The challenges of informing global policy makers about water resources

Transcription

1 The challenges of informing global policy makers about water resources WWAP Expert Group on Indicators, Monitoring and Databases (EG-IMD) UN Water Task Force on Indicators, Monitoring and Reporting Mike Muller Zaragoza, May 2010

2 EG Mandate and Process - Prepare a short list of key indicators: Draft proposal for work to produce useful, feasible, sustainable set of indicators on key water resources issues on an ongoing basis - Complement UNW Task Force, support WWAP/WWDR 3 stage dialogue: USERS of water resource information Communities of data PROVIDERS and Interpreters SYNTHESIS session

3 Framework Three Dimensions: Status of the resource (quantity/availability and quality) Different uses of water Governance system (i Performance, (ii Organisation* *An early conclusion was that the assessment of governance requires a substantially different methodology to that for the other areas Scales: Timescales: National, regional/large basin, continental What is appropriate?

4 Conclusions and recommendations Knowledge and understanding of status of water resources and trends in availability, as well as how they are being affected by withdrawals and consumptive uses, is essential to reduce uncertainties, assess risks and monitor change in water systems under climate and other external pressures. Requires focused data collection, monitoring and reporting 4/26/2010 The United Nations World Water Assessment Programme 4

5 Conclusions and recommendations Different users need different indicators. Main challenge not which key indicators but the systematic generation of core data for calculating the many indicators that meet the needs of potential users. Data collection systems, globally, deteriorating for decades; policy increasingly based on inverted pyramid 4/26/2010 The United Nations World Water Assessment Programme 5

6 Conclusions and recommendations Innovative approaches to the generation of data, (telemetry and remote sensing) may fill some data gaps. However, only site-specific hydrologic and user data collection and monitoring gives the quality and reliability required for monitoring trends in water availability and the impacts of climate change and other external pressures. Collecting information on actual water use (rather than estimated) increasingly important for both environmental accounting and policy monitoring. 4/26/2010 The United Nations World Water Assessment Programme 6

7 Conclusions and recommendations Key institutional recommendation: Since WWAP is a neutral platform, its output should be sufficiently generic that it can be used to provide a range of indicators relevant to the many different interest groups that seek to track trends in water resources. A focus on the production of core data items, in addition to the core indicators that WWAP itself uses, would achieve this purpose. Work programme proposed

8 UN-Water key indicators issue Indicator Main data source (+ other for improved monitoring) Water 1-TARWR/cap AQUASTAT (+ WMO, IGRAC, countries) context 2-% national expenditure for water sector (WSS, ) over total expenditure UNSD (+ WHO/GLAAS) Climate change Pressure on Water Use off stream Use On stream 3-Total storage (SW & GW)/ Total Internal water (SW & GW) 4-Total withdrawals/tarwr 5-Share of agricultural, domestic. Industrial withdrawals / Total withdrawals 6-Evolution of inland fish catch (capture) and production (aquaculture) Use & Trade 7-Share of blue, green, virtual water used to produce food in a country AQUASTAT (+ ICOLD, IGRAC, countries) AQUASTAT (+ UN-Habitat, IWA, UNIDO, countries) AQUASTAT (+ UN-Habitat, IWA, UNIDO, countries) FAO-Fishstat FAO, AQUASTAT; UNESCO/IHE- Delft, Green: available data ; orange: challenge to follow trends but data improving red: important issue but incomplete data

9 UN-Water key indicators Green: available data ; orange: challenge to follow trends but data improving red: important issue but incomplete data issue Indicator Main data source (+ other for improved monitoring) Water supply Sanitation Food production Industry production Energy production Water quality pollution Freshsystem 8-% population with access to improved water supply 9-% of population with access with improved sanitation facilities 10-change in water productivity in irrigated agriculture 11-Change in water productivity in industry 12-Change in hydropower productivity (production/ potential) 13-Change of quality of freshwater systems (% of samples compared to standards/limits such as conc.of nutrients in freshwater, salt in aquifers 14-Urban wastewater treatment connection rates 15-Change in wetlands health status (inc. threatened freshwater species %) JMP (+ Un-Habitat for data at city level) JMP (+ UN-Habitat for data at city level) FAO-AQUASTAT (+FAO, ICID for irrigation scheme level) UNIDO (+ IWA, WBCSD for industry level) IEA UNEP-GEMS water, IGRAC OECD, EUROSTAT Ramsar (+ WWF, UNEP)

10 Thank you (more details on OECD workshop website, including UN World Water Assessment Programme Final Report of the Expert Group on Indicators, Monitoring and Data Bases: EG IMD final report (PDF)

11 Outcomes: Data Items EG-IMD In the domain of water resource availability: -TARWR via 30 year moving average (new; RS + synthesised) -Storage (Available man-made storage capacity, changes in surface and groundwater storage) -Long term (30 year) average precipitation (new, to match new TARWR series, and provide some perspective on variability) -Basic indicators of variability -Frequency of specific extremes (new) -Values of specific extremes (new)

12 EG-IMD Outcomes: Data Items (cont d) In the domain of water quality and environment: -Eutrophication of selected freshwater water bodies (new; using RS to assess chlorophyll and dissolved organic matter) -NO 3 and salinity in -Groundwater (new) -Freshwater (new) -Freshwater species (subsector of living planet index by WWF) -Extent and condition of selected wetlands (new, using RS)

13 EG-IMD Outcomes: Data Items In the domain of water use Water use by sector (existing classifications) -Agriculture -Industry -Domestic -Energy (cont d)

14 EG-IMD Programme for the production of key Data Items The process adopted by the EG to develop this proposal: ID areas where data deficiencies impede indicator production Consider approaches that improve data availability (traditional or innovative methods) Choose target areas in which substantial progress could be made in the short term with relatively limited resources Prepare outline proposals for programmes of work to deliver global sets of data items (with indicative costings) ID potential institutional partners

15 Programme to generate data on key indicators of the state of the world s water on a regular, consistent and sustainable basis The proposed areas of focused work include the following: Resource availability (TARWR) Remote sensing index of water quality Wetland status and environmental services Resource use Trends and variability in precipitation

16 Proposed area of work Resource availability (TARWR) The establishment of a system to produce an annual estimate of total available renewable water resources by country and major river basins (DrWRI), using the best available data and agreed methodologies to patch the record from remote observations where direct observation is not possible; to be led by Charles Vorosmarty of CUNY working with the GCOS- GTOS Global Terrestrial Networks for Hydrology, which the proposers coordinate on behalf of World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

17 Proposed area of work Remote sensing index of water quality The initiation of a project, in collaboration with NASA and other agencies involved in remote sensing, to interpret data about water quality from remote sensing sources to enable trends to be established to complement existing data which focuses on known hotspots.

18 Proposed area of work Wetland status and environmental services The remote sensing work above will also be linked to systematic ongoing monitoring of the extent of wetlands whose shrinkage is in many places a good indicator of the state of environmental protection. This will be led by CDB, in collaboration with Ramsar. (It is also proposed that a subexpert group will be established with these partners to review methodologies for assessing freshwater ecosystem services).

19 Proposed area of work Resource use A project, in collaboration with the UN Statistical Division, FAO, the International Water Association and organised business, to support countries to collect and report data on water use within a common and consistent framework; this will include the promotion of partnerships to encourage key water users such as urban water utilities and manufacturing industry, which already collect a great deal of data, to make it available on a regular basis.

20 Proposed area of work Possible additional activities include: Trends and variability in precipitation Precipitation is the best signal of climate input into the hydrological system. A moving 30yr average of precipitation will support interpretation of data item #1 above. This will require a re-analysis of historical data (WMO) to ensure comparability with a similar moving average to be developed for the runoff series. An assessment of variability, necessary for monitoring trends in extremes, would require a study of changes in annual distributions at national and large river basin scales. An initial indicative proposal is still to be developed by WWAP and the WMO.

21 Proposed areas of work Possible additional activities include: Groundwater storage indicator collaboration with IGRAC to produce data in an appropriate format. Management/governance efficiency Complementary action with GWP to support regional peer reviews of water management and benchmark the effectiveness of national water management.