Hydrology.nl

We are well into the year 2013, so it is safe to say what our 2012 Book of the Year is. It is «Bankrupting Nature – Denying our Planetary Boundaries».
This powerful book shows us that we are in deep denial about the magnitude of the global environmental challenges and resource constraints facing the world. Despite growing scientific consensus on major environmental threats as well as resource depletion, societies are largely continuing with business as usual, at best attempting to tinker at the margins of the problems. The authors argue that regardless of whether governments respond to the economic crisis through additional stimulus packages or reduced government spending, environmental and resource constraints will remain. The crisis will be exacerbated by the combination of climate change, ecosystem decline and resource scarcity, in particular crude oil. The concept of Planetary Boundaries is introduced as a powerful explanation of the limits of the biosphere to sustain continued conventional growth. Overpopulation and overuse are at the base of these problems.

Mutual trust and understanding the real needs of communities are key factors for successful water cooperation, according to the participants of the International UN-Water Conference on water cooperation which took place from 8 to 10 January 2013 in Zaragoza, Spain. The participants shared a wide range of initiatives, including experiences in rural and urban areas, and cases at country and basin level, to identify lessons learned and key success factors. The need for cooperation was highlighted as critical for sustainable water management.

In December 2010 the United Nations General Assembly declared 2013 as the United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation. In view of its multidimensional mandate UNESCO was appointed by UN-Water to coordinate the Year. A roundtable session on groundwater governance is therefore a contribution to the 2013 United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation. The session is organized within the framework of the project on «Groundwater Governance: a Global Framework for Action» and takes place in The Hague on 21 March 2013, just prior to the official celebration of the World Water Day on Water Cooperation.

The Salt Water Intrusion Meetings (SWIMs) have been organized since 1968 and have become an important platform for the exchange of knowledge and ideas about saltwater intrusion and coastal hydrogeology. Currently, SWIMs are organised every 2 years, and the venue alternates between a European and a non-European country. The proceedings and abstracts from the 22 meetings held to date form an important scientific legacy and they illustrate the developments in this field over the past 45 years.

This is not cool. During the Fall Meeting of AGU, 3–7 December 2012 in San Francisco, videographer Peter Sinclair captured the views of eight scientists representing some of USA’s leading research institutions in a video produced for The Yale Forum.

The Hague (NL), 19–21 March 2013 • UNESCO, together with FAO, World Bank, IAH and UNECE, will organize a Regional Consultation on Groundwater Governance at the outset of the activities celebrating World Water Day 2013 and in the framework of the UN International Year of Water Cooperation. Organized under the responsibility of the UNESCO-IHP, this consultation focuses on the characteristics of groundwater use in North America, Europe and Central Asia (including all EECCA countries) and seeks to promote the discussion about the specific challenges and priorities within the regional context.