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Training River Basin Organisations in IWRM, Indonesia
 A training course on effective implementation of IWRM was jointly organised by Jasa Tirta I Public Corporation (PJT-I) and CKNet in November 2008 in Malang, Indonesia. The course was requested by the Directorate General of Water Resources in Indonesia to support the development of national River Basin Organisations (RBOs). This is because the national Water Law and some ministerial decrees have led to the established of RBOs in almost all river basins in the country. During the course, the Jasa Tirta I Public Corporation shared their experiences in IWRM implementation in the Brantas River Basin. The course was well received by the participants who represented 7 RBOs and 7 Universities. For more information contact CK-Net Indonesia (info@cknet-ina.org)
Training course on Pollution Management, Kenya
 NileIWRM-Net and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology held a training course on Water Pollution Management in November 2009.The course brought together staff from the Water Resources Management Authority, municipal authorities, water services utilities and the Nairobi River Restoration Programme. The forum recommended that capacity building should include the private sector because they are responsible for the design of infrastructure and provision of technical support to dischargers. In such programmes, private companies would be made aware of national standards and regulations and how their technologies and technical support impacts on water pollution control. Some commendable progress in pollution management in Kenya was noted by the stakeholders at the course. This includes the categorisation of water polluters, the submission of discharge control plans by major dischargers, implementation pollution charges and the clean-up and restoration of the Nairobi River basin (a coordinated effort of 17 line ministries). All participants greatly appreciated the workshop and agreed to strengthen the cooperation between various institutions in generating basic data required for pollution management. For more information contact Wangai Ndirangu (wangai@batimentltd.com).
Interview with a network member, AGW-Net
 Richard Owen is an Environmental Hydrogeologist,from Zimbabwe with research interests in the geology of groundwater occurrence. He is the network manager for the African Ground Water Network (AGW-Net).The network was established in July 2008 with the purpose of enhancing the skills and knowledge of groundwater professionals in Africa.
What benefits do you get from being a network member? The opportunity to interact with other members of the groundwater community, facilitate in short courses and, prepare groundwater management training materials. It is a good forum for expressing groundwater related issues.
What could be done better? Funding the basic requirements to run the network is difficult. A website has been developed, but will have to be published as soon as possible.
Would you recommend it to your friends? Yes I would. The groundwater network is quite active and serves as a useful link up for the groundwater community in Africa. I am sure it has a good future.
Richard can be contcated at richardo@zol.co.zw.
Linking resource protection and water supply and sanitation, Sri Lanka
 Cap-Net Lanka has developed 10 modules on “Watershed conservation for sustainable water supply and sanitation in upper watersheds”. This has been achieved in consultation with the resource persons and staff of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board which is responsible for water supply in the central province of Sri Lanka. Current issues and problems in the upper watershed are elaborated in the modules, which also include local cases studies. A Training of Trainers course on the topic was held from 23 -27 November 2009, in collaboration with the Crossing Boundaries Project of SaciWaters. Participants were selected by the Kandy district considering their role in watershed conservation, water supply and sanitation. Forty mid-career professionals participated in the course. They came from the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka, the Department of Local Government, the Land Use Planning Department, Kandy Municipal Council, the National Water Supply and Sanitation Services, the Central Environmental Authority, public health departments and zonal education departments. For more information contact Dr Mowjood (mmowjood@pdn.ac.lk).
Progress in IWRM: assessments from UN Water and GWP
 In the last two years, UN Water and GWP have conducted studies to assess progress made in IWRM planning and implementation. The UN Water global assessment includes case studies with many illustrations of the tangible benefits of the IWRM approach. For example, in the Liao River Basin in China, various reforms have been implemented which include the establishment of a broad institutional framework, the adjustment of water prices and the establishment of a monitoring network. This contributed to the reduction of pollution loads by 60% and reduced upstream-downstream conflicts. In Chile, macro-economic policies to improve cost recovery have caused household water consumption to fall by 10%, while some sectors (such as mining, agriculture and wood pulp production) have gone beyond national requirements and agreed to clean production programs accepted globally. The mining sector has increased the efficiency of its water use threefold over the last 20 years, while water use in wood pulp production has fallen by 70% per ton produced. Some key conclusions and recommendations from the assessments are given below.
- The percentage of developing countries having plans completed or under implementation has risen from 21% to 38%. On this measure the Americas have improved most – from 7% to 43%; the comparable changes for Africa were from 25% to 38% and for Asia from 27% to 33%.
- Africa which usually lags behind Asia and the Americas on most issues is more advanced on stakeholder participation and on subsidies and micro-credit programs
- Asia is more advanced on institutional reform and yet lags behind in institutional coordination.
- Developed countries have advanced on almost all major issues but need to improve on public awareness campaigns and on gender mainstreaming.
- Experiences in implementing IWRM should be evaluated, monitored and shared through global coordination mechanisms. This will require more work on indicators and follow-up processes that do not add an undue reporting burden on countries.
GWP East and Southern Africa further note how the slow adoption of managements instruments (such as water resources assessment, water demand management and conflict resolution) in some countries is intricately linked to low-in country capacity to train and build staff skills and in others to low information exchange at national level. A thought provoking conclusion drawn from the Southern Africa study is that it may be worthwhile to align IWRM planning and implementation to available capacity (institutional, financial and human) as opposed to ambitious plans which have a higher risk of disillusionment. The global report can be downloaded from UN Water. You can request for the GWP East and Southern Africa studies from Andrew Takawira (A.Takawira@cgiar.org).
Congratulations to Nolo on the birth of Lonwabo
 Noloyiso Bangani the Finance Associate at the Cap-Net secretariat gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Nolwabo on 8 December 2009.
We wish that Lonwabo and Nolo enjoy a bright future in the coming years together.
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