The 20th session of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO IHP) Intergovernmental Council recommended provision of support to selected countries in order to enable them to carry out -depth studies of their groundwater resources.
UNESCO IGRAC methodology developed to assess the aquifers and to define adequate indicators to support monitoring of the good status of aquifers in the chosen representative aquifers
Pretashkent aquifer has been selected as a case study for the GGRETA project in order to improve scientific knowledge, protect and raise recognition of the importance and vulnerability of groundwater resources in the region, develop monitoring tools for the decision makers and enhanced awareness of countries on the UNGA Resolution on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers and on the UNECE Water Convention
UNESCO-IHP has organised a two-day regional workshop to bring together both international experts on groundwater resources management and national water experts from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The workshop was organized with the participation of the United Nations Economic Commission of Europe (UNECE) and the EU Groundwater Working Group C.
The main objective of the workshop was to study Groundwater Resources Activities aimed at improving knowledge and capacity for the management of a vital resource.

Presentations - Day 1

Presentations - Day 2

The 20th session of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO IHP) Intergovernmental Council recommended provision of support to selected countries in order to enable them to carry out -depth studies of their groundwater resources.
UNESCO IGRAC methodology developed to assess the aquifers and to define adequate indicators to support monitoring of the good status of aquifers in the chosen representative aquifers
Pretashkent aquifer has been selected as a case study for the GGRETA project in order to improve scientific knowledge, protect and raise recognition of the importance and vulnerability of groundwater resources in the region, develop monitoring tools for the decision makers and enhanced awareness of countries on the UNGA Resolution on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers and on the UNECE Water Convention
The Workshop was aimed to present the activities of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP) to the water resources experts to evaluate with the implementation of  a project on groundwater resources management of Pretashkent aquifers during the period 2013-2015.

Related  resources

The 20th session of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO IHP) Intergovernmental Council recommended provision of support to selected countries in order to enable them to carry out -depth studies of their groundwater resources.
UNESCO IGRAC methodology developed to assess the aquifers and to define adequate indicators to support monitoring of the good status of aquifers in the chosen representative aquifers
Pretashkent aquifer has been selected as a case study for the GGRETA project in order to improve scientific knowledge, protect and raise recognition of the importance and vulnerability of groundwater resources in the region, develop monitoring tools for the decision makers and enhanced awareness of countries on the UNGA Resolution on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers and on the UNECE Water Convention
The workshop introduced the project objectives and methodology to the national exerts and to adjust the indicator based methodology to the specifics of Pretahskent aquifer.
The main objectives of the working meeting were to operationalize the national technical teams on the methodology used for the data collection process of hydrogeological, socio-economic, environmental, legal and institutional aspects.

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The Preparation Phase of the Trifinio Case Study was executed from October 2012 to March 2013. The main output was the elaboration of the detailed Project Document for the subsequent implementation of the Full Size Project.
During the  preparation phase, UNESCO and IGRAC undertook a mission to meet the staff of the regional offices of UNESCO and UICN, the consultants hired by UICN as part of the project preparation, and visited the project area and met with local stakeholders and municipalities.
IUCN carried out an inventory of existing information and identified gaps in order to describe and evaluate the Trifinio aquifer. A team of expert consultants was contracted to work in coordination with IUCN; fieldwork was conducted; workshops and meetings were held to better understand the project and to plan future events; information collected on the Trifinio region was compiled and thematic reports were generated. An outcome report contains a summary of the main data, findings and conclusions of this inventory.

Related resources:

Group Picture:

Preparatory meeting report (by IUCN) (in Spanish)                  Mission Report (by UNESCO IGRAC) To download the pdf click here
To download the pdf click here

Annexes to the IUCN Report (available for download)

Outcome report of the preparatory phase - in english and spanish

Click to download pdf in ENG or SPA

A series of national Seminars are scheduled for the 3 countries. The first one, entitled  “National Seminar on Water Resources” was held in Guatemala, in La Antigua Guatemala, July 2, 2014. It was convened by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
 About 35 mayors from different municipal border towns of Guatemala and other 65 participants from government institutions and academia attended the meeting, as well as IUCN and UNESCO representatives from Guatemala and the region.

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Photos:

The Governments of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, jointly with the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP) and the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC) organized a first regional meeting from 22-24 October 2013 at the United Nations House in Windhoek, Namibia on the assessment of the transboundary Stampriet Aquifer within the framework of the “Groundwater Resources Governance in Transboundary Aquifers” (GGRETA), funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

The main objective of the first regional meeting was to formally launch the project and update all parties on the progress of the project’s implementation. During the first day of the meeting, a series of presentations and discussions took place to ensure that all parties are familiar with the objectives, activities, budget, deliverables and approach to the implementation of the project. The second and third day of the meeting were more technically oriented and focused on gathering participants to discuss details related to the assessment, such as methodology and indicators.

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List of Participants:

Pictures:


Minister of Agricolture Water and Forestry John Mutorwa, Namibia

Presentations - Day 1

Presentations - Day 2

Presentations - Day 3

Overview

The Governments of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, jointly with the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP) and the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC) organized the second regional technical meeting from 21-23 May 2014 at the United Nations House in Windhoek, Namibia on the assessment of the transboundary Stampriet Aquifer within the framework of the “Groundwater Resources Governance in Transboundary Aquifers” (GGRETA), funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

At the first regional meeting organized in October 2013, the bases for starting the study of the aquifer were established. The main objective of the second technical meeting was to operationalize the national technical teams from the involved countries on the methodology used for the data collection process of hydrogeological, socio-economic, environmental, legal and institutional aspects.

Related Resources

Presentations - Day 1

Presentations - Day 2

In May 2012, within its Strategic Framework 2010-2015 and as part of the initiatives of a global water program, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) issued an invitation to present projects for funding with transboundary aquifers as the central theme. The preparatory phase of the SDC Full Size Project “Groundwater Resources Governance in Transboundary Aquifers” activities was undertaken with the objective of conducting an inventory of existing information on the Kalahari-Karoo / Stampriet Aquifer zone and identifying information gaps with respect to a group of indicators enabling a first characterization of the aquifer. Information on groundwater conditions, hydrogeology, climate, environment, and socioeconomic aspects within Botswana, Namibia and South Africa was compiled, along with a preliminary stakeholder mapping for the aquifer zone.

Related Resources

Preliminary Evaluation of Kalahari-Karoo Aquifer Conditions (available for download)

Andrea Merla, Senior Groundwater Expert, UNESCO-IHP

The third UNESCO/GEF Groundwater Integration Dialogue took place in Athens, Greece, in May 2014 on the subject of “Managing groundwater in coastal areas and SIDS”.

The event was co-convened by the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP), the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP Med) and the UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) in cooperation with the UNESCO/WMO International Centre on Groundwater Assessment (IGRAC), the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Priority Actions Programme Regional Activity Centre (PAP/RAC) in the framework of two GEF co-financed Projects, the IW:LEARN and the MedPartnership Projects. The event was also a contribution to the International Year of SIDS (Small Islands Development States) 2014.

Coastal ecosystems sit at the nexus of terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments and are among the most productive, threatened and complex ecosystems in the world. Many active geologic processes occur in coastal zones including erosion, sedimentation, alongshore and onshore sand transport, shoreline changes, wind/tidal flooding, and dunes accretion. Therefore, coastal zones are open and dynamic systems with numerous internal processes as well as interactions with the wider environment, natural and man-made.The hydrogeology of coastal zones is characterized by the layering of freshwater over the more dense saline waters of the sea. Over-exploitation of coastal aquifers can result in saline water intrusion. This is a global-scale problem that is endangering development in many highly-populated coastal regions and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).Aquifer management in coastal zones focuses on reaching a balance between protecting ecosystem services – considering that many coastal ecosystems are groundwater dependent - and sustaining the often aggressive socio-economic development of the coastal zone.

Groundwater Integration Dialogues are face-to-face meetings organized by UNESCO-IHP in the framework of the IW:LEARN Project that bring together groundwater, surface and marine projects from the GEF International Waters portfolio with local scientific communities and other networks in order to promote cooperative approaches and conjunctive management of water resources within transboundary settings.

The present video is part of the “Groundwater Talks” Initiative coordinated by UNESCO-IHP in the framework of the IW:LEARN Project. This series of videos and interviews provides an insight into groundwater issues from events across the world.