Para decir AGUA en el mundo

Consenso del Agua de Istanbul. 5° Foro Mundial.

5th World Water Forum 

Istanbul Water Consensus

For Local and Regional Authorities

As Mayors and local/regional elected representatives from different parts of the world, meeting in Istanbul in March 2009, we participate in this ISTANBUL WATER CONSENSUS to develop water management strategies in the face of global changes.

On the occasion of the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico, the Local Government Declaration on Water of 21 March 2006 expressed the awareness and responsibility of local and regional leaders concerning water and sanitation and called on national governments for a more effective partnership.

We build on previous commitments and express our readiness to take leadership in advancing integrated water management approaches to ‘bridge divides for water’ and strengthen the resilience of our cities and regions to cope with rising external pressures and contribute to our overall sustainable development.

PART I – Local and Regional Governments’ Declaration and Call for Action

With this Consensus, we acknowledge that:

􀂃 Access to good quality water and sanitation is a basic right for all human beings and plays an essential role in life and livelihoods, the preservation of the health of the population and the fight against poverty;

􀂃 Water is a public good and should therefore be under public control, even when its services are delegated partly or totally to the private sector;

􀂃 Sanitation is equally important as water supply and needs to be given due consideration on the political agenda of local, regional and national governments; We strongly support the initiative of the UN Human Rights Commission with regard to the right to water.

􀂃 The local level plays an increasingly important role in the provision of water and sanitation services;

􀂃 Rapid global changes such as population growth, economic development, migration and urbanisation, with over half of the world population now living in cities, are placing new strains on water resources and infrastructure and on the systems that supply water and sanitation services to our citizens, businesses, industries, and institutions. These rapid global changes are adding difficulties for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on water supply and sanitation; 

􀂃 Slums and informal settlements in and around cities are growing and poverty is increasingly an urban issue, requiring the linkage between access to water and sanitation and land tenure to be urgently addressed;

􀂃 Climate change will impact every aspect of the water cycle affecting our citizens: water scarcity will become more exacerbated, extreme events, such as floods and droughts, will increase, the sea level will rise, temperatures will increase, groundwater recharge, rainfall patterns and stream flow regimes will change;

􀂃 Water resources management, at the local and regional levels, can be a tool to adapt to global changes;

􀂃 The nature, extent and dynamics of water problems show commonalities and differences when comparing the situations in developing and developed countries.

While insufficient or aging infrastructure is a challenge for both, financing, strengthening capacity and improving legal frameworks are core concerns particularly in developing countries;

􀂃 A new and consistent approach is needed to cope with the demand for water at local and regional levels and to assure mitigation and adaptation measures to face these global changes. Equitable, optimal and sustainable management of water resources and services demands an integrated approach, coordinated action and the sharing of responsibilities by the various tiers of government;

􀂃 Sanitation needs to be embedded in overall local and regional planning, linked to other sectors such as drainage, potable water supply, wastewater and solid waste management, carried out - where applicable - through decentralized approaches, and supported by public education and awareness-raising campaigns to improve domestic hygiene.

􀂃 Local and regional planning and design needs to be more water-sensitive;

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which propose to reduce by half the proportion of people

without sustainable access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation by 2015, are of direct concern to local

governments.

􀂃 The public utility/service operator plays a central role in the provision of water and sanitation services and the existing support mechanisms to improve their capacity and strengthen their operation are not sufficient;

􀂃 There are costs associated with the provision of quality water and sanitation services. However, access to water and sanitation in sufficient quantity, quality and continuity must be assured affordably and equitably in particular by adapting cost recovery for the poorest people;

􀂃 Water use in urban and rural areas is highly interdependent and locally sustainable water management plays a crucial role in securing agricultural food production and the prevention of rural depopulation; local authorities must be aware of the importance of rural agriculture, which plays an important role in the provision of food to urban centres.

Further, in support of our pledge of action as Mayors and local/regional elected representatives, we call on our national governments and on international institutions to:

􀂃 Shift water security higher in national and international policy priorities, based on the principle that water resources must be allocated in a reasonable and equitable manner among all users to support inter-alia, social and health objectives, employment, economic activity, cultural and leisure development and healthy and pleasant environments;

􀂃 Speed up the implementation of commitments made on access to water and sanitation and the fight against poverty, particularly in developing countries, in order to achieve the objectives set out in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);

􀂃 Establish a dialogue to ensure that Local and Regional Authorities, through an effective transfer of competencies and means, have the legal authority, financial resources, institutional capacity and adequate human and technical skills to manage water supply and sanitation locally and regionally. Respecting the principle of subsidiarity, local governments, in consultation with all stakeholders, should have the option to choose between various management models;

􀂃 Involve Local and Regional Authorities in the definition and implementation of political strategies taken at the national and supra-national level for sustainable water management to improve access to water and sanitation and to prepare for climate change and other global changes. These changes require new infrastructure projects to anticipate climate change-related effects into the design of water, sanitation, stormwater and other urban infrastructure;

􀂃 Develop innovative financing mechanisms and regulatory frameworks to facilitate access for local and regional governments to direct financing and increase financing for local water and sanitation infrastructure to address the needs of all people and especially the poor and for adaptation to global changes;

􀂃 Include investment in the water sector in their debt reduction operations, such as exchange of debt against water and sanitation investment;

􀂃 Put highest attention to the understanding and forecasting of future climate, demographic and other developments affecting the water cycle and management systems at national and regional levels, share the knowledge gained with local governments and help interpret these developments for their relevance at local level;

􀂃 Establish effective mechanisms to involve Local and Regional Authorities in the watershed management process;

􀂃 Take into more coordinated consideration the impacts of sectoral policy choices on the hydrological cycle that affects rural and urban areas as well as ecosystems;

􀂃 Support the international cooperation of Local and Regional Authorities for working towards the MDG targets on water and sanitation, especially through funded partnerships between local and regional governments of developed and developing countries and by allowing – where possible - the allocation of part of the revenues raised from users of water and sanitation services for this purpose.

PART II – Local and Regional Authorities’ Commitments

Recognising the urgent need to develop effective strategies, cities and regions depend on appropriate legal, institutional and financial frameworks and availability of capacities, both technical and human. However, climate change, population growth, intensive urbanisation, rapid economic development and other pressures impact local water resources and systems faster than current political and social systems can respond to them.

Therefore, we, as Mayors and local/regional elected representatives, signing this ISTANBUL WATER CONSENSUS on behalf of our local/regional governments, express our clear political will to prepare for these challenges by undertaking now whatever is in our current scope of authority and capacities and pledge to do our utmost to contribute to improved water governance and steer our local policies and approaches towards increased sustainability in water management and hydraulic infrastructure development.

This commitment is taken with the expectation that national governments and international institutions will indeed recognise the indispensable role of local and regional governments in improving access and successful adaptation measures in the water sector and will initiate – in the near future - the political reforms that are required to make local and regional governments’ efforts feasible, fundable and effective.

In order to fulfil our commitment, we will use our political mandate to apply an integrated and participatory approach to sustainable water and sanitation management and initiate the following actions in our city or region based on the Guidelines in the Annex:

􀂃 An assessment of the internal and external pressures on the local water resources and their aquatic biodiversity in order to identify the main challenges on their conservation;

􀂃 An inventory of local and regional government policies, strategies and plans that need to be adapted to cope with global challenges threatening local water resources and systems in the medium- and long-term;

􀂃 The development of a dialogue with all stakeholders at the local/regional level in order to create a shared vision between principal actors, to define local priorities and plans of action in the water sector;

􀂃 The definition of objectives and measurable targets specific to our jurisdiction and reflecting the commitment made to Istanbul Water Consensus and the establishment of a monitoring and reporting framework to increase accountability of our strategies and actions;

􀂃 The implementation of our action plans to achieve tangible improvements in our water and sanitation services and to increase local and regional resilience in the face of global changes.

We also pledge to report back and share the challenges and the progress of our cities in achieving the above actions at the occasion of the next World Water Forum in 2012.

ANNEX: Guidelines for a Plan of Local and Regional Action

(To be tailored to the Local Context)

Diagnosis

Local and Regional Authorities should develop an assessment of those challenges, which are most likely to impact their water resources and water and sanitation services, including the following, as applicable:

􀂃 Undertake an assessment, in cooperation with stakeholders, of likely demographic landuse changes and economic trends and the resulting demands on water resources and compare them with the predicted availability of water resources;

􀂃 Determine the population lacking access to safe drinking water and sanitation;

􀂃 Determine the population most vulnerable to water-related health impacts;

􀂃 Carry out a study on water and sanitation infrastructural needs, including rehabilitation, and their appropriate financing;

􀂃 Identify barriers to integrated management including sectoral pressures;

􀂃 Assemble the best available climate forecasts applicable to the hydrological factors that impact the city/local authority – from water source to sea;

􀂃 Assess the city’s capacity to deliver water and sanitation services under major scenarios of climate and global changes.

􀂃 Determine other climate-related risks, potential benefits and uncertainties with respect to water management;

􀂃 Conduct a vulnerability assessment for pollution and water-related disasters;

􀂃 Assess, strengthen and implement regulatory frameworks and enhance institutional capacity;

􀂃 Determine the needs for water to support social, economic (both agricultural and industrial), institutional and environmental needs.

Targets

Local and Regional Authorities should develop concrete and measurable targets that are tailored to their local circumstances, pursuant to their jurisdiction and on a fully voluntary basis.

Such targets could be, for example:

􀂃 Reduce the amount of physical water loss x % by year x.

􀂃 Increase water supply for human needs x % by year x.

􀂃 Increase water supply per capita to x liter per day by year x.

􀂃 Save x % of per capita domestic water consumption by year x.

􀂃 Achieve internationally recognized water quality standards by year x.

􀂃 Achieve x % collection and x % treatment of sewage by year x.

􀂃 Inspect x % of industrial wastewater outfalls every year.

􀂃 Ensure appropriate amount of water for ecosystems needs by year x.

􀂃 Reduce damages due to water-related disasters as % of national (and/or regional) GDP to less than 5% of GDP.

Measures

To realize targets such as the ones listed above, the following measures might be considered:

􀂃 State-of-the-art water, sanitation and storm water management techniques to respond to urbanization and to the uncertainty and variability associated with global changes, taking water supply in rural areas also into account;

􀂃 Adoption of measures regarding spatial planning in order to prevent and combat the impact of global changes on the flood risk at the river basin level and on sea rise level;

􀂃 Diversification of sources of water supply to provide more flexibility for an indeterminate future, for example, via new storage facilities, sustainable groundwater extraction, interbasin water transfers, water conservation and recycled water or desalination;

􀂃 Introduction of regulatory measures for public participation in the decision-making regarding water management and financing at local/basin/regional levels thus improving water governance;

􀂃 Investment in sustainable infrastructure;

􀂃 Reduction of negative water-related health impacts to the urban population;

􀂃 Protection of the natural environment, especially important aquatic habitats, against

cumulative impacts of urban development and climate change;

􀂃 Restriction of land-use to protect water resources and dependent biodiversity;

􀂃 Cooperation with industry and the business sectors to optimize water efficiency and reuse in processes and products and to limit, manage and control pollution;

􀂃 Preference to water management solutions that are economical and efficient such as rainwater harvesting and the recycling of purified wastewater;

􀂃 Development and implementation of structural and non-structural risk management plans/measures to reduce damage by water-related disasters.

􀂃 Development and implementation of plans for flood control, drainage improvements, drought, disaster response and preparation for sea level rise;

􀂃 Development and implementation of plans for the redesign and re-engineering of

infrastructure, as necessary, to withstand extreme events or to perform under changed circumstances;

􀂃 Involvement of women and young people in the supply, management and maintenance of water resources and in risk reduction;

􀂃 Utilization of innovative and locally-adapted technologies for increased efficiency and coverage of water and sanitation systems;

􀂃 Provision of incentives for the transfer of education, training and technology in order to assure sustainable water management and economic development.

más del 5° foro mundial del agua...

La UNESCO y la Red Internacional de Organismos de Cuenca (RIOC) coordinan el tema 3.1. sobre gestión de cuencas y cooperación transfronteriza en el 5º Foro Mundial del Agua

El 20 y 21 de Marzo de 2009, la UNESCO y la RIOC coordinaron las 5 sesiones sobre "Gestión de Cuencas y Cooperación Transfronteriza", del tercer tema "Protegiendo y Gestionando los Recursos Hídricos y sus sistemas de Abastecimiento para cubrir las Necesidades Humanas y Ambientales" en el Quinto Foro mundial del Agua en Estambul, Turquía.

213 propuestas fueron recibidas por los coordinadores del tema 3.1. Este fue el resultado de un proceso de un año y en particular una "convocación de aportes y contribuciones" al tema 3.1. enviada en Marzo de 2008 y ampliamente distribuida directamente y a través de la página web del Quinto Foro mundial del agua. Todos los contribuyentes fueron considerados como actores implicados en el tema 3.1., es decir, considerados como potenciales participantes interesados en tomar parte del debate en torno a dicho tema. De entre las 213 propuestas recibidas, 61 contribuyentes, escogidos con base en criterios tales como balance geográfico, balance disciplinario, orden institucional, intervinieron como oradores formales durante las 12 horas de sesiones.

Tomando en cuenta las diversas intervenciones en torno al tema 3.1., al igual que las numerosas contribuciones y propuestas recibidas en la Reunión Virtual del Foro o enviadas directamente a los coordinadores de la sesión por los 213 actores implicados, algunas recomendaciones y decisiones, las cuales reflejan la opinión de la mayoría, se resumen a continuación:

• Compromiso de largo plazo y fuerte voluntad política son prerrequisitos para la gestión sostenible de cuencas y cooperación transfronteriza ante los cambios globales.
• Un progreso significativo ya se ha logrado desde los años 90. La experiencia ganada nos permite decir que la gestión integrada de los recursos hídricos a nivel de cuencas acuíferas y ríos es una ventaja real.

Instrumentos internacionales existentes y en desarrollo, otros adaptados, y experiencias en torno a la gestión de recursos hídricos transfronterizos deberían estarse difundiendo a través de los esfuerzos de agencias y redes promoviendo así la cooperación en lo concerniente a los recursos hídricos.

El nivel del mar estaría subiendo al doble de velocidad que lo que se predijo hace dos años en el 4° Panel Intergubernamental de Cambio Climático.

Sea levels rising twice as fast as predicted

Melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica force UN scientists to issue dramatic warning.

Sea levels are predicted to rise twice as fast as was forecast by the United Nations only two years ago, threatening hundreds of millions of people with catastrophe, scientists said yesterday in a dramatic new warning about climate change. Rapidly melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are likely to push up sea levels by a metre or more by 2100, swamping coastal cities and obliterating the living space of 600 million people who live in deltas, low-lying areas and small island states.

Low-lying countries with increasing populations, such as Bangladesh, Burma and Egypt, could see large parts of their surface areas vanish. Experts in Bangladesh estimate that a one-metre rise in sea levels would swamp 17 per cent of the country's land mass. Pacific islands such as Tuvalu, where 12,000 people live just a few feet above sea level, and the Maldives, would face complete obliteration.

Even Britain could face real challenges in lower-lying areas along the east coast, from Lincolnshire to the Thames estuary, with a much greater risk of catastrophic "storm surges" such as the great flood of 1953 that killed 307 people.

Yesterday's urgent wake-up call to governments about global warming – telling them the data on which they are basing their official advice is flawed – came from four scientists from the US, Australia, France and Germany, who gave a press conference at a scientific meeting on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Professor Konrad Steffen, from the University of Colorado, Dr John Church, of the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research in Tasmania, Dr Eric Rignot, of Nasa's jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena, and Professor Stefan Rahmsdorf, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, are all experts in sea-level rise. Their views represent the mainstream opinion of researchers in the field, taking account of the most recent data.

Only two years ago, the UN's Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in its Fourth Assessment Report, or AR4, that the worst-case prediction for global sea-level rise was 59cm by 2100. But the scientists in Copenhagen suggested that the 2007 report was a drastic underestimation of the problem, and that oceans were likely to rise twice as fast.

Yesterday's meeting was a scientific overture to the global conference on climate change, which takes place in the Danish capital in December. The four researchers underlined how critical it is that world leaders act to slash the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from industry and transport which are causing the atmosphere to overheat.

Advance negotiations begin in three weeks in Bonn. On pages 20 and 21, we illustrate in detail just how great the task is, profiling the main emitters of CO2 and what they are doing – or not doing – to cut back. Yesterday's alarm call was clearly intended to inject more urgency into the process.

Rising sea levels are caused by the thermal expansion of the ocean – where water increases in volume as it warms. But although the melting of ice already floating in the sea does not add to the level, because it is already displacing its own mass, melting into the sea of land-based ice most definitely does.

It is the accelerated melting of the vast, land-based ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, caused by rapidly rising temperatures at high latitudes, which is now speeding up the increase beyond anything previously forecast. The Greenland ice sheet, in particular, is not simply melting but melting "dynamically" – that is, it is collapsing in parts as meltwater seeps down through crevices and speeds up its disintegration. Critically, the four scientists said, this process was not taken into account in the AR4 report, leading to estimates of sea-level increase which were far too low.

They revealed remarkable figures showing just how fast it is now happening. Professor Steffen said Greenland was losing 200 to 300 cubic-kilometres of ice into the sea each year – about the same amount as all the ice in Arctic Europe. This on its own is causing the global sea level to rise by more than a millimetre a year, he added, whereas a decade ago Greenland's contribution to sea level rise was non-existent.

Dr Church said that the most recent satellite and in situ data showed seas were now rising by more than 3mm a year – more than 50 per cent faster than the average for the 20th century.

"As a result of improved estimates of the observed rise, the thermal expansion, the melting of the glaciers and of the ice sheets, we now have a much better quantitive understanding of why sea level is rising," he said. "Without significant, urgent and sustained emissions reductions, we will cross a threshold which will lead to continuing sea level rise of metres."

Professor Steffen added: "What we have learnt in the past three or four years is that the ice dynamic is much stronger than the models indicated, and the prediction has to be revised up to a metre or more – which is enormous if you look at the impact."

Britain's Environment Agency was apparently unique when it discarded the IPCC's 2007 advice as flawed. Based on its own estimates, it is planning flood defences for 2100 on the basis of a one-metre rise in sea levels – with a "worst-case scenario" of 2.7 metres.

"These startling new predictions spell disaster for millions of the world's poorest people," said Rob Bailey, Oxfam's policy adviser on climate change. "Poor coastal communities in countries such as Bangladesh are already struggling to cope with a changing climate, and it can only get worse. This must be a wake-up call for rich countries who are not doing anywhere near enough to prevent these cataclysmic predictions from becoming a reality."

The Independent (UK) Wednesday, 11 March 2009

Director de la DOH en 5° Foro Mundial del Agua

Participación chilena en el 5° Foro Mundial del Agua: 4° desde la izquierda, Juan Arrese, Director de la Dirección de Obras Hidráulicas (DOH). Estambul, Turquía, 16 de marzo de 2009.

Inauguración del Quinto Foro Mundial del Agua.

www.worldwaterforum5.org

WWDR Tercer informe del agua en el Mundo. NU: 5° Foro Mundial del Agua.

El Informe de las Naciones Unidas sobre el desarrollo de los recursos hídricos en el mundo.

Informe de la ONU sobre el desarrollo de los recursos hídricos en el mundo.

Agua para todos, agua para la vida, Primera edición, 2003
El agua, una responsabilidad compartida, Segunda edición, 2006
El agua en un mundo en constante cambio, Tercera edición, se presentará en 2009

El Informe sobre el desarrollo de los recursos hídricos en el mundo, publicado cada tres años conjuntamente con el Foro Mundial del Agua, es el informe principal de las Naciones Unidas sobre el agua. Se trata de un estudio exhaustivo que ofrece un panorama global sobre el estado de los recursos de agua dulce del planeta y tiene como objetivo proporcionar herramientas a los responsables de la toma de decisiones para la implementación del uso sostenible de los recursos hídricos.

Mediante una serie de evaluaciones, los Informes proporcionan un mecanismo para dar seguimiento a los cambios en los recursos y en su gestión, y miden los progresos en el avance hacia diversos objetivos, sobre todo los de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio (ODM) y la Cumbre Mundial Sobre Desarrollo Sostenible.

Los Informes también proporcionan una guía de mejores prácticas, así como análisis teóricos en profundidad con el fin de estimular ideas y acciones que mejoren la administración en el sector del agua.

El desarrollo del WWDR, coordinado por el Programa Mundial de Evaluación de los Recursos Hídricos (WWAP), es un esfuerzo conjunto de las 24 agencias y entidades de las Naciones Unidas que componen ONU-Agua y que trabajan en colaboración con gobiernos, organizaciones internacionales y no gubernamentales y otras entidades interesadas.

Un nuevo enfoque para la tercera edición del WWDR
Actualmente se está preparando la tercera edición del Informe (WWDR-3), que se presentará durante el 5º Foro Mundial del Agua en Estambul, Turquía, el 16 de marzo de 2009. El WWDR-3, que lleva por título “El agua en un mundo en cambio”, se basa en el trabajo de estudios anteriores, incluidos los dos anteriores WWDR: “Agua para todos, agua para la vida” (WWDR-1), presentado en el 3er Foro Mundial del Agua que tuvo lugar en Japón en 2003, y “El agua, una responsabilidad compartida” (WWDR-2), presentado en el 4º Foro Mundial del Agua de México en 2006. No obstante, la tercera edición del Informe presenta varios cambios respecto a las dos anteriores ediciones. A diferencia de éstos, que se estructuraron según las directrices de las diferentes agencias de la ONU, el tercer Informe tiene un enfoque integral.

Una base sólida para el Informe

La base del Informe reside en la Cumbre para la Tierra celebrada en 1992 en Río de Janeiro, Brasil, y en la Declaración de las Naciones Unidas para el Milenio de 2000. En dicho documento, la comunidad internacional se comprometió a reducir a la mitad, para el año 2015, el porcentaje de personas que carecen de acceso a un agua potable segura o que no pueden costearlo; así como poner fin a la explotación insostenible de los recursos hídricos formulando estrategias de gestión de esos recursos a nivel regional, nacional y local que promuevan un acceso equitativo y un abastecimiento adecuado.

Los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio (ODM) establecidos en la Declaración del Milenio, fijaron una ambiciosa agenda con el fin de mejorar la condición humana para 2015. El logro de muchos de estos objetivos depende de un acceso seguro y suficiente al agua potable. De hecho, los progresos de un país hacia el logro de los ODM pueden medirse, en parte, evaluando la situación de los recursos hídricos en ese país. Más información sobre los ODM y su relación con los recursos hídricos.

Como tal, el Informe forma parte de un proyecto de evaluación mundial que se lleva a cabo con el objetivo de medir los progresos alcanzados hacia el logro de los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible establecidos por las Naciones Unidas. El Informe pertenece a un conjunto de compromisos y esfuerzos realizados en la comunidad internacional para resolver los problemas relacionados con los recursos hídricos del planeta, un esfuerzo que se ha ido desarrollando a lo largo de varias décadas.

El Informe busca dar respuesta a preguntas planteadas por la comunidad internacional tales como: ¿Cuán lejos hemos llegado en el logro de los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible? ¿Cuánto camino nos queda por recorrer? ¿Qué acciones podemos emprender para allanar el camino y aligerar el paso? En el mundo cambiante de hoy, el Informe evalúa las acciones emprendidas en el pasado, los desafíos del presente y las oportunidades futuras con el fin de brindar a los responsables de la toma de decisiones una información actualizada y fidedigna que contribuya a modificar nuestros patrones de conducta en el uso de los recursos hídricos. Más información sobre los hitos del agua más importantes desde 1972.

Público objetivo del Informe

El Informe está dirigido a todas aquellas personas implicadas en la formulación e implementación de políticas y estrategias de inversión relacionadas con el sector del agua, así como a profesionales de todos los niveles. A pesar de ofrecer un amplio panorama global, el Informe se centra particularmente en la situación de los países en desarrollo, donde la necesidad de mejorar las infraestructuras y la gobernabilidad es mayor. Con este Informe, el WWAP pretende mostrar dónde están fallando los sistemas, así como brindar la información necesaria para un fortalecimiento eficiente y eficaz de las capacidades alrededor del mundo.

http://www.unesco.org/water/news/newsletter/213_es.shtml