GWP Eastern Africa (GWPEA) Regional Project Manager for IDMP attended the 1st Africa Drought Conference (ADC) that was held on 15-19 August 2016 in Windhoek, Namibia. The theme of the conference was “Enhancing resilience to drought events on the African Continent”. The conference was aimed at discussing ways by the participants (African Union states, UN agencies and other stakeholders) of enhancing resilience on the African continent
The Segura Basin in Spain is the driest in Europe. With 365 mm of annual rainfall, this basin has the lowest rainfall in the European Union. Nevertheless, it is also a region which exports fruit and vegetables. The Segura River is thus the main water sources for irrigation. In 1986, when Spain became a member of the European Union, the production of agriculture and canned food significantly increased. As a consequence, a rise in wastewater discharges and lack of water in the already water-stressed Segura River brought extreme deterioration of the water-related ecosystem and a strong social discontent.
The Graeme Hall Swamp is linked to the St. Lawrence Lagoon and is the last remaining coastal wetland in Barbados. The wetland has been designated as a Natural Heritage Conservation Area and has also been established as one of two Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity Programme (CARICOMP) monitoring sites in Barbados. The Graeme Hall Watershed, located in the south of Barbados, spans 1,156 acres. The most significant element of this watershed is the Graeme Hall Swamp.
Zhang River runs through Shanxi Province, Hebei Province and Henan Province as the border of Hebei and Henan Provinces. Within the basin, there is a large population but inadequate water and land resources. The residents of the villages along the river only have a small amount of valley terraces and flood land barely meeting their survival demand.
Caribbean countries face a number of challenges in maintaining adequate supplies of water for their populations. Challenges range from low annual rainfall levels to inadequate storage, polluted water sources, and poor management of existing water resources.
Watersheds are essential to the livelihoods of humans. A significant portion of a society’s economic gain and overall survival is acquired through the ecosystem goods and services provided by watersheds. Jamaica as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) has recently been facing increased stress and vulnerability to its water resources.