World Water Day 2021 focused on the theme, ‘Valuing Water’. In the run up to the day itself, Dave Kreamer, IAH
President, participated as a panel member in the High- Level meeting on the implementation of the water-related
goals and targets of the 2030 The aim was to consider how to accelerate action on water and sanitation, with greater use of data, information and governance.
For World Water Day itself we published an article on the IAH website and used our social media to bring to the attention of as many people as possible, the value of groundwater (see https://iah.org/news/world-water-day-world-water-development-report-2021). Overall, we were pleased with the level of engagement from this. Of course there is always room for improvement, so we will build and learn from this year in readiness for next year’s efforts, when the focus of World Water Day is Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible.
We know that IAH representatives and members around the world were also busy on WWD 2021. Of the many, Seifu Kebede (@Sefwater), IAH VP for Sub-Saharan Africa, participated in a webinar organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency entitled: Optimizing Water Resources with Nuclear and Isotopic Techniques. He told us that three presentations were made to showcase the use of isotopes for groundwater resources management in Africa; optimizing water use efficiency for producing crops, such as coffee, in Central and Latin America; and improving groundwater resources management in Europe. The panelists were, the IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, Najat Mokhtar, and experts from Costa Rica,Slovenia, and Tunisia. Jade Ward (@JST_Ward), ECHN Co-Chair, shared an overview on the British Geological Survey blog of the ways in which groundwater resources are helping to address worldwide issues such as the global water crisis, waterborne disease and climate change adaptation.
IAH members in China supported a workshop on managed aquifer recharge (MAR), organised by the Danish
Embassy in Beijing with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. New research findings on MAR were shared which demonstrate its potential for climate proofing the challenged groundwater supply.
Yan Zheng, current MAR Co-Chair and Peter Dillon, former MAR Chair, participated in a Special Webinar organised by the Water Resources Research Center Arizona, and supported by IAH.
