For centuries the Upper Guadiana Basin has been irrigated with groundwater, resulting in a drop in the water table of more than 20 meters. Actions were taken to address this issue, including regulations restricting aquifer abstraction and economic incentives to encourage farmers to improve irrigation efficiency and plant alternative crops. The key lesson learnt is that surface and underground waters cannot be managed separately.
The Pungwe River basin offers significant opportunity for economic growth for Mozambique. The rate of economic success depends to a great extent on the implementation of IWRM. Action was taken to assess the progress of IWRM using a set of indicators addressing relevant areas. It became evident that implementing IWRM takes time and in order to reach success, implementation of IWRM has to follow the pace that can be adopted by all involved parties.
Climate change and the increasing number of competing water users have led to the overexploitation of the Pangani river basin resources. Action has been taken to establishing environmental, economic and social implications of different river flow scenarios under expected climatic conditions. This helped to prioritize the allocation of water resources to meet basic human needs and those of ecosystems. The main lesson learnt was that providing a platform for dialogue between key stakeholders and increasing knowledge about the climatic variability and future risk are essential for successful water management solutions.
In preparation for detailed implementation of the WACDEP and in order to scale up the programme activities to other WACDEP countries, the 2nd WACDEP Technical Coordination workshop was held on 9-11 May 2012 in Cairo, Egypt just before the Africa Water Week.
Thirteen years after it was first launched, GWP’s online database IWRM ToolBox gets a facelift. It is not the first time a change is made, but it is the most radical. The new version, now integrated with the main GWP website, has more features and is easier to navigate.
Following the reorganisation of the water sector in Zambia, an action that decentralised service provision, it became crucial to monitor the service providers and the consumer experience. Action was taken to set up Water Watch Groups that have as their responsibility to raise public awareness about rights and obligations. This case study, concludes that consumer involvement is the key to the success of water sector reforms.
World Water Day 2014 marks a big day for Global Water Partnership (GWP). Not only is the network taking part in the worldwide UN campaign to raise awareness on water-related issues – as it does every year – but this time GWP is also launching its new Strategy, Towards 2020, on this very day.
GWP South America is working on the implementation of a new Latin American Training Programme on Water Legislation for International River Basins. This programme aims to encourage improved international cooperation and facilitate good water governance in the region. Its main outputs will be three training workshops, a manual to support training processes and a monitoring report which will identify knowledge gaps, capacity needs, lessons learned and follow-up needs.