WaPOR at the 2023 Stockholm Water Week

Session ID: 11021

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11:00 - 12:30 (Stockholm time: GMT +2)
Location (for in-person participants: C4)

Context:

Water information systems and databases are critical for addressing environmental, economic and social challenges such as food security, climate change and poverty reduction. In 1994, FAO's Land and Water Division established AQUASTAT, a global water information system which contains high-quality information on water resources and uses, mainly for agriculture, as a basis for analysis and planning at national and international levels.

Currently, data and information is one of the five cross-cutting accelerators to mobilize action within the SDG 6 Global Accelerator framework. In many countries water monitoring programmes rely in on data production processes using traditional approaches such as surveys, in-situ monitoring stations, etc. However, thanks to development of satellites for earth observation and IT tools, traditional water data collection can be improved using geospatial tools, particularly when it comes to monitoring water use for agriculture.

While the use of geospatial approaches for the monitoring of water resources has developed in the last years, there is still a lack of integration of geospatial data in water statistics, in particular in low-income countries. The impacts of climate change on water cycle are unevenly distributed in space and time, making near real time and spatially explicit data an essential knowledge asset for effective adaptation plans.

UN agencies are collaborating to make such data and information easily accessible to member countries and partners worldwide. One of the major outcomes of the UN water conference 2023 was also to establish a globally consistent water information system, of which the proposed global water data portal is a key entity to ensure accessibility of the available data and information.

 

Session:

The session will present the benefits of integrating geospatial data in water information and statistics but also the barriers and main challenges for the uptake of geospatial tools, including technical, financial and governance issues. The session will also highlight current innovative approaches that integrates geospatial data in water information and statistics and discuss the way forward to improve water statistics.

Representatives of the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and the Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation, both organizations that are partners of the WaPOR project, will be present and will share their experiences in the topic in their respective countries, bringing a practical perspective to the session. 

 

Session agenda:

Opening and objectives of the session
Facilitator: Omar El Hassan, water management specialist, FAO

Global Perspectives 

Towards a Global Water Data Portal
Patricia Mejias-Moreno, AQUASTAT coordinator, FAO 

Generating data and information to consistently assess the state of water resources across scales
Dr. Stefan Uhlenbrook, Director Hydrology, World Meteorological Organization

Water data for Ecosystems
Lis Mullin Bernhardt, Freshwater Unit, United Nations Environment Programme

Global monitoring of water productivity in agriculture with FAO WaPOR: introducing the new open access portal and data
Livia Peiser, Land and Water division Officer, FAO

National Perspectives

The use of geospatial data in irrigation management information systems in EthiopiaElias Awol Mohammed, Lead Executive Officer Small Holder Irrigation, Ministry of Agriculture

Innovations in water information systems in Jordan
Thair Al Momani, Assistant Secretary General for Technical Affairs, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Jordan

Discussion 

Closing remarks

 

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