Union - Final Conference of the IWRM-net SCP project

The six research projects on inte-grated water resources manage-ment funded in 2009 by the Euro-pean IWRM-Net consortium arenow complete!

The final conference was held on 21 -22 October in Brussels at the Delega-tion of the High Council of ScientificResearch (CSIC) and was attended byabout sixty participants.

Water scarcity management, adaptationto climate change, valuation of ecosys-tem services, water markets..., resear-chers, policy-makers and managers ofwater resources and aquatic environ-ments were invited to discuss the mainresults of the projects and their impli-cations for public action around twothematic sessions:

l Management of water resour -ces and aquatic environments:innovative solutions for adap-ting to climate change;

l Socioeconomic aspects of themanagement of water resour -ces and aquatic environments.

The summary of this conference isavailable online at:

www.iwrm-net.eu

Impacts of climate change on water resources management: regional strategies and European viewDE (Department of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management & CESR: Center for Environmental Systems Research, Univ. of Kassel) - FR (IRSTEA, EPTB Seine Grands Lacs) - IT (Mediterranean Agronomic Instituteof Bari)

Developing an integrated model to predict abiotic habitat conditions and biota of rivers for application in climate change research and water managementDE (IGB: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, UDE: Univ. of Duisburg-Essen - Dep’t of Aquatic Ecology, CAU: Christian-Albrechts Univ. - Dep’t of Hydrology and Water Resources Management) -PT (CCMar: Centre of Marine Sciences - Univ. of Algarve) - FR (Univ. Paul Sabatier - ECOLAB)

IWRM for Climate Change Adaptation in Rural Social Ecosystems in Southern EuropeIT (CMCC: Euro-Med. Centre of Climate Change) - PT (EIA: Ensino, Investigação e Administração S.A., AtlânticaUniv.) - SP (Univ. Politécnica de Valencia)

Utilizing the Ecosyst. Services Approach for Water Framework Directive Implementation FR (Asconit Consultants, Credoc: Centre de Recherche pour l’Etude et l’Observation des Conditions de vie) -PT (IMAR: Instituto do Mar) - DE (Seeconsult, InterSus Sustainability Services)

WATER-2-ADAPT: Resilience enhancement and water demand management forclimate change adaptationIT (FEEM: Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei) – SP (BC3: Basque Centre for Climate Change) - DE (Seeconsult: Society-Economy-Ecology-Consulting, CALS: Chamber of Agriculture of Lower Saxony)

Water markets scenarios for southern Europe: New solutions for coping with water scarcity and drought riskFR FR (BRGM, ACTéon, IRSTEA) - IT (DipSA: Depmt of Agricultural Sciences, Univ. of Bologna) - SP (UPM: Univ.Politécnica de Madrid, UCO: Univ. de Cordoba)

Following the ”Blueprint” publishedin 2012 by the European Commis-sion, the Natural Water RetentionMeasures (NWRM) imposed them-selves as eco-engineering solu-tions, which are part of a sustaina-ble development approach andresilience to climate change.

What are the ”NWRM”?

The Natural Water Retention Measuresare based on the capacities of naturalor man-made ecosystems to ensurebetter water management.

Characterized by their multi-functiona-lity, they may provide multiple benefits:reducing risks from floods and droughts,improving water quality, aquiferrecharge and improving habitats.

A reference web platform

The project, which ended in 2015,identifies the 53 recommended eco-engineering measures and providesanswers on their implementation, theireconomic aspects and their biophysi-cal impacts.

All the knowledge is available on theproject website, which is now the Euro-pean Reference Platform on this topic.

Many technical illustrations and infor-mation, through case studies and syn-thesis, as well as operational tools fordecision-makers and stakeholders, areproposed.

Practical guidelines, translated into 15 languages, explicit the NWRMimplementation in a coherent and coor-

dinated approach. They highlight themultiple benefits provided by the mea-sures identified in the following fourmajor sectors: hydro-morphology ofrivers, forest management, agri-cultural practices and urban deve-lopment.

This project shows the relevance ofeco-engineering in the European stra-tegy including many European Direc-tives and proposes an inflectiontowards ”green infrastructure” infuture local or regional planning.

www.nwrm.eu

Natural Water Retention Measures

Example of green roofs

The ”gardened nature” at the service of water management


Target 3: Synthesis and dissemination of available knowledge and know-howEuropean Union - Science-Policy Interface (SPI)

The International Network of BasinOrganizations has been involved inraising awareness of issues on thetransfer of research results to improvethe management of water resourcesand aquatic ecosystems, based onsolid scientific information, by partici-pating in many Science-Policy Inter-face (SPI) demonstration projects.

IOWater, INBO Secretariat, also facili-tates the European Water Community(EWC) virtual platform, in particular.

A dedicated CIS-SPI action wasconducted as part of the CommonImplementation Strategy (CIS) of theEuropean Water Framework Directive

(WFD) and coordinated by ONEMA andthe DG Environment between 2010 and2012.

As part of this activity, the recom-mended SPI methods are tested,taking into account the needs ofwater managers in an Irish pilotbasin, the Eastern River Basin Dis-trict (ERBD).

Three sites around Dublin were pre-identified as having challenges relatedto the implementation of the WFD andFlood Directive, especially for asses-sing Natural Water Retention Measureswith an ecosystem approach.

The ”Community of Practitioners”met in October 2014 in Ireland.

The testing of the method for scientificknowledge transfer took place between

October and December to prepare afinal report on the implementation ofthe recommendations in January 2015.

www.europeanwatercommunity.eu

Preparatory meeting for SPI activities Plovdiv - November 2013 © IOWater - C.Runel

Uzbekistan

The Scientific Information Centerof Interstate Commission for WaterCoordination (SIC ICWC) of CentralAsia included the capacity building ofwater professionals among its prioritiesand help to the counties of the region(Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) for thedevelopment of training programs andorganization of seminars for experts ofthe water sector at different levels of thewater hierarchy.

So, in 2014 - 2015, SIC ICWC develo-ped special training programs for waterprofessionals of the Ministry of Agri-culture and Water Resources (MWAMAWR) of Uzbekistan, based onmodules dealing with 10 topics (Natio-nal water, Transboundary water, Inte-grated Water resources Management,Water accounting and measurements,Water use in Agriculture, Water Consu-mers Associations etc.).

Training sessions were conducted in 3 modules dealing with:

l Water resources management andbasin approach (9 - 26 February 2015);

l Operation of irrigation systemsand hydraulic works (16 March - 1 April, 2015);

l Improvement of irrigated lands (16 April - 2 May 2015).

The Regional Basin Water ManagementAdministrations (BWMA) of MWAMAWR could choose in the offered trai-ning sessions the interesting themesaccording to the target audience andspecificity of their region.

Training was delivered in 3 days: 2 days for theoretical part (lectures), the 3rd day for practicaltraining.

All lectures were prepared and providedby experts of SIC ICWC of Central Asia.

In total, more than 600 specialists weretrained during the spring 2015 trainingsession, and about 100 experts fromWater Management Organizations(WMOs) of the MWA MAWR of Uzbe-kistan participated to improve their pro-fessional knowledge and skills.

The SIC ICWC organized again thesesessions in autumn.

Yu. Khai. RysbekovScientific Information Centre of ICWC of Central [email protected]

sic.icwc-aral.uz

Capacity Building for Water ProfessionalsA training session



Turkey WORLD BANK

Study tour: Presentation of water allocation systemsThe World Bank, providing technicalassistance to the Turkish Ministry ofForestry and Water Affairs, wished thatthe operational experience of waterallocation in French river basins underconditions of water scarcity, be presen-ted.

The main organizations concerned inthe South of France are: Adour-GaronneWater Agency, Canal de ProvenceCompany, the Authorized Users’Unions Associations (ASA) of the Gapand Ventavon canals in particular, whotestified of their experience of mana-gers in situation of water scarcity:

l at the basin level, on the defini-tion of allocations priority betweenuses and their operational imple-

mentation by the Basin WaterAgency and the Regional Deve-lopment Company in charge ofinfrastructure.

l at the local level, AuthorizedUsers’ Unions Associations(ASA) were reinforced by the 2004modernization Act, and keep onplaying a significant role in thetransmission of their water mana-gement experience and know-howin scarcity situation.

The 40 pages English paper is explo-ring:

l The legal and policy frame-works for French water mana-gement, including the system ofpermits for water abstractions, the

water law enforcement activitiesand the latest developments inWFD implementation;

l The mechanisms for planningand allocating water at basinlevel according to the Adour-Garonne Water Agency expe-rience;

l The Durance-Verdon watersystem for multi-purposewater infrastructure manage-ment: historical analysis, sectoralpolicies coordination and gover-nance issues;

l The legal and operationalconditions for water scarcitymanagement by Users’ Asso-ciations: characteristics of the

Authorized Users’ Unions Associa-tions (ASA) of the Lower and Mid-dle Durance, the ”water rights”challenges and the specific caseof restrictions organized on theGap Canal.

The identified case studies were pre-sented in Ankara on 30 and 31 October2013 at the international seminarjointly organized by the World Bank andthe Turkish Ministry of Water andForestry.Guy AlaertsProject Manager – The World [email protected]

ww.banquemondiale.org

Tajikistan

In September 2015, a study visit wasorganized in Spain and France for adelegation from Tajikistan and tworepresentatives of the World Bank.

The delegation met the key administra-tions and organizations in charge ofintegrated water resources manage-

ment, irrigation and Water InformationSystems.

The visit allowed presenting the imple-mentation of integrated basin manage-ment in the European Union, its legaland institutional bases, the methodo-logy applied to work out Basin Mana-

gement Plans, to outline the manage-ment of irrigation systems and the roleof water users’ associations as well asthe use of economic mechanisms toensure financing.

Visit of the Carpentras CanalFrance

BANQUE MONDIALE

Study tour to Spain and France for a Tajik Delegation

Upon the request of the JordanianMinistry of Water Resources andIrrigation (MWI), IOWater, INBOSecretariat, organized a study tour,in France from 17 to 22 May 2015,on the system used for managingwater and its scarcity, for a Jorda-nian delegation of senior officials,led by the Secretary General of theMWI, H.E. Basem TELFAH.

The delegation went to Orleans to exa-mine the methods used for the partici-patory and operational management ofthe Beauce aquifer.

The study tour is part of a programestablished with the MWI, thanks tofunding from the German Coopera-tion Agency, GIZ.

Study tour to France

The Jordanian delegation was received at the French Ministry of the Environment

Jordan




SAVE THE DATE





Paris Pact on adaptation to climate change in the basins

of rivers, lakes and aquifers

INBO has continued promoting the Paris Pact onwater and adaptation to climate change in the basinsof rivers, lakes and aquifers.

This initiative launched at the COP21 includes adocument summarizing the principles and actions tobe implemented and a ”call for action” for thoseinvolved in basin management.

They are invited to present their best adaptation pro-jects to exchange experiences and good practices.

The Paris Pact met with positive response: to date(May 2016) it gathers a community of over 340 signatory organizations in 87 countries.

INBO, in partnership with the Secretariat of the WaterConvention of the United Nations Economic Com-mission for Europe (UNECE), is organizing this com-munity of signatories of the Paris Pact, through theplatform of pilot basins working on adaptation to cli-mate change.

It aims to promote the exchange of good practicesand the development, follow up and promotion ofadaptation to climate change projects in basins.

The 2016 ”Call for Action” was launched in earlyMay.

It invites the stakeholders in River Basin Manage-ment to join the initiative and propose priority pro-jects related to knowledge for adaptation: monitoringnetwork and Water Information Systems (WIS).

Experience and good practices of identified exem-plary projects will be presented and promoted inmajor ”Water and Climate” events (INBO WorldGeneral Assembly in Merida, 1-4 June, the Interna-tional ”Water and Climate” Conference in Rabat on11 and 12 July, the 6th World Workshop on Water andClimate, from 13 to 15 September in Geneva, theCOP22 from 7 to 18 November in Marrakech).

1www.inbo-news.orgwww.cop21.gouv.fr/enParis Pact

At the twenty-first Conference of the Parties to the UnitedNations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21 /CMP11) organized from 30 November to 11 December 2015in Paris, We, representatives of governments, internationalorganizations, donors, national and transboundary basinorganizations of rivers, lakes or aquifers, local authorities, ofthe civil society and companies, support the integration ofWater into the Climate change Action Agenda, especially forinitiating or strengthening necessary adaptation actions in thebasins of rivers, lakes, aquifers, large wetlands as well ascoastal areas. GENERAL STATEMENT

Climate change is already affecting and will increasinglyaffect the quantity and quality of freshwater and aquatic eco-systems, especially through the intensity and greater frequency of extreme hydrological events, such as floods anddroughts, as well as the increase in ocean level, which threaten security, economic and social development and theenvironment.

We recognize that adaptation actions should be undertakenwithout delay to minimize the impacts of climate change onthe populations’ health and safety, on economic developmentand the environment, considering the importance of the protection of water-related ecosystems.

The basins are natural areas where water flows on thesurface and in the subsoil: they are the relevant territo-ries for organizing water resources management.

In order to ensure more effectiveness, these actions to adaptto climate change should thus be implemented at the level ofriver, lake and aquifer basins, through a joint, participative,integrated and sustainable water resources management.

We should act quickly before it is too late!To that end, mobilizing new and increasing funding dedicatedto climate change adaptation in basins is essential. Therefore,new basin organizations and existing ones should be financedand strengthened to facilitate the cooperation, coordinationand exchange of information, dialogue, consultation and prevention of conflicts between stakeholders and to enhancethe implementation of adaptation measures and the sharing ofbenefits on the basin scale,

We encourage donors to support prior assessments andactions for adaptation to climate change in basins,

Local authorities and communities, economic sectors and thecivil society should be better associated and involved in basinmanagement, including in the definition and implementationof adaptation measures.

Cooperation and exchange should increase between the insti-tutions involved, especially among the basin organizations atthe global and regional levels in order to facilitate the transferof experience and know-how on best practices in basin mana-gement and adaptation to climate change.

Paris Pact on water and adaptation to climate changein the basins of rivers, lakes and aquifers


v17


EMWIS SEMIDEE M W I SE M W I S

Plan for Action and PartnershipTarget 4: Establishment and development of water information systems

Euro-Mediterranean Water Information System

www.emwis.net

Improving water knowledge for adaptation to climate change

The Mediterranean region is particu-larly vulnerable to the effects of climatechange on water resources.

The preparation of adaptation plansrequires good knowledge and regularmonitoring of water resources and oftheir uses.

In such a context, the project of aMediterranean Water KnowledgePlatform was retained as a solutionat the MedCop21 and presented as aMediterranean proposal for the climateconference of Paris in December 2015(COP21).

This platform, which was certified bythe Union for the Mediterranean in2014, is also a key element of theWater Strategy Action Plan for the Wes-tern Mediterranean region (5 + 5),adopted at ministerial level in March2015.

http://upm-eau.net

Better management of knowledge on water in the Mediterranean area

Fourth workshop of the expert group for the Water Strategy for the Western Mediterranean (5 + 5), Madrid, September 2015

Workshop on spatial hydrology, Frascati (Italy) - September 2015

SEMIDEE M W I SE M W I S

Earth observation and information sharing

The Earth observation satellite pro-grams allow considering new possibi-lities for knowledge of water resourcesand environments.

Operational services are being develo-ped.

The recent Hydrospace workshop,organized in September 2015 at theEuropean Space Agency, helped tomake an assessment.

Such operational applications will bevalidated by the SWOS project asregards wetlands or river basins.

EMWIS is participating in this wet-lands observation satellite system pro-ject to incorporate the needs of waterresource managers in connection withthe EU Water Directives.

At the same time, the European neigh-borhood countries are preparing theimplementation of Shared Environ-ment Information Systems (SEIS).

In coordination with the European Envi-ronment Agency, EMWIS providestechnical support, to Morocco in parti-cular, for interoperability and commonreference frames, to Algeria for thearchitecture of the information systemand to Israel for environmental accoun-ting of polluting emissions into water.

Technological innovations to meet the Mediterranean challenges

EMWIS is getting mobilized in severalEuropean projects to develop technolo-gical solutions to respond to the chal-lenges of sustainable water manage-ment in the Mediterranean.

The OpIRIS project is working toimprove irrigation efficiency thanks toonline expert systems to help irrigationplanning.

The WEAM4i projects aim to developautomated irrigation management sys-tems for farms.

Given the scarcity of the resource, thereuse of treated wastewater is beco-ming mandatory, but it is necessary to make use of efficient and economi-cally viable processes, tested by the

demEAUmed project for the touristsector, in particular.

The SAID project proposes a homoge-nous decision-making support systemthat integrates all the necessary para-meters for optimizing the managementof large hydraulic structures to meet allneeds in a river basin.

The ANADRY project proposes acheap and effective process for treatingthe sludge of wastewater treatmentplants for its reuse as fertilizer withoutany health risk or for energy produc-tion.Eric MinoEMWIS [email protected]


Target 4: Establishment and development of water information systems

The African Water Information Sys-tem (AWIS) regroups partner organi-zations that gather or produce informa-tion on water and its management in thewhole of Africa.

It is referencing this information andproposes free access via its web portal.

The dynamics around AWIS was revi-ved in March 2014 by the Organizationfor the Development of the SenegalRiver (OMVS), in partnership with theEuropean Union.

A workshop on information sharing washeld in Mbour (Senegal).

It underlined the high added value ofAWIS based on networking Africaninformation producers, on multilingualwork in French, English and Portugueseand on its unique portal shared by thou-sands of users.

The Focal Points benefited from trai-ning from IOWater, Secretariat of theInternational Network of Basin Organi-zations (INBO) to independently enrichthe portal.

A new workshop in videoconferencing,held on 30 October 2014, helped toconsolidate knowledge and methodo-logy.

www.african-wis.org

African Water Information System

Réseau Africain des Organismes de Bassin - RAOBAfrican Network of Basin Organizations - ANBO

RAOB - ANBO

AWIS information-sharing workshop

AWIS

French-Speaking World

During summer 2011, a Memorandumof Understanding was signed by theSustainable Development Instituteof the French-speaking World(IFDD), a subsidiary branch of the Inter-national Organization for the FrenchSpeaking World (OIF), and the Interna-tional Office for Water, INBO Secretariat,to collaborate to the facilitation of the”Water” portal of ”Médiaterre”.

These activities will take a newdimension.

This memorandum was renewed inJanuary 2013 and extended to the draf-ting of more technical articles.

A new step will now be reached thatwill make the ”Water portal” evolvetowards a real educational platform.

The Limousin Region (France) is sup-porting this project for the 2013-2015period, via its mechanism for suppor-ting shared projects (DISMUT).

www.mediaterre.org/eau

L’information mondiale pour le développement durable

Facilitation of the ”Water portal” of ”Médiaterre” Institut Hydro-Québec en environnementdéveloppement et société


Target 4: Establishment and development of water information systemsColombia

A reform process is underway inColombia to improve water resourcesmanagement.

This process includes, among otherthings, the short-term development ofstrategic plans for 5 major hydrogra-phic regions of the country: Magda-lena-Cauca, Caribbean, Pacific, Ori-noco, Amazon.

To support this reform, IOWater,INBO Secretariat, is implementingan institutional cooperation pro-ject, funded by the French AdourGaronne Water Agency, whichincludes:

➊ An institutional and methodolo-gical assistance to the prepa-ration of the Rio Magdalena-Cauca Strategic Plan;

➋ A support to the improvementof the needed data manage-ment;

➌ A local component seeking toimprove industrial pollutioncontrol in the Bogota River.

Year 2014 mainly focused on the ”datamanagement” component.

After a step of exchange of experienceon water information systems and ofassessment of the Colombian partners’needs, a series of recommendationswas presented, in particular to improveinteroperability between the variousnational and regional information sys-tems.

The French experience in terms ofcreating language/common referenceframes and improving interoperabi-lity between existing water infor-mation systems, seems quite suita-ble for the integration of the regionaldata required by the Regional WaterResources Assessment Program(ERA).

The broad lines for action have thusbeen identified to develop products ofcommon interest for improving datainteroperability in the context of theCundinamarca ERA.

Improvement of data managementunder the Environmental Informa-tion System of Colombia (SIAC)and more specifically the WaterResource Information System(SIRH), managed by the NationalInstitute IDEAM.

The missions organized in November2012 and March 2013, allowed pre-senting the French experience in waterdata management in terms of establi-shing common languages and refe-rence frames and enhancing interope-rability between existing informationsystems in conformity with the “SAN-DRE” standards (see page 43).

The Colombian partners wish to facili-tate the integration of national andregional data under the Regional WaterResources Assessment program (ERA).

An inter-administrative frameworkagreement was signed between theHead of IDEAM and the regional autho-rities in the Bogota region (CAR, Acue-

ducto, FOPAE, SDA) in September2013.

Following this agreement, a missioncarried out in October 2013 helpedorganize the first exchanges with theregional partners and validate the prin-ciples of the development of a datasharing platform by increasing inter-operability between systems with thefirst elements of a common water refe-rence frame.Mauricio BayonaWater Resources DepartmentMinistry of Environment and Sustainable Deve-lopment (MADS)[email protected]

www.minambiente.gov.co

Support to the development of Water Information Systems

Ecuador

Meeting of the Expert GroupOctober 2013

These exchanges allowed speci-fying a series of recommendationsaiming firstly to organize the esta-blishment of ”ARCA” InformationSystem and secondly to enhancethe sharing and integrated mana-gement of water data between ins-titutions at the national, regionaland local levels.

The main findings of this study werepresented to H.E. the Minister, Mr.Rafael Poveda, (MICSE) at the end ofthe mission, as well as to Mrs. ClaudiaOtero (ARCA Director) and Mr. Christo-bal Punina Lazano (Assistant SecretaryGeneral for Water) during their visit toIOWater in Paris on 12 September2014.

With the adoption of a new Water Lawin August 2014, the Republic of Ecua-dor established a new Agency for theRegulation and Control of theWater Sector (ARCA), supervised bythe Secretariat of Water Resources(SENAGUA) and the Ministry of Coor-dination of Strategic Sectors (MICSE).

A study of the roadmap of this newagency is being made by the AigosConsulting Firm.

In this context, the International Officefor Water, INBO Secretariat, wasentrusted with a specific analysis of thepotential consolidation of the Informa-tion System on Water Resources inEcuador (SIRH).

The mission on this topic, carried outin September 2014, was the occasionof meeting with the representatives oforganizations involved in the produc-tion, management and enhancement ofwater data (ARCA, SENAGUA, SEN-PLADES, INHAMI, MAE, IGM, etc.).

Consolidation of the information system on water resources

Meeting with representatives of the Military Geographical Institute



The European Directive 2007/2/ECadopted in 2007 establishes theInfrastructure for Spatial Informa-tion in Europe (INSPIRE) which aimsto provide harmonized, high qualityspatial information to support environ-mental policies along with all policiesor activities which may have an impacton the environment in Europe.

INSPIRE is a decentralized informationsystem, based on the national spatialdata infrastructures of the MemberStates.

The Directive does not require collec-tion of new data, but existing and newlycreated spatial datasets should beinteroperable and publicly accessible,through network services, within theestablished implementation roadmap,which should be completed by 2020.

The implementation of INSPIREenables a more efficient access andsharing of environmental spatial infor-mation among the public sector atnational level and across Europe.

INSPIRE spatial data are organized into34 themes. Each theme has its datamodel and application schemas, defi-ned in the INSPIRE Technical Guide-lines and Commission Regulations thatassures data interoperability acrossEurope.

The Hydrography theme jointly with thethemes Elevation (digital elevationmodels), Land cover (physical and bio-logical cover of the earth's surface),Management area (areas managed,regulated or used for reporting at Euro-pean, national, regional and locallevels), Protected sites (areas managedfor conservation objectives) and Geo-logy, are providing spatial data modelsfor the reference spatial informationregarding river basin management.

Reference data and data modeled bythe thematically more specific applica-tion schemas included in themes: Soil,Utility and governmental services,Environmental monitoring facilities,Agricultural and aquaculture facilities,Energy resources, Habitats and bio-topes, etc. provide precise and efficientinformation for river basin manage-ment.

The INSPIRE Directive also allows dataintegration from different thematiccommunities for transboundary riverbasins.

Under the European INSPIRE Directive,the International Office for Water, INBOSecretariat, is a contributing member tothe writing of specifications on the inter-change of water data. Andrej AbramicEuropean Commission Joint Research CentreInstitute for Environment and Sustainability, Digi-tal Earth and Reference Data UnitIspra, [email protected]

http://inspire.ec.europa.eu

River basin management supported by INSPIRE

European Commission

RECHERCHE & INNOVATION

RESEARCH & INNOVATION

Modeled area (source INSPIRE Data Specification on HydrographyGuidelines v3.1)

The European Environment Agency(EEA) was established in 1990 to pro-vide the European Commission andMember States with information on thestatus of the environment and on theimplementation of EU policies in thisfield.

It is based in Copenhagen.

It relies on a network of 350 organiza-tions all over Europe, EIONET, to col-lect environmental data.

The EEA relies on European TopicCenters (ETCs), consortia of govern-mental or private non-profit organiza-tions to which it entrusts the organiza-tion of data collection, analysis of infor-mation, evaluation, production of indi-cators and a role of technical support toMember States to implement NationalEnvironmental Information Systems.

A consortium of 18 partners led by theGerman Helmholtz Center for Environ-mental Research (UFZ), in which IOWa-ter, INBO Secretariat, participates, is incharge of ETC on inland, coastal andmarine waters. European Environment Agency

www.eea.europa.eu

www.eionet.europa.eu

EEA

A new Topic Center on Water for 5 years www.inbo-news.org


www.inbo-news.org




Improving European Statistics on Water

Eurostat, the statistical service of theEuropean Commission, disseminateswater statistics, collected every twoyears from the Member States in acommon format and made available,free of charge, on its website.

This collection is made by the NationalStatistical Institutes of the MemberStates.

To help the national statisticians betterunderstand the main water conceptsand the rules of data aggregation forhaving representative statistics, Euro-stat offers them training sessions.

In this context, 12 statisticians fromeight nationalities participated in atraining course, in France from 24 to 26 June 2015, for betterunderstanding of the main sanitationconcepts.

A field visit was organized at theDownstream Seine WastewaterTreatment Plant at the invitation ofSIAAP, the Public Sanitation Utilityof Greater Paris (SIAAP).

ec.europa.eu/eurostat

European Commission - Eurostat

The statisticians, the representative of Eurostat and the trainers

The international “Hydrology” sub-group of the Open GeospatialConsortium (OGC) is interested indescribing and sharing geographicdata on hydrology.

It produces OGC standards that areused for the dissemination of referenceframes in all the partner countries.

As part of the implementation of a“data Web”, in France for example, acatalogue of “SANDRE” resourceswas established. As a bar code of a

product, each resource is identified bya URI (Uniform Resource Identifier).

As a logical continuation, INBO and”SANDRE” secretariat in France deve-loped its Master Data Management(MDM) to manage and disseminatereference frames according to this newsemantic model. Very soon, the wholeweb will be able to link almost automa-tically to the references frames.www.sandre.eaufrance.fr

Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

The ”hydrology” sub-working group

”EUROPE-INBO 2016”For the implementation

of the European Water Directives

Lourdes - France19 - 22 October 2016

To participate, please register:www.inbo-news.org

”EUROPE-INBO 2016”: the ”Cirque de Gavarnie” upstream of Lourdes


Target 4: Establishment and development of water information systemsFrance

Establishing a common language

Given the proliferation of the informa-tion systems used and the growingneed for data, the ”SANDRE” wascreated in 1992 to simplify theexchange of these data between thevarious French public and private sta-keholders. It thus offers a uniqueexchange interface and addresses theneed to establish a common languagebetween partners from the water world. Through ”SANDRE”, many toolsare then developed to allow thestakeholders concerned to maketheir information systems interope-rable: dictionaries and exchange sce-narios and web services, referencedata, a cartographic atlas, a metadatacatalogue, audits of computer systems,compliance labels, etc.”SANDRE” is proposing more than20,000 pages of technical specifi-cations.

It establishes compliance labelsfor over 15,000 files per year andmore than 30,000 interventions(taxons, substances, etc.). Its web-site receives more than 817,000visits a year. IOWater, INBO Secretariat, isentrusted with ”SANDRE” Techni-cal Secretariat since it establish-ment in 1992 and, now, with thesupport of the National Agency forWater and Aquatic Environments(ONEMA).

Adapting to the stakeholders’needsPublishing standards for the exchangeof electronic data between computersis one priority. Following the ”Hacka-thon” in 2014, the users of the WaterInformation System have expressedtheir need for more ”SANDRE” stan-dards adapted to office automationtools.

That is why, in 2015, many new simpli-fied exchange scenarios were specifiedto deal with the administrative reposi-tory, with references on barriers to flow,pollution removal work, hydrogeology,sections for flood monitoring...

With the same objective to facilitate theuse of ”SANDRE”, a new searchengine has been integrated into the ”SANDRE” website.

It allows its users to perform moreresearch into the contents of ”SANDRE” repositories. Meanwhile,descriptive sheets of parameter refe-rence frames and designations oftaxons were made more attractive byadding many images.

Freely accessible on ”SANDRE” web-site, videos tutorials were developed toshow the use of ”SANDRE” reposito-ries in different situations.www.sandre.eaufrance.fr

”SANDRE”French National Service for Water Data and Common Reference Frames Management

SANDRE

”GEST’EAU”The website of the SAGEs and Environmental Contracts

”Gest'eau”, the national websitededicated to Water Developmentand Management Plans (SAGEs)and Environmental Contracts hasoffered the testimonies of stakehol-ders involved in these managementtools since the beginning of 2013.

A constantly changing participatory tool

Since its inception in 2002, ”Gest'eau”has been coordinated by the Ministry ofSustainable Development (MEDDE)and the National Agency for Water andAquatic Environments (ONEMA).

Since its launching, the website hasbeen collaborative by providing aforum, feedbacks, and allowing webusers to work on the contents.

Since the beginning of 2013, inter-views have been made to promote theparticipation of the stakeholders invol-ved in SAGEs and EnvironmentalContracts (facilitators, officers in

charge, members of Local Water Com-missions, members of Syndicates,Local Public Basin Authorities, etc.).

Testimonies on local actions

The stakeholders, who speak, provideconcrete evidence on actions carriedout in their basins with these tools anddescribe practical measures to betaken.

Thus, 12 testimonies were published in2013.

www.gesteau.eaufrance.fr

Août 2013

Ce document provient du site www.gesteau.eaufrance.fr

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Coordination Inter-SAGE : une animation partenariale entre différents SAGE pour une meilleure gestion de l’eau ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Une commission Inter-SAGE est une instance qui regroupe différents acteurs désignés par chaque Commission Locale de l’Eau (CLE) d’un SAGE. Afin de favoriser les échanges et améliorer la gouvernance autour de la gestion locale de l’eau, le SAGE Nappe de Beauce et milieux aquatiques associés et le SAGE Orge-Yvette ont décidé de se réunir autour d’une commission Inter-SAGE. Une démarche similaire sera menée entre le SAGE Nappe de Beauce et le SAGE Loir.

Témoignage Sophie DERUYVER et Alison LARRAMENDY Chargées de mission SAGE Nappe de Beauce et milieux aquatiques associés

Qu’est-ce qui a motivé la création d’une commission Inter-SAGE ? Le SAGE Nappe de Beauce et milieux aquatiques associés est un SAGE qui se superpose de façon partielle avec deux autres SAGE : le SAGE Orge-Yvette et le SAGE Loir. En effet, le périmètre du SAGE Nappe de Beauce qui, comme son nom l’indique, est un SAGE de nappe, recoupe celui des deux autres SAGE qui sont, quant à eux, des SAGE d’eaux superficielles avec des limites hydrographiques de surface bien définies. Devant cette situation un peu particulière, les acteurs responsables de la gouvernance et de la gestion des eaux se sont interrogés sur la compatibilité entre les SAGE sur les territoires communs. Il a été décidé qu’une commission Inter-SAGE devait voir le jour pour permettre le bon fonctionnement de la gestion de l’eau et une meilleure concertation. Ainsi, les stratégies des SAGE se complètent, celui de la Nappe de Beauce étant le SAGE dédié à la gestion de la ressource souterraine et à la problématique agricole, et le SAGE Orge-Yvette s’intéressant majoritairement aux ressources superficielles et aux pollutions urbaines.

, le site des outils de gestion intégrée de l'eau.


Target 4: Establishment and development of water information systemsEastern Europe - Caucasus - Central Asia Administration of transboundary water data

The implementation of effective poli-cies for integrated water managementrequires having a comprehensiveassessment of resources and uses,based on homogeneous and consistentinformation.

In the case of transboundarybasins, the sharing of informationis building trust and facilitates dia-logue between the riparian coun-tries.

Developed in collaboration with thesecretariat at UNECE of the"Convention on the Protection andUse of Transboundary Water-courses and International Lakes",the FFEM project ”Capacity buil-ding in data management forassessing and monitoring trans-boundary water resources in Eas-tern Europe, Caucasus and CentralAsia-EECCA” was successfullycompleted in October 2013.

With the support of SHMI (SlovakHydro-Meteorological Institute), thisproject, coordinated by the InternationalOffice for Water, INBO Secretariat, has

achieved its objectives both at theregional level and in the two pilotbasins:

l The Dniester River Basin indirect collaboration with the Autho-rities in Ukraine and Moldova;

l The Aral Sea Basin (Amudaryaand Syrdarya River Basins invol-ving six countries of Central Asia:Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan,Turkmenistan and Afghanistan) incollaboration with the EC-IFAS(Executive Committee of theInternational Fund for Savingthe Aral Sea).

In 2011, after a step for preparing thetools (Web portal, multilingual cata-logue) and presenting the project, anassessment was carried out in six of theconcerned countries, including:

n A legislative and institutional ana-lysis (database of the stakehol-ders);

n Organization of national workshopsgathering the key stakeholdersinvolved in data production andmanagement;

n Support to the presentation of datasources by the producers (meta-data catalogue);

n Elaboration of data flow charts(who exchanges what withwhom?);

n An initial needs analysis.

Since early 2012, the project has ente-red a phase for supporting the develop-ment of pilot actions proposed by theSteering Committee, including:

In the Dniester River Basin

v Creation of a database on sur-face water quality in Moldova,with the production of qualityindexes and online interactivemaps of surface water quality,updated by the data producers;

v ”Web Processing Services”allowing the production of usefulgeographic data.

In the Aral Sea Basin

➤ A first hydrological bulletin onthe Syrdarya, within an actioninitiated by UNRCCA with EC-IFAS;

➤ Creation of a Web portal integra-ting an interactive diagram foronline viewing of data on the Syr-darya, data daily updated by theirproducers;

➤ Conceptual study of the organiza-tion of the National Water Infor-mation System of Tajikistan;

➤ Improvement of the Turkmenlegislation to promote the sharingof water data.

Finally, a document of recommenda-tions highlighting the project feedbackswas presented during various interna-tional meetings, including:

l The 6th Meeting of the Parties of theWater Convention, in Rome on28/29 November 2012;

l The High-Level Conference onInternational Water Cooperation,held in Tajikistan in August 2013;

l The last Dniester River Basin Com-mittee on 18 September in theUkraine.

Nicholas [email protected]

www.aquacoope.org/ffem-eecca

6th Meeting of the Parties of the International Water ConventionRome - November 2012 © IOWater - C.Runel

Presentation to the Dniestr Basin CommitteeUkraine - September 2013

The Aral Sea

The Dniester River


Target 4: Establishment and development of water information systemsCentral Asia: iMoMo

Since the beginning of 2014, IOWa-ter, INBO Secretariat, has been col-laborating in Central Asia to theiMoMo project, financed by theSwiss Agency for Development andCooperation (SDC) and led by the”Haute Ecole Arc Ingénierie” ofNeufchâtel (HE-Arc).

Quick advancements in low-cost sen-sor and communication technology,hardware and software integration,open up new perspectives for waterdata collection and exchange, analysisand knowledge dissemination.

The activities, launched in Central Asiain the pilot Chu River Basin, transboun-dary between Kirghizstan and Kazakhs-tan, have 3 components:

➊ Improvement of water andfinancial accountability ofWater User Associations(WUAs), with the installation oflow-cost monitoring devices at thelevel of 2 pilot WUAs;

➋ Establishment of a Water Infor-mation System (WIS) in theChu River Basin, connected toexisting databases and using tech-nologies for sharing data/informa-tion to meet the need of betterknowledge of water balances of theriver and irrigation canals;

➌ Modeling of an operational,web-deployed water balancefor forecasting vegetation seasonflows, based on remotely-sensedsnow cover analysis.

Considering the significant resultsobtained on each of these 3 compo-nents via interoperability developmentand modeling, it is already planned toexpand this project in 2015 to otherbasins in Kyrgyzstan and at transboun-dary level in Central Asia.

”innovative Monitoring and Modeling of Water”

Example of project output: online web map of the Chu Basin with access to data

Kyrgyzstan / Kazakhstan

The iMoMo (Innovative Monitoringand Modeling) Consortium has,since 2014, collaborated in theSwiss Cooperation (SDC) fundedactivities to strengthen water dataproduction and management in theChu Basin in Central Asia.

The ongoing project includes threemain components:

l Monitoring and processing of databy Irrigator Associations;

l Enhancing data, produced byvarious national and local insti -tutions, on the status of waterresour ces and on water abstrac-tions for irrigation;

l Modeling for improving wateravailability forecasts based on aremote-sensing analysis of thesnow cover.

Specific actions allowed movingtowards a situation where the publicand the partners can now consultonline data on the status of waterresources and abstractions, that areregularly made available by 5 nationaland local institutions of both countries,this through:

l Web mapping with location ofmonitoring stations and access todata visualization diagrams,

l Interactive diagrams easilyavailable on tablet computer,especially to decision-makers,with automatic calculation ofbalance sheets or comparativeanalyses at key points;

l Modules for downloading data-sets, for data producing partnersalone.

A first quarterly newsletter, summa-rizing the status of resources and abs-tractions for the April-June 2015

period, was produced and validatedduring the last meeting of the Chu /Talas Transboundary Commission thatcongratulated the project partners andthanked the SDC for its support.

Chu Transboundary Basin iMoMo

The Chu River


Ik-kil, Cenote of Chichen Itza - Mexico


Publications - Communication

Come and sign the Paris Pact

345 signatories from the whole Worldwww.inbo-news.org/paris-pact

1www.inbo-news.orgwww.cop21.gouv.fr/enParis Pact

At the twenty-first Conference of the Parties to the UnitedNations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21 /CMP11) organized from 30 November to 11 December 2015in Paris, We, representatives of governments, internationalorganizations, donors, national and transboundary basinorganizations of rivers, lakes or aquifers, local authorities, ofthe civil society and companies, support the integration ofWater into the Climate change Action Agenda, especially forinitiating or strengthening necessary adaptation actions in thebasins of rivers, lakes, aquifers, large wetlands as well ascoastal areas. GENERAL STATEMENT

Climate change is already affecting and will increasinglyaffect the quantity and quality of freshwater and aquatic eco-systems, especially through the intensity and greater frequency of extreme hydrological events, such as floods anddroughts, as well as the increase in ocean level, which threaten security, economic and social development and theenvironment.

We recognize that adaptation actions should be undertakenwithout delay to minimize the impacts of climate change onthe populations’ health and safety, on economic developmentand the environment, considering the importance of the protection of water-related ecosystems.

The basins are natural areas where water flows on thesurface and in the subsoil: they are the relevant territo-ries for organizing water resources management.

In order to ensure more effectiveness, these actions to adaptto climate change should thus be implemented at the level ofriver, lake and aquifer basins, through a joint, participative,integrated and sustainable water resources management.

We should act quickly before it is too late!To that end, mobilizing new and increasing funding dedicatedto climate change adaptation in basins is essential. Therefore,new basin organizations and existing ones should be financedand strengthened to facilitate the cooperation, coordinationand exchange of information, dialogue, consultation and prevention of conflicts between stakeholders and to enhancethe implementation of adaptation measures and the sharing ofbenefits on the basin scale,

We encourage donors to support prior assessments andactions for adaptation to climate change in basins,

Local authorities and communities, economic sectors and thecivil society should be better associated and involved in basinmanagement, including in the definition and implementationof adaptation measures.

Cooperation and exchange should increase between the insti-tutions involved, especially among the basin organizations atthe global and regional levels in order to facilitate the transferof experience and know-how on best practices in basin mana-gement and adaptation to climate change.

Paris Pact on water and adaptation to climate changein the basins of rivers, lakes and aquifers


v17

The ”Report on the Experience ofTransboundary River Basin Organi-zations - Good Practices andRecommendations” was published inApril 2014 with the support of theFrench Development Agency (AFD)and is available in French and Englishversions on the website:

A partnership agreement was signed byAFD and INBO World Secretariat aboutvarious topics of collaboration:

l Support to the river basin orga-nizations of the Senegal (OMVS),Niger (NBA), Congo (CICOS), Volta(VBA), Chad (LCBC) and Mekong(MRC), to the Water ResourcesCoordination Center (WRCC) of theEconomic Community of WestAfrican States (ECOWAS) and tothe African Network of Basin Orga-nizations (ANBO);

l Facilitation of a working groupfor the hydrological monitoringof major transboundary basins;capitalization of training materialsand prefiguration of a sustainablefunding model for WHYCOS pro-jects;

l Establishment of a workinggroup on satellite altimetryapplied to hydrology.

As part of this activity, a first meeting ofthe Working Group was held at the IRDMontpellier in November 2014 at theinvitation of the International Office forWater (IOWater) and under the aegis ofAFD, with CNES, IRD, IRSTEA, BRL andCNR. This is a first meeting bringingtogether the worlds of space, hydrologyand water resources management.Frédéric MaurelWater and Sanitation Project ManagerFrench Development Agency (AFD)[email protected]

www.afd.fr


REPORT ON EXPERIENCES OF TRANSBOUNDARY BASIN

ORGANIZATIONS IN AFRICA

Good practices and recommendations

Final version 2 April 2014

ANBO

NBA VBA WRCC CICOS OMVS

Report on the experience of African River Basin Organizations

Free Flow Reaching water security through cooperation

Written on the occasion of the Interna-tional Year of Water Cooperation coor-dinated by UNESCO, this publicationwas officially presented at the WaterSummit in Budapest on 9 October2013.

”Water Cooperation is about fightingagainst poverty and hunger, as well asprotecting the environment”, said theDirector General of UNESCO, IrinaBokova. "It is about peace on the basisof dialogue between States andRegions".

This publication, through the presenta-tion of field experiments, demonstratesthat collective commitment is requiredto foster a culture of cooperation in thelong term between all water practitio-ners.

A chapter devoted to the participationof water users in the Senegal, Nigerand Congo River Basins, was preparedby the Secretariat of the Internatio-nal Network of Basin Organizations(INBO).

www.un.org/fr/events/worldwateryear

FREE FLOWREACHING WATER SECURITY THROUGH COOPERATION

UNESCO

Publishing

United Nations

Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization



Guidance document on transboundary aquifer managementAquifer systems, which represent animportant part and sometimes the onlywater resource available in a country,are unequally known.

Much more frequently than trans-boundary rivers, transboundary aqui -fers are shared between various coun-tries which generally use them inde-

pendently, partially for drinkingwater supply and for industrialuses, but mainly for irrigated agri-culture.

This leads more and more tocases of overexploitation and pol-lution which create tensions at alllevels, with a risk of crises andconflicts between countries shar-ing the same aquifer.

For all these reasons, it is todayimportant to improve knowl-edge and promote a reason-able and sustainable inte-grated management of trans-boundary aquifer systems.

To reach this objective, a methodolo -gical approach and a guidancedocument were developed byUNESCO, the Water Academy,BRGM and INBO, with financingfrom the French DevelopmentAgency (AFD).

This approach highlights the mainchallenges facing transboundaryaquifers, their specificities, and theneed for Integrated Water ResourcesManagement (IWRM).

It then describes the different toolsavailable to improve knowledge and thedevelopment of this precious resource:technical, legal, institutional and eco-nomic, but also educational and coop-eration instruments.

Finally, it proposes a progressive andmultiform approach for joint, equitableand sustainable transboundary aquifermanagement and it describes themechanisms required to create theproper institutional structure for themanagement of shared ground (andpossibly surface) water resources.

www.unesco.org

Ouvrage collectif

03

Guide méthodologique

Vers une gestion concertée des systèmes aquifèrestransfrontaliers

Novembre 2010

More than half of the world popu -lation lives in the basins of 276 transboundary rivers andlakes or nearly 300 aquifers.

Cooperation among the riparian coun-tries is becoming imperative as pres-sure is increasing because of the glo-bal changes which are intensifying.

The integrated approach to waterresources management appears as thebasis for improved management oftransboundary basins.

The basins of rivers, lakes andaquifers are indeed the spaceswhere hydrological, social, econo-mic and environmental interdepen-dences better appear.

The experience gained allows todaysaying that it is possible to organizeeffective management on the basin-scale of transboundary rivers, lakes oraquifers, when there is a real willin-gness of the stakeholders concerned.

Nevertheless, significant progressremains to be done everywhere in theworld.

To support this process, the Internatio-nal Network of Basin Organizations(INBO), the Global Water Partnership(GWP), UNECE, UNESCO, the GEF,EVREN and the French DevelopmentAgency drafted ”the Handbook forIntegrated Water Resources Mana-gement in the Basins of Transboun-dary Rivers, Lakes and Aquifers”presented at the World Water Forum inMarseilles.

This handbook aims to provide practi-cal advice to improve transboundary

basin management, using more than60 practical examples of actionsalready successfully initiated in variousbasins.

The handbook itself and its Englishversion on CD-ROM can be obtai-ned free of charge, subject to avai-lability, by E-mails to:

[email protected] [email protected]

Digital versions of the English,French and Spanish Handbook canbe downloaded, free of charge, onGWP and INBO website:

www.inbo-news.org

THE HANDBOOK FOR INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES

MANAGEMENT IN TRANSBOUNDARY BASINS

OF RIVERS, LAKES AND AQUIFERS

March 2012

THE HANDBOOK FOR INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES

MANAGEMENT IN TRANSBOUNDARY BASINS

OF RIVERS, LAKES AND AQUIFERS

March 2012

Handbook presentation in Marseilles

Handbook for Integrated Transboundary Basin Management


Publications - CommunicationTwo new publications

for better basin managementIn 2015, the International Network ofBasin Organizations (INBO), the UNEconomic Commission for Europe(UNECE), the Global Water Partnership(GWP), the National Agency for Waterand Aquatic Environments (ONEMA)and the International Office for Water(IOWater) jointly published two booksentitled:

l ”Water and Climate ChangeAdaptation in TransboundaryBasins: Lessons Learned andGood Practices”, in the UN col-lection (INBO, UNECE),

l ”Management and Restorationof Aquatic Ecosystems in Riverand Lake Basins” (INBO, GWP,ONEMA, IOWater), in the collectionof Handbooks on Water Manage-ment.

Both publications, distributed free ofcharge and initially published inEnglish for the World Water Forumin Korea, have been translated intoFrench on the occasion of theCOP21 in Paris and then will betranslated into other languages. They follow previous publications of thevarious partners involved, including the ”Handbook on Integrated WaterResources Management in Basins”(2009), the ”Handbook for Integrated

Water Resources Management in Trans-boundary Basins of Rivers, Lakes andAquifers” (2012), the ”Guidance onWater and Adaptation to ClimateChange” (2010) or the ”Report on expe-riences of Transboundary Basin Organi-zations in Africa” (2014).These documents are available on:


Management and restoration of aquatic ecosystems in river and lake basins

Freshwater resources are increasingly used,wasted and polluted; aquatic ecosystems arethreatened and sometimes destroyed. Inaddition to their great heritage value forlandscapes and biodiversity, aquatic eco-systems provide significant services in regu-lating water resources and flows and in theself-purification of pollution. Wetlandsimprove water quality by trapping sediment,filtering pollutants and absorbing nutrients.

They also play a key role in flood control and drought prevention. However, human activities, where they do not merely destroy theseenvironments, often disrupt biotopes, cause pollution and fragmentthe longitudinal flow of many rivers over the world.It is now recognized that aquatic environments play the role of ”greeninfrastructure”, which is as essential to proper water resourcesmanagement as a traditional artificial infrastructure.Examples of good practice and effective natural developments can beidentified in many countries.Today, significant progress is more than ever needed to move fromtheory to practice and take practical measures to preserve and restoreaquatic ecosystems, by using, in particular, these successful exam-ples coming from the field and identified in various national or trans-boundary basins. This handbook identifies 45 examples of field achievements andaims to give practical advice through 25 ”lessons learned” abouthow to use a realistic, effective and operational ”green infrastructure”,to restore, protect and develop aquatic ecosystems, especially in thecontext of Basin Management Plans including measures for adapta-tion to the climate change impacts on water resources.

Water and Adaptation to climate change in transbouncary basins

In spite of local uncertainties about theintensity and variability of climate change,the frequency of extreme events that resultfrom it, and about its impacts on waterresources, it is urgent to initiate now adapta-tion measures in river basin management,including transboundary basins. Thus, the drafting of multi-year ManagementPlans for the Basins of national and trans-boundary rivers, lakes and aquifers, is beco-

ming a priority and should incorporate these adaptation measures.In transboundary basins, strong cooperation between riparian coun-tries is needed, and this requires attention to be paid at all levels andin all sectors. For the adaptation plan to have solid bases, the participation of allstakeholders is essential, crossing the multiple physical, political andinstitutional borders, and opening it up to all sectors with water-rela-ted activities.Some basin organizations around the world have already taken actionto adapt to climate change. It is now crucial to be able to benefit fromtheir experience and to promote exchanges among all institutionsconcerned by climate change adaptation.To facilitate this exchange, this publication mobilized about sixtyexperts from international organizations (WMO, GWP, AGWA,...) andtransboundary and national basin organizations worldwide.This publication identifies the field experiments made and aims toprovide practical advice through 58 case studies and 63 ”lessonslearned” about how to prepare and implement a strong, realistic andoperational medium-to-long-term plan for adapting to climatechange in the basins.

THE HANDBOOK FOR MANAGEMENT AND RESTORATION

OF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS IN RIVER AND LAKE BASINS

March 2015


Publications - CommunicationINBO Newsletter

La carta de la

Junio de 2014 - n°22

www.rioc.org

El VII Foro Mundial del Agua tendrá lugar en Daegu-Gyeongju del 13 al17 de abril de 2015 por invitación del Gobierno de Corea del Sur y delConsejo Mundial del Agua.¡Es un encuentro mayor que no se debe faltar!La Red Internacional de Organismos de Cuenca - RIOC, que ya participóactivamente en los 6 Foros anteriores, llama a sus Miembros y Observadoresque se movilicen para ir a Daegu y presentar sus soluciones, intercambiar ydiscutir para desarrollar y mejorar la gestión por cuenca y la cooperación trans-fronteriza en el mundo.Desde hace los años 1990, la gestión por cuenca de los ríos, lagos oacuíferos ha experimentado un desarrollo rápido en muchos países quela han utilizado como base de su legislación nacional o la han experi-mentado en cuencas piloto.La Directiva Marco europea del Agua de 2000 impone, por ejemplo, una buenagestión de las Demarcaciones Hidrográficas nacionales o internacionales a los28 Estados Miembros y a los Países candidatos de la Unión Europea.Se toma más y más en cuenta la gestión de las cuencas de los 276 ríos y cente-nares de acuíferos transfronterizos en el seno de Comisiones, Autoridades uOrganizaciones Internacionales de Cuenca que se crean o se refuerzan en todoslos continentes.Se realizaron algunos progresos importantes: ¡la gestión por cuenca vabien cuando hay una fuerte voluntad de todos los protagonistas!El Foro de Daegu será la ocasión para informarse de estos progresos ypresentar nuestras soluciones para enfrentar las dificultades quepermanecen.La RIOC, conjuntamente con la OCDE, la UNESCO y la CEPE-ONU, se impli-cará más concretamente, en asociación con todas las demás Organizacionesinteresadas, en los temas del Foro que tratan de la adaptación al cambioclimático, de la cooperación para reducir los conflictos y mejorar lagestión de las aguas transfronterizas y de la gobernanza, así como envarios procesos regionales.

¡Nuestras ideas progresan, debemos movilizarnos para dar a conocer nuestras soluciones en Daegu en abril de 2015!

Kioto - Japón - marzo de 2003 - III FMA

México - Cuidad de México - marzo de 2006 IV FMA

Estambul - Turquía - marzo de 2009 - V FMA

Marsella - Francia - marzo de 2012 - VI FMA

VII Foro Mundial del AguaDaegu-Gyeongju

13 - 17 de abril de 2015

La lettre du

Mai 2014 - n°22

www.riob.org

Le VIIème Forum Mondial de l’Eau se tiendra à Daegu-Gyeongju du 13 au 17 avril 2015, à l’invitation du Gouvernement Sud-Coréen et du ConseilMondial de l’Eau.C’est un rendez-vous majeur à ne pas manquer !Le Réseau International des Organismes de Bassin - RIOB, qui a déjàparticipé activement aux 6 Forums précédents, appelle à la mobilisation de sesMembres et Observateurs pour venir y présenter leurs solutions, échanger etdébattre pour développer et améliorer la gestion par bassin et la coopérationtransfrontalière dans le Monde.Depuis les années 90, la gestion par bassin des fleuves, des lacs ou des aqui-fères a connu un développement rapide dans de nombreux pays, qui en font labase de leur législation nationale ou l’expérimentent dans des bassins pilotes.La Directive-Cadre européenne sur l’Eau de 2000, par exemple, impose unegestion par Districts Hydrographiques nationaux ou internationaux aux 28 Etats-Membres et aux Pays candidats de l’Union Européenne.La gestion des bassins des 276 fleuves et de centaines d’aquifères transfronta-liers est de plus en plus prise en compte au sein de Commissions, d’Autoritésou d’Organisations Internationales de Bassin, qui se créent ou se renforcent surtous les continents.Des progrès importants ont été réalisés : la gestion par bassin ça marche, quand il y a une forte volonté de tous les acteurs !Le Forum de Daegu-Gyeongju sera l’occasion de faire le point de cesavancées et de présenter nos solutions pour surmonter les difficultés quisubsistent.Le RIOB, conjointement avec l’OCDE, l'UNESCO et la CEE-ONU, s’impliqueplus particulièrement, en partenariat avec toutes les autres Organisations inté-ressées, dans les thèmes du Forum traitant de l’adaptation aux effets duchangement climatique, de la coopération pour réduire les conflits etaméliorer la gestion des eaux transfrontalières, de la gouvernance,ainsi que de plusieurs précessus régionaux.

Nos idées progressent, mobilisons-nous pour faire connaître nos solutions en Corée du Sud en avril 2015 !

Kyoto - Japon - mars 2003 - 3ème FME

Mexico - Mexique - mars 2006 - 4ème FME

Istanbul - Turquie - mars 2009 - 5ème FME

Marseille - France - mars 2012 - 6ème FME

VIIème Forum Mondial de l’EauDaegu-Gyeongju 13 - 17 avril 2015

May 2014 - n° 22

Newsletter

www.inbo-news.org

The 7th World Water Forum will take place in Daegu-Gyeongju from 13 to17 April 2015 at the invitation of the South Korean Government and theWorld Water Council.

It is a major meeting not to be missed!

The International Network of Basin Organizations - INBO,

Significant progress has been made: basin management works whenthere is strong will of all the stakeholders!

The Forum of Daegu will be the opportunity of reporting on theseprogresses and presenting our solutions to face the difficulties whichremain.

INBO OECD, UNESCO UNECEin the Forum topics

addressing adaptation to climate change, cooperation to reduceconflicts and improve transboundary water management and gover-nance, as well as in several regional processes.

Our ideas are progressing, let’s get mobilized to make our solutions known in Daegu in April 2015!

Kyoto - Japan - March 2003 - WWF 3

Mexico - Mexico City - March 2006 - WWF 4

Istanbul - Turkey - March 2009 - WWF 5

Marseilles - France - March 2012 - WWF 6

7th World Water ForumDaegu-Gyeongju 13 - 17 April 2015

La carta de la

Junio de 2015 - n°23

www.rioc.org

www.worldwaterforum7.org

Con esta declaración oficial, los Ministros presentes al VII Foro Mundial del Agua recono-cieron la importancia crucial de un enfoque por cuenca para enfrentar las presiones sobrelos recursos de agua dulce que van a exacerbarse con el crecimiento demográfico y losefectos del cambio climático.

Que las cuencas sean nacionales o transfronterizas, el cambio climático va atraducirse rápidamente, si ya no es el caso, en una modificación sensible de losciclos hidrográficos y una intensificación de los fenómenos extremos de inunda-ción y sequía: es necesario reaccionar muy rápidamente, antes de que sea dema-siado tarde, y adoptar urgentemente las medidas de adaptación que se imponenpara garantizar una gestión duradera de los recursos hídricos en el mundo.

En el contexto de la preparación de la COP21, la gran conferencia mundial sobre el climaque se celebrará en París, en Francia, a finales de este año, la RIOC, con su experiencia ysus conocimientos técnicos adquiridos desde hace varios años, quiere aportar su contribu-ción mediante acciones concretas ya iniciadas por sus organismos miembros.

En enero de 2010, la declaración final de nuestra Asamblea General Mundial de Dakar diola alerta sobre el riesgo que el agua dulce fuera ”una de las primeras víctimas delcambio climático” y propuso primeras medidas a adoptar urgentemente y la necesidad dereforzar la solidaridad aguas arriba-abajo en las cuencas de todos los grandes ríos delmundo.

La CEPE-ONU y la RIOC animan una plataforma de cuencas piloto para probar ypromover medidas eficaces de adaptación a los efectos del cambio climáticosobre los recursos hídricos, entre las cuales ”Medidas de Retención Natural de lasAguas”, inventariadas con el apoyo de la Comisión Europea, parecen inmediatamente apli-cables.

Estos trabajos acaban de conducir a la publicación por las Naciones Unidas y la RIOC deuna recopilación de buenas prácticas y recomendaciones para la adaptación alcambio climático en las cuencas transfronterizas, presentada durante un ”Día Interre-gional sobre la adaptación al cambio climático en las cuencas” durante el Foro Mundial delAgua en Corea.

La RIOC y la RELOC animan con la OIAgua el proyecto ”EcoCuencas”, financiado por laUnión Europea en el marco del programa ”WaterClima” para América Latina y el Caribe.

La RIOC apoya también la creación de Sistemas de Información sobre el Agua (SIA)que son indispensables para evaluar la situación en las cuencas y seguir las evoluciones.

Pero es necesario ir mucho más lejos e iniciar una movilización general para el agua dulce:esta es la razón por la que la RIOC propone a sus Miembros, en el marco de la COP21, comprometerse a integrar medidas de adaptación reconocidas comorealizables rápidamente en sus ”Planes de Gestión de Cuenca”.

¡Es imprescindible que todos se movilicen!

Fortaleza - Brasil - agosto de 2013

Dakar - Senegal - enero de 2010

Morelia - México - marzo de 1996

Adaptación al cambio climático: ”Es fundamental una gestión integrada de cuenca

para garantizar la sostenibilidad de los recursos hídricos”

Daegu - Corea del Sur - abril de 2015

La lettre du

Mai 2015 - n°23

www.riob.org


Les Ministres présents au 7ème Forum Mondial de l’Eau, par cette déclaration officielle, ontreconnu l’importance cruciale d’une approche par bassin pour faire face aux pressions quesubissent les ressources en eau douce et qui vont s’exacerber avec la croissance démogra-phique et les effets du changement climatique.

Dans le contexte de la préparation de la la grande conférence mondiale sur leclimat qui se tiendra à Paris, en France, à la fin de cette année, le Réseau International desOrganismes de Bassin (RIOB), fort d’une expérience et d’une expertise acquise depuisplusieurs années, veut apporter sa contribution par des actions concrètes d’ores et déjàengagées par ses Organismes-Membres.Dès janvier 2010, la déclaration finale de notre Assemblée Générale Mondiale de Dakar avaitdonné l’alerte sur

et proposé des premières mesures à prendre d’urgence et lanécessité de renforcer la solidarité amont-aval à l’échelle des bassins de tous les grandsfleuves du Monde.

parmi lesquelles des inventoriées avec l’appui de la Commission Européenne, qui apparaissent

comme immédiatement applicables.Ces travaux viennent de déboucher sur la publication conjointement par les Nations Unieset le RIOB d’

présenté durantune journée interrégionale sur l’adaptation au changement climatique dans les bassins auForum Mondial de l’Eau de Corée.Le RIOB et le RELOB animent avec l’OIEau le projet financé par l’UnionEuropéenne dans le cadre du programme pour l’Amérique Latine et lesCaraïbes.Le RIOB soutient également la création de quisont indispensables pour évaluer l’état des lieux dans les bassins et suivre les évolutions.Mais il faut aller beaucoup plus loin et lancer une mobilisation générale en faveur de l’eaudouce : c’est pourquoi,

Adaptation au changement climatique :”Une gestion intégrée par bassin est décisive

pour assurer la pérennité des ressources en eau”

June 2015 - n° 23

Newsletter

www.inbo-news.org


The Ministers present at the 7th World Water Forum, through this official statement,acknowledged the paramount importance of a basin approach to address the pressureson freshwater resources that will be increased by population growth and the effects ofclimate change.

In national or transboundary river basins, climate change will quickly lead, ifnot already the case, to a significant alteration of hydrographical cycles andintensification of extreme flood and drought events. We must act quickly beforeit is too late and urgently take adaptation measures to ensure sustainablewater resources management around the world.

In the context of preparing COP21, the major world Climate Conference to be held inParis, France, at the end of this year, INBO, with its experience and expertise acquiredover several years, wants to contribute through practical actions already undertaken byits member organizations.

In January 2010, the final declaration of our World General Assembly in Dakar gave thealert to the risk that freshwater would be ”one of the first victims of climatechange” and proposed emergency measures to be taken and to increase upstream-downstream solidarity in the basins of all the great rivers of the world.

UNECE and INBO are developing a platform for pilot basins to test and promoteeffective measures to adapt to the climate change impacts on water resources,including the ”Natural Water Retention Measures”, inventoried with the support ofthe European Commission, which seem immediately applicable.

This work has recently led to the joint publication, by the United Nations and INBO, of acollection of good practices and recommendations for adaptation to climatechange in transboundary basins, that was presented during an ”Interregional Day onAdaptation to Climate Change in Basins” at the World Water Forum in Korea.

INBO and LANBO are developing with IOWater the ”ECO-CUENCAS” project, fundedby the European Union under the ”WaterClima” program for Latin America and theCaribbean.

INBO also supports the creation of Water Information Systems (WIS), which areessential to assess the situation in basins and follow up their evolution.

But we must go much further, and launch a general mobilization on freshwater, which iswhy INBO proposes to its Members to commit themselves, as part of COP 21,to introduce quickly achievable measures in their ”Basin Management Plans”.

Everybody’s mobilization is essential!!




Adaptation to climate change: ”Integrated Basin Management is crucial

to guarantee water resources sustainability”

Daegu - South Korea - April 2015

24 issues have been published since 1994, year of INBO creation in Aix-les-Bains.

All their electronic versions can be unloaded from our website: www.riob.org, www.inbo-news.org, www.rioc.org

Publication is made in three languages: English, French and Spanish including:

12.500 copies in French11.000 copies in English3.500 copies in Spanish

An electronic version is translated into Russian!

La carta de la

Mayo de 2016 - n°24

www.rioc.org

Debrecen - Hungría - Junio de 2007

Dakar - Senegal - Enero de 2010

Fortaleza - Brasil - Agosto de 2013

Martinica - Francia - Enero de 2004

Morelia - México - Marzo de 1996

¡Únase a nosotros en Mérida, México, del 1 al 4 de junio de 2016para la X Asamblea General Mundial

de la RIOC!

”México+20”Hay sólo 20 años, la primera Asamblea General Mundial de la RIOC tuvolugar en Morelia, México.Este año, después de Fortaleza, en Brasil en 2013, México acogerá, unavez más, la próxima Asamblea General Mundial de la Red Internacional deOrganismos de Cuenca (RIOC).En veinte años, la gestión por cuenca se ha impuesto, en todos los conti-nentes, como una necesidad para hacer frente eficazmente a los grandesdesafíos mundiales.

”una mejor gestión delas cuencas para enfrentar estos grandes desafíos mundiales”.

�

�

�

�

”Pacto de París sobre el agua y la adaptación al cambioclimático en las cuencas”,

¡Están invitados a presentar sus experiencias!Registrase para participar:

www.riob.org/inscription/rioc-2016.php

La lettre du

Avril 2016 - n°24

www.riob.org

Débrecen - Hongrie - Juin 2007

Dakar - Sénégal - Janvier 2010

Fortaleza - Brésil - Août 2013

La Martinique - France - Janvier 2004

Rejoignez-nous à Méridaau Mexique, du 1er au 4 juin 2016

pour la 10ème Assemblée Générale Mondiale du RIOB !

Morelia - Mexique - Mars 1996

”Mexico+20”Il y a tout juste 20 ans, la première Assemblée Générale Mondiale du RIOBs’était tenue à Morelia au Mexique… Cette année, après Fortaleza, au Brésil en 2013, c’est le Mexique quiaccueillera, une nouvelle fois, la prochaine Assemblée Générale Mondialedu Réseau International des Organismes de Bassin (RIOB).En vingt ans, la gestion par bassin s’est imposée, sur tous les continents,comme une nécessité pour faire face efficacement aux grands défismondiaux.Tous les trois ans, l’Assemblée Générale Mondiale du RIOB est l’occasiond’échanger entre les représentants des Organismes de Bassin du Monde entier et leurs partenaires et de mobiliser les réseaux régionaux pour débattre ”d’une meilleure gestion de bassin pour faire face à ces grands défis mondiaux”.Quatre Tables Rondes sont programmées sur :� l’adaptation au changement climatique dans les bassins ;� le mandat, la composition, le rôle et les moyens des Conseils

et Comités de Bassin ;� la gestion durable des bassins : la planification et les financements ;� la participation des secteurs économiques et des citoyens.L’Assemblée Générale sera aussi l’occasion de tirer un premier bilan de la mise en œuvre du ”Pacte de Paris sur l’eau et l’adaptation au changement climatique dans les bassins”, d’ores et déjà signé par 342 organisations duMonde entier dans le cadre de la COP21 - 2015 de Paris et pour la préparation dela COP22 de Marrakech en 2016.

Vous êtes invités à présenter vos expériences !Inscrivez-vous pour participer :

www.riob.org/inscription/riob-2016.php

May 2016 - n° 24

Newsletter

www.inbo-news.org

Debrecen - Hungary - June 2007



The Martinique - France - January 2004

Join us in Mérida,in Mexico, from 1 to 4 June 2016

for INBO 10th World General Assembly!


”Mexico+20”Just 20 years ago, the first INBO World General Assembly took place inMorelia, Mexico.

This year, after Fortaleza, Brazil in 2013, Mexico will host, once again, thenext World General Assembly of the International Network of Basin Organi-zations (INBO).

In twenty years basin management has imposed itself on all the continents,as a necessity to deal effectively with the great global challenges.

Every three years, INBO World General Assembly is an opportunity to exchangebetween representatives of Basin Organizations from all over the world and theirpartners and to mobilize its regional networks for discussing about ”better BasinManagement to face these global challenges”.

Four Round Tables are scheduled:

� Adaptation to climate change in basins,

� Mandates, composition, role and means of the Basin Councils and Committees,

� Sustainable basin management: planning and funding

� Participation of the economic sectors and citizens.

The General Assembly will also be an occasion to make a first assessment of theimplementation of the ”Paris Pact on water and adaptation to climate changein basins”, already signed by 342 organizations from the whole world as part ofCOP21 - Paris 2015, and to prepare COP22 in Marrakech in 2016.

You are invited to present your experiences!Please register to participate:

www.riob.org/inscription/inbo-2016.php


Publications - CommunicationINBO Electronic Newsletter

It is sent to you whenever important information is available:

l Meetings organized by our network or our partners,l News in INBO website,l News from our Regional Networks,l Diary of events,l International news on water

53 issues have been sent since its inception in January 2004!

There are 22,250 recipients Subscribers to INBO newsletters:

French: 12.720English: 8.050Spanish: 1.480

E-Newsletter of the International Network of Basin OrganizationsN° 53 - February 2016

Content

Our great event in 2016 The Network events in 2015-2016 Other events in 2015

The COP21 of Paris in 2015on climate change OECD Water Governance Initiative UNECE Water Convention

The Paris Pacton water and adaptation to climate change The "INBO Newsletter" Our publications

Our partner projects Websites on basin management Life of the Network

Our great event in 2016

10th World General Assembly of INBO

01 - 04 June 2016, Merida (Mexico)

Organization of the 10th INBO World General Assembly:Information note and Note on the organization of World General Assemblies

Draft program:www.inbo-news.org/IMG/pdf/Programme_AG_Mexique_2016_Eng_.pdf

To register:www.riob.org/inscription/inbo-2016.php

ANY INFORMATION:On the website of the "Comisión Nacional del Agua": www.conagua.gob.mxOn INBO website: www.inbo-news.org/inbo/agenda/article/10th-general-assembly

The Network events in 2015-2016

Paris 2015 - COP21

30 November - 11 December 2015, Paris (France)

In the context of the COP21 on climate, which took place in Paris from 30 November to 11 December 2015, INBO, withits strong experience and know-how acquired for several years, contributed with practical actions already started byits Member Organizations ions.

Lettre Electronique du Réseau International des Organismes de BassinN° 53 - Février 2016

Sommaire

Notre grand événement en 2016 Les événements du réseau en 2015-2016 Autres événements en 2015

La COP21 de Paris 2015sur le changement climatique

Initiative de l'OCDEsur la Gouvernance de l'Eau Convention sur l'Eau - UNECE

Le Pacte de Paris sur l'eauet l'adaptation au changement climatique La "Lettre du RIOB" Nos publications

Nos projets partenaires Les sites sur la gestion par bassin La vie du réseau

Notre grand événement en 2016

10ème Assemblée Générale Mondiale du RIOB

01 - 04 Juin 2016, Merida (Mexique)

Organisation de la 10ème Assemblée Générale Mondiale du RIOB :Note d'information et Note sur l'organisation des Assemblées Générales Mondiales

Le programme prévisionnel :www.riob.org/IMG/pdf/Programme_AG_Mexique_2016_Fr_.pdf

Pour s'inscrire :www.riob.org/inscription/riob-2016.php

TOUTE L'INFORMATION :Sur le site de la "Comisión Nacional del Agua" : www.conagua.gob.mxSur le site du RIOB : www.riob.org/riob/agenda-des-evenements/article/10eme-assemblee-generale-mondiale

Les événements du réseau en 2015-2016

Paris 2015 - COP21

30 Novembre - 11 Décembre 2015, Paris (France)

Dans le contexte de la COP21 sur le climat qui s'est tenue à Paris du 30 novembre au 11 décembre 2015, le RIOB, fortd’une expérience et d’une expertise acquise depuis plusieurs années, a apporté sa contribution par des actionsconcrètes d’ores et déjà engagées par ses organismes-membres.

La Carta Electrónica de la Red Internacional de Organismos de CuencaN° 53 - Febrero de 2016

Sumario

Nuestro gran acontecimiento en 2016 Los acontecimientos de la red en 2015-2016 Otros acontecimientos en 2015

La COP21 de París 2015sobre el cambio climático

Iniciativa de la OCDEsobre la Gobernanza del Agua Convenio del Agua - CEPE ONU

El Pacto de París sobre el aguay la adaptación al cambio climático La "Carta de la RIOC" Nuestras publicaciones

Nuestros proyectos asociados Las páginas Web de la gestión por cuenca t La vida de la Red

Nuestro gran acontecimiento en 2016

10a Asamblea General Mundial de la RIOC

01 - 04 Junio de 2016, Mérida (México)

Organización de la 10a Asamblea General Mundial de la RIOC :Nota de información y Nota de la organización de las Asambleas Generales Mundiales

El programa provisional :www.rioc.org/IMG/pdf/Programme_AG_Mexique_2016_Esp_.pdf

Para registrarse :www.riob.org/inscription/rioc-2016.php

TODA INFORMACIÓN :En la página Web de la "Comisión Nacional del Agua" : www.conagua.gob.mxEn la página Web de la RIOC : www.rioc.org/rioc/calendarios-de-los-eventos//10a-asamblea-general-mundial

Los acontecimientos de la red en 2015-2016

Paris 2015 - COP21

30 Noviembre - 11 Diciembre de 2015, Paris (Francia)

En el contexto de la COP21 sobre el clima que se celebró en París del 30 de noviembre al 11 de diciembre de 2015, laRIOC, con conocimientos técnicos y una experiencia adquirida desde hace varios años aportó su contribución através de acciones concretas ya iniciadas por sus organismos miembros.

N° 53 - 2016 .:

2016 . 2015-2016 . 2015 .

COP21 2015 .

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2016 .

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1-4 2016 ., ( )

10- :

:www.inbo-news.org/IMG/pdf/Programme_AG_Mexique_2016_Eng_.pdf

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:- "Comisión Nacional del Agua": www.conagua.gob.mx- : www.inbo-news.org/inbo/agenda/article/10th-general-assembly

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2015 - COP21

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Publications - CommunicationThe Network’s Website

With three addresses:

in French: www.riob.orgin English: www.inbo-news.org

in Spanish: www.rioc.org

It is a major international success!

It has 1.50 Million visitors per year!

Our website has received over 11.200.000 visits since its opening in 2002!

... And over 140.000 visits / month in early 2013

Part of the website is also translated into Russian!

You will find the agendas, programs, resolutions, papers and photos of all the events organized by INBO:

you can also see information from our regional networks.

www.inbo-news.org


www.inbo-news.org




Statistiques du site riob.org

SessionsVisites

janv-13 111 982févr-13 107 105mars-13 105 872avr-13 86 046mai-13 111 416juin-13 89 247juil-13111 210

août-13 100 878sept-13 93 462oct-13 104 651nov-13 100 128déc-13 102 482janv-14 105 414févr-14 100 175mars-14 116 590avr-14 109 417mai-14 92 939juin-14116 605juil-14127 812

août-14 130 992sept-14 131 451oct-14 119 598nov-14 125 188déc-14 165 331janv-15 125 759févr-15 114 141mars-15 147 148avr-15 124 649mai-15 108 552juin-15106 944juil-15128 703

août-15 121 786sept-15 131 451oct-15 119 484nov-15 153 083déc-15 123 368

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Monthly visits through the years / Visites par mois selon les années

06/01/2016

Statistics on the consultation of ”INBO” websites

www.riob.orgwww.inbo-news.org

www.rioc.org1.50 Million visitors in the last 12 months!

May 2016 - n° 24

Secretariat: International O�ce for Water 21, rue de Madrid - 75008 PARIS - FRANCETel.: +33 1 44 90 88 60 - Fax: +33 1 40 08 01 45Mail: [email protected] N° ISSN : 2071-9418 - Online: ISSN 2310-5852www.inbo-news.org

www.inbo-news.org

"INBO Newsletter" is published with the support of the French Water Agencies, the National Agency for Water and Aquatic Environments and the French Ministry of Environment, Energy and the Sea

Publishing Director: Christiane RUNELEditing - Translation: Gisèle SINEProduction: Frédéric RANSONNETTEPrinting: GDS Imprimeurs - Limoges

NewsletterThe website

of basin management over the world

Privileged links with websites:worldwaterforum7.org / worldwatercouncil.org

gwp.org / iowater.org / emwis.net unesco.org / water.europa.eu

www.cop21.gouv.fr / newsroom.unfccc.intunece.org/env/water / unep.org

oecd.org

The International Network of Basin Organizations

The Regional Networks of Basin Organizations: • Africa - ANBO• Latin America - LANBO• North America - NANBO• Asia - NARBO• Brazil - REBOB• Central Europe - CEENBO• Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia - EECCA-NBO• The Mediterranean - MENBO

"EUROPE-INBO" : European Water Directives implementation

Handbooks for Integrated Basin Management

The World Water Forums of Daegu-Gyeongju 2015and 2018 in Brasilia

COP21: "Paris Pact on water and adaptation to climate change"

Flashcode

1.50 Million visitors per year

Report of Activities - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - RIOB

Documents

Transcript of Report of Activities - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - RIOB