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THE INPIM E-NEWSLETTER January 15, 2007; Number 61 http://www.inpim.org ihussain@inpim.org
Welcome to the INPIM E-Newsletter # 61 NEWS
Ø Indian Government Declares 2007 as Water Year Ø New European Directive for Cleaner Groundwater Ø Pakistan: Punjab Launches Canal Telemetry Ø Funding of Three billion Francs from Saudi Funds for water distribution projects in Senegal Ø The Netherlands will Finance the Studies of New Sanitation Action Plan for Senegal Ø Water Waqf Fund Initiative Launched by IUCN Ø ADB's New Toolkit Offers Key to 'Smarter Sanitation' in Asia and Pacific Ø 1.4 Million People to Get Clean Water in Ethiopia
DONORS’ LENDING AND SUPPORT FOR IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE PROJECTS
World Bank
Ø World Bank Approves US$50 Million for Water Resources Management in the Northeast of Brazil Ø World Bank Supports Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector in Punjab, India Ø World Bank Supports Dushanbe Water Supply Project, Tajikistan
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Ø ADB’s $900 Million Funds to Boost Irrigated Agriculture's Productivity in Pakistan's Punjab Province Ø ADB Planning $100 Million Facility for Water Projects Ø ADB’s $60 Million Additional Loan for Water Supply Project in Sri Lanka Ø ADB’s Water and Sanitation Project to Clean Up Environment of Nanjing, China Upcoming Regional and International Meets and Events
Ø INPIM’s 10th International Seminar on Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) and ICID’s 4th Asian Regional Conference 2-5 May 2007 Tehran, Iran Ø International Congress on River Basin Management 22-24 March 2007 Antalya, Turkey Ø 1st Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol on Water and Health 17-19 January 2007 Geneva, Switzerland Ø 3rd National Water Resources Policy Dialogue 22-23 January 2007 Arlington, Virginia, United States Ø 4th International Exhibition & Conference for Water Technology 22-24 January 2007 Bahrain Ø 2nd Congress on Rivers and Wetlands Restoration 23-25 January 2007 Tarragona, Spain Ø International Symposium on Wetland Restoration 2006 27-29 January 2007 Otsu Shiga, Japan Ø USDA-CSREES National Water Conference ‘Research, Extension and Education for Water Quality and Quantity’ 28 January – 1 February 2007 Savannah, Georgia, United States Ø Water Treatment and Re-Use Conference II 1-11 February 2007 Tomar, Portugal Ø 3rd International Groundwater Conference (IGC-2007) ‘Water, Environment and Agriculture - Present Problems and Future Challenges’ 7-10 February 2007 Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Ø ‘Time to Adapt - Climate Change and the European Water Dimension’ Conference 12-14 February 2007 Berlin, Germany Ø International Conference ‘Water Saving in Mediterranean Agriculture and Future Research Needs’ 14-17 February 2007 Valenzano, Italy Ø International Conference on ‘Water Management in the Islamic Countries’
19-20
February 2007 Ø World Bank Water Week 27 February- 2 March 2007 World Bank Headquarters, Washington D.C, USA Ø 4th Conference on Watershed Management to meet Water Quality and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDLs) 11-13 March 2007 San Antonio, Texas, United States Ø International Conference on Water and Flood Management (ICWFM) 12-14 March 2007 Dhaka, Bangladesh Ø MEDA WATER International Conference on Sustainable Water Management 21-24 March 2007 Tunis, Tunisia Ø 8th IWA United Kingdom Young Water Professionals Conference 18-20 April 2007 Guildford, United Kingdom Ø 2nd International EWA Conference ‘Waters in Protected Areas’ 25-27 April 2007 Dubrovnik, Croatia Ø International Conference on Water Management and Technology Applications in Developing Countries 14-16 May 2007 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Ø World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2007 15-19 May 2007 Tampa, Florida, United States Ø River Basin Management 2007 Conference 23-25 May 2007 Kos, Greece Ø World Canals Conference 2007 13-15 June 2007 Liverpool, United Kingdom Ø 5th IWHA Conference ‘Pasts and Futures of Water’ 13-17 June 2007 Tampere, Finland Ø Third International Conference on Climate and Water 3-6 September 2007 Helsinki, Finland
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Ø New WHO Publication on Protecting Groundwater to Promote Health Ø Urban Water Conflicts: An analysis of the origins and nature of water-related unrest and conflicts in the urban context
Fellowship and funding opportunitiesØ Asian Development Bank - Japan Scholarship ProgramØ ADB’s Internship and Research Fellowship Programs capacity building and trainings
Ø Social Issues in Natural Resource Management with Soil and Water Conservation 29 January - 9 March 2007 United Kingdom Ø Soil and Water Conservation 2 February – 9 March 2007 United Kingdom Ø Soil Management and Extension Techniques5-23 March 2007 Thailand Ø Short Course on Service Oriented Management of Irrigation Systems (SOMIS)10-28 April, 2007 UNESCO-IHE DELFT, The Netherlands Ø Participatory Watershed Management 11 June – 6 July 2007 Thailand
DETAILS
NEWS
INPIM’s 10th International Seminar on Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) and ICID’s 4th Asian Regional Conference
INPIM’s 10th International Seminar on Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) and ICID’s 4th Asian Regional Conference will be held in Tehran from 2-5 May, 2007 and will be hosted by the Iranian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (IRNCID), ICID & INPIM. All interested participants and the honorable members of ICID, INPIM and other national, regional and international organizations are welcome to exchange ideas, experiences, new technologies and innovations, as well as, share benefits from new research and development by deliberating on various aspects of PIM.
Accomplishing its mission, ICID sponsors different Regional and International Conferences which include workshops as one of its priorities. The 1st Asian Regional Conference (ARC) was held on the theme, "Agriculture, Water and Environment", in Seoul, Korea during September 2001. In March 2004, with the cooperation of Australian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, the 2nd ARC was held on the theme, "Total Catchment Management" in Moama, Australia. The 3rd ARC focused on the theme, "Transforming Irrigated Agriculture into an Efficient Engine of Growth" and was held in Malaysia on 13 - 15 September 2006 with the support of Malaysian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage. And finally, the 4th Asian Regional Conference and the 10th International Seminar on Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) shall be held here in Tehran, Iran from May 2-5, 2007 with the following PIM Topics:
1. A Review on Participatory Measures in Irrigation · Implemented and proposed processes (frameworks, methods and indices). · Success stories on implemented projects.
2. Required Grounds and Facilities for PIM Formation · Organizational reforms. · Cultural, social and political grounds. · Legal frameworks and norms.
3. Support System for PIM Sustainability · Policies and strategies. · Capacity building, training and extension. · Monitoring and evaluation.
For Details Contact:
Email:
irncid@gmail.com
Indian Government Declares 2007 as Water Year
The Government of India has announced the year 2007 as "Water Year" with a view to addressing the water-related issues and to launch a massive awareness programme all over the country.
Some of the important activities planned during the Water Year-2007 include holding a meeting of the National Water Resources Council chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by all Chief Ministers, a National Congress on Ground Water, Farmers Participatory Action Research Programme in 5,000 villages to promote "more crop and income per drop" of water, training of Water Masters in each "Pani Panchayat" and institution of an Award for the best Pani Panchayat.
India faces challenges in the water sector in the form of declining per capita availability of water, over-exploitation of ground water resources, deterioration in the water quality, cost and time over-runs in the completion of irrigation and multi-purpose projects and poor maintenance of the existing systems. The water availability for the country as a whole has been assessed as 1,869 billion cubic meters (BCM).
New European Directive for Cleaner Groundwater
On the second day of their Plenary in Strasbourg, France, the members of the European Parliament approved a new legislation that should improve the cleanliness of water by much stricter measures against pollution by preventing ‘hazardous substances’ such as cyanide, arsenic, biocides and phytopharmaceutical substances seeping into the water.
The scope of the directive was broadened so that its aim will now be to protect groundwater ‘against pollution and deterioration’ and not only ‘against pollution’. Member States will be required to take ‘all measures necessary to prevent inputs into groundwater of any hazardous substances’.
The measure is particularly important as in many areas groundwater is the largest source of public drinking water and the most sensitive freshwater resource. Member States will have two years to transpose the directive into national law; it should therefore take effect from early 2009. Pakistan: Punjab Launches Canal Telemetry
Punjab (a province of Pakistan) has launched a telemetry project, first of its kind in the country, with an aim to ensure canal water at tail ends and check the practice of irrigation water theft.
As a pilot project the provincial government has selected the Lower Chenab Canal (LCC) system and set aside a sum of Rs100 million. Irrigation secretary Arif Nadeem told that “the system which would be completed within 2007, was aimed at eliminating chances of human error and discretion in water distribution. By computerizing water distribution the department could reduce farmers’ complaints and win their confidence by ensuring reliable water distribution.”
About the operation of the system he said it read water situation at critical points and ensured sustained supply, the department had already identified 23 such points which were crucial for ensuring equitable and sustained water supply. The system would transmit live data on all these points and help the department regulate water right upto tale end of canal and distributaries.
“It will transmit data to the central information cell of the department and guide it how much water is needed at different points for running canals at optimum level. Thus enabling the department to regulate water distribution from three barrages that feed the system.”
About the working of the system he said that the telemetry system included solar panels (for recharging batteries), data transmitters and reading devices. In addition to analyzing water position the system also read sea and ocean temperatures, which triggered rain system in the catchment areas. The system would be linked to the metrological office. Thus it will take all positions into account before guiding the department about the current situation and future projections.
The department would regulate all its operations on these projections, he said and added: “Currently, the department takes all these readings manually, synchronize them with the Met office forecasts and runs canals accordingly. With this system in place, all margins of human error and discretion would be wiped off. The system would independently take all relevant data analyze it and recommend canal operating procedures.”
About selecting this particular system, he said the LCC was the most erratic system as there was no dam on it to absorb wild fluctuations. Its operation depended on the behaviour of the river Chenab, which was as erratic as a river without dam could be. “With this behaviour the department has never been able to ensure a sustained a water supply to farmers. As a result farmers have not been able to plan their agriculture with their certainty. With new system in place the water operation and agriculture activity on it will get a measure of certainty.”
The Australian government which had been regulating its canal system through it had contributed the software for the system. It had also provided one million Australian dollars grant for the installation of the system.
Off taking from Marala (particularly fed fed from khanki and Qadirabad barrages) the LCC systemcomprises four main channels- Upper Gogera, Lower Gogera, Mian Ali and Jhang- and 445 distributries. It irrigates around 3.1 milloion acres in Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh and Jhang districts.
(Source: Ahmad Fraz Khan, Dawn 16-01-07)
Funding of Three billion Francs from Saudi Funds for Water Distribution Projects in Senegal
Senegal's Minister of the Economy and Finances, Abdoulaye Diop, and Director-General Yousef Al-Bassam of Saudi Development Funds signed an agreement on 8 January that Saudi Arabia would provide 3 billion francs ($5 million U.S.) for water distribution projects, including boreholes and wells, in several regions of Senegal.
The Netherlands will Finance the Studies of New Sanitation Action Plan for Senegal
At a conference in Saly Portugal in Senegal's Department of Mbour, the Minister of Sanitation, Prevention, and Public Health announced that the Dutch government would provide more than 161 million francs for studies of the new Sanitation Action Plan.
According to Dr. Issa Mbaye Samb, tackling the problems of flooding and shortages of potable water are of equal urgency. Stormwater drainage and water networks are already being upgraded in some 20 communes: 2700 km of additional water pipelines and storage facilities for 27,000 cubic meters of wastewater are under construction and more are planned. The plan will also tackle water pollution in the holy city of Touba and Hann Bay.
Water Waqf Fund Initiative Launched by IUCN
A new Waqf
Fund Initiative for Water has recently been created by the IUCN
[http://www.iucn.org/places/wescana/programs/water/index.html]
[http://www.islamic-relief.com/uk/waqf/water_waqf.htm]
ADB's New Toolkit Offers Key to 'Smarter Sanitation' in Asia and Pacific
ADB has launched a new electronic toolkit to help improve the state of sanitation in the Asia and Pacific region.
Launched during a recent meeting of ADB water professionals, the toolkit - dubbed “Smarter Sanitation: How to Clean up Your Sanitation and Wastewater Mess” - offers national and local implementers a primer on creating cleaner and healthier communities.
Overall, the gap in sanitation is huge - three times the gap for drinking water. According to Asia Water Watch 2015, a recent study by ADB and other development partners, improvements in sanitation have been generally slow in the region.
Of the region’s 3.8 billion people, 2 billion still do not have access to adequate sanitation, 1.6 billion of whom live in rural areas. Lack of improved sanitation facilities - toilets, pit latrines, septic tanks, and sewerage systems - contributes to higher incidences of waterborne diseases.
ADB Water Committee Chair Arjun Thapan in his welcome speech introduced the toolkit as an important and timely resource for the region’s water professionals, especially given that 2008 will be the International Year of Sanitation.
“The investment needed for wastewater management is almost three times more than for water supply, thus making the financing challenge much greater,” he said. “Full sewerage is indeed too expensive for many of ADB's developing member countries to finance. They should therefore consider incremental improvements that can be quickly made.”
More than 30 specialists from the region’s developing countries contributed case studies to the toolkit, which includes a CD and companion booklet. The toolkit contains ideas and practical approaches to sanitation policies, financing, community participation and options for technologies. It is loaded with links to websites, resources, and other sources that will be valuable to planners and managers. A bonus feature is SANEX, computer software that can help water professionals assess sanitation options for developing countries.
“Business as usual is not an option for ADB, or for most of its client countries,” said Kallidaikurichi Easwaran Seetharam, the ADB water supply and sanitation specialist who supervised the development of the toolkit.
“It is time to try new ways of doing things and, if they work, replicate and scale them up. This innovative toolkit is ADB’s way of doing ‘business unusual’ and getting its partners to also think in innovative ways.”
1.4 Million People to Get Clean Water in Ethiopia
More than 1.4 million Ethiopians are to get clean drinking water close to their homes for the first time through a new USD 29 million partnership between the European Union and UNICEF, it was learnt.
According to a press release issued by UNICEF, the ground-breaking programme will reach children, women and men in every region of Ethiopia over the next five years.
"This is a hugely exciting development," said Bjorn Ljungqvist, UNICEF's country representative in Ethiopia. "Thanks to the commitment of the European Union, we are going to see some real, concrete changes over the next five years. "Children are going to be healthier. Whole communities are going to get new, clean water supplies. And Ethiopia is going to have a much better chance of reaching the Millennium Development Goals," he said. It is estimated that 250,000 Ethiopian children die every year from preventable water and sanitation-related diseases.
Lack of access to safe water and sanitation facilities has a devastating impact on the health and productivity of the Ethiopian people - particularly in rural areas where the vast majority of the population live and where coverage is alarmingly low. Around 80 percent of the disease burdens in the country are communicable diseases mainly caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation facilities. Less than 50 percent of health facilities have access to safe water.
The impact of not having these services is even more acute for children and mothers affected by HIV and AIDS in terms of increasing vulnerability to opportunistic diseases.
Unavailability of water within a reasonable distance has been shown to correlate directly to low rate of school attendance and high rate of drop out by girls. This is due to the disproportionate amount of domestic work, such as water fetching which rests on girls.
In 2004, The World Bank commissioned an assessment that found Ethiopia was not on track to meet these targets. Less than 40 percent of the population has access to safe water and less than 20 percent has access to sanitation facilities. That is way below the sub-Saharan Africa average of about 60% for both water and sanitation.
The partnership will boost Ethiopia's chances of reaching the two main Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for water and sanitation - to have the population without access to water and environmental sanitation and to ensure adequate sanitation facilities for all boys and girls in school, both by 2015.
The new partnership will have a special focus on protecting children's health. More than 156 schools around the country will get safe water supplies, sanitation facilities and hygiene education sessions.
That will improve the health and well-being of more than 160,000 school girls and boys. Past experience has shown that an improved water supply and sanitation facilities at school also reduces drop-out rate and increases school attendance. The EU/UNICEF deal takes the form of a 'co-financing contribution agreement'. That means that each partner will take on half of the total cost 21.6 million euros, just short of USD 29 million by today's exchange rates.
The cash will go into scores of wells and other water supply schemes together with a nationwide programme in water and sanitation management skills and hygiene education. The wells will be dug and managed by the Ethiopian government, using equipment, staff and training paid for by the new partnership.
DONORS’ LENDING AND SUPPORT FOR IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE PROJECTS
World Bank
World Bank Approves US$50 Million for Water Resources Management in the Northeast of Brazil
The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a US$50 million loan for Brazil to enhance the impact of the Federal Water Resources Management Project - PROÁGUA, in the country’s drought-prone Northeast Region. The new project builds on the successful implementation of a previous US$198 million World Bank loan approved in 1998.
“The semi-arid Northeast Region, with 35 percent of the population, has only 3 percent of Brazil’s water resources,” said Alexandre Abrantes, acting World Bank Director for Brazil. “PROÁGUA has significantly reduced the vulnerability of communities to recurrent droughts and contributed to improvements in the quality of life of the poor by improving the reliability of services and the quality of water delivered.”
The project is working to improve living standards and economic development in Brazil’s Northeast by decentralizing water resources management to river basin communities and local water user associations, as well as implementing and enforcing water user rights. It seeks to optimize the storage, use, and delivery of water supplies within the selected areas containing high concentrations of poor, rural households. In addition, the project funds the training of participating agencies at the Federal and State levels in environmental issues and promotes private sector participation at all levels.
The additional financing will support the following activities: Ø Continue to promote and reinforce the implementation of infrastructure works in the semi-arid region. Ø Strengthen the position of the Federal implementing agencies (National Water Agency and Ministry of National Integration) in developing and applying more restrictive criteria for the allocation of Federal funds to finance water resources infrastructure by States. “PROÁGUA contributed to reducing water-born diseases, improving access to improved water and creating job opportunities for the local population,” said Luiz Gabriel Azevedo, World Bank task manager for the project. “The additional finance will enable the project to consolidate these achievements, scale up its successful results and expand its impact to other regions.”
The US$50 million fixed-spread loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a repayment period of 17 years, including a five-year grace period.
For additional information on the Federal Water Resources Management Project, please visit:
World Bank Supports Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector in Punjab, India
The World Bank approved a US$154 million credit to the Indian state of Punjab designed to increase access of the state’s rural communities to improved and sustainable water supply and sanitation services.
The Punjab Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project will assist the Government of Punjab (GoP) in achieving full coverage for water supply with at least basic service level of 40 liters per capita per day in some 3000 villages. It will improve operational performance of the existing water supply schemes in another 1600 villages and implement environmental sanitation schemes in some 1100 villages. The project will also support capacity building of the rural local governments and user communities in developing and managing rural water and sanitation facilities and services.
Some 30 percent of villages in Punjab do not have access to basic drinking water service. The remaining 70 percent have piped water systems, but many of these are suffering from extremely low customer base and poor operational performance. As a result, about 60 percent households in Punjab are dependent on unsafe private drinking water sources. About 50 percent of households have toilets. However, septic-tanks-effluent flowing in open drains has degraded the environmental conditions in the villages and poses a serious health hazard.
“Punjab needs significant improvements in the quality of rural water and sanitation service delivery, which requires both additional investments and reforms,” said Fayez Omar, Senior Manager, India Program and Acting World Bank Country Director for India. “The Bank’s support to Punjab is part of its assistance to Government of India in scaling up rural water sector reforms nationwide and will contribute to achieving the water and sanitation related Millennium Development Goals.”
The proposed Project will support GoP’s overall six year Medium Term Program (MTP) for the Sector. The project will be implemented adopting a sector wide approach by which all new investments in the sector will adopt a consistent sector policy and implementation strategies irrespective of sources of financing.
The Program will be implemented in all 19 districts of Punjab, and is expected to directly benefit about 7.4 million rural people. The program particularly targets people belonging to Scheduled Caste, and those living in difficult terrain. Women would be the primary beneficiaries through time savings in collecting water, better health from more and cleaner water, improved sanitation and better hygiene practices.
Providing the local governments and user communities the authority and control over decisions and resources is the key to creating ownership and achieving the sustainability of water and sanitation services” said Mr. Ghanasham Abhyankar, World Bank Senior Sanitary Engineer and Task Leader for the project. “This will be achieved through greater collaboration and partnership between the government department and the rural communities and building their capacities in effectively managing such partnership”.
Total project cost is US$ 261.4 million. The remaining funding will be contributed by the Government of Punjab (US $ 49.6 million), Government of India (US $ 42.1million), and local government communities (US$15.7 million). The US$154 million equivalent interest-free credit is provided by the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm and has 35 years to maturity a | |||||||||||||||||||
