The Workshop organized by the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UNECE Water Convention Secretariat aimed to exchange best practices and solutions in the field of drought management within transboundary waters, to jointly reduce the impact of drought. About 130 live participants (from Africa, Latin America, Central Asia, Asia and Europe) attended the Workshop and were representing national governments, river commissions, international organizations and NGOs. STARS4Water consortium members Birgit Vögel from IPCDR (key stakeholder organization from the Danube river basin hub in STARS4Water), Jan Kruijshoop from RWS/International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR)/International Commission for Hydrology of the Rhine (CHR) (ICPR and CHR are both key stakeholder organizations from the Rhine river basin hub in STARS4Water) and Judith ter Maat from Deltares/ International Commission for Hydrology of the Rhine participated and presented in the Workshop.
One of the key statements made during the workshop was that better water management also requires good information about the functioning of hydrological systems at local, national and international levels. Monitoring, sharing of data and information, models and warning systems are essential in transboundary waters, and there were also calls for more data sharing (including groundwater data, which remains a challenge). These themes are also in the core of the STARS4Water project and the project wants to makes a significant contribution here during the lifetime of the project and beyond.
The workshop was followed by the 14th meeting Taskforce on Water and Climate of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention 1992). During the meeting it was discussed how international cooperation in the field of water can be better incorporated into the international climate process. Climate change and water scarcity emerged as important topics. Monitoring was given the highest priority, followed by promoting an integrated approach and then climate adaptation. STARS4Water recognizes the same needs specified by its seven river basin hubs, including three transboundary river basins. STARS4Water is committed to upscale the innovations it will perform in the seven river basins to more river basins worldwide, since almost all deal with the same issues of monitoring water resources availability, integrated approaches and climate adaptation.
Resources: Workshop live broadcast via UN WebTV ; Workshop presentations ; Presentations of the 14th Meeting of the Task Force on Water and Climate
