On behalf of the Water Policy Group, Dr Olcay Ünver made an address during the 2022 stakeholder consultation on the preparation of the United Nations 2023 Water Conference. He presented two game-changing proposals on behalf of the Water Policy Group: (1) listening to national water leaders, and (2) mainstreaming water into all UN conferences.
Water Policy Group founding member Anne Castle has been appointed the United States Commissioner of the Upper Colorado River Commission.
The Upper Colorado River Commission is an interstate water administrative agency established by action of five state legislatures and Congress. Its role is to ensure the appropriate allocation of water from the Colorado River to the Upper Division States of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico and to ensure compliance with the 1922 Colorado River Compact to the Lower Division States of Nevada, Arizona, and California and to the Republic of Mexico.
Anne will be joined on the commission by four state appointed representatives from the Upper Division states of the Colorado River Basin: Ms. Becky Mitchell, Commissioner for Colorado; Mr. Brandon Gebhart Commissioner for Wyoming; Mr. Gene Shawcroft, Commissioner for Utah; and Mr. Estevan Lopez, Commissioner for New Mexico.
“The Commission has very ably guided the Upper Basin states through many controversies and difficulties in the Colorado River Basin over the past 75 years,” said Castle. “I’m pleased to participate in its ongoing efforts to address the impacts of climate change in the basin and share the benefits the river provides in an equitable way.”
In a media release published by U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (Colorado) Bennet says, “Anne’s decades of experience focusing on Western water and the Colorado River will be an incredible asset in support of their effort to face the unprecedented challenges plaguing the Colorado River Basin due to climate change and severe drought.”
Castle served as Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the Department of the Interior from 2009 to 2014 where she spearheaded the Department’s WaterSMART program and oversaw the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey until 2014. From 1981 to 2009, Castle practiced water law at Denver, Colorado-based law firm Holland & Hart where she chaired the Management Committee and Natural Resources Department.
In addition to being a member of the Water Policy Group, Castle serves as a senior fellow at the University of Colorado’s Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment, focusing on Western water issues including the Colorado River operational policy and the integration of water and land use planning. She is the immediate past president of the Colorado Water Trust and serves on boards or advisory committees for Colorado Legal Services, the Salazar Center for North American Conservation, Airborne Snow Observatories, Stanford University’s Water in the West program, and the Colorado River Water and Tribes Initiative, where she co-leads an initiative on universal access to clean and safe water in Tribal Communities.
Water Policy Group mourns the passing of Mark Pascoe, Chief Executive Officer of the International WaterCentre and Governing Council Chair of the Asia Pacific Water Forum.
Water Policy Group member and fellow Australian Tony Slatyer, who had known Mark professionally for nearly 20 years, describes Mark as the epitome of effective leadership.
“Mark was a great role model in the global water family with his deep commitment to our cause, his determination to achieve the best possible outcomes from every project and every event and his generous spirit and friendliness to all of us. Mark had earned respect and affection from the broad water policy and professional community, in Australia and all around the world, and his loss will be deeply felt by all of us who had the privilege of working with him,” Mr Slatyer said.
Water Policy Group extends our sympathy to Mark’s family and his colleagues at the International Water Centre and the Asia Pacific Water Forum in their difficult time.
Anne Castle, Mercedes Castro, Dr Jane Doolan, Felicia Marcus, Dhesigen Naidoo, Ravi Narayanan, Oyun Sanjaasuren, Tony Slatyer, Tom Soo, Dr Olcay Unver.
The 2022 Asia-Pacific Water Policy Report was launched during the 2nd High Level International Conference on International Decade for Action, “Water For Sustainable Development”, 2018-2028 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
The Report highlights Asia-Pacific water issues for high level political leadership and policy makers’ attention. It aims to support countries in their efforts to achieve better water outcomes, and reflects the opinions, perspectives and experience of Ministers, agency heads, senior officials, and others whose job it is to make difficult decisions on water management in their respective countries.
The Asia-Pacific Water Policy Report is based on the experiences and perspectives of national water leaders from 30 countries in the Asia-Pacific Region. Among them, they have responsibility for achieving ‘sustainable water for all’ for over 3.8 billion million people.
In summary, this is what they are saying:
The 2022 Asia-Pacific Water Policy Report was prepared by the Water Policy Group in partnership with the University of New South Wales Sydney Global Water Institute.
On Wednesday 23 March, Water Policy Group held a High-Level Panel at the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal. The panel was chaired by Water Policy Group member and Professor at Arizona State University, Dr Olcay Ünver, and included interventions by Ministers and high-level officials from five different countries.
During the session, Dr Ünver presented the findings of the Global Water Policy Report 2021: Listening to National Water Leaders, and the panel discussed the report’s outcomes and its relevance to their work. Funding issues were discussed in depth, including the difficulties many countries face in reaching Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets due to lack of financing—one of the key findings presented in the Global Water Policy Report. They also discussed the occurrence of mismatched expectations between donors and recipients regarding outcomes from overseas development assistance, as well as how excessive costs may prevent developing countries from benefitting from recent technological advances and innovations.
Another common topic was the significance of capacity, and how capacity issues have many flow-on effects. It was discussed that not only is lack of capacity often a constraint to adopting technological advances, but countries with limited capacities become further disadvantaged in accessing funds as they are unable to meet the selection criteria.
The panel agreed that a ‘business as usual’ approach and gradual change would not be enough to achieve water goals, and that it was disheartening that COVID-19 pandemic had not led to a change of course to fund water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). But despite the current challenges and those that lie ahead, there are many current and future initiatives underway with the potential to affect real progress. Among these, Water Policy Group and AMCOW are working together to produce and disseminate science-based policy advice; Liberia is making progress in enabling legislators to play a key role in mainstreaming WASH into national programs and budget allocations; and The Netherlands—as the co-sponsor of the 2023 UN Water Conference in partnership with Tajikistan—intends to influence a major change of course by mobilising the leaders of the other sectors.
Above all, panelists agreed that activities must prioritise the following: engagement across sectors nationally; higher overseas development assistance and more focussed interventions; effective incorporation of technology and innovation; a common vision and collaboration between state and non-state actors; removal of barriers to integrated solutions; and science-based policy and decision making.
During the session, Dr Ünver also formally launched the 2022 Africa Water Policy Report, prepared by Water Policy Group in collaboration with the African Union’s African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW). Based on the experiences and perspectives of national water leaders from 26 countries of Africa, the Report highlights Africa water issues for political leadership and policy makers’ attention, aiming to support countries in their efforts to achieve better water outcomes.
The panel was attended by:
The reports are available here.
The 2022 Africa Water Policy Report was launched during a High Level Panel at the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal on Wednesday 23 March.
Produced in response to a request from the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), the Report highlights Africa water issues for high level political leadership and policy makers’ attention. It aims to support countries in their efforts to achieve better water outcomes, and reflects the opinions, perspectives and experience of Ministers, agency heads, senior officials, and others whose job it is to make difficult decisions on water management in their respective countries.
The Africa Water Policy Report is based on the experiences and perspectives of national water leaders from 26 countries of Africa. Among them, they have responsibility for achieving ‘sustainable water for all’ for over 900 million people.
In summary, this is what they are saying:
The 2022 Africa Water Policy Report was prepared by the Water Policy Group in partnership with the University of New South Wales Sydney Global Water Institute.
A new report reveals the key issues to improving water outcomes globally, as perceived through the eyes of people with national water leadership responsibility.
Launched on Monday 29 November at the XVII World Water Congress of the International Water Resources Association in Daegu, Republic of Korea, the inaugural Global Water Policy Report 2021: Listening to National Water Leaders is the result of a comprehensive survey of Ministers, top officials and other national water leaders in 88 countries.
Among their many messages, they are saying:
The Global Water Policy Report 2021 is based on the experiences and perspectives of people who have responsibility for achieving ‘sustainable water for all’ in their countries across all regions, with a combined population of over 6 billion people – 75 percent of the world’s population.
At the report’s launch, project team chair Mr Tom Soo thanked Ministers, top officials and other national water leaders for sharing their experiences and perspectives.
“Water Policy Group deeply appreciates the time you have contributed to this project, and through that your commitment to better water outcomes everywhere,” Mr Soo said.
The Global Water Policy Report 2021 was prepared by the Water Policy Group in partnership with the University of New South Wales Sydney Global Water Institute.
Media enquiries: Trish Dalby | p.dalby@unsw.edu.au
National water leaders from 88 countries across all global regions collectively view climate change as the greatest risk to maintaining or achieving good water management in their countries
These results come from a comprehensive survey of national water leaders aimed at better understanding what makes the achievement of sustainable water for all so difficult.
Out of nine different risks, ‘Climate change reducing water supply or increasing flood and drought risks’ is the most frequent ‘first ranked’ risk and features in the ‘top three’ risks for the great majority of countries – regardless of their economic status. Risks of water-based disasters of droughts and floods are the third and fourth ranked, in effect adding to the climate risk profile.
More results of the survey will be included in the 2021 Global Water Policy Report, to be launched by the Water Policy Group and the UNSW Global Water Institute on 29 November 2021 at the XVII World Water Congress in Daegu, Republic of Korea. You can register your interest in the report here.
Water ministers and other national water policy leaders from all regions of the world have seized the opportunity to contribute to a landmark global report on water policy, set to be released this year.
The inaugural Water Policy Report will reveal the key social, political, financial and structural barriers inhibiting better progress on water issues, as identified through the 2021 Water Leaders Survey.
Those invited to complete the current Water Leaders Survey include water ministers and heads of national water departments and agencies as well as other persons with national water leadership roles.
Tom Soo, Chair of the Water Policy Group project team, said that the response from national water leaders has been very positive.
“Water leaders worldwide have embraced the opportunity to contribute anonymously to the Survey and to share their personal experience,” said Mr Soo.
“Officials responsible for guiding national water management will be able to use the Water Policy Report to determine which of their particular challenges are shared by other countries and, therefore, provide an opportunity to learn from their experiences.”
The survey asks for the opinions and perspectives of national water leaders on many topics within their responsibilities, including risks to maintaining or achieving good water management in their country, how COVID-19 has affected national water outcomes and the relative importance in their country of the five accelerators in the United Nations SDG6 Global Acceleration Framework. The survey also contains questions specific to groundwater challenges, aligning with the theme of the next United Nations World Water Development Report.
“The Water Policy Report will be based on the aggregated responses of national water leaders in each UN geographic region and show challenges and constraints at both the global and regional levels. As such, the Report will provide new and genuine insight about the issues governments are facing in their pursuit to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6”, Mr Soo said.
The project is being led by the Water Policy Group with support from the University of New South Wales Global Water Institute.
The Survey will close in August 2021. National water leaders from all countries are invited to participate.
Questions about eligibility and survey access can be directed to survey@waterpolicygroup.com.
Water Policy Group
8 July 2021
