Groundwater for emergency situations

Abstract

The precipitate growth of disasters that affect ever-increasing numbers of humanity in recent decades and the inevitable attendant crisis in the supply of drinking water has prompted UNESCO IHP to undertake a project entitled ‘Groundwater for Emergency Situations’ (GWES). The aim of the GWES project is to consider natural catastrophic events that could adversely influence human health and life and to identify in advance emergency groundwater resources resistant to natural and man-made disasters that could replace damaged public and domestic drinking water supplies. The project was approved at the 15th session of the Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and included in the Implementation Plan of the Sixth Phase of the IHP (2002–2007), Theme 2: ‘Integrated watershed and aquifer dynamics’, under the title ‘Identification and management of strategic groundwater bodies to be used for emergency situations that result from extreme events or in case of conflicts’. The aims and objectives of Theme 2 are among others: • To assess the impacts of extreme events (natural and man-induced) and proposed mitigation schemes • To develop a framework for reducing ecological and socio-economic vulnerability to hydrological extremes (floods, droughts, mud flows, ice jam, avalanches). • To analyze extreme evens by integrating various sources of data (historical, instrumental, satellite) to secure an improved understanding over large scales in time and space. Considering the increasing frequency and impact of natural disasters on populations the Intergovernmental Council of the IHP approved the prolongation of the GWES project and implementation of its second phase within IHP-VII (2008–2013), Theme 1: Adapting to the impacts of global changes on river basins and aquifer systems, Focal area 1.3: Hydro-hazards, hydrological extremes and water related disasters. The GWES project is implemented by an International Working Group composed by experts from UNESCO, International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) and other experts from different countries and regions. The activities and objectives of the GWES project were formulated at the first meeting of the Working Group held at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (February, 2004). The preparation of a framework document was proposed by UNESCO as one of the first outcomes of the GWES project. The content of the document was discussed and approved at the above-mentioned Paris meeting. The second meeting of the Working Group took place at the UNESCO Offices in New Delhi, India (April, 2005). During this meeting the first draft of the document was evaluated and its final version agreed on. Groundwater for Emergency Situations – A Framework Document, edited by J. Vrba and B. Verhagen, was published by UNESCO in the IHP-VI Series on Groundwater No. 12 in the year 2006. It is available also on CD format. Several workshops were organised in the first phase of the GWES project: Mexico (2004), India (2005) and Islamic Republic of Iran (2006). For the latter the Proceedings of the International Workshop, Tehran, 29–31 October 2006 are available as IHP-VI Series on Groundwater No. 15, published by UNESCO. A GWES project presentation has been organised on the seminar of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) Congress held in Toyama, Japan, in 2008