XIII Meeting of National Committees and Focal Points of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean (IHP-LAC)

Transcription

1 XIII Meeting of National Committees and Focal Points of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean (IHP-LAC) (Panama City, Panama, October 2018) PHI-LAC/2018/RPXIII/05 12 October 2018 Original: English REPORT OF THE IHP SECRETARIAT CONCERNING IHP-VIII IMPLEMENTATION IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN This document is a report of the IHP Secretariat regarding the implementation of IHP-VIII in Latin America and the Caribbean since the XII Meeting of National Committees of IHP, in Nassau, September 2017.

2 Report of the IHP Secretariat concerning implementation of IHP-VIII in Latin America and the Caribbean (September 2017 September 2018) This report details the implementation of the 8 th phase of the International Hydrological Programme in Latin America and the Caribbean (IHP LAC) since the XII Meeting of IHP National Committees and Focal Points, celebrated in Bahamas in September During the reporting period, 34 regional events have been organized by the IHP Secretariat, with the participation of over people from 30 countries, including over 250 persons from the UNESCO Water Family. IHP participation at the 8th World Water Forum is detailed in document PHI- LAC/2018/RPXIII/9. In this Forum, IHP was involved in 117 sessions, 15 of which were part of the Americas Regional Process. THEME 1. WATER RELATED DISASTER AND HYDROLOGICAL CHANGE The region has been affected by hydroclimatic disasters, with significant impacts at the human, social, economic and environmental scales. The improvement of knowledge on water-related disasters and hydrological changes continues at the national and regional levels. In this line, the work done through the initiatives of IFI, ISI, FRIEND and G-WADI, as well as that of the IHP-LAC working groups on Ice and Snow and on Water and Forest Systems, reinforced the capacities on adaptation to global changes and hydrological risk management. Focal Area 1.1. Risk management as adaptation to global changes 1. Improvement of the articulation between decision makers and scientists regarding flood and drought risk management through the workshops "Challenges to the scarcity and contamination of water" and "Challenges to excesses", organized under the leadership of the CONAPHI of Chile with the collaboration of the IHP Secretariat (Santiago de Chile, July 2017). The event had over 100 participants and was also streamed online. The results of these workshops were integrated in regional report for the 8th World Water Forum. 2. Knowledge disseminated on successful methods for flood risk management at the session "Experiences facing droughts in the Americas" held at the 8th World Water Forum (Brasilia, Brazil, March 2018). Focal Area 1.5. Improve scientific basis for Hydrology and water Sciences for preparation and response to extreme hydrological events 3. Improvement of scientific knowledge and management capacities on environmental flows in the face of extreme events through a series of open tools for the management of water ecosystems, as an output of four seminars organized under the GGRETA Phase II Project in the Trifinio area (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Panama). This Toolbox has six open modules available online at 4. Strategies disseminated for the improved management of extreme events with the involvement of local communities at the International Seminar on Water and Drought Management through Citizen Science (Santiago de Chile, September 2018), with the presentation of 22 projects from 7 countries and the participation of 79 people (39 women, 40 men). 2

3 5. Increased knowledge on the impacts of erosion and sedimentation and on possible management solutions, including from ecohydrology and green infrastructure, through the II Congress of Ecology and Sediments (Santiago de Chile, September 2018), organized by ISI-LAC together with the South American chapter of the International Association for the Control of Erosion (IECA) and the University of Chile. More than 200 people (around 130 men and 70 women) from 16 countries participated. In this instance, capacities for sediment management and erosion control were also strengthened through 11 pre-congress courses, 5 lectures, a technical panel discussion of experts and 88 technical sessions. The connection between public policies and research this issue was promoted in a political panel on erosion and sediment control in Chile. On this occasion, the annual meeting of the ISI-LAC group was also held and the new IHP technical publication "State of the art on sediment management in 8 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean" was presented. 6. Increased knowledge on the status and management of sedimentation processes in LAC via the publication of the 3rd volume of the IHP Technical Publication Erosion and Sedimentation Processes in Basins and Water Channels. THEME 2. GROUNDWATER IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT Focal Area 2.5. Promoting management of transboundary aquifers 7. Strengthening capacities for transboundary aquifers management and its integration with surface waters through mapping and monitoring, as part of the GEF IWLearn Project. A regional workshop (Montevideo, Uruguay, October 2017) was organized for the promotion of joint management of underground and surface water, with support from ISARM and WHYMAP. The workshop counted with an assistance of 37 people (20 women, 17 men) from 20 countries worldwide. Case studies of both continental waters and small island states were addressed. 8. Improvement of capacities for transboundary waters management in the region through the course "International Water Law: Focus on Groundwater" and the workshop "Progress in the implementation of SDG 6 in Latin America and the Caribbean" (Montevideo, Uruguay, September 2018), co-organized with the Global Water Partnership (GWP) South-America and CEREGAS. These events focused on Agenda 2030, ISARM Americas and its role in transboundary aquifers, SDG indicator in LAC and the monitoring of this indicator in Uruguay as a practical example. There was participation from 9 countries in the region, with 48 people participating (28 women, 20 men). THEME 3. ADDRESSING WATER SCARCITY AND QUALITY Focal Area 3.1. Improving governance, planning management allocation, and efficient use of water resources 9. Strengthened linkages between decision-making and scientific research for improved governance and efficient use of water resources through the High-Level Seminar Economic Instruments for Water Management, co-organized in the framework of the XVIII CODIA (Montevideo, Uruguay, October 2017), with the support of the Spanish Cooperation Agency (AECID) and the participation of 20 people from 17 countries (10 women, 10 men). A report based on this seminar is being finalized for publication by AECID. 10. Hydrological resources management approaches disseminated at the high-level intergovernmental dialogue on South American experiences: Water as a central resource for 3

4 sustainable development, in the 8 th World Water Forum with participation of 4 countries (Brasilia, Brazil, March 2018). 11. Knowledge on regional hydrological monitoring frameworks disseminated at the session Hydrological monitoring networks of the Latin American and Caribbean countries celebrated at the 8 th World Water Forum with presentations from 10 American countries (Brasilia, Brazil, March 2018). Focal Area 3.4. Addressing water quality and pollution issues within an IWRM framework improving legal, policy, institutional and human capacity 12. Improved knowledge on the state of water quality in the Americas through the activity of the new regional working group on this topic, as a follow-up a decision of the CONAPHIS at its XII meeting (Nassau, Bahamas, September 2017) and in collaboration with the Inter-American Network of Academies of Sciences (IANAS). Case studies were presented and discussed by the members of the working group (18 people; 4 women and 14 men) at the International Seminar "Sharing waters: from the local to the global" (Ipatinga, Brazil, February 2018), organized in collaboration with the IANAS and local partners, with over 100 participants from more than 20 countries. THEME 4. WATER AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS OF THE FUTURE Focal Area 4.1. Game changing approaches and technologies 13. Dissemination of the activities of the IHP regional urban water working group and the global Water and Megacities Initiative at the XXII Brazilian Symposium on Water Resources (Florianopolis, Brazil, November 2017) organized by the Brazilian Association of Water Resources (ABRH), with the intervention of the Secretariat on "Water management in megacities: innovations for sustainable development. The session counted with an audience of more than 200 people (of which around 50% were women). Focal Area 4.2. System wide changes for integrated management approaches 14. To advance integrated water resources management (IWRM) in LAC, the XI Meeting of CONAPHIS adopted resolution IHP-LAC/XI-09 to carry out a "definition and application of principles of integral water management". To this end, in collaboration with CODIA, a High- Level Seminar on Integrated Water Resources Management (Brasilia, Brazil, March 2018) was held, with case studies from several countries. 72 people (20 women, 52 men) from 19 countries participated. This seminar served as the basis for the debate on the development of IWRM in the region, characterized by a diversity of perspectives. Subsequent to the Seminar, a consultation process was carried out to develop a definition of IWRM for the region. After three interactions, a regional definition was reached and published for dissemination by the LAC IHP team at the Aqua-LAC journal (Vol. 11 no. 2 sep 2018). Focal Area 4.3. Institution and leadership for beneficiation and integration 15. Strengthened understanding of water resources management through national and subnational governmental institutions particularly on the basins of the Uruguay River, the Merín Lagoon and the Guaraní Aquifer through an event coordinated by the Congress of Intendants of Uruguay, the Ministry of Housing, Territorial Planning and Environment 4

5 (MVOTMA) of Uruguay and the Uruguay River Hydrovia Committee, with the support of the National Water Agency (Brazil) (Montevideo, Uruguay, November 2017) and the participation of 26 people (11 women, 15 men) from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. 16. Strengthening of institutional cooperation and dissemination of knowledge through the sessions UNESCO IHP LAC and the Water Family and Enhancing water cooperation in the Iberoamerican and Mediterranean regions conducted at the 8 th World Water Forum (Brasilia, Brazil, March 2018), with CODIA and other partners. THEME 5. ECOHYDROLOGY: ENGINEERING HARMONY FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD Focal Area 5.1. Hydrological dimensions of a catchment identification of potential threats and opportunities for sustainable development 17. Integration of the ecohydrology approach in water resources management and erosion and transport of sediments in basins, and their possible impacts on hydrological processes, in the II Congress on Sediments and Ecology (Santiago, Chile, September 2018), organized by ISI-LAC, the University of Chile, the South American chapter of the International Erosion Control Association (IECA) and the UNESCO Secretariat of the Ecohydrology Program. Focal Area 5.3. Ecohydrology system solution and ecological engineering for the enhancement of water and ecosystem resilience and ecosystem services 18. Enhanced global strategy on ecohidrology including LAC components and regional/global coordination through contributions to the Ecohydrology Working Group in the II Steering Committee of the Ecohydrology Program (Faro, Portugal, March 2018). 19. Strengthen network of Ecohydrology Demo-sites in LAC, with the inclusion of the Paltas- Catacocha site, in the Andean area of Ecuador, where ancestral hydrological techniques are successfully applied and combined with scientific knowledge. 20. Knowledge disseminated and promotion of "Nature-based solutions for water management" through the launching of the 2018 World Water Development Report (WWDR) at the 8th World Water Forum (Brasilia, Brazil, March 2018) by the Director-General of UNESCO and the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP). 21. Strengthened capacities for the implementation of the environmental flows concept through the GGRETA Phase II Project (Trifinio area, Lempa River), conducted by IHP and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This project is structured within the framework of Integrated Water Resources Management and SDG 6, and was implemented through four seminars. As a result of the Seminar on Environmental Flows in Panama, organized together with the National Environmental Authority of Panama (CONAPHI) and CATHALAC (Panama City, Panama, July 2018), water authorities decided to prepare a legal instrument with a holistic approach for the calculation of environmental flows in support of the National Water Security Plan : Water for all. In Costa Rica, the national working group on environmental flows, hosted by the Water Directorate of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, has prepared a Methodological Guide for the calculation of environmental flows that was conceived throughout the seminar held at the Inter-American Cooperation for Agriculture (IICA) facilities (Costa Rica, August 2018). In El Salvador and Honduras, seminars were also held (September 2018). 5

6 Focal Area 5.5. Ecohydrological regulation for sustaining and restoring continental to coastal connectivity and ecosystem functioning 22. Strengthening of capacities for hydrological planning and the development of public policies through the integrated management of coastal areas with ecohydrological principles, via the Coastal Ecohydrology Course (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, September 2018), which counted with the participation of 22 people (9 women, 13 men) from 4 countries. The course, which also addressed the impact of plastic contamination, was organized by the IHP National Committee of the Dominican Republic, together with the IHP Regional Program of Ecohydrology for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Center for the Sustainable Management of Water Resources in the Caribbean Island States (CEHICA) and the UNESCO Chair on Water, Gender and Governance (IGlobal), with the support of the International Center for Coastal Ecohydrology (ICCE) and the UNESCO Chair of Ecohydrology. THEME 6. WATER EDUCATION, KEY FOR WATER SECURITY Enhanced UNESCO Water Family in LAC via the establishment of the Regional Center for Water Security (CERSHI), hosted by the Mexican Institute of Water Technology (IMTA) and the Institute of Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (IINGEL-UNAM), following the signature of the respective agreement by the Government of the United Mexican States and UNESCO (April 2018). The IHP Council, at its XXIII session, adopted resolution IHP/IGC-XXIII/4 supporting the proposal of Uruguay to establish a new Regional Experimental Center for Sanitation Technologies (CERTS) under the auspices of UNESCO. In addition, a new UNESCO Chair in Surface Hydrology (Universidad de Talca, Chile) was established (September 2018). Focal Area 6.1. Enhancing tertiary water education and professional capabilities in the water sector 23. Enhanced capacities and professional development of technical-scientific staff in the field of Remote Sensing Application for Water Resources Management in LAC (Foz de Iguazú, Brazil, November 2017). 24. Enhanced capacities of civil engineers to address water issues in the context of SDG6 via the Water Manual ( Cartilhas da Água ) published by the Instituto Mineiro de Gestão de Água (IGAM, Brazil), with the technical support of IHP. Focal Area 6.3. Water education for children and youth 25. Empowerment and development of capacities of youth leaders at the Youth for Water Forum (Brasilia, Brazil, March 2018), with the participation of about 100 people from the region (approximately 60% women) and the IHP Secretariat. A Youth Declaration was presented at the 8 th World Water Forum (Brasilia, Brazil, March 2018), including at an IHP-coordinated session, through which the water authorities are asked to facilitate greater youth participation in water management and governance. In addition, four youth networks presented their "Challenges and solutions from South America" at the Water Forum. As part of the preparatory process, the first National Forum on Youth and Water (Asunción, Paraguay, December 2017), which counted with the support of IHP, joined about 50 young people (approximately 60% women) from about 6 LAC countries, leading to the creation of a national network in Paraguay and its integration on the Latin American and Caribbean Youth Parliament for Water (PLACJA). 26. Strengthened capacities of young people at the Workshop for Leaders in Water and Education (Melchor de Mencos, Guatemala and Adjacency Zone Guatemala-Belize, December 2017), 6

7 organized by the OAS using IHP teaching methodologies, with the participation of 25 young people (13 women, 12 men) from Central America. 27. Inclusion of LAC youth perspectives in international decision-making processes through the participation of a Latin American and Caribbean Youth Parliament for Water (PLACJA) leader from IHP networks at the Youth Forum of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; New York, USA, January 2018), within the framework of the 2030Agenda and as a debate prior to the decisions of the High Level Political Forum. About 70 people attended this session (approximately 50% women). 28. Strengthened capacities of 35 primary school teachers to promote water sciences through the "Blue Planet Workshop from the Uruguayan perspective" (Montevideo, Uruguay, February 2018). Focal Area 6.4. Promoting awareness of water issues through informal water education 29. Increased awareness of the importance of water security through the dialogues on Culture, Science and Sustainable Cities, with the collaboration of the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Water Policy of Argentina (UNESCO s Villa Ocampo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, June-December 2017). 30. Dialogue on the indigenous perspectives on water promoted through the special session "Water Cultures of Indigenous People in Latin America" held at the 8th World Water Forum with 6 members of indigenous communities (Brasilia, Brazil, March 2018). 31. Enhanced understanding of water security and sustainable development expected via an IHP massive online open course to be launched in October 2018, with the participation of LAC centres under the auspices of UNESCO, UNESCO Chairs and regional IHP Working Groups, with the coordination of the UNESCO Chair on Water Education for Sustainable Development. 32. Enhanced awareness of water-related issues in LAC via the publication of the photobook Nature for Water: a look from Latin America and the Caribbean by IHP, the UNESCO Chair on Water Education for Sustainable Development (Santa Fé, Argentina), with the support of the National Water and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA; Grenada). Focal Area 6.5. Education for transboundary water cooperation and governance 33. Transboundary cooperation promoted for water monitoring at the 8th World Water Forum (Brasilia, Brazil, March 2018), at a session co-organized with the IHP Secretariat at UNESCO Headquarters. 7