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THE INPIM E-NEWSLETTER March 14, 2008; Number 74 http://www.inpim.org ihussain@inpim.org
Welcome to the INPIM E-Newsletter # 74 NEWS
Ø The Establishment of the Onrus River Water User Association (WUA) in South Africa Ø National Water Policy of Ghana Launched Ø Vietnam Water Resources Assistance Project, PIM Capacity Building Ø IWRM Study: A Step Forward to Tackle Emerging Water Issues in Punjab, Pakistan Ø Irrigation Modernization Plan of Punjab, Pakistan Ø The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), World Bank Join to Help Manage Water and Coastal Resources in Latin America Ø World Bank Supports Water Resource Sector in Mozambique Ø Peak Industry Groups Endorse National Water Initiative (NWI) in Australia Ø Water Integrity Network Launches a Small Grants Fund Ø India’s First Holistic Water Resource Management System Ø Announcement for Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) Consultancy in South-Eastern Asia
DONORS’ LENDING AND SUPPORT FOR IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE PROJECTS
World Bank
Ø World Bank Supports Irrigation Sector in Balochistan Province, Pakistan with US$25 Million Ø World Bank provides US$35 Million Loan for Sustainable Water and Health Services in the State of Amazonas, Brazil Ø World Bank Approved US$100 Million for New Approach to Urban Water Management in Chinese City of Bengbu
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Ø Pakistan to get US$75 Million from ADB to Help Farming Ø Asian Development Bank (ADB) Backs Huge Infrastructure Project in Nepal to Ease Water Shortages
Upcoming Regional and International Meets and Events
Ø First African Water Week 26-28 March 2008 Tunis Ø 33rd WEDC International Conference “Access to Sanitation and Safe Water: Global Partnerships and Local Actions” 7-11 April 2008 Accra, Ghana Ø Water Down Under 2008 15-18 April 2008 Adelaide, Australia Ø Second MEDA Water Regional Event on Local Water Management 28-30 April 2008 Morocco Ø 7th International Congress on Hydraulic Engineering: ‘Enough Water for Sustainable Development!’ 15-18 May 2008 Juventud Island, Cuba Ø Irrigation Australia 2008 : Conference and Exhibition 20-22 May 2008 Melbourne, Australia Ø Urbanization of Irrigated Land and Water Transfers: A USCID Water Management Conference 28-31 May 2008 Scottsdale, Arizona Ø Conference "Water Resource Systems Management in Extreme Conditions" 4-5 June 2008 Moscow, Russia Crocus Expo Exhibition Center Ø Second International Conference on Sustainable Irrigation Management, Technologies and Policies 11 - 13 June 2008 Alicante, Spain Ø Groundwater and Climate in Africa - An International Conference 25-28 June 2008 Kampala, Uganda Ø 10th International Drainage Workshop of ICID Working Group on Drainage 06-11 July 2008 Helsinki, Finland Ø World Water Week in Stockholm 17-23 August 2008 Stockholm, Sweden Ø 13th World Water Congress 01-04 September 2008 Montpellier, France Ø Africa Water Resources Management 2008 (AfricaWRM 2008) 8-10 September 2008 Gaborone, Botswana Ø WaterTech Central Asia: Central Asian International Water Technology Exhibition & Conference 16-18 September 2008 Almaty, Kazakhstan Ø ICID’s 20th International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage 13-19 October 2008 Lahore, Pakistan Ø International Symposium on Multiple-Use Water Services 04-06 November 2008 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Ø Community-based Water Law and Water Resource Management Reform in Developing Countries Ø Adaptiveness of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) - Analyzing European IWRM Research Ø Water Alternatives: An Interdisciplinary Journal on Water, Politics and Development Ø Groundwater Resources Sustainability Indicators
Fellowship and funding opportunitiesØ University of Groningen PhD Fellowship Ø Amsterdam Merit Scholarships Ø Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Program CAPACITY BUILDING AND TRAININGS
Ø Knowledge Management for Decision Makers in the Water Sector 14-25 April 2008 DELFT, The Netherlands Ø Applied Groundwater Modelling 16 June-4 July 2008 DELFT, The Netherlands Ø Managing Organizations and Change 16 June-4 July 2008 DELFT, The Netherlands Ø Public Private Partnerships in the Water Sector 07-25 July 2008 DELFT, The Netherlands Ø "2008 Integrated Water Resources Management Advanced International Training Programme"
11 August-2
September 2008 (Sweden) Ø Spate Irrigation and Water Management under Drought and Water Scarcity 10-21 September 2008 UNESCO-IHE
DETAILS
NEWS
The Establishment of the Onrus River Water User Association (WUA) in South Africa
The establishment of the Onrus River Water User Association (WUA) will have far-reaching implications on water management in the Overstrand. The department of water affairs and forestry officially endorsed the establishment of the WUA in the Government Gazette of 25 January.
Henceforth everybody using surface and/or groundwater in the catchment area of the Onrus River, up to its confluence with the sea, will now have a say in how the use of raw (untreated) water should be managed and controlled.
If for example, Hermanus needs more water, either from ground or surface water resources in the catchment area, it first needs to be discussed and negotiated at the WUA. The members of the WUA will then decide whether this is possible, taking into account that it should not negatively affect any of the other sectors that also get their share of water from the same water resources. The same is applicable to farmers who want to extract more water or build dams, no matter how small.
Some of the other functions now delegated to the WUA include the prevention of; Ø water wastage from any water resource or water works; Ø any unlawful use of water by means of proper regulations and Ø any activities likely to impact negatively on the quality of the water.
A management committee, representative of all sectors, will be elected during a public meeting to be held later this month. A notice to this regard will be placed in the Hermanus Times.
Apart from the farming community (including commercial and emerging farmers and farm workers), the 18-person committee will also consist of representatives of the Overstrand municipality (3); ratepayers associations (2); environmental conservation (1) and ecosystem/ recreational users (1).
(Source:http://www.news24.com/Regional_Papers/Components/Category_Article_Text_Template/0,2430,486-658-672_2283174~E,00.html)
National Water Policy of Ghana Launched
A water policy to address the numerous problems that affect the sector which has hitherto remained fragmented and lack coherent policy formulation was launched in Accra on Wednesday.
According to the Minister of Water Resources Works and Housing, Saddique Abubakar Boniface, the lack of coherence in policy formulation for the sector has resulted in the multiple of implementation strategies which invariably created more problems than they were intended to solve.
He said it is in recognition of these challenges and the need for a comprehensive policy framework to guide the development and efficient management and utilization of water resource that has resulted in the preparation of this document. The document is intended to adopt integrated water resources management as its core management principle. He stated that the policy will recognize the various cross-section issues related to the water uses and the links to other relevant sector policies such as those on transport energy and sanitation. The policy is therefore organized in three strategic areas: water resource management, urban water supply, and community water and sanitation.
The policy recognizes the potential in harvesting rain water to increase water availability and government will support the development of this potential by developing appropriate sub-policies to make it attractive to use rain harvesting techniques to supplement our water supplies both in the home and in agriculture.
Another essential thrust of the policy is to improve coordination and collaboration in the sector to maximise benefits and reduce transaction cost. According to him, Government through its various agencies will follow a sector wide approach to implementing policies, plan, and programmes in the water sector and this will strengthen linkages between sector programmes at all levels of governance, that is, communities, districts and the central agencies.
(Source:http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?newsid=5871§ion=1)
Vietnam Water Resources Assistance Project, PIM Capacity Building
The Government of Vietnam through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development signed the DCA of the Vietnam Water Resources Assistance Project. The Project implementation duration is seven years up to June 30, 2011. The MARD through the Central Project Office (CPO), is responsible for coordinating, supervising and implementing the Project. VWRAP has been implemented in 6 subprojects; Cầu Sơn- Cấm Sơn (tỉnh Bắc Giang), Yên Lập (Quảng Ninh), Kẻ Gỗ (Hà Tĩnh), Phú Ninh (Quảng Ninh), Đá Bàn (Khánh Hoà) và Dầu Tiếng (Tây Ninh và Tp Hồ Chí Minh)
The project has four main components: (i) Irrigation modernization, (ii) Dam Safety Management (iii) Thu Bon River Basin Development; and (iv) Institutional Development and Capacity Building.
Component 1- Irrigation Modernization - This Component will rehabilitate and/or modernize the infrastructure of six major irrigation schemes in Vietnam. Component 2 - Dam Safety Management - This Component will rehabilitate and/or modernize the storage reservoir dams under the six irrigation schemes and will improve the dam safety and its management. The Hoa Binh Dam has been included in this Component for the installation of modern instrument equipments together with 3 other dams to be selected.
Component 3 - The Thu Bon Basin Development - Under this Component, the stabilization of the Quang Hue River will be implemented, and in addition selection of priority projects from the Thu Bon Basin Master Plan will be identified for feasibility studies and implementation.
Component 4 - Project Management and Capacity Building - Under this Component the Project will finance training or capability development activities to improve Project Management and provide the required support services to complete the Capacity Building for the following five activities:
Ø National strategic training Ø Training of IMCs Ø PIM training and capacity-building support Ø Training research institutions Ø Irrigation modernization benchmarks and monitoring & evaluation (M&E) training
In the design the Project implementation will take place in three (3) phases:
Phase I of works which cover: Component 1- dams, main canals, and 20% of the command areas; Component 2- Hoa Binh Dam instrumentation; and Component 3- The Thu Bon River Basin Development including Quang Hue River works. During implementation, designs for the remaining 80% of the command areas under Component 1, and the dams to be identified under Component 2 will be undertaken. The rationale for only starting with 20% percent of the command area in Component 1, the so-called “pilot areas”, is to have an opportunity to test new types of water control infrastructure and participatory irrigation management approaches. Lesson learned in the pilot areas will be applied in the rest of the command area during implementation. Phases II and III will each cover half of the remaining 80% of works in Project Component 2 – Irrigation Modernization and Dam Safety Management.
Component 4 – Project management and Capacity building is very important for successful implementation of VWRAP because the implementation process focuses not only to modernize irrigation and water supply infrastructure, but to also modernize the institutions responsible for managing that infrastructure. The Contract for the consulting services for training for the Project was signed in Hanoi on May 29, 2006 between CPO and Vietnam Institute for Water Resources Research (VIWRR) from here on referred as the Training Consultant. The Training Consultant’s office was set-up at VIWRR’s office early June, 2006 followed by the mobilization of the Team Leader and other team members.
Objectives The overall objective of the training and capacity building component is to support the transformation and improved performance of the irrigation sector institutions and facilitate the transition of the sector to a management and service orientation. This would be achieved through the development of new skills and knowledge by the academic and training institutional staff and of the key staff of the operating departments at both central and provincial levels as well as other concerned parties such as national engineering consulting firms.
The specific objectives of the training program will be to formulate the integrated training program, starting with the improved awareness of modernization, technical and strategic management issues for managers and policy makers and capacity building for the visionary and conscientious engineers capable to improve the project performance through modernization. In parallel with the training of civil servants, the training will be also provided to farmers as members of WUOs in the 6 sub-projects. The consultant services will involve in monitoring the implementation of the training programs and the anticipated outputs.
Training programs on PIM at different levels have been carried out at provincial/IMC, WUOs in order to enhance awareness on PIM, support the transformation and improved performance of the irrigation sector’s institutions and facilitate the transition to a management that is service oriented.
Activities The PIM trainings include various activities, such as field survey, orientation workshops/seminars, awareness campaign, preparation of training materials, and conduct of trainings at different levels (central, provincial/IMC and WUOs).
Field Survey and assessment: Field survey at sub-project sites has been conducted to assess the existing irrigations, the present situation of irrigation management. Through the field survey, the training needs for training programs were identified.
Orientation Workshop/Seminars: A series of workshops at different levels (national/provincial/model sites) aim at developing PIM plans at each subproject.
Awareness and Information Sharing Campaign: This task has been conducted in the forms of awareness campaigns, consulting with local authorities/IMC to identify the most suitable PIM models for the pilot schemes. This activity is very important, since the experiences have shown that PIM models could not be formed successfully without the support from the local authorities and IMCs.
Participatory Irrigation Management Trainings: The PIM training will be conducted to promote awareness of PIM, institutional arrangement for both IMC and WUOs involvement in irrigation management and better management of water user organization in effective and sustainable way for national, provincial/IMC, and WUOs levels.
PIM workshops under VWRAP have been conducted to review PIM development in Vietnam and develop specific consensus results for the PIM program not only in 6 sub-projects but also in national level.
ToT training programs: aim at enhance capacity for NGOs consultants and key staff from PMUs, IMCs who become key persons involving into the activities of PIM-JSDF project and trainers of training programs for WUOs.
The IMC training programs: are developed to address the water management for PIM above tertiary level and the linkages between IMC and WUGs. Once the designs of the canal system are prepared, the PMUs will be able to directly participate in the design process so that they become fully aware of what is expected of them in implementing the construction. After the schemes have been modernized to provide facilities for the efficient, reliable and equitable distribution of water, it is necessary that the IMCs, under each scheme, implement procedures for improving the management of that scheme.
Training of WUGs: These PIM training courses provide WUGs supports to enhance their local self-reliance and sustainability in order to achieve a better functioning of WUGs in irrigation and drainage, O&M. All the training, assistance and support services build the capacity and self-support of WUGs and stimulate investment by WUGs in irrigation and agriculture. The training programs for WUOs have been carried out in two rounds; one is before and another is after establishing WUOs at 13 pilots:
Implementation period Implementation period is June/2006 – 12/2009
(Source: http://www.pim.vn/En/Web/Content.aspx?distid=504)
IWRM Study: A Step Forward to Tackle Emerging Water Issues in Punjab, Pakistan
An important component of Punjab Irrigation Sector Reforms Program relates to strengthening IWRM and the water management capacity needed to deal with both the existing and emerging water challenges.
A workshop for IWRM study was organized in IPD on February 11, 2008. A briefing to Chairman P&D Board regarding IPD Modernization and IWRM Plan was made on February 12, 2008. Stakeholders from the sectors of Agriculture, Engineering, WASA, Housing and Public Health, Industries actively took part in the proceedings of this interactive session and provided valuable feedback about the implementation and preparation of IWRM plans.
Mr. Donald John Blackmore has been appointed as the ADB Consultant for providing technical support and preparing the TORS for the study of water market has a lot of topical significance associated with the issue. An inception brief has been prepared by the consultant and is currently under peer review. For a quick look at the abstract click here
The study highlights water resources challenges for Punjab taking into account issues like climatic changes, groundwater use, water quality, pollution, urbanization and industrialization, licensing access to water etc. A continuum for decision making in water resources management has been prepared identifying the fundamental for IWRM implementation in Punjab. The first is to address the resource conditions and allocation issues such as;
Ø How much surface and groundwater is available? Ø What are the risks/opportunities associated with these resources – climate change/ pollution/new dams? Ø What is its quality? Ø Who is authorized to use it and under what conditions will this authorization been changes?
The second objective is to determine who will have policy and decision making responsibility for an integrated approach to water management that will take into account all the competing issues and sectors. The inception brief presents some options on the institutional forum;
Ø Build technical policy making capacity within IPD and PIDA Ø Small Policy Cell with IPD/PIDA and outsourced technical capacity Ø New agency with water resource management responsibility and capacity (most technical skills outsources)
Though each option has its strength and weaknesses yet the consultant’s recommendation is option-II as the major issue is not where the function should be placed but whether there are technical and strategic skills available to support a viable and effective programme. The implementation of IWRM and the necessary policy environment will need some high level long term support from people with extensive international experience.
(Source: Punjab Irrigation Newsletter – 6th Issue)
Irrigation Modernization Plan of Punjab, Pakistan
Dr. Mark Svendsen, an International Consultant, presented an inception brief for discussion on modernisation framework and plan of Punjab Irrigation Sector. It proposes departments’ functional arrangements in a comprehensive framework, re-designing of the institutional architecture and setting out irrigation department core functions as water resources analysis, planning and management, irrigation service delivery, design, construction and modernization. Other functions such as strategic planning and reforms, administration and finance etc. would be supportive in essence nature and would facilitate the core functions by staffing, funding, managing and renewing the organisational units and by providing overall guidance and direction to the work of the department. The new redesign process as part of modernization will include review the organizational architecture, new service delivery mechanism, function of key units, and review of staff redundancy levels, hydraulic modelling facilities, status of workshops and progress of other supportive units.
More FOs in Punjab 101 new FOs have been formed till the end of February, 2008. Out of which 52 FOs have been formed in Bahawalnagar Circle and 49 FOs in Derajat Circle. They have signed IMTA with PIDA authority and are ready to make their contribution to the expanding system of Participatory Irrigation Management.
For a quick look at the inception brief click here
(Source: Punjab Irrigation Newsletter – 6th Issue)
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), World Bank Join to Help Manage Water and Coastal Resources in Latin America
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -NOAA - and the World Bank today announced that they have signed an agreement to work together to help developing nations manage water resources, combat drought, and measure changes in climate.
Future projects are expected to take place initially in the Latin American region, notably in Argentina | |||||||||||||||||||
