Benchmark meeting on groundwater governance marks road to World Water Day and UN International Year of Water Cooperation

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.

2011.10 logoGWGH.E. Rob Zeldenrust, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, will open the event, which is the 5th regional consultation, following consultations in: Latin America and the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, Arab States, Asia (East and South) and the Pacific.

The aims of the regional consultations are to:
• acquire first-hand knowledge of regional issues from local groundwater experts;
• build partnerships amongst collaborating project agencies, stakeholders,
  decision-makers and specialists across sectors; and
• raise awareness and promote a global groundwater agenda.

 

Report at Ecosystem Marketplace

 

Venue: The Hague Institute for Global Justice, The Hague, the Netherlands

 

acrobat icon Project flyer

acrobat icon Presentation Note 5th Regional Consultation

acrobat icon Managing the Invisible – Understanding and Improving Groundwater Governance

acrobat icon Draft agenda – updated and acrobat icon Roundtable

acrobat icon Biographies

 

» More information 

 

2013 logo 200pxDutch institutions and persons who are interested in the 5th regional consultation can This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The 5th regional consultation is supported by the Netherlands National Commission for UNESCO, the Netherlands National Committee IHP-HWRP and IGRAC.

 

 

Reports from previous meetings:

 

acrobat icon Report of the regional consultation for Latin America and the Caribbean

acrobat icon Informe de la Consulta Regional para America Latina y el Caribe

acrobat icon Report of the regional consultation for sub-Saharan Africa

acrobat icon Report of the regional consultation for the Arab States

 

 

Other interesting writing:

 

acrobat icon The Life and Death of the Dutch Groundwater Tax, by Marianne Schuerhoff, Hans-Peter Weikard and David Zetland,
     via SSRN

acrobat icon Groundwater of Azerbaijan, by Adishirin B. Alakbarov

acrobat icon Shared groundwater resources and conflicts, by Jean-Louis Oliver

acrobat icon Intensive groundwater development: A water cycle transformation, a social revolution, a management challenge,
     by Emilio Custodio
     (From: L. Martínez-Cortina, A. Garrido and E. López-Gunn (eds) (2010) Rethinking Water and Food Security, CRC Press.

acrobat icon Groundwater governance: conceptual framework for assessment of provisions and needs, by World Bank GW·MATE

acrobat icon Transboundary aquifers in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia: Recommendations from Almaty Workshop
     on technical, institutional and legal aspects (UNECE report)

acrobat icon UNECE Second Assessment of transboundary waters Executive Summary • website

» A Water Blueprint (EU) can be accessed here and here

» Water Stewardship Council

» Groundwater – Chapter on groundwater in the Netherlands, from 'Geology of the Netherlands', by Co de Vries

 

 

Copyrighted, so not freely available:

 

Carswell, C., (2013) Farmers agree to tax those who deplete groundwater; in High Country News, 18 February 2013.

López-Gunn, E. and L. Martínez-Cortina (2006) Is self-regulation a myth?: Case study on Spanish groundwater user associations and the role of higher-level authorities; in: Hydrogeology Journal, vol 14, no 3: pp 361–379.

Molinero, J., E. Custodio, A. Sahuquillo and M.R. Llamas (2011) Groundwater in Spain: Legal framework and management issues; in: A.N. Findakis and K. Sato (eds) Groundwater Management Practices; CRC Press/Balkema, pp 123–137.

Ronen, D., Sorek, S. and J. Gilron (year?) Rationales Behind Irrationality of Decision Making in Groundwater Quality Management; in: Ground Water, vol?, no?, pp 1–10.

Stephano, L. de, P. Martínez-Santos, F. Villarroya, D. Chico and L. Martínez-Cortina (2013) Easier said than done? The establishment of baseline groundwater conditions for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Spain; in: Water Resources Management.

Turton, A.R., H.J. Hattingh, G.A. Maree and D.J. Roux (2007) Governance as a Trialogue: Government-Society-Science in Transition; Springer, Berlin, 354 pp.