18-21 April 2005
Cairo , Egypt
Sponsored by
World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)
UNESCO
Organizers
GEWEX Water Resources Applications Project (WRAP; Lawrence Martz, co-chair)
UNESCO-IHP Cairo Office (Radwan Al-Weshah, co-chair)
Background
Various programs (GEWEX, CLIVAR, CliC) under the auspices of World Climate Research Program (WCRP), have been engaged for several decades in the coordination of research related to the study of earth climate system. At the same time, a number of programs of UNESCO and WMO have been placing their emphasis on introducing improved, modeling, observation and decision tools for improved water resources management world-wide, including the arid and semi-arid regions.
The relationship between the earth climate system and the hydrology and water resources issues of arid and semi-arid regions of the world is an issue of particular interest to the decision makers and stakeholders of many nations. With the projected population growth in the semi-arid regions and increasing demand for adequate water resources, it is fair to question if our current state of knowledge about the functioning of the climate system has reached the level of maturity to provide some valuable information useful for water resources management purposes.
Objectives of the Workshop
- Bring together operational hydrology and water management stakeholders
- arid/semi-arid regions of north Africa and the Middle East with hydro
- engaged in observation, modeling and analysis;
- Articulate regional water issues and examine current state of knowledge
- system relevant to water management in arid/semi-arid regions;
- Identify gaps in understanding, data availability and regional capacity;
- Provide feedback to WCRP, UNESCO and their several programs.
Programme Summary
The workshop was organized around presentations by stakeholders and researchers and included opportunities for dialogue and discussion. Presentations from the stakeholder community focused on the nature of water resources and operational hydrologic issues (current and emerging) of the semi-arid areas, including requirements for hydrometeorologic and hydroclimatic information. Presentations from the hydroclimate research community focused on the current state of observations and on modeling related to climate and hydrology of semi-arid areas. The presentations can be grouped into three broad categories:
- overviews of various programs coordinated by WCRP and UNESCO, with, on the WCRP side, participation from G. Sommeria, T. Palmer, L. Martz, E. Todini, A. Pietroniro, T. Maurer, E. Douglas, B. Imam and G. Woodard.
- reviews of hydroclimatological data products and modeling achievements, including activities undertaken under the G-WADI initiative
- presentations on the major water issues in the region including representatives from Lebanon , Jordan , Sudan , Syria , UAE, Egypt , and Iran .
Interspersed between the various formal presentations were a series of discussion sessions intended facilitate discussion among the participants. These culminated in a plenary discussion at the end of the program that aimed to provide an overall synthesis of the workshop. This plenary discussion session concluded that most issues could be grouped into five major needs:
- to increase awareness of the significance of climate change and variability in water resource planning and management across the region.
- to improve sharing of hydroclimatological data across various national and intranational jurisdictions.
- to access and develop tools to bring global and regional data into a form suitable to support decision-making.
- to apply climate forecasts and data products to specific water management and planning issues.
- to improve the interface between regional institutions and the international community, in order to enhance the regional capacity to address the above issues.
The highest priority item for action recommended by the workshop participants was the formation of a regional network of professional and academic scientists. Existing institutional capacity within the region should be used as far as possible to develop and support such a network and UNESCO was identified as having a lead role in this regard. The initial tasks of the network would be to:
- inventory expertise within the region
- inventory of hydroclimatological observation sites across the region
- examine the feasibility of developing a reference site under the CEOP program
- develop a proposal for a demonstration project that applies GEWEX/CLIVAR data products or models to the solution of a specific water management issue.
Workshop Programme
DAY 1: 18 April 2005
Session (1): Co-chairmen: Dr. Radwan Al-Weshah and Dr. Lawrence Martz
- G-WADI presentation, Abdin Salih (UNESCO Tehran Office)
Session (2): Chairman: Dr. Abdin Salih
- Overview of WCRP programs, Gilles Sommeria, WMO/WCRP
- CLIVAR programs, Tim Palmer (CLIVAR chair)
- Arab Region Water Activities of UNESCO, Radwan Al-Weshah (UNESCO Cairo Office)
Session (3): Chairman: Dr. Jean Khouri
- Climate modeling and predictability, Tim Palmer, ECMWF
- Case studies/interventions from the Arab Region (1), Dr. Amin Shaban, Lebanon
- Case studies/interventions from the Arab Region (2), Dr. Fayez Abullah, Jordan
Session (4): Chairman: Dr. Ezio Todini
- Case studies/interventions from the Arab Region (3), Dr. Abdalla Abdel Salam
- Case studies/interventions from the Arab Region (4), Dr. Tarig El Gamri, Sudan
- Case studies/interventions from the Arab Region (5), Dr. Jean Khouri, Syria
- Discussion and identification of major water issues
Day 2: 19 April 2005
Session (5): Chairman: Dr. Gilles Sommeria
- The GEWEX-WRAP Project, Lawrence Martz, U Saskatchewan , Canada
- Recent approaches to water management in arid/semi arid regions and the need to assess future uncertainty including ensemble forecasting, Ezio Todini, Earth and GeoEnvironmental Sciences, U Bologna
- Coupled modeling for water resources applications, Alain Pietroniro, Environment Canada
Session (6): Chairman: Dr. Thomas Maurer
- Case Studies/Interventions from the Arab Regions (6), Dr. Abdulmalek Al-Jjbli, UAE
- Case Studies/Interventions from the Arab Regions (7), Dr. Mohamed Abdel_Aty Sayed
- Case Studies/Interventions from the Arab Regions (8), Dr. Mohamed El-Raey, Egypt
- Case Studies/Interventions from the Regions (9), Dr. Mohamed Nazemosadat, Iran
- Science Panel Response
Session (7): Chairman: Dr. Mohamad Abuldrazzak
- Global data products for water resource application, Thomas Maurer, GRDC
- Highlighting water scarcity and overuse with high-resolution global runoff fields, Ellen Douglas, UNH Institute for the Study of Earth oceans and Space
- Remote sensing and the impact of climate variability on water resources, Bisher Imam , Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing, UC, Irvine
- Supporting water professionals in arid and semi-arid areas: hydroclimatology information needs and G-WADI's knowledge transfer challenge, Gary Woodard , SAHRA, U Arizona
- Plenary Session to synthesize presentations and breakout session discussions
DAY 3: 20 April 2005
- Field excursion to the National Water Research Centre and Institute at Qanater Khairiah
Participation
Dr. Ellen M. Douglas
Institute for the Study of Earth Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire , USA
ellen.douglas@unh.edu
Dr. Lawrence Martz
Chair, GEWEX Water Resource Applications Project , Canada
Lawrence.martz@usask.ca
Dr. Gilles Sommeria
WMO/World Climate Research Programme , Switzerland
GSommeria@wmo.int
Dr. Thomas Maurer
Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC), Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), Germany
thomas.maurer@bafg.de
Dr. Ezio Todini
University of Bologna , Italy
todini@tin.it
Dr. Alain Pietroniro, P.Eng.
National Water Research Institute and Hydrometeorology and Arctic Lab
National Hydrology Research Centre , Canada
Al.Pietroniro@EC.GC.CA
Dr. Gary Woodard
SAHRA, University of Arizona , USA
gwoodard@sahra.arizona.edu
Dr. Tim Palmer
CLIVAR Science Steering Group, ECMWF , UK
tim.palmer@ecmwf.int
Dr. Bisher Imam
Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing (CHRS)
University of California , Irvine , USA
bimam@uci.edu
Dr. Abdin Salih
Director, UNESCO Tehran Office , Iran
A.Salih@UNESCO.org
Dr. M. Jafar Nazemosadat
Director of Climate Research Center , Shiraz University , Iran
mnazemosadat@yahoo.com
Dr. Abdalla Abdelsalam Ahmed
Director, UNESCO Chair on Water Resources, Sudan
aaahmed55@yahoo.co.uk
Dr. Tarig ElGamri
Desertification Research Institute, National Centre for Research , Sudan
tarig_ncr@yahoo.com
Dr. Abdullah S. Al-Wagdani
Faculty of Meteorology, KAAU, Jeddah , Saudi Arabia
awagdani@yahoo.com
Dr. Amin Shaban
National Council for Scientific Research, Remote Sensing Center , Lebanon
geoamin@cnrs.edu.lb
Dr. Walid Abdelkarim Saleh
Regional Coordinator, United Nations University , UAE
wsaleh.unuinweh@nchrd.gov.jo , unwa99@hotmail.com
Dr. Fayez Abdulla
Jordan University of Science & Technology , Jordan
fabdulla@just.edu.jo
Mrs. Sabah Al-Junaid
Bahrain
Dr. Mohamed El-Raey
University of Alexandria , Egypt
elraey@link.net
Dr. Jean Khouri
Damascus , Syria
John@SCS-net.org
Dr. Abdulmalek Al-Jibly
University of United Arab Emirates , UAE
a.aljibly@uaeu.ac.ae , aljibly@homail.com
Dr. Hussein El Atfy
Minister's Technical Office, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Giza , Egypt
elatfy@mrwi.gov.eg
Dr. Shaden Abdel Gawad
National Water Research Centre, Shoubra ElKheima , Egypt
nwrc@idsc.gov.eg
Dr. Mohamed Bakr Abdel Ghany
RCTWS, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Egypt
mbkr@rctws.com
Dr. Mohamed Bahaa Saad
Vice President, Egyptian National IHP Committee, Cairo , Egypt
Dr. Ahmed Khater
Director of Research Institute for GW, El Kanater El Khairyia , Egypt
drkhater@yahoo.com
Dr. Mohamed Abdel Motaleb
Director, Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI), Cairo , Egypt
wrri@wrri.org.eg , motaleb@wrri.org.eg
Dr. Mohamed Abdel Aty
Nile Forecast Centre, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Egypt
Maaty_sayed@yahoo.com
Eng. Mamdouh Antar
Nile Forecast Centre Director, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Egypt
M_antar2000@yahoo.com
Dr. Mohamed Abdou
Deputy Director, Environment and Climate Research Institute, Egypt
eacri@idsc1.gov.eg
Eng. Mamdouh Hassan
Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Egypt
mamdouhh@hotmail.com
Dr. Khaled Abu-Zeid
CEDARE, Heliopolis , Egypt
kabuzeid@cedare.org
Dr. Abdel Fattah Metawie
Nile Water Sector Director, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Cairo , Egypt
Dr. Moustafa Gaweesh
Director of Hydraulics Research Institute, Cairo , Egypt
Dr. Mona El-Kady
Cairo, Egypt
Dr. Maghawry Diab
Professor of Hydrology, Former President of Menoufia University , Nasr City , Egypt
maghwrydiab@yahoo.ca
Dr. Ali El-Shazli
Researcher, Egypt
Dr. Mohamed Abdulrazzak
Director, UNESCO Cairo Office , Egypt
mabdulrazzak@mial.unesco.org.eg
Dr. Radwan Al-Weshah
UNESCO Cairo Office, Egypt
r.weshah@mail.unesco.org.eg
Dr. Simone Grego
UNESCO Cairo Office, Egypt
s.grego@mail.unesco.org.eg
Dr. Abdel Aziz Zaki
Freind Nile Project, UNESCO Cairo Office , Egypt
a.zaki@mail.unesco.org.eg
Mrs. Walaa Shawki
UNESCO Cairo Office, Egypt
Walaa@mail.unesco.org.eg
Mrs. Dalia Khalil
UNESCO Cairo Office , Egypt
dalia@mail.unesco.org.eg
|
.gif){kind=spacer}
