International Conference on Drought Management strategies in Arid and Semi Arid Regions

The frequency of natural disasters between 1990 and 2006, particularly water-related disasters, has increased markedly – as has the estimated economic damage they cause. Extreme events have also become more frequent. Between 1900 and March 2007, 16301 disaster events were recorded throughout the world – 6.27 billion people were affected; fatalities were more than 37.58 million and the estimated economic damage was more than US$1,790 billion. In terms of fatalities and the number of people affected, Asia is the region most vulnerable to water-related disasters, accounting for more than 45% of fatalities and more than 90% […]

The Second National Workshop on Capacity Development for Farm Management Strategies, using AquaCrop Model was held in Ahwaz – Iran. This workshop was organized by the Regional Centre on Urban Water Management in close cooperation with Khouzestan Water and Power Authority.

this workshop was welcomed by the participants and national university professors.

South, West, and Central Asia’s vulnerability to disasters, in particular earthquakes, is a living fact throughout the history which has caused the destruction of huge quantity of habitats and claimed lives of a large number of habitants in this region. Added to the bundle of disasters, though gradually affecting the human lives and the environment, climate change could be considered in any study reviewing the Disaster Factor.

More than one billion people lack access to safe water and over three billion, half of humanity, do not have adequate sanitation facilities. This situation […]

The Regional Centre on Urban Water Management – Tehran (under the auspices of UNESCO) and the Iranian Water Resources Company, affiliated to the Ministry of Energy, I.R. Iran, intend to co-organize a training event on International Water Laws and Trans boundary Issues” to be held in Kish Island, early March 2011. The resource persons to be invited will be mainly from Dundee UNESCO Centre for Water Laws, Policy and Science.

This mid-level course will cover various issues related to International Water Laws, starting from basic principles of water laws to specific conventions, […]

After conducting preliminary negotiations with the former Deputy Director of International Agriculture Research and Training Centre (UTAEM) of Turkey during the International Training Workshop on AquaCrop model in Tehran 2009 as well as negotiations in RCUWM’s Training Workshop in Tajikistan, 2010 in regard to initiate and develop mutual cooperation between RCUWM  and UTAEM which led to a Memorandum of Understanding signed between 2 Centres, it was agreed to hold a regional training workshop on “sustainable water use” as the first joint activities by two centres.

Within a period of around 9 months, […]

Climate change is advancing rapidly. Without resolute counteraction, a global increase in temperature of 2-7^oC can be expected to occur by 2100. This will cause more frequent and severe extreme weather events such as heavy rains, drought, heat waves and storms. At the same time, sea levels are continuing to rise. These direct impacts of climate change will have far-reaching effects upon societies and the lives of people around the world. If climate change continues, agricultural yields will decline significantly in many regions of the world and poverty will grow accordingly; drought will make it difficult […]

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a system for capturing, storing, analyzing, managing and presenting spatially referenced data. GIS applications allow users to create interactive queries, analyze spatial information, edit data, maps, and present the results of all these operations. The technology can be used for scientific investigations, resource management, environmental impact assessment, urban planning, or cartography. Remote sensing (RS) is the collection of data through imaging sensor technologies, usually on an aircraft or satellite. Applications include monitoring flood areas and effects of climate change.

GIS and RS have very important applications in […]

This proposal deals with water resources management and the role of law in achieving sustainable development and building cooperation between countries sharing transboundary water resources.  As the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, has stated at Davos 2010 “the water problem is broad and systemic. Our work to deal with it must be so as well “.This is equally true for water resources management and water services delivery. The single discipline or sector model – using only hydrology, only engineering, only law or only economics to address the world’s water problems – is no longer tenable.  Interdisciplinary approaches […]

Global demand for fresh water is constantly rising as a consequence of population growth and the rise in living standards. Agriculture is not only the world’s largest water user in terms of volume, but is also a relatively low-value, low efficiency, and highly subsidized user. In the years to come the agricultural sector will compete with households and industry for increasingly scarce water resources, and yet is under pressure to produce more food and fibre with less water to satisfy the food needs of a growing world population. The overall future scenario is further aggravated by […]