Ministère de l'Aménagement du Territoire et de
l'Environnement
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Ministère des
Affaires Etrangères
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WATER AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Paris - 19/20/21 march 1998 |
La reproduction et la diffusion ont été rendues possibles
grâce à l'aimable autorisation du Secrétariat Général à la Conférence EDD
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Site officiel: http://www.eaudd.com
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Summary
APPROVED PAPERS
PROGRAMME OF PRIORITY ACTIONS
WORKSHOP
1 : |
(here) IMPROVING KNOWLEDGE OF WATER RESOURCES AND USES
FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT |
WORKSHOP
2 : |
PROMOTING HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL
CAPACITY BUILDING |
WORKSHOP
3 : |
DEFINING STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT
AND IDENTIFYING APPROPRIATE MEANS OF FINANCING |
END : |
PARIS DECLARATION |
WORKSHOP
INBO : |
INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF BASIN ORGANIZATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS |
I - IMPROVING KNOWLEDGE OF WATER RESOURCES AND USES
FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT
I - A - ESTABLISHING AND IMPROVING INTEGRATED SYSTEMS
FOR MONITORING WATER RESOURCES, THEIR USES AND ECOSYSTEMS
Within the framework of official development assistance, a high
priority should be given to the strengthening or establishment of local, national or
international integrated water information systems (collection, analysis, management and
dissemination of data on water quantity and quality, and its availability and uses in the
various water sub-sectors), in order to mobilise the necessary information for water
resource and ecosystem management, use regulation and protection against point or
non-point pollution and prevention of crisis situation.
A better assessment of the resource, the different water uses and of
their efficiency (domestic water, irrigation, industry, hydroelectricity, transport,
leisure, fishing, aquiculture, and so forth) is essential.
I - A- 1 - strengthening and establishment of integrated information systems
Integrated information systems should be developed on various
scales, ranging from local to global, and include all parameters necessary for the
integrated and sustainable management of water and ecosystems. They should be structured
in the form of long-term monitoring systems at the different relevant levels, particularly
for large river and lake basins, and aquifers.
Such information and data have a fundamental economic value for
assisting in the management and use of water resources, and in the protection of the
environment.
The sustainability of such monitoring systems is the responsibility
of each Government, which must also make sure the quantity and
quality of information is improved.
I - A - 2 - development of data exchange
Priority should be given to the national and international
standardisation of definitions, development of user-friendly formats, and information
access and exchange.
I - B - TRENGTHENING REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES FOR ACQUIRING FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE OF WATER RESOURCES AND THEIR
USES:
I - B - 1 - understanding major trends and their impact:
In order to improve research capacities, international scientific,
institutional and technical co-operation should be strengthened to develop concepts along
with indicators and common methodologies, particularly as concerns the characterisation
of:
(a) reliable and "usable" resources, that can be used in a
sustainable water management framework, on the basis of rational demand management.
(b) different consumptive or non-consumptive water uses in the
basins, their evolution and efficiency,
(c) point and non-point pollution sources,
(d) the condition (water quality and quantity) of aquatic
ecosystems, rivers, lakes, wetlands, groundwater,
(e) eutrophication and biological degradation of rivers, lakes and
reservoirs,
(f) extreme meteorological and hydrological events (floods,
droughts),
(g) economic and social value of ecosystem functions,
(h) the modification of the watercourse flow regime and the
functioning of aquifer systems caused by infrastructures, withdrawals and discharges,
(i) changes in land use and soil degradation, biological diversity
and living aquatic and terrestrial resources.
Because women have a particular role in utilising and conserving
water resources on a daily basis, their knowledge and experience should be considered as a
component of any sustainable water management programme. Information systems should rely
on data collected and analysed in such a way as to reflect the role of women.
The users of water-related information must be associated with data
collection in order to facilitate their understanding of the impact of local actions on
the resource and their involvement in defining solutions for sustainable protection of
this resource.
Prospective studies should be carried out on water resource
availability (both quantity and quality) and changes in water demand in
order to provide information to assist in identifying potential serious water crises. It
is particularly important to be able to assess the interaction between inland freshwater
resource management and other major environmental issues. These include desertification,
climate change, deforestation, soil degradation, biodiversity, and impacts on downstream
coastal ecosystems. It is necessary also to make a connection between water, health,
sufficient nourishment and poverty of the populations.
I - B - 2 - facilitating regional and international co-operation to improve
knowledge:
In order to improve knowledge, it is necessary to reinforce regional
and global programmes, that will rely, whenever possible, on national programmes.
Considering their geographic coverage and their aim, some of these programmes should be
financially supported while appropriate co-operation could deal with other national
programmes.
Some on-going international programmes are mentioned hereafter:
(a) the " Eurowaternet " network of the European
Environmental Agency,
(b) the Euro-Mediterranean Water Information System (EMWIS),
(c) the Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC) and the World Hydrological
Cycle Observing System (WHYCOS), both of which fall within the Operational
Hydrology Programme (OHP) of WMO,
(d) the Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network
Data (FRIEND) within the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO,
(e) FAOs AQUASTAT on the agricultural uses of water,
(f) GEMS/Water programme of UNEP, WHO and other co-operating United
Nations Agencies and others, should be strengthened so as to ensure regional up-to-date
and accurate coverage.
(g) the aquifer programme of the large SSO basins, with African
countries and other organisations concerning deep water resources in Africa.
(h) developing actions for the prevention of natural catastrophes,
initiated during the International Decade
(i) WHO/UNICEF joint monitoring programme of drinking water and
sanitation.
(j) the inter-American water network of the Organisation of American
States.
I - C - NETWORKING WATER DOCUMENTATION SYSTEMS
The following activities should be promoted:
- collection of documentation and wide dissemination to all
stakeholders, in order to promote in-service training of the sectors professionals,
disseminate new knowledge, and enhance public awareness of important water-related issues
(e.g. social, health, environment, institutions, technology, economics). Such
documentation should also be made available in a form that can be both understood and used
by decision-makers and the general public alike.
- creation of interlinked and widely disseminated systems for
exchanging institutional, economic and technical documentation, as well as baseline
information, such as directories of organisations and lists of experts and
specialists, acting as a network between " documentation centres "
focusing on specific water-related topics.
- development of compatible references, protocols for computerised
exchange of documentation and multilingual approaches, as well as the management of the
network and the training of documentation specialists.
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