ICIWaRM Achievements
- Regional strategic scenario planning workshop for the Mekong River Commission, one week, June 2012. The workshop supported implementation of the IWRM based Basin Development Strategy and the subsequent update and broadening of existing basin development scenarios. More than fifty participants from the four Lower Mekong countries attended, representing National Mekong Committees, academia, other government agencies, and the MeRC secretariat.
- Sub-basin pilot workshop on scenario planning and management, conducted for the Nam Kam watershed in Sakon Nakhon, Thailand, November 2012. The workshop was requested and co-sponsored by the Thai National Mekong Committee, and helped a local basin working group improve their future efforts. The objectives were to introduce Shared Vision Planning as a method to conduct scenario planning in the Nam Kam basin and explore the potential scenarios, alternatives, and their effects through collaborative planning processes.
- Developed software named ICI-RAFT (ICIWaRM Regional Analysis of Frequency Tool), which performs Regional Frequency Analysis (RFA) on rainfall data using the Method of L-moments. ICI-RAFT was formally approved by the HEC at the end of October after a thorough review. ICI-RAFT was presented at the “2nd EuroClima Workshop on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought”, in Natal, Brazil, on October 24 — 25. Experts from several countries in attendance have initiated collaborative efforts to use ICI-RAFT on rainfall data in their own countries.
- Participated in meetings for IHP Intergovernmental Council in Paris, France June 3-8, 2012.
- Attended Global Water Partnership (GWP) steering committee meeting.
- Provided continued support to IWR climate team in Ukraine supported by the Civilian Research Defense Fund in August, 2012.
- Moderated Session V: Panel on Climate and Water Resources, World Meteorological Organization “A Dialogue for Climate Services Users and Providers: Towards Implementation of the Global Framework on Climate Services”, 26-27 October, 2012.
- Participated in World Water Week 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden and presented on the UNESCO-IRBM panel, August 25-September 1, 2012.
- Appointed to Board of Directors of Aqua-LAC—the Journal of the International Hydrological Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Attended UNESCO meetings in Santiago, Chile November 8-9, 2012 and participated in a meeting of collaborators on the initiative “Managing Water Resources in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions of Latin America and the Caribbean” (MWAR-LAC). ICIWaRM is the global secretariat for UNESCO’s arid regions program G-WADI. The meeting resulted in the development of new projects in semi-arid regions of Latin America, especially in collaboration with Chile’s Water Centre for Arid and Semi-arid Zones of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAZALAC), under the auspices of UNESCO.
- Participated in the 2012 Meeting of the Regional Coordinators and Water Centers of the International Hydrological Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean, on November 20-21 at the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro (Mexico). ICIWaRM was the only invited participant from outside Latin America. New projects were identified for collaboration with the Centro Internacional de Hidroinformática of Paraguay and Brazil, and the International Flood Initiative coordinator in Mexico.
- ICIWaRM became leader on the hydrology & climate working group of the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA), and was named a lead on the framework design (i.e. will serve as the principle technical authority) for other three groups: engineering and ecology, governance, and economics and finance. ICIWaRM also delivered a key note address for a special session in Vienna, provided input that became a signature activity for the US National IHP committee, and developed a report for the World Bank.
- First author on a paper presented at IWRM Conference in Karlsruhe, Germany, November 20-22, 2012; co-author was IHP Bureau chair Johannes Cullmann.
