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9/20/2007 2:17:43 PM
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G15 Meeting on WaterResources Management and Rural and Agricultural Development |
Distinguished authorities and high ranking experts of the G15 Countries are going to meet in Tehran, in this international meeting with presence of 19 countries where some important aspects of water and related fields are going to be discussed.
Development and escalation of G15 activities is strongly pursued in Islamic Republic of Iran. Hence investigation of potentials and priorities and the precedence of a workshop/seminar on Rural and Agricultural Development and Water Resources Management in July 2006 in Geneva, has led to the proposal of the High Ranking Meeting on Water Resources Management and Rural and Agricultural Development during this year in Tehran.
Water management challenges have been put on the agenda at the highs level of decision making in the world, such as the United Nations, world Summit in Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg, besides announcement of the period 2005-2015 as the international decade for water and life. All these show the sensitivity of the world community on challenges and problems related to water.
The ever-growing population, excessive demands on natural resources, decrease in environmental quality and as a result the need to adhere to environmental values, have turned water issues into one of the most important challenges of the current century.
Structural methods of water resources management, such as dam building, tunneling, river training structures and other similar techniques are well founded. These methods have shown their use in water supply and this is crucially important for developing countries such as Iran which is located in the arid to semi-arid region of the world.
It is no necessary to adopt a more comprehensive and integrated approach to water resources problems. Fortunately, Integrated Water Resources Management ha recently been given a lot of attention in our country too, and all water projects are designed based on the principals of Integrated Water Resources Management using dynamic programming. The resulting integrated system would serve as a strong support for the managers. In such a system the management of resources and uses world be conducted in an optimum manner. Therefore, water allocation for dig gerent sectors including agriculture, potable, industry, hydro power and the environment would enjoy a comprehensive plan based both on resources availability and usage amounts.
Facing the need to deal with infrastructural issues in a fundamental way and in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development, fortunately in the Islamic Republic of Iran by selecting realistic policies and to correspond and confront with existing challenges and problems, valuable activities have been implemented which brought about a suitable base for water demand management whilst successfully surpassing supply management. Some of the tangible aspects of these successes are:
• Approval of long-term policies for water in line with the country development vision for the next 20 years;
• Striving to provide the basis for adoption and implementation of integrated water resources management;
• Self-sufficiency in building dams through capacity building and even exporting technical services to abroad;
• Improvement of water supply, conveyance, distribution and delivery infrastructures for urban and rural use by covering 98.2% of the urban population and 67% of rural population;
• Contribution to improvement of products in the agricultural sector by securing water and construction irrigation and drainage networks;
• Striving for rural development through rehabilitation of rural wastewater management
• Promotion of research and technology and capacity development in different aspects of water management;
• Improvement of hydro-power plant projects and increasing the portion of this component in supplying the energy of the country.
Undoubtedly, addressing Integrated Water Resources Management, for its pivotal role in sustainable development, would provide the platform of greater cooperation and collaboration from within and with the world at large.
On the issue of capacity building and networking, the vast amount of experience and knowledge within the member coun6ries, promises the establishment of a strong network amongst members and as a result a platform for offering services. In this regards, the Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to provide the initial platform for formation of a clearinghouse.
Water financing is believed of be one of the most pressing future challenges. Islamic Republic of Iran is proposing the establishment of Water Fund of this purpose. This fund is expected to facilitate fund raising on international scenes before allocating funds from within.
It is obvious that the challenges of rural and agricultural development is virtually shared by all member states and its close relation to Integrated Water Resources Management will lead to proper definition of the principles of sustainable development.
Proposal of the formation of a G15 Water Council is particularly promising in this regards, given the strong presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in international scenes, alongside instrumental role played by some of the member countries, such as Mexico's role in holding the fourth World Water Forum. It is hoped that through joint or collective participation in international activities a greater outcome would be gained for the individual member countries.
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