Project to Counteract Deteriorating Water Quality in Ecosystems Launched at Budapest Water Summit

In an attempt to improve the sustainable management of global water resources, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and the Global Water Systems Project (GWSP), launched the International Water Quality Guidelines for Ecosystems (IWQGES) project on October 10, 2013, at the Budapest Water Summit.

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This comprehensive project will address both issues of water quality, including chemical, biological, and biodiversity aspects and issues of water quantity including availability, changes over time and morphology of bodies of water.

The health of ecosystems is severely threatened by the declining quality and quantity of water resources due to the consequences of human population growth, unsustainable development, land use and water management, as well as climate change. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment found in 2005 that aquatic ecosystems are deteriorating faster than many other natural systems; this is reflected in findings that biodiversity loss is highest amongst aquatic species.

“We are delighted to be undertaking this important project with UNEP,” said Prof. Dr. Jakob Rhyner, Director of UNU-EHS. “The goal of these empirically derived guidelines is to trigger action from international and national authorities towards the protection and improvement of ecosystem health by providing Governments with useful tools to establish high water quality standards for their ecosystems. The guidelines are a crucial first step towards comprehensive water quality standards, targeted monitoring programmes and further research.”

At present, international guidelines only exist for drinking water, recreational use, irrigation, livestock and water reuse, among others. No comparable international water quality standards exist for ecosystems. The aim of the IWQGES project is to develop a set of voluntary, science-based policy and technical guidelines, enabling regional, national and local authorities to improve their frameworks for sustainable management of their water resources and aquatic ecosystems. The guidelines are intended to be global in scope and relevance, with a strong focus on assisting developing countries to improve the protection of their aquatic resource base.

“The quality of water in our ecosystems is a global concern. Its deterioration threatens to cause large-scale changes in water use, biodiversity and ecosystem health and functioning that will affect us all,” said IWQGES project manager Prof. Dr. Janos Bogardi (GWSP). “This project comes at a crucial time where comprehensive and practical guidelines for water quality for our ecosystems are desperately needed.”

In the first phase of the project, a drafting group of internationally recognized scientists will develop the preliminary guidelines. An advisory group of experts and policy-makers constituted by UNEP, as well as stakeholder consultations, will then support the work of the drafting group in further developing and finalizing the guidelines. Scientific communities and institutions as well as practitioners will be invited to contribute.

This comprehensive project will address both issues of water quality, including chemical, biological and biodiversity aspects and issues of water quantity including availability, changes over time and morphology of bodies of water.

In February 2013 Member States, through the UNEP Governing Council/Environment Assembly adopted decision GC 27/3 to “…develop the International Water Quality Guidelines for Ecosystems…” to respond to the need international water quality guidelines to be developed.

Contacts for further information:
GWSP Prof. Dr. Janos Bogardi, jbogardi@uni-bonn.de, +36 70 251 7282, www.gwsp.org

UNU-EHS Ms. Nike Sommerwerk, sommerwerk@ehs.unu.edu, +36 30 586 7522, www.ehs.unu.edu

UNEP Mr. Thomas Chiramba, thomas.chiramba@unep.org, +254 725 211 709, www.unep.org

This news is from a joint UNEP-UNU/EHS-GWSP release, Budapest, Hungary, 10 October 2013. Published on the Horizon International Solutions Site on 18 October 2013.

Related coverage:

Related coverage is in the chapter “Ecosystem Services, Water Resource Development, and Human Infectious Disease,” by Uriel N. Safriel, in the book “Water and Sanitation Related Diseases and the Environment: Challenges, Interventions, and Preventive Measures,” a Wiley-Blackwell collaboration with Horizon International. Safriel is with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and Department of Evolution, Systematics and Ecology, Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Book CoverBook Cover This article is presented as part of the Supplementary Material that accompanies the book Water and Sanitation Related Diseases and the Environment: Challenges, Interventions, and Preventive Measures, a Wiley-Blackwell publication in collaboration with Horizon International, written by 59 experts. Janine M. H. Selendy, Horizon International Founder, Chairman, President and Publisher, is Editor.

The book’s 4 hours of multimedia DVDs are included with an abundance of multidisciplinary resources, covering diverse topics from anthropology to economics to global health are being distributed free of charge by the Global Development And Environment Institute (GDAE) at Tufts University.

These will be sent to thousands of libraries, organizations, and institutions in 138 less-wealthy countries and will be invaluable additions to library materials for use in classrooms and communities, by researchers and government decision-makers.

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