Transcript International Drought Initiative (IDI) - Asian G-WADI

Ministry of Energy
I.R. Iran
Drought in Isfahan
International Hydrological Program
Division of Water Sciences
 IDI is a recent initiative proposed by Iran, submitted to the
35th session of the General Conference of UNESCO in 2009
proposing to establish the International Drought Initiative.
 Introducing the International Drought Initiative (IDI) can
be a starting point and driving force for a global movement
under the supervision of UNESCO-IHP.
 The proposal of this initiative was at first prepared by
RCUWM-Tehran on behalf of the Ministry of Energy, I.R.
Iran,
 It was delivered to Iranian national Commission for
UNESCO for being presented in UNESCO General
Conference
 An IHP National Committee Meeting was organized with
the presence of representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan,
India, Malaysia, Japan, Oman, Kuwait and Tajikistan.
 The draft proposal was put on the floor and reviewed by
the attendees.
IHP Committees Meeting, Tehran
 The International Drought Initiative
(IDI) was approved by the 19th IHP
Intergovernmental Council held in
Paris, France July 2010.
 The secretariat for this initiative is in
Tehran, Iran.
19th IHP Intergovernmental council
Before coming to the objectives of this initiative, an introduction on drought
situation in Iran is presented.
• Droughts are symbols of water scarcity
while floods are verses of too much water.
• In arid and semi-arid regions of the world such
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as the middle east, climate change has a greater
impact on water resources and several
parameters such as:
- the increase in drought periods and
intensities,
- decrease in precipitation and increase in
evaporation,
Several
parameters
including
drought
intensification, period, area under coverage,
considerable economic and social damages in
long-term, has caused this phenomenon to be
amongst one of the most fatal disasters.
Iran has an extreme drought situation in the world
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Located in an Arid and Semi-Arid region.
-15% : with humid and semi humid conditions.
- 20% : with Semi dry conditions,
- 65% : with dry regions,
Central and Southeast sections include huge desert
areas.
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Area:
1.648 million km2
Population:
70 million
Average Rainfall: 250 mm
The country is divided in two
parts”
1- a semi dry area with a mean
annual precip. > 250 mm
2- a dry area with a mean annual
precip. < 250 mm
Blue line : mean annual precipitation of 250 mm
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 .
- In the Northern and Western parts , most of water resources are surface water,
while in the Center and East are Groundwater (Aquifers).
- These conditions lead to uneven distribution of population.
- More than 50% of the population live in the western and northern regions,
while about 70% of water resources are located in these areas.
Annual Water Resources in Billion Cubic Meters (BCM)
• Average annual precipitation
400 BCM
• Renewable water resources
130 BCM
• Average annual evaporation & transpiration
270 BCM
• Surface runoff
92 BCM
• Seepage to alluvial aquifers
38 BCM
At Present, Iran is facing water scarcity :
Main reasons :
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Fast growing rate of population,
Droughts and climate change
Over-use and Mismanagement of water resources
Demand of more water in different sectors
Decline of water quality
Delay in constructing new water projects
• One of the most dangerous hazards of nature in the
middle east region including Iran is “Drought” which
greatly affects water resources .
• A famous quote from King Syrus of Iran, 3000 years
ago, shows high importance of droughts:
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“ I wish the country would be secure from two
disasters : enemies , drought . “
• It is related to a deficiency of precipitation
• over an extended period of time, usually for
a season or more.
It also impacts :
 food production,
 life expectancy ,
 economic performance of large regions .
• The country
has past one of the
catastrophic droughts in the recent
decade.
• It has severely affected the country,
leaving over half the country's
population vulnerable to food and water
insecurity.
• In the period of fall 2010, the country
past the worst period of drought in its
history.
• The amount of precipitation during this
time, has decreased to 70 % of its normal
period of 40 years.
• According
to the United Nations
estimations the damages to agriculture
and livestock are around $2.5 billion
annually during drought periods.
 In recent years many rivers and lakes in Iran dried
out particularly in summer due to deficit of
precipitation and drought intensity.
Life running in Isfahan highly depends on Zayandehrood river.
The historically city of Isfahan is located in the central part of
Iran and it has a population of around 3 million. The river passes
through the city providing water for its upstream and
downstream area. A reservoir dam has been constructed with the
aim of providing various requirements.
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Due to drought intensity during the recent years, the water
volume behind the dam has decreased annually and therefore
sufficient amount of water is not released for permanently filling
the river. Unfortunately as demonstrated in the photo, the city
looses its beauty during summer.
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During the recent years one of the most overwhelming damaging
impacts of droughts on Iran’s water resources has been on Uromieh
lake in the west north of Iran.
Uromieh Lake is the most saline lake in the world
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•The surface has now decreased to 1/3
and the volume has declined to ½.
•Water
level is
normal depth.
2 meters
under the
•The normal volume of this lake is 30
BCM, while at present it holds only 15
BCM and estimations demonstrate that
during the coming years by the decrease
in rainfall and increase in evaporation, the
destiny of this lake would be similar to
Aral Sea basin in the Middle Asia.
 Basin Area: 51876 km2
 Cultivable Area: 1300000 Ha
 Irrigated Area: 460000 Ha
 Rain fed Area: 840000 Ha
 Significant drawdown in the lake’s water level
 Increase in the lake’s water salinity
 Appearance of salty released land and dispersion of salts by wind
 Considerable decrease of the ecological conditions
2010
2002
•Experts believe this may have two main reasons:
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o70% of this is related to drought intensity and climate change
o30% is related to human activities such as dam construction on
upstream rivers.
 This critical situation in Iran and the region
demonstrates that drought is an important issue highly
affecting water resources management.
 Hence dealing with this issue as a local phenomenon
could not properly satisfy our needs.
 Therefore, studying this natural disaster from the view
point of regional and international cooperation could
lead to a better understanding, and could contribute to
mitigating its impacts.
 Helping
different
countries
specially developing and less
developed countries to prepare
and compile strategic and
practical drought management
plans.
 Develop and build capacities in
drought monitoring, mitigation,
preparedness techniques and
methodologies.
 IDI Objectives
 Surveying the current situation of drought management
in selected countries in different aspects;
 Surveying the plans and measures of international
and regional governmental
/non-governmental entities
involved in drought
management;
China - Drought
 IDI Objectives
 Holding international and regional events to
exchange knowledge and experience related
to different aspects of drought management;
 Prepare and compile short, mid and long-
term plans for IDI.
 Supply
financial, technical and logistic
resources for IDI activities.
Shrinking Lake - Chad
Recognizing International Drought Organizations
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UNESCO-IHP
North American Drought Monitor
European Drought Centre (EDC)
Drought Information Centre (OIC)
Drought Coordination Centre (DCC)
Drought Monitoring Centre for the
Greater Horn of Africa
Northeast Regional Climate Centre
Drought Management Centre for
Southeastern Europe
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Monitoring Drought
Climate Prediction Centre (NOAA)
New York Drought Information
Drought Watch
Asian Disaster Reduction Centre (ADRS)
Natural Hazards Centre
Drought Assistance website (Gov. of
Australia)
Correspondences with International Organization
Contacting managers of the following international organizations, inviting them to be a
member of the IDI Executive Committee (EC) and receiving their willingness to
cooperate.
This resulted in receiving some nominations for the IDI- EC.
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International Research and Training Center Erosion and Sedimentation in China
(IRTCES)
Climatology and Remote Sensing Center of University of California (CHRS)
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World Metrological Organization (WMO)
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The International Center for Water Hazards (ICHARM) -Japan
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United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN–ISDR)
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Holding several coordinating
sessions
Holding several consultation
meetings
Preparing the draft road map,
organization chart and work plan
Designing and launching a website
for IDI (www.idi-drought.com)
Designing the IDI logo
Developing the IDI website on the basis
of SharePoint
Forming the National Advisory
Committee in close cooperation with
RCUWM and other relevant entities
Proposed Organization Chart for IDI
Management
Executive
Committee
Consultative
Committee
Planning, research and public
relations affairs
Preparing the IDI Introductory
Booklet
Introducing IDI in Int. events of the Centre
o Workshop on Natural Water Disaster, Brazil, 2010
o Training Workshop on Application of GIS and RS in Water
Resources Management, Oman, Dec. 2010.
o International Training Workshop on Hydrology, Pakistan, 2010
o Second International Istanbul Water Forum, May 2011
o First National Conference on Drought & Climate Change, June
2010
o Iranian National Committee of IHP
 Proposal for the establishment of an International Drought Initiative (IDI)
 The Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Programme of
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Recognizing the invaluable expertise and capacities available in
the I.R. of Iran
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and its efforts in addressing recurrent and severe droughts as a
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common phenomena
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Decides to establish the IDI within IHP as
a long-term initiative through
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which the research activities related to
droughts as well as the
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development of capacities to address such
events will be designed,
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coordinated and implemented;
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Invites the I.R. of Iran to host the
secretariat of IDI and provide the required
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institutional and financial support towards the establishment and
 concerned countries, universities, international organizations and
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continuity of this initiative;
 UN agencies to coordinate and share experiences available on
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Invites the I.R. of Iran to discuss in further details the activities of
this
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initiative with the IHP Secretariat and the UNESCO network of
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centres and institutes;
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Calls upon Member States to actively support the initiative and
contribute to its
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development and implementation to the highest extent of their
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technical and financial available resources.
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Decides to inscribe in the agenda of the 20th session of the IHP
Council an
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item related to the development of the IDI within IHP.
UNESCO,
 Welcoming the proposal submitted to the 35th session of UNESCO General
 Conference by the Government of the I.R. of Iran which was
 received positively by UNESCO Member States and transmitted to
 the Intergovernmental Council of IHP for further consideration and
 decision;
 Noting that under the growing threat of water scarcity, droughts may have
 different economic, social and environmental impacts depending on
 their intensity and duration, while their occurrence is not limited to a
 specific climatic and geographic region;
 Noting also that droughts usually affect vast regions with a more
widespread
 and extensive range of impacts that evolve over time and last for a
 longer period;
 Drawing attention to the fact that there is limited harmonized effort
among different
 adaptation and mitigation of drought at regional as well as
 international levels;
 Recalling that the establishment of an International Drought Initiative
(IDI) as
 a global platform was very well received in the regional meeting of
 the IHP National Committees of West and Central Asia held in
 Tehran, Iran, in July 2009;
 Further communication with relevant International Entities
 Holding the executive committee of IDI
 Allocating specific budget for IDI activities
 Holding a meeting at the national/ international level with the aim of
introducing wing IDI
 Reviewing and completing the road map
 Recruiting active and qualified manpower based on the duties
 Reviewing and finalizing the organizational chart
 Holding an international conference on Drought
 Allocating a premises for IDI secretariat
 Organizing a consultation meeting
RCUWM – Tehran Secretariat
1st Floor, No. 1, Sharsaz Lane, Kargozar St., Dastgerdi Ave.,
Modaress Highway, Tehran, 1919839713
Tel: +98 21 22911027 - 8
Fax: +98 21 22911027
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.rcuwm.org.ir