Knowing water better
FAO_Dinesh Pussegoda (31).jpg)
Colombo - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched a new global project to enhance Sri Lanka’s water governance and management processes to address water scarcity and increased competition for water resources.
The project “Knowing water better: Towards fairer and more sustainable access to natural resources for greater food security (KnoWat),” will be implemented also in Rwanda and Senegal. It is funded by the Government of Germany.
All around the world, countries are struggling to adapt their agriculture and food systems to conditions of water scarcity, climate change and increased competition between users.
Moreover, the projections of water scarcity trends are expected to increase. Competition for water resources between users will increase. Globally, close to 2 billion people live in countries experiencing water scarcity, according to UN Water (SDG 6 Synthesis report 2018). Smallholder’s farmers, in particular, are the most vulnerable to changes in water access and availability. Therefore, a strengthened focus on water governance for agriculture and food security is crucial to address water scarcity in a changing climate.
The Know-Wat project is implemented in partnership with the Department of Irrigation in Sri Lanka and the active participation of multiple stakeholders including related government institutions and academia. In addition to strengthening water governance and management processes, the project also aims to strengthen capacities of national water experts and farmers on water resources assessment.
Director General of Irrigation, Eng. S. Mohanarajah stated, “In Sri Lanka, the wet zone experiences floods and the dry zone faces drought. In other countries the rainfall is only 200 or 400 millimeters a year but in Sri Lanka the annual rainfall is 2000 millimeter per year, which shows that we have sufficient water but we have a problem in managing water. This project will undertake accounting and auditing of water which will guide us for better decision-making.”
New technologies and strong partnerships
The KnoWat project promotes an integrative approach to water resources assessments that takes into account biophysical, policy and socio-economic aspects of water use.
The three year project is expected to test and develop new methodologies, such as remote sensing technologies, water accounting and auditing that will allow to conduct a comprehensive water resources assessment and to evaluate water management and allocation options.
In Sri Lanka the assessment will dig into issues such as environmental protection and economic growth and will analyze the different strategies to manage water in a more sustainable manner.
It will focus on the analysis of different development pathways in the Malwathu river basin, looking at how water is used and by whom and how it can be managed more sustainably.
Xuebing Sun, the FAO Representative for Sri Lanka and Maldives called for strong partnerships in water resources management. “The Know-Wat project will provide opportunities for testing innovative tools and technologies developed by FAO such as the WaPOR tool to access geospatial data on the water resources in the three countries. Providing sound technical and policy advisory support to water resources management requires commitment from different departments and line ministries and development partners so that we can better synergies our efforts” he stated.
Water accounting and auditing
Water accounting is the systematic study of the status of, and trends in, water supply, demand, accessibility and use in specified domains. Water auditing is an assessment of the socio-economic, legal and political environment in which water is managed, including governance structures, legislation, institutions, power imbalances, as well as public and private expenditure on water infrastructure.