March 2016

New study to examine the potential of groundwater to expand irrigation and increase access to safe water in Tanzania

On 15-16 March 2016, the workshop 'Groundwater Monitoring in Southeast Asia' was held in the Asia Hotel, in Bangkok Thailand. The workshop was organised by UNESCO Bangkok Office, Department of Groundwater Resources Thailand (DGR) and the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC) under the framework of the Global Groundwater Monitoring Network (GGMN) programme. In total 45 groundwater specialists from six countries (Cambodia, Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) attended the workshop.

In celebration of World Water Day 2016, IGRAC analysed how many countries share significant groundwater resources with their neighbouring countries. The analysis which is based on the 2015 edition of the Map of Transboundary Aquifers of the World shows that at least 145 countries share an aquifer with neighbouring countries.  

IGRAC Director Neno Kukurić and PhD Research Fellow Kirstin I. Conti have along with Prof. Joyeeta Gupta of UNESCO-IHE and University of Amsterdam wrote a chapter on Groundwater Security in the recently published 'Handbook on Water Security.' 

IGRAC has launched its new Global Groundwater Monitoring Network (GGMN) Portal. This new GGMN portal gives insights on the availability of groundwater monitoring data across space and time. Groundwater level data and changes occurring in groundwater levels can be displayed on a regional scale. Additional data layers and information are available to understand the monitoring data in a broader water-related context.

On 2-4 February 2016, the first training workshop within the RAMOTSWA project was held at the Protea Hotel in Mahikeng, South Africa. This workshop was organised by the leading partner IWMI in collaboration with project donor USAID/RESILIM, project partners IGRAC, XRI, national governments of Botswana and South Africa as well as four universities from Botswana and South Africa. 

From 15 to 16 March, the workshop 'Groundwater Monitoring in Southeast Asia' will be organised by UNESCO Bangkok Office, Department of Groundwater Resources Thailand (DGR) and  International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC) under the framework of the Global Groundwater Monitoring Network (GGMN) programme.