Related Sites

Water Issues, Policy, and Management

Policy institutions and organizations

• Africa: The African Water Page
  Dedicated to the water sector in Africa, addressing issues such as policy,resource management, supply and environmental sanitation, conservation and demand management.
• WaDImena
  WaDImena --The Water Demand Initiative for the Middle East and North Africa (WaDImena) is a five-year project to promote the management of water demand in the region. WaDImena currently works in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, and Yemen.  WaDImena is turning attention toward a model based on future human needs and environmental sustainability. WaDImena advocates methods that focus on improving water-use efficiency, equity, and sustainability of existing water resources.

Research institutions

• International: Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC)
  WEDC, of Loughborough University, UK, provides education, training, research, and consultancy on planning, provision, and management of water and sanitation infrastructure for development in low- and middle-income countries. The site has several useful online publications on these issues. Site is not specifically oriented to drylands.
• Middle East: Middle East Desalination Research Center
  The MEDRC is an international organization located in the Sultanate of Oman. Emerging from the Middle East Multilateral Peace Process, MEDRC focuses on basic, applied, and sponsored research in the area of desalination technology.
• USA: New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute
  The Institute, housed at New Mexico State University, funds research into water problems critical to New Mexico and the Southwestern US.
• USA/International: USDA-ARS Southwest Watershed Research Station
  Basic and applied research in global change, hydrology and water resources, erosion and sedimentation, water quality, and decision support systems.
• USA/International: University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center
  Site includes full-text publications and maps, focus is largely Arizona, Southwestern USA, and Sonoran Desert.

Research projects and databases

• USA: The Arid West Water Quality Research Project
  EPA-funded project is to improve the scientific base for regulation of water quality; protection of watercourses; and designation of appropriate treated wastewater effluent controls in ephemeral and effluent-dependent watercourses of the arid and semi-arid western states of the USA.

Tools for water management

• International: Aquastat (FAO): Water in Agriculture and Rural Development
  This FAO Programme produces regional analyses and country profiles on water resources development, with emphasis on irrigation and drainage. Focus to date is on Africa, the Near East and the Former Soviet Union.
• Lifewater International - Technical Library
  A collection of documents related to water supply, hygiene and sanitation most of which were developed by USAID in A SERIES titled, “Water For The World Technical Notes.”
• Rainwaterharvesting.org
  Extensive information provided by the Centre for Science and the Environment, a New Delhi, India based non-governmental organisation (NGO) promoting the revival of traditional systems of water harvesting as a practical solution for drought proofing the affected areas. The organisation has developed a comprehensive strategy for participatory, equitable and decentralised paradigm for water management.
• Source Book of Alternative Technologies for Freshwater Augmentation in Africa
  
• Source Book of Alternative Technologies for Freshwater Augmentation in Latin America and the Caribbean
  From UNEP, these two online manuals provide water resource managers and planners with information on the range of technologies that have been developed and used in the various countries throughout the world.
• Water Measurement Manual
  3rd edition, 1997, Revised reprint, 2001

  The Water Measurement Manual is the official reference on irrigation water measurement for the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The manual is available in several formats: online html, downloadable zipped files, and instructions for ordering the print version.

  It provides water users and districts guidance in use of water measurement devices, describes standard methods and devices for measuring irrigation water, and acquaints irrigation managers with special techniques.

International issues

• Middle East: Political and Institutional Responses to Transboundary Water Disputes in the Middle East (Online Paper)
  Discusses the Euphrates River basin among Iraq, Syria, and Turkey; the Jordan River basin among Israel, Jordan, Syria, and the Palestinians; and West Bank groundwater between Israel and the Palestinians.
• Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database
  Information to aid in the assessment of the process of water conflict prevention and resolution, a project of the Oregon State University Department of Geosciences, in collaboration with the Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering.
• Water: Global Policy Forum (United Nations Security Council)
  Articles and analysis that examine international water disputes, civil disturbances caused by water shortages, and potential regulatory solutions to diffuse water conflict.