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GWG and TWAP programmes: UNESCO’s ongoing contribution to furthering knowledge on groundwater resources in the Arab Region

Yusuf Al-MoojiSenior Water Consultant, UNESCO-IHP

Scaling-up Integrated Natural Resource Management, furthering knowledge on groundwater resources management and strengthening Monitoring and Evaluation

systems in the GEF MENARID programBeirut, 16-18 June 2014

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Outline

• Groundwater in the Arab region: An overview– Aquifer types in the Arab region– Water supply VS Demand– Groundwater production VS withdrawal

• UNESCO’s implementation of current GEF (Global Environmental Facility) initiatives in the Arab region – GWG (Groundwater Governance Project)

(www.groundwatergovernance.org) – TWAP (Transboundary Waters Assessment Program) Project

– Oceans, large marine ecosystems, lakes, rivers and groundwater

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Aquifer types in the Arab region1. Extensive sedimentary basins with relatively high productivity of essentially fossil groundwater with

acceptable quality (mainly sandstones of Cretaceous or older ages)

2. Extensive sedimentary basins with generally high but variable productivity of essentially fossil groundwater with potential for significant salinization (mainly carbonates of Cretaceous-Paleogene ages)

3. Local or discontinuous sedimentary basins limited mostly to mountainous areas containing renewable good quality groundwater, with variable productivity and commonly discharging as springs (mainly karstic carbonates of Cretaceous to Miocene ages)

4. Local or discontinuous sedimentary/alluvial basins limited mostly to the vicinity of tectonically active zones containing renewable groundwater, with variable productivity and high potential for salinization (Miocene to Quaternary in age).

5. Local or discontinuous volcanic basins related to the Red Sea-Dead Sea rift system containing renewable groundwater, with variable productivity and high potential for salinization (Miocene to Quaternary in age)

6. Localized zones in crystalline rocks and/or overlying sedimentary formations with no groundwater or very limited yields of groundwater of variable quality (intrusive and evaporitic rocks)

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Agriculture Municipal Industrial Supply0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

180000

200000

2000-9

2020-2030

2040-50

mill

ion

cubi

c met

ers

80%

71%z

60%

12%

17%

24%

8%12%

16%

XY%: proportians of water use in each sector

Data source: Assaf et al. 2012. Climate change contributes to water scarcity. MENA Report 64635, the World Bank.

Current and Projected water supply & demand distribution by sector

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Percentage of total renewable water resources withdrawn by region

Data source: Compiled from FAO AQUASTAT for 1998-2002

The figure shows the simple percentage (that is, summing up withdrawals across all countries in a region and dividing by the sum of all the renewable water available in each country). As with this figure, the definition of “region” significantly affects the data, because of the heterogeneity between and within countries

Data source: Making the most of Scarcity – accountability for better water management in the Middle East and North Africa, The World Bank, 2007

Production V/S withdrawal of groundwater

Bahrain Djibouti Egypt Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Morocco Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia

Somalia Tunisia UAE Yemen0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000internal GW

external GW

GW withdrawn

MCM

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GWG(Groundwater Governance Project)

www.groundwatergovernance.org

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UNESCO regional consultations(5 regions – April 2012 to March 2013)

Objective: Solicit regional perspectives on the practical application of groundwater governance through 3 specific activities:

– Engagement of local sources in compiling of first-hand knowledge on the regions

– Discussion of the specific characteristics, challenges and priorities of each region on the basis of case studies elaborated by national experts

– Building partnerships among cross-sectoral collaborating project agencies, stakeholders, decision-makers and specialists

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The regional consultationfor the Arab Region(Amman, 8-10 October , 2012)

• Invitation with a GWG questionnaire to 19 Arab countries• All responded except Qatar and Syria• A total of 24 filled-out questionnaire received 15 country reps

and 9 institution reps)• Meeting structure:

– 69 participants from 26 countries– 7 plenary sessions– 6 working groups

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Main outcome of the consultation process (5 needs)

1. Need to prioritize data acquisition and upgrading2. Need to strengthen all aspects of water institutions

responsible for groundwater resources3. Need for transparency and public involvement in the water

sector and groundwater management4. Need for wide communication and awareness efforts for the

general public as well as decision makers5. Need to assist governments in enforcing existing laws

before moving to efforts aimed at formulating new ones

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Water governance Framework

Data source: Groundwater governance: a decisive factor in resilience strategies by Smidt and Satjin, 2013

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The Nexus approach: Water, energy and food security

Data source: climatecommercial.wordpress.com/2011/11/09in-focus-water-energy-food-nexus-report/) accessed on 10 June 2014

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Practical actions concerninggroundwater governance

(5 families of actions)

1. Engage with the policy makers to understand their concerns and constraints; go outside the water ministry to seek harmonization and support from agriculture, planning, finance and municipal development.

2. Agree with policy makers on investment in groundwater knowledge, and offer technical and financial support if needed.

3. Help government to chart a reform path towards better groundwater governance; assess the needs and constraints to good governance.

4. Help build strong groundwater organizations/ departments/ agencies to ensure groundwater’s place in IWRM planning and to strengthen their support to the government approaches chosen

5. Identify the scope for collective management and devise ways to support it; work with agriculture and other colleagues at the project and local level.

Data source: Winjen et al., 2012: Managing the invisible. Understanding and improving groundwater governance. The World Bank

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Lessons learned from other countries(India, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa and Tanzania)

All 5 countries:• Were suffering from depletion and quality deterioration of the

aquifers to a greater or less degree.• Had policy frameworks in place, but groundwater policies were

generally poorly articulated with those of the water-using sectors, particularly agriculture.

• Formal governance arrangements were largely top down.• The rights and regulation approach to governance was providing to

be not well adapted to the fast changing realities of the “groundwater revolution” and everywhere implementation capacity fell far short of the ambitious regulatory provisions.

Data source: Winjen et al., 2012: Managing the invisible. Understanding and improving groundwater governance. The World Bank

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Lessons learned from other countries (contd.)

(India, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa and Tanzania)

• Information, knowledge sharing and communication were insufficient to support management or to foster good governance.

• At the local level, there was generally a big disconnect between the regulatory regime and facts on the ground, and in some cases local collective management was substituting for more formal governance

Data source: Winjen et al., 2012: Managing the invisible. Understanding and improving groundwater governance. The World Bank

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TWAP (Transboundary Waters Assessment Program)

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Why is TWAP needed? • Currently ‘easily available information’ is insufficient to alert

and for defining priorities: major efforts needed to increase accessible info on the world’s international waters and to detect trends

• Need for objective and quantitative information on the basis of observation, rather than subjective or qualitative information or ‘educated guesses’

• More is needed than only priority scores: the underlying information should explain ‘what, why and where’ ...

Data source Van der Gun, TWAP FSP Inception Meeting, Perugia, 14 15 May 2013‐ ‐

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Objectives of TWAP

• Long term goal‐“To promote financing of future management and development of the environments and transboundary water systems through strong stakeholder engagement”

• Project objective“To undertake the first global assessment of transboundary water bodies”. An implicit project goal is that partnerships will be created that take care of repeating the assessments periodically and put priority TBAs on the agenda

• Objectives of the preceding Medium Sized Project (MSP):• Developing an agreed methodology for the assessment• Catalyzing partnerships for conducting the assessment

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TBA Assessment Methodology

Hydrogeological Aspects Delineation and description Classification, diagnostic analysis and zoning Data harmonization and information management

Environmental issues Socio-economic framework Institutional setting and legal aspects

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Hydrogeological aspects

1. Geo-referenced boundary of transboundary aquifer/aquifer system

2. Depth to aquifer formation3. Full vertical thickness of the aquifer4. Aquifer hydraulic conditions5. Average groundwater recharge6. Predominant aquifer lithology7. Predominant type of porosity8. Transmissivity9. Total groundwater volume in the aquifer10. Volume of groundwater depletion

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Environmental issues1. Percentage of the aquifer’s area with groundwater suitable

for consumption2. Percentage of the aquifer’s area that is affected by pollution

Socio-economic framework1. Mean annual volume of groundwater abstraction2. Mean annual volume of groundwater abstraction per sector3. Mean annual volume of fresh water abstraction (blue water

abstraction)4. Mean annual volume of fresh water abstraction per sector

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Institutional setting and legal aspects

1. Is there any institution with a mandate and/or capacity for transboundary groundwater management?

2. Is there any agreement (signed, draft or under preparation) between aquifer states?

3. Type of control measures for groundwater abstraction4. Type of control measures for groundwater quality

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Objectives of TWAP

• Long term goal‐“To promote financing of future management and development of the environments and transboundary water systems through strong stakeholder engagement”

• Project objective“To undertake the first global assessment of transboundary water bodies”. An implicit project goal is that partnerships will be created that take care of repeating the assessments periodically and put priority TBAs on the agenda

• Objectives of the preceding Medium Sized Project (MSP):• Developing an agreed methodology for the assessment• Catalyzing partnerships for conducting the assessment

Data source: Van der Gun, TWAP FSP Inception Meeting, Perugia, 14 15 May 2013‐ ‐

THANK YOU

Yusuf Al-MoojiSenior Water Consultant, UNESCO-IHP