Expert Review Workshopon Data Synthesis System (DSS)for Pan-African Water Resources

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INTERNATIONAL HYDROLOGICAL PROGRAMME

Expert Review Workshop

on Data Synthesis System (DSS) for Pan-African Water Resources

Workshop Report Cairo, Egypt

11 – 12 April 2002

IHP-VI  Technical Documents in Hydrology  No. 57 UNESCO, Paris, 2002

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The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal

status of any country, territory, city or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

SC-2002/WS/31

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Acknowledgements

We would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to all participants for their dedicated hard work during the two days of workshop. A special thanks goes to Government of Egypt for their generosity in hosting the workshop, the team of University of New Hampshire for providing technical back up, international and regional agencies (FAO, UN-ECA, SADC) for their contribution, the Water Resource Research Institute in Cairo for coordination, and UNESCO Cairo Office for contributing to the implementation its activity.

For further information

… please contact:

Abdin SALIH

UNESCO, Division of Water Sciences 1, rue Miollis

75015, Paris France tel : +33.1.45.68.39.98 fax : +33.1.45.68.58.11 e-mail : [email protected] Takeo JIMBOW

World Water Assessment Programme c/o UNESCO

1, rue Miollis 75015, Paris France tel : +33.1.45.68.41.31 fax : +33.1.45.68.58.29 e-mail : [email protected]

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Executive Summary

An expert review workshop on the Data Synthesis System (DSS) for Pan-African water resources was held on April 11-12, 2002 in Cairo, Egypt, with 11 regional experts from Africa and Arab region, representatives from UNESCO-IHP (2), FAO, UNECA, SADC, WWAP (2) and technical facilitators from the University of New Hampshire (3).

The workshop was aimed 1) to explore the functionality and data holdings of the Data Synthesis System (DSS) at regional and country scales; 2) to assess the utility of the DSS to support regional, sub-regional and country-level water resources assessments; 3) to propose recommendations for future enhancements of the DSS.

The DSS was presented to the expert panel demonstrating its major features and functionality including ease of use (friendly interactive interface), ease of modification in functionality, ease in data updating, ability to compare different areas with a common base (regionally to globally), ease of adapting to higher resolution datasets.

The discussion centered on how the system could be used to support the countries for their water resources assessments. Key findings of these deliberations were that while useful for regional applications the DSS would require resolution and functionality enhancements to be useful for such assessments. It was recommended that UNESCO-IHP in collaboration of IHP National Committees and other relevant international and regional agencies continue development of the system in support of WWAP. A series of recommendations were proposed by the expert review group.

Key recommendations are:

- To accept the DSS framework to support future water resources assessment;

- UNESCO-IHP to further develop the system as an input to WWAP;

- IHP national committees and other relevant agencies should be invited to assist in future system development;

- To plan future workshops to increase contact with local decision-makers and enlist inputs from countries;

- That participants of the workshop should disseminate results of the workshop within their countries.

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- 2 - 1. Background

The global water system is increasingly under assault by the combined forces of population growth, mismanagement, hyper-urbanization, and greenhouse warming. A new hydrographic analysis tools have emerged from the realm of Earth Systems Science. These boundary-free, spatially and temporally coherent, and biophysically based datasets are poised to open broad new areas of investigation in the complex field of water resources assessment.

It is essential for water resources assessment to describe the global situation but also to focus on regional and country specific needs in order to illustrate the diversity of situation around the world using a common and flexible assessment tool.

The Data Synthesis System for Pan-Africa Water Resources, under development jointly by UNESCO/IHP and the University of New Hampshire, is an IHP contribution to the UN- wide World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP). The system will link the outputs of the two, essentially providing inherent analytical linkage between the “hard” bio-geophysical and

“soft” socio-economic datasets, which are hitherto presented separately and rarely integrated.

The system is based on a Geographical Information System platform and will have a capability of providing map-based outputs on various water-related information.

A preliminary review by UNESCO/IHP, focused on the technical functionality for the prototype system, has been carried out. However, an assessment by experts on the usefulness and applicability of this system is extremely important. Therefore, WWAP Secretariat, in collaboration with UNESCO/IHP, organised an expert meeting, attended by policymakers and experts who are in charge of water resources assessment in relevant Governments, Departments and Institutes in Africa as well as Arab States, to undertake the review of this system.

The workshop encouraged a frank and open exchange of expertise and opinions. This report aims to give an account of the presentations and discussions of the workshop along with the conclusions and recommendations of participants for follow up.

2. Goals of the workshop

The main aim of the workshop was to demonstrate the DSS system to the invited country experts and to invite them to participate in the system development. The workshop was also thought of as an occasion for enhancing the capacity building for water resources assessments in their countries. Thus, the workshop was organised to discuss a set of strategies designed to evaluate the system as regards the usefulness and applicability to the countries involved, proposals for the further elaboration of the system, and plan of collaboration in the system implementation in countries interested in using the DSS for their water resources assessments.

The expected of goals the workshop were 1) to explore the functionality and data holdings of DSS at regional and country scales; 2) to assess the utility of the DSS to support region, sub-region and countries for their water resources assessments; and 3) to propose recommendations for future enhancements of the DSS.

3. Agenda, Place, Timing and Participants

The workshop was held at the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt, located in Cornich El-Nil, Imbaba, Giza in the city of Cairo (Egypt) during period 11-12 April

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2002. Twenty experts from Governments, institutions and organisations in Africa and Arab States working with the water resources assessment attended the workshop, bringing their expertise and enthusiasm to the discussions in the workshop. Ten countries were represented, including Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kuwait, Lesotho, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and United States.

Organisation of the workshop, along with facilitation, was coordinated by the Water Resource Research Institute of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in Cairo. The Agenda and a List of participants are attached as Appendices A and B.

4. Workshop Contents in Brief

4.1 Opening Session

The workshop started with an Opening Session that took the form of a welcome and introduction.

Mr. Gordon Young addressed the Opening Session on behalf of the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP). He presented a brief overview of the initiation and development of the WWAP over the past two years since its inauguration. He noted the importance of the integrated approach to water resources management and the appropriateness of the 23 UN agencies acting co-operatively in implementation of the WWAP. He described the very broad definition of ‘Assessment’ in the context of the WWAP: the Programme not only deals with the status of the resource itself but with the demands on the resource, the definition of critical problem areas and the effectiveness of management responses to the crises.

He noted the need not only to describe the global situation but also to focus on regional and local case studies in order to illustrate the diversity of situation around the world. He noted that there is a need to bring together the various datasets and information systems in order to compare circumstances around the globe and that systems need to be designed and developed to describe and to analyse the data. He noted that such a system is the subject of the current workshop; it has been initiated through the UNESCO/IHP as a contribution to the WWAP and the purpose of the workshop is to review and make recommendations on the possible further development of the system. Lastly he thanked the Government of Egypt for their generosity in hosting the workshop and the participants for taking time to attend and discuss in the workshop.

Following Mr. Young’s opening, Mr. Abdin Salih addressed the Opening Session on behalf of UNESCO/IHP. He briefly reviewed the objectives and outcomes of the completed five phases of the International Hydrological Programme of UNESCO (IHP;1975 – 2001). He then introduced the 5 themes, cross cutting components and the new initiatives of IHP-VI (2002 – 2007). He explained that this workshop is organised within the framework of theme1 of IHP- VI as a contribution to WWAP. He concluded his address by thanking the Egyptian Government for hosting the workshop, the team of the University of New Hampshire for providing the technical back-up, WWAP and related international and regional agencies (FAO, UN-ECA, OACT, SADC) for their contribution in organising the workshop, the participants for responding to UNESCO invitation and UNESCO Cairo Office for contributing significantly to the implementation of the activity.

The opening session was closed with welcoming address from Mr. Ahmed Fahmy on behalf of the host country and the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt. He emphasized the relevance of this activity that deals with water resources assessment, a subject of strategic importance to Egypt, the Nile basin countries and the Arab region.

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- 4 - 4.2 General System Overview and Demonstration

The general overview of Data Synthesis System for Pan-Africa Water Resources was provided by Prof. Charles Vörösmarty of the University of New Hampshire. Then the DSS system was demonstrated by the development team of the University of New Hampshire.

During the system demonstration, the workshop had an honour of the visit of Dr.

Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt. The Minister addressed the meeting and emphasized the importance of the workshop.

4.3 Group Parallel Discussions

The participants were divided into two groups, coordinated by Prof. Bahha Saad and Prof. Waleed A. Mohammed respectively. The group discussions were focused on the evaluation of DSS as regards the usefulness and applicability to the country, identification of requirements on further system elaboration, and participation of and inputs from experts/countries. The reports of Working Groups are attached as Appendix C.

4.4 Synthesis of Group Parallel Discussions

The summaries of group parallel sessions were synthesised by a selected drafting team and the recommendations were prepared.

4.5 Questionnaire

A questionnaire on the evaluation of the usefulness and applicability of DSS was distributed to all participants in order to obtain their individual opinions. The Results of the Questionnaire are attached as Appendix D.

4.6 Closing Session

Closing Session included expressions of thanks by Mr. Gordon Young of WWAP Secretariat, Mr. Abdin Salih of UNESCO IHP and Dr. Bahaa Saa’d, Head of the Planning Sector, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt.

5. Major Features of the DSS: Functionality and holdings

The Data Synthesis System (Version 1.0) was commissioned in 2001 by UNESCO IHP as a contribution to the World Water Assessment Programme. The DSS is designed to serve as a tool for generating quantitative indicators on water resources condition and stress. Using a common framework and methodology, the DSS is to analyse water conditions using a variety of spatial perspectives including the capability to analyse global, regional, river basin and country conditions. The system is aimed to perform comparative broad-scale assessments while also serving to enrich country-level and case study work. Analysis over sub-national domains which will be a feature of subsequent versions of the DSS could support the WWAP objective of promoting improved water resources management. Below is the major elements of the system. The details of technical description of Data Synthesis System is attached as Appendix E.

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The DSS is a digital information system for water resources assessment and its major design objective is to provide a common, integrated, and quantitative geo-spatial framework for assessing the condition of water resources over a variety of domains, from local setting to the entire globe.

Its fundamental accounting unit is the drainage basin, but the DSS can be cast to explore water issues at any subsidiary scale, that is, over individual country sub-domains within basins, sub-basins, or individual grid cells. The original prototype system for Africa operates at a 6’ (latitude x longitude) resolution. The DSS is populated with highly consistent, boundary- free geophysical datasets from Earth systems sciences. These datasets are derived from archived climate and meteorological datasets, modelled fields, and remote sensing-derived datasets. Some of these datasets are expressed as fields derived from point-scale interpolations, such as for precipitation, discharge, and temperature. The system also maintains a broad suite of data holdings on socio-economics (e.g. population, economic indicators, health data) as well as available water use statistics. A set of pre-calculated water stress indicators are available, supplemented by geo-spatial functions that allow users to construct customised water condition indicators for particular applications.

The DSS has an “organic” design to accommodate continual data updating and data ingestion, as well as functionality upgrades. This flexibility allows for the timely adoption of community-based decisions on data holdings and functionality. It also facilitates ongoing thematic updates that could support the WWAP World Water Development Report as a “living document”.

Another fundamental design criterion for the DSS was to cast it as a geo-spatial, WWWeb-based data repository and analysis system. There are several features and advantages that derive from the decision to create DSS as a WWWeb-based tool. The first most obvious advantage of this design requirement is that DSS datasets and outputs can be widely accessed and widely distributed, both to the data and information partners as well as to the public at large. Next, using standard internet and Web-based programming protocols, it has full portability and, importantly, robustness. Thus, sequential design versions prepared by the University of New Hampshire, when suitably stable, are delivered to the WWAP Secretariat and UNESCO Headquarters which will then serve as the DSS central server. It can also be sited in the regional partners through the emerging network of WWAP regional nodes. The use of open source codes obviates the need for investing in and using proprietary software, again fostering the wide distribution of the system.

Through straightforward graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and geo-spatial map queries, the otherwise complex DSS database and allied computer codes are transparent to the users, hidden in the “background”, and thus making the system highly user-friendly. The learning curve is thus modest and focus can be placed instead on the actual datasets and the applications of this information to water-related problems. A standardised, easy-to-use, and robust DSS will foster network growth among the partner agencies.

6. Suggested modifications/amendments on DSS

The following modifications/amendments of DSS were suggested so that the water resources assessment could be carried out at regional and countries level.

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- 6 - 6.1 Country specific needs could be targeted:

- The inclusion of a contour mapping option in addition to the existing shaded relief image that meant to provide a convenient way to view the spatial coverage and general topographic features portrayed in the overlay. Output contour maps are very useful for design and implementation purposes. Layout and construction of canal/drain network, planning control structures, and locating pumping stations could be precisely prepared;

- Surveying existing water supply and sanitation databases throughout the world, so that the system can link strongly with the datasets and information systems of the UN agencies, related institutions, and countries, is recommended;

- Definition of terrestrial water balance components. For Egypt, identification of water resources and demands is essential. Water supply should be all-encompassing, including non-conventional water resources such as reuse of industrial, drainage, and sewage return flows, groundwater abstraction, and desalination of both seawater and brackish groundwater. In this connection, efforts to fill in gaps on Groundwater desalination in the arid zone of Gulf States (from Ethiopia, Sudan, Northern Africa through to Arab states) should be encouraged;

- Data management protocol. The system includes a broad suite of spatial and statistical data encompassing point scale and girded socio-economic and bio-geophysical products for data exploration and download. The data are organized according to water indicator themes and is presented in the spatial context of the river basin to analyse the changing nature of water in relation to human needs and activities at the global, regional and case study scales. However, data accuracy is a key element in water- related studies. Data validation and verification is therefore necessary. Involvement of local authorities in data acquisition and debugging is essential for system reliability;

- Special features (tools and capabilities) that reflect the special needs of analysing river basin, sub-basin and grid cell characteristics. Rapid retrieval of selected tabular and thematic data will also be helpful.

6.2 Management relevancy could be recognised:

- An enhanced full on-line help and documentation. Despite being an operational, digital information system for water resource assessment cast within a geographic information system framework accessible via the World Wide Web, modified/amended help will substantially expand the system utility. Additional user guidance is required throughout the system. Data update could be more straightforward;

- Additional analysis and querying tools. Both quantitative and spatial analysts are needed for thorough analysis;

- Semi-arid and arid zones within each country could be defined separately. Aridity index could thus be considered. For Egypt, the Nile valley and delta fringes are of a semi-arid nature while the strips outside those fringes are arid, requiring different treatment during water balance and climato-hydrological analysis.

6.3 Higher resolution databases could be required:

- The available resolution may not suffice when detailed studies are conducted, the micro-scale analysis will be very coarse. Moreover, small countries and islands will not be shown and hence will be discarded. Higher resolution will undoubtedly strengthen country-level assessment, with emphasis on developing countries;

- A zooming-in facility should be connected with the Interactive navigation maps provided for easy geographic access to spatial data;

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- All data are integrated with a meta-data system to identify, share and assemble DSS datasets in collaboration with other partners. Details of the system, especially for small basins, undersized countries, and components of the water system within the same countries can be included.

6.4 Additional modules could be added to the system:

- Flood routing;

- Dam operation (including water losses);

- Water quality;

- Water distribution/allocation;

- Pipe network distribution system (including head losses);

- Actual consumptive use values (field verified);

- Runoff-soil moisture relationship;

- Climatological conditions (with apparent precipitation interpretation);

- Hydrology of groundwater reservoirs.

6.5 Thematic data analysis and datasets for multiple country analysis:

- Thematic data analysis capability is important for multiple analysis in relation to one country, a sub-basin, or a region. Multi-criteria analysis could thus be effectively performed;

- Datasets should be designed to fulfil the purpose of such analysis;

- Additional layers (themes) may be required for integrated water resources management analysis on various levels;

- The DSS should be linked to existing planning tools and mathematical models for maximum utilisation of databases.

7. Future Enhancements

The proposed future enhancements to the DSS have been organized into three categories 1) Presentation; 2) Introduction of new themes and data; and 3) New functionality.

A brief description of the enhancements in each of these categories follows:

7.1 Presentation

Future enhancements to the presentation of the system include the organisation of data and themes in the DSS interface. It was agreed that the WWAP indicator theme headings should be reviewed and modified to provide more descriptive headings for the included data.

Also, the data holdings within the system should be more easily accessible such as through a thematic or alphabetical drop down list. Other modifications to the interface for easier navigation should be explored.

7.2 Introduction of new themes and data

During the workshop it was noted that a thorough review of all current data holdings in the DSS with WWAP partners is necessary to identify gaps in data. Regional experts should be consulted to identify additional datasets and new themes for inclusion in the DSS. Of specific interest are datasets for alternative sources for water consumption such as groundwater, rainfall harvest, and desalinisation. In addition, higher resolution datasets and region specific statistics should be acquired from regional experts for inclusion in the DSS. Of particular importance is the inclusion of hydrologic sub-basins boundaries and state provincial boundaries units for display, selection and statistics.

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The DSS team should work with WWAP socio-economic experts to obtain more relevant national and sub-national socio-economic statistics for inclusion in the DSS. In addition, time series analysis on water availability and stress, including but not limited to datasets for climatology and water use should also be included in the DSS. Where available historical statistics for data themes should also be included. In addition, it was deemed critical to develop a data collection methods section with rating system for data and suggested uses.

7.3 New functionality

New functionality is proposed to expand the current assessment capabilities in the DSS and also to propose new modules such as for socio-economic issues and water management.

Of primary importance is the development of a zooming-in capability that will allow users to scale down to a user defined viewing extent. This should include interactive point and click zooming as well as zooming to finer scale sub-basin and provincial or township boundaries.

Also, the need to generate upstream statistics “on the fly” by clicking any place on the map was also identified as an important future enhancement to the system.

In addition, data upload options for regional data managers were deemed important tools to be included in the system. There was also some interest in expanding the current functionality of the DSS to include a risk assessment tool to identify potential impacts for human and ecosystem health. Suggestions were also made for provide appropriate linkages with other decision support systems such as the FAO AQUASTAT database.

8. Conclusions and Recommendations

The workshop has been a great success and the Data Synthesis System (DSS) for Pan- Africa Water Resources has gained an enthusiastic acceptance by the participants of the workshop from ten countries and international and regional organisations.

The main topics included in the agenda of the workshop were accomplished. The successful demonstration of the capabilities of DSS was provided by the team of the University of New Hampshire. The evaluation of the system, as regards the usefulness and applicability, was satisfactorily and enthusiastically that reached resulting in acceptance by the participants.

Meeting and sharing experiences among the participants were considered invaluable that include the establishment of an informal network of experts working in the fields of water resources assessment. Overall satisfaction with the workshop was expressed by all participants verbally and in filling the questionnaire.

It was agreed that further development of the system should be pursued with the provision that similar products being developed by several organizations, including agencies within the UN system, be examined for compatibility with the Atlas.

It was recommended that the Web based data repository and analysis system of DSS should be completed with the proposed system modifications/improvements and delivered to the UNESCO IHP and WWAP Secretariat to serve as the DSS central server. Also the distributed node of DSS should be established in the regional partner stations.

Follow-up of this workshop was felt to be crucial and should include collaboration of IHP National Committees and other relevant agencies to assist in the future system development. It was agreed to establish a close collaboration with countries, regional and

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international organisations, NGOs, and academic societies that can assure the smooth system implementation. Furthermore, it was recommended to organise future workshops in order to increase contact with local policymakers and stakeholders and to enlist inputs from them.

UNESCO IHP and WWAP Secretariat are willing to continue this excellent co-operation.

These workshops could also be occasions for enhancing the capacity building in the countries for their water resources assessments.

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- Agenda -

Appendix A: Agenda for Expert Review of Data Synthesis System for Pan-Africa Water Resources

Date Time Topics

9:00 Registration 9:30 – 10:00 Opening Session

- Welcome by WWAP - UNESCO IHP - Host Country

Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt 10:00 – 10:30 Coffee Break

10:30 - 12:30 System Demonstration by UNH Lunch

13:30 - 16:30 (coffee break)

Group Parallel Session

Participants will be divided into two Groups Group Coordinators

Group 1: Prof. Bahaa Saad

Group 2: Prof. Waleed A. Mohammed Day 1

11 April

Evening Dinner

9:00 - 10:30 Presentation of results of Group Discussion by each Group

10:30 – 11:30 Overall discussion and Summary (1)

Open discussion and compilation of group results Overall Coordinator: Eng. Ahmed Fahmi

Lunch 13:30 to 16:00

(coffee break)

Overall discussion and Summary (2) Preparation of Recommendation/Action Plan Overall Coordinator: Eng. Ahmed Fahmi

16:00 Closing Session

UNESCO IHP / WWAP / Host country Day 2

12 April

End of meeting

Place of meeting: UNESCO Regional Office in Cairo Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation Science & Technology for the Arab States Cornich El-Nil, Imbaba, Giza 8 Abdel Rahman Fahmy street

Postal Code: 12666 Garden City, Cairo,

Phone (+202) 5449446/7 Egypt 11511 e-mail: [email protected] Fax (+202) 5449428, 5449410

Contact point:

Accommodation: Radwan Al-Weshah

Meridian Pyramids, near Pyramids Regional Hydrologist/ UNESCO El Remaya Square Pyramids, Giza e-mail: [email protected]

Phone (+202) 383 03 83 Private e-mail: [email protected] Fax (+202) 383 17 30 Phone (+202) 794-5599 / 794-3036

Mobile (+20)-10-1777800 Fax (+202) 794-5296

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Person Country Organisation Telephone and fax E-mail

1 Dr. Radwan Al-Weshah Egypt UNESCO Cairo Office

Tel: +202.794.5599

Fax: +202.794.5196 [email protected]

2 Prof. M. Samir Farid Egypt

Water Resources Research Institute, National Water Research Center

Tel: +202 2189437, 2188787

Fax +202 2184344 [email protected]

3 Prof. Bahaa Saad Egypt

Planning Sector, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation

Tel: +202 5449486

Fax: +202 5449456 [email protected]

4 Eng. Ahmed Fahmi Egypt

Nile Water Sector, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation

Tel: +202 5720218, 5722767

Fax: +202 5723147 [email protected]

5 Prof. Abdalla Abdelsalam Ahmed Sudan UNESCO Chair in Water Resources

Tel: +249 11 779599 Fax: +249 11 779604

[email protected] [email protected]

6 Dr. Bayou Chane Ethiopia

Addis Ababa University Department of Civil Engineering, Addis Ababa University

Fax: +251 1 552601 [email protected]

7 Dr. Azm Fazlul Hoque Ethiopia

UNECA Regional Cooperation and Integration Division.

tel: +251 1 51 03 91 / 63 07 26 fax: +251 1 51 44 16

[email protected]

8 Dr. E.M. Mokuoane Lesotho SADC, Water Sector Coordination Unit

Tel: +266 320720 (direct) +266 310022 (SB) +266 8744446 (cell) Fax (+266) 310 465

[email protected];

[email protected] (temporal) [email protected]

9 Dr. ALE Fadjouwin Grégoire Bénin Direction de l’Hydraulique

Tél : +229 31 32 98 / 31 34 87 / 31 77 92 (home): (+229) 38 44 15 Fax: +229 31 5955

office : [email protected]

home: [email protected]

Appendix B: List of Participants

Expert Review Meeting of Data Synthesis System for Pan-Africa Water Resources In Cairo 11-12 April 2002

List Participants.xls Page 1

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Person Country Organisation Title E-mail

10 Dr. Daniel SIGHOMNOU Cameroon Centre de Recherches Hydrologiques

Tel +237 223 85 83

Fax (237) 220 18 54 [email protected]

11 Dr. Mahamed Safar-Zitoun Algeria

OACT - African Organisation of Cartography and Remote Sencing

+213 21 23 17 17 (fax) +213 21 23 33 39

[email protected],

[email protected]

12 Dr Mohamed Bazza Egypt FAO Regional Office for the Near East

tel: (+202) 331 6000 (Ext. 2803)

Fax: (+202) 749 5981 [email protected]

13 Dr. Charles Vorosmarty USA

Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space

University of New Hampshire

Tel: +1 603-862-0850

Fax: +1 603-862-0587 [email protected]

14 Dr. Alexander Proussevitch USA

Tel: + 1 603-862-0814

15 Dr. Pamela Green USA

Tel: +1 603-862-4208

16 Dr. Muhammad Al-Rashed Kuwait Kuwait Instiutute for Scientific Research

Tel: +965 483 66 13

Fax: +965 483 47 12 [email protected]

17 Prof. Waleed A. Mohammed

Bhahran, Saudi Arabia

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

Tel: +966 3 860 28 95

Fax: +966 3 860 45 18 [email protected]

18 Gordon Young France WWAP Secretariat

Tel: +33 1 45 68 39 04

Fax: +33 1 45 68 58 29 [email protected]

19 Abdin Salih France UNESCO/IHP

Tel: +33 1 45 68 40 18

20 Takeo Jimbow France WWAP Secretariat

Tel: +33 1 45 68 41 31

List Participants.xls Page 2

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- Group Discussion, Page 1 -

Appendix C-1: NOTES FROM GROUP 1 BREAKOUT DISCUSSION

Report of Working Group 1 Date: 11/April/2002

Prof. Bahaa Saad, Group Coordinator Dr. Bayou Chane;

Dr. E. M. Mokuane Dr. Daniel Sighomnou Prof. M. Samir Farid Dr. Muhammad Al-Rashed Eng. Ahmed Fahmi;

Prof. Charles Vorosmarty, Group Facilitator Dr. Alaexander Proussevitch, Group Facilitator

A brief demonstration on the DSS version 1.0 system to Group 1 was guided by Prof. Bahaa Saad and facilitated by Prof. Charles Vörösmarty and Dr. Alaexander Proussevitch. Group members explored various parts of the DSS interface, including the Overview, Data Expedition and Indicators, and Data Download sections of the system.

The dialogue and critique responded to several of the issues highlighted by Dr. Vörösmarty in his plenary discussion that were necessary to consider with respect to the ultimate value of the system to users. There were important points made, specifically on:

• Potential Use to Decision-makers: There was general consensus that the DSS, with suitable modification, could be used to help assess and better manage water resources.

It is therefore deemed to be a useful tool for the decision-maker. It’s ease of use means that there is low training overhead.

• Enhanced System Functionality: This included a recommendation for the creation of regression analysis, exploring relationships between two or more variables rather than simply providing a frequency histogram of grid cells having a particular value. For example, a user could in the calculation page generate an indicator dataset from two or more existing fields and correlate the result with another variable. This could provide potentially important new insights about the relations among the individual DSS archive holdings. Questions regarding re-sampling to higher resolution, interpolation, etc.

prompted the suggestion that perhaps different functions could be made available to the user to generate customized interpolations, data resolution changes, etc. This might be particularly important when new point-scale or station-based datasets needing further interpolation are uploaded by countries.

• Improved Packaging of Existing Data Holdings: An option for re-sorting entries in the data archive available for downloading would create a more usable view of the entire archive listing. This should be achieved through user options to reorder the datasets alphabetically or through thematic data clusters (in Data Download section). Data

“clusters” based on different themes could also be part of the Data Expedition and Indicators section. These might include a cluster called “Basic Water Supply and

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Demand” to permit easy access to fundamental water resources statistics. This would simplify DSS use. Rather than having to search throughout several of the existing WWAP Challenge Area tabs to identify the candidate datasets, users could more easily find the water supply and demand information in one place in order to, for example, construct customised indexes of water availability. Contours of topography in addition to colour-coding is recommended to assist in design and construction work for water infrastructure.

• Interpretation of Existing Data Holdings: Questions arose about the sources of information contributing to the archive. It was pointed out that the Overview

“Citations” sub-page provided the baseline information plus hyper-links to any WWWeb-mounted data and documentation. Choices for particular datasets were also questioned. For example, Infant Mortality currently in the DSS, while potentially useful, might be supplemented by Mortality due to Water-Related Disease, Mortality by Age Class, etc. A clear indication of potential versus actual evapotranspiration also was needed, along with explanation of how actual ET could exceed precipitation, such as in wetlands and lakes.

• Required New Data Holdings: It was recognised that the system is continually being updated and may not have fully coverage to date. Analysis of sub-annual variability and time series was recommended and could be instituted on several key hydrometeorological variables. Important new products could then be generated for hydrologically important droughts and flooding. Specific additional data recommendations were the tabulation of non-conventional water resources, in particular, desalinisation and Tertiary+ waste treatment (e.g. reverse osmosis). Sub-national statistics were seen by the discussion group to be essential for future progress in merging high resolution geophysical data with socioeconomic information. Full water budget elements are required including precipitation, evaporation, soil moisture change, and runoff.

• Importance of Regional Expert Inputs: Throughout the further demonstration, the Initial Framework Data Base was tested and critiqued by regional experts. It was pointed out by Dr. Vörösmarty that this was an important benefit of the framework – that is, to provide an immediate assessment of data quality. On the issue of irrigation in western Egypt, the DSS was able to successfully predict the presence of non-sustainable irrigation. However, it was not able to detect a >10m annual precipitation for a locality in Cameroon, due to the lack of such local information in the continental-scale dataset.

It could, however, import easily such station-based information and re-interpolate the precipitation fields to accommodate new information from a regional expert or member state ministry. It is recommended to encourage local or national committees of the UNESCO-IHP to use the DSS, to review the available data, and to recommend any updating as is required.

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Appendix C-2: NOTES FROM GROUP 2 BREAKOUT DISCUSSION

Report of Working Group 2 Date: 11/April/2002

Prof. Waleed A. Mohammed, Group Coordinator Prof. Abdalla Abdelsalam Ahmed

Dr. Azm Fazlul Hoque Dr. Mahamed Safar-Zitoun Dr. ALE Fadjouwin Grégoire Dr. Mohamed Bazza

Ms. Pamela Green, Group Facilitator

Overall System Review:

Unique and original system;

Comprehensive coverage of data and alternative capabilities (useful for water planners and decision makers);

System can be modified and additions can be done to make it more effective for decision makers and planners on all levels (international, regional, national, provincial, etc.).

Futures Needs

1) General Comments and Additional Data:

Indicator titles need to be more descriptive of underlying data;

Include water supply and demand statistics on same page;

Inclusion of other sources of water for consumption such as groundwater, wastewater, desalination, etc.;

Include risk assessment on human and ecosystem health;

Linkages to other decision support systems;

Inclusions of higher detailed country, province, township data;

Upload option on web page for regional data holders;

Inclusion of time series;

Historical water use data;

Optimisation Technique Applications;

Ability to get upstream statistics by clicking on any cell in basin;

Private Sector Role is not clear;

Impact of water use on socio-economic development not clear;

Upcoming Workshops and Expert Meetings involving NGOs and private sector;

Strategy development for water resources; tools for integrated management.

2) Data Quality Control:

Data Collection Methods;

Recommendations for use;

Requirements for filling data gaps;

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- Group Discussion, Page 4 - Level of Accuracy (scale).

3) Scale Issues:

Zooming Capabilities;

Hydrologic Extents;

Continental -> Major Basin -> Subbasins -> Finer Scales?;

Hydrological Provinces for Groundwater;

Political Extents;

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- Answer to Questionnaire, Page 1 -

Appendix D: Result of the Workshop Questionnaire

The Questionnaire was filled out by 20 participants. Below are the results and the examples of the opinion.

1. Was this workshop beneficial for your work?

All participants replied ‘YES’ to this question with following remarks:

- The system will be beneficial in many ways, e.g. FAO is a partner of WWAP and follows with interest its development and concerns for follow-up coordination;

- My institution is regional and IT Unit coordinates 14 countries within Southern Africa.

The product brought by this workshop is very important for various regional end users;

- This workshop was extremely effective and beneficial to me and other participants as well. It is one of the best workshop which I attended in workshop of Water Assessment during the last ten years;

- DSS system discussed in the workshop will be a very useful reference point;

- I am in charge of promoting IWRM in Benin and also in West Africa as a member of GWP/WATAC. DSS system seems a good and practical tool to evaluate the water resources availability at global level and its status within a river basin. Without knowledge on the resources, it is not possible to manage them well.

2. Does the DSS system have the potentials (useful and beneficial) for your country, other countries in Africa or the Arab region?

Although most of the answers were ‘YES’, there are several remarks requiring further elaboration of the system, as regards the functionality of zooming-in capability, additional themes on non-natural resources such as desalinated water in the arid zone of Gulf states, etc.:

- I believe the DSS system has the potentials to be useful and beneficial for my country and others in Africa and Arab regions;

- The DSS system has the potential usefulness to countries if they are the end users and beneficiaries. The system has the capacity to address these needs if additional tailoring is done;

- The system is very good because it is very user friendly and well advanced, it will be useful particularly for the regional organisations, like OACT, SADC, IGAD, UMA, etc.;

- It will be useful especially in water demands, water supply and many other applications;

- I think the DSS system is original and essential tool for water resource planners, engineers, researchers and decision makers in my country and other African countries;

- ECA works for all African countries and it is ECA’s opinion that all African countries will benefit from the DSS system;

- I believe it has very high potential to be a useful tool, especially, for countries where data is not yet organised systematically, e.g. my country (Ethiopia);

- Yes, if right data are available to calibrate and update the DSS regularly;

- Yes, but it needs more details to be more useful for a particular country, for example, making difference between region/province, etc.;

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- At its present status, NO. It needs first a zooming-in capability in order to be beneficial for small countries, as Kuwait. Also data on non-natural resources like desalinated water should be included and more emphasis on treated waste water as a source should be extended.

3. Do you think your country/organization could be interested in further developing this system?

In general answers were ‘YES’, but there are several remarks on the data collection, missing data, and data quality:

- FAO believes that the countries could be embarked in the system if they are assisted to collect data and trained on the use of system;

- We are going to corporate with those responsible of the DSS system to develop it and provide them with all we know, especially in the field of missing data;

- Our organisation is interested for ground water part in Africa;

- The Water Section of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals has developed several types of decision support system which have been used by different governmental agencies. The DSS system can be used for national and regional scales;

- It would be interested, especially, if DSS system address the data deficiency problem at local level;

- We are interested to use DSS system in Benin in order to assess well our water resources and we can put our data (discharges, rainfall, evaporation, etc.) at the disposal of WWAP for the further development;

- It will be useful if opportunity was given to specialist of country to add adequate details and precisions coming from field data.

4. If, the answer is ‘YES’ for 3. above:

Could you suggest whom should we approach in your country or other countries in you region for further development?

Followings are suggested contact points at regional and country level:

- Such an important system should be introduced to the highest level possible of decision- makers with the necessary awareness on what benefit the countries could get from adhering to it – FAO;

- I believe, acting as a Coordinator in the field of water resources in Sudan, the UNESCO Chair in Water Resources is the best place to contact – Sudan;

- Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation Nile Water Sector, Planning Sector, Ground Water Sector, Water Resources Research Institute for water-hydrology aspects, IHP National Committee – Egypt;

- Contact the Sector coordinators, Mr. P. S. Ramoeli, and he can provide you with addresses of national hydrological services in the region – SADC;

- For definition of ground water – OACT;

- The Water Section of the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia is a pioneer in this field in the Arab states and the Middle East;

- Institute for Scientific Research / Water Resourecs Division, and other R7D Centers in the Arabian Peninsula as King Fahd University – Kuwait;

- Ministry of Water Resources in each country – ECA;

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- The Ministry of Water Resources, the National Meteorological Service Agency, and the Department of Civil Engineering in Addis Ababa University – Ethiopia;

- Training of DSS will be necessary in Western Africa. EIER, AGRHYMET, ACMAP, and NBA, Department of Civil Engineering of Kuwasi University (Ghana) in regional level.

- Direction de l’Hydraulique, Universite Nationale d’Atoney Calair, Projet CATCH, Initiative Moussou Africaine - Benin;

- Institute for Geological and Mining Research and Hydrological Research Centre of Cameroon, P. O. Box 4110 Yaounde- Cameroon, and Regional Institutions as CBLT, ABN, AGRHYMET, etc.

5. What aspects do you consider important in carrying further development of this system?

Many opinions were addressed on data issues and functionality.

As for the data issues: data collection system; quality control mechanism; identification of gaps; additional themes at detailed level; wider coverage of data year, etc.

As for the functionality: estimation function; calculation methods; zooming-in capability;

time series presentation; data updating procedure at country level; and data integration from country level to sub-regional and regional level, linkage with other decision support system particularly within UN, etc.

- Sharing ideas with as many people as possible in the fields of water resources, Developing the system to be so easy for decision makers to find what they are looking for in a very short time to collect more data,

Trying to collect more data directly from resources (countries);

- To compile previous Hydro-Atlases in different basins;

- Make the system to address the important needs of UN partner organisations and countries and link with existing relevant Webs;

- Certainty of data, correct calculations, and scale of space and time;

- Actually the data should be updated and validated by the participating countries or regions;

- Ground water provinces, interactivity between surface water and groundwater with evaluation of the flow exchanges;

- Data is not completed. Analysis need to be promoted, Updating is highly required;

- Further development required in the following:

Addition of groundwater, desalinated water and waste water, more detailed level of information and maps on provincial levels, more tools to use optimisation technique for decision, facility of quality control on data; decision support tools for water planners, assessment of water resources on provincial,/divisional wild lives and environment;

- Zooming-in capability, non-continental water resources as desalinated water and treated waste water as a resources, Water Resource per country and each % on satisfying the demand, Research and Development activities regarding water resources per country;

- Develop/collect/incorporate data on efforts by countries enhancing sub-regional and regional integration by ensuring water as an important vehicle;

- Temporal distribution of rainfall-runoff, Indirect methods of estimating water resources potential or correlation of say stream flow to catchments properties, interaction of DSS system with the data sources such as USGS;

- Use data from countries and regions to strengthen the data collection system in river basins, organise training at both regional and national levels in order to make the DSS system interactive in its updating and useful, improve the calculation of runoff/discharge

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parameters using the field measured data, develop the GIS at sub-basin level (boundaries and calculation of the parameters), and include groundwater parameters in the DSS system;

- It is important to make a comparison with field data and add few details.

6. Would you like to be kept as a member of the informal network developed in this workshop?

All answers were ‘YES’ with enthusiasm for collaboration in the development:

- FAO is a partner and would appreciate being kept posted on any new development;

- It is my honour and pleasure to be kept as a member of the informal network developed in this workshop. I am ready to put my experience in water resources management during the past years to create this extremely important system;

- I will be very happy to contribute to the network to the best of my capacity;

- I would like to contribute in the further developing of the DSS system, particularly I offer to the local point of the DSS in Western Africa because my position as a member of GWP/WATAC can be a good opportunity for promoting the use of the DSS in Western Africa;

- I am ready to provide my contribution if needed for the further development of the system.

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- DSS Description, Page 1 - Appendix E: Data Synthesis System Description

The Data Synthesis System for World Water Resources (DSS) is an initiative of the World Water Assessment Program supported through the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO/IHP). The DSS is an operational, digital data archive and analysis tool for water resource assessment cast within a geographic information system framework accessible via the World Wide Web. The system includes a broad suite of spatial and statistical data encompassing point scale and gridded socioeconomic and biogeophysical products for data exploration and download. This data is organized according to water indicator themes and is presented in the spatial context of the river basin to analyze the changing nature of water in relation to human needs and activities at the global, regional and case study scales.

The DSS provides tools for analyzing river basin, sub-basin and grid cell characteristics for rapid retrieval of tabular and thematic data. Interactive navigation maps are provided for easy geographic access to spatial data. In addition, full on-line help and documentation is available to aide the user in navigating the system. All data is integrated with a meta-data system to identify, share and assemble DSS data sets in collaboration with other UNESCO and WWAP partners. A more detailed description of the data layers and statistical information contained in the DSS is given in the Citations section organized by indicator theme.

• Data Synthesis Systems (Version 1.0) for World Water Resources Data Holdings and Citations

0.0 General Information

0.1 Relief – EDC DEM (6min resolution) http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/gtopo30/gtopo30.html

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). U.S. GeoData Digital Elevation Models: Data User Guide 5, National Mapping Program, 51 pp., Reston, VA, 1990.

GTOPO30 is a global digital elevation model (DEM) with a horizontal grid spacing of 30 arc seconds (approximately 1 kilometer). GTOPO30 was derived from several raster and vector sources of topographic information. Detailed information on the characteristics of GTOPO30 including the data distribution format, the data sources, production methods, accuracy, and hints for users, is found at the web site listed above.

Data has been resampled to the 6-minute grid cell resolution using standard GIS algorithms for inclusion in the DSS.

1.0 Meeting Basic Needs

1.1 Population (6min resolution) http://www.watsys.sr.unh.edu/SciencePaper/

World Resources Institute. 1998. World Resources: 1998-99. New York, Oxford University Press.

Vörösmarty, C.J., P. Green, J. Salisbury, and R.B. Lammers. 2000. Global Water Resources:

Vulnerability from Climate Change and Population Growth. Science 289: 284-288.

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- DSS Description, Page 2 -

Elvidge, C.D., et al. 1997a. Relation between satellite observed visible-near infrared emissions, population, economic activity and electrical power consumption. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 18:6, 1373-79.

Elvidge, C.D., et al. 1997b. A comparison of nighttime satellite imagery and population density for the continental United States. Photogrametric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 63:11, 1303-13.

Tobler, W. et al. 1995. The global demography project, Technical Report TR-95-6. National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, Santa Barbara, CA.

ESRI. 1995. ArcWorld Supplement, 1:3 M scale digital map. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, CA.

Global population data layers were constructed for the contemporary (1995) state using country- level demographic statistics from the WRI World Resources1996-97 Database (WRI 1997). The contemporary urban and rural population data sets were developed by spatially distributing the WRI 1995 country level population data among DMSP-OLS nighttime stable-lights imagery (Elvidge 1997a) and ESRI Digital Chart of the World populated places points (ESRI 1993). Country-level urban population was evenly distributed among the DMSP-OLS city lights data set at 1-kilometer grid cell resolution with detectable lights in at least 10 per cent of the cloud free observations (Elvidge 1997b). Where available, the spatial extents of major city locations with known demographic data (Tobler 1995) were superimposed in the DMSP-OLS city lights data set to enhance the accuracy of the urban population distribution. Rural population was spatially distributed equally among the DCW populated places points falling outside of the DMSP-OLS city lights extent. Total contemporary population is simply the sum of urban and rural population data sets gridded to the STN 6-minute river network.

1.2 Runoff/Discharge – Annual Climatology UNH/GRDC (6min resolution) http://www.grdc.sr.unh.edu/index.html

http://www.grdc.sr.unh.edu/html/Data/index.html

Fekete, B.M., C.J. Vörösmarty, and W. Grabs. 1999. Global Composite Runoff Fields Based on Observed River Discharge and Simulated Water Balances.

The present data set demonstrates the potential of combining observed river discharge information with a climate-driven Water Balance Model in order to develop composite runoff fields that are consistent with observed discharges. Such combined runoff fields preserve the accuracy of the discharge measurements as well as the spatial and temporal distribution of simulated runoff, thereby providing the "best estimate" of terresrial runoff over large domains.

The method applied in the preparation of this data set utilizes a gridded river network at 30-minute spatial resolution to represent the riverine flow pathways and to link the continental land mass to oceans through river channels. Selected gauging stations from the Global Runoff Data Centre data archive were co-registered to a simulated topological network (STN-30p) developed at the University of New Hampshire. Inter-station regions between gauging stations along the STN-30p network were identified.

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Inter-station discharge and runoff were calculated to compare observed runoff with outputs from the water balance model (WBM) simulation. Correction coefficients based on the ratio of observed and simulated runoff for inter-station areas were calculated and applied against simulated runoff to create composite runoff fields.

1.3 Access to Safe Drinking Water (country statistics) http://www.wri.org/wri/index.html

http://earthtrends.wri.org/

WRI, World Resources: A Guide to the Global Environment 1998-99. World Resources Institute, 1998.

From Data Table 7.4 in WRI, 1998, percentage of population with access to safe drinking water represented by country for 1995.

1.4 Access to Adequate Sanitation, People Served by Sewers, Sewerage Treatment (country statistics)

http://www.wri.org/wri/index.html http://earthtrends.wri.org/

From Data Table 7.4 in WRI, 1998, percentage of population with access to adequate sanitation represented by country for 1995.

1.5 Infant Mortality (country statistics) http://www.wri.org/wri/index.html

http://earthtrends.wri.org/

From Data Table 8.2 in WRI, 1998, infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births represented by country for 1995.

2.0 Securing the Food Supply

2.1 Precipitation (6min resolution)

http://climate.geog.udel.edu/~climate/html_pages/archive.html

http://climate.geog.udel.edu/~climate/html_pages/README.ghcn_ts.html

Willmott, C.J. and K. Matsuura. 2000. Terrestrial Air Temperature and Precipitation: Monthly and Annual Time Series (1950 - 1996) v.1.01.

2.2 Evapotranspiration (6min resolution) http://www.watsys.sr.unh.edu/WBMTop.html

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Federer, C.A., C. J. Vörösmarty, and B. Fekete. 1996. Intercomparison of methods for potential evapotranspiration in regional or global water balance models. Water Resources Research, 32:2315- 21.

Vörösmarty, C.J. and B. Moore III. 1991. Modeling basin-scale hydrology in support of physical climate and global biogeochemical studies: An example using the Zambezi River. Studies in Geophysics, 12:271-311.

Vörösmarty, C.J., B. Moore, M.P. Gildea, B. Peterson, J. Melillo, D. Kicklighter, J. Raich, E.

Rastetter, and P. Steudler. 1989. A continental-scale model of water balance and fluvial transport:

Application to South America. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 3: 241-65.

The local water cycle is determined from climate and other biophysical drivers on discrete 30' x 30' (latitude x longitude) grid cells using the UNH Water Balance Model (WBM). The WBM computes vertical components of the terrestrial water fluxes including change in soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and runoff. Full descriptions of the algorithms and required biophysical data sets are given in (Vörösmarty et al. 1989; Vörösmarty and Moore 1991; Federer et al. 1996).

2.3 Climatic Moisture Index (6min resolution)

Vörösmarty, C.J. and P.A. Green. 2001. Indicators of Emerging Water Scarcity: A Biogeophysical Approach Applied to Africa. Report to the World Resources Institute.

Willmott, C.J., and J.J. Feddema. 1992. A more rational climatic moisture index. Prof. Geographer 44: 84-87.

The method of Willmott and Feddema (1992) was applied relating potential evaporation to precipitation to generate a mapping of relative water scarcity from a climatic perspective at the 6- minute grid cell resolution. Most of Africa’s continental area, 82%, shows negative indices, where drying potential exceeds wetting. The global total is 54%, reflecting much drier conditions across Africa. The mean moisture index for Africa is -0.52 while for the rest of the world it is -0.14.

2.4 Cropland (6min resolution) http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/glcc/glcc.html

EROS Data Center (EDC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) Global Land Cover Characteristics Database Version 2.0 Based on 1 km AVHRR data (April 1992-March 1993).

The first version (Version 1.2) of the Global Land Cover Characteristics database was released to the public in November, 1997. Version 1.2 was produced as an International Geosphere Biosphere Programme-Data and Information System (IGBP-DIS) initiative lead by the Land Cover Working Group and has been subjected to a formal accuracy assessment (the IGBP DISCover classification).

Since this version was released, over 200 gigabytes of land cover data have been distributed from the EROS Data Center's anonymous ftp site. Many of the users of the land cover data set have provided feedback (that is, suggestions for additions and improvements). A revised version of the database (Version 2.0) is now offered through the EDC web site.

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Cropland extent was derived from the IGBP Land Cover Legend using the “Croplands” and

“Cropland/Natural Vegetation Mosaic” classes. Data has been resampled to the 6-minute grid cell resolution using standard GIS algorithms for inclusion in the DSS.

2.5 Irrigation Water Use (6min resolution)

Vörösmarty, C.J. and P.A. Green. 2001. Indicators of Emerging Water Scarcity: A Biogeophysical Approach Applied to Africa. Report to the World Resources Institute.

The agricultural water demand layer was developed using water statistics for Africa provided by the FAO (Jippe Hoogeveen contact person, FAO/AGL, Rome Italy) at the subbasin level. Irrigation water use within each subbasin as defined by FAO was evenly distributed across a 1-km resolution grid of cropland within each subbasin and resampled and registered to the 6-minute river network.

We consider irrigated agriculture because it is a major component of water resource infrastructure that is subject to changes in the availability of net runoff. Rain-fed agriculture falls outside this definition. Data has been resampled to the 6-minute grid cell resolution using standard GIS algorithms for inclusion in the DSS.

2.6 Fertilizer (6min resolution)

Green, P.A., Vörösmarty, C.J., and J.N. Galloway. 2002. Loading of Reactive Nitrogen to the Land Mass of the Earth: A GIS-Based Spread Sheet Approach. In progress.

Country-level nitrogenous fertilizer consumption totals for 1995 were taken from the FAOSTAT Statistical Databases (http://apps.fao.org/). These country-level values were evenly distributed among a 1 km resolution cropland dataset derived from the 1996 EDC global landcover dataset using the Olsen Global Ecosystems classification (http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/glcc/glcc.html). Each 1km cropland pixel within a country received an equal fraction of the total fertilizer consumption for that country (fertilizer in each pixel = Total country fertilizer/Number of pixels in country). The fertilizer consumption dataset set was then resampled to 6-minute resolution.

3.0 Protecting Ecosystems

3.1 Land Cover (6min resolution) http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/glcc/glcc.html