EMWIS
SEMIDE
www.emwis.net
www.semide.net
Système EuroMéditerranéen
d’information sur les
savoir-faire dans le
domaine de l’Eau
‫اﻟﻨﻈﺎم اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎﺗﻲ اﻷوروﻣﺘﻮﺳﻄﻲ‬
‫ﻟﻠﻤﻌﺮﻓﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﺎل اﻟﻤﻴﺎﻩ‬
Developing harmonized national water
information systems in the Mediterranean
Eric MINO
DG ENV
EURO-MEDITERRANEAN PARTNERSHIP
Euro-Mediterranean
Information System
on know how in the
water sector
Strengthening Water Information
Background
1995
Euromed Partnership
1996
Euromed Ministers
Initiate EMWIS
1999
EMWIS operational launch
2005
Focus on know-how sharing
•9 years of operation
•20 countries
•About 50 000 visitors per month
¾Confidence between water authorities
EMWIS first activities on data
management
•Feasibility studies of National Water
Information Systems (Algeria, Cyprus, Israel, Jordan,
Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey)
•Preliminary analysis for a Mediterranean
Water Observation Mechanism - 2006-2007
(7 national diagnostic studies, 25 international
initiatives consulted)
2008
UfM Water Ministerial conference
Long Term Water Strategy
initiated
Union for the Mediterranean:
High level of expectations
„
Ministerial conference on Water, Dead Sea, Dec’2008
Civil Society:
‰ “underline the need for reliable data and to enable the free
flow of information and sharing of data”
„
Ministerial declaration:
‰ “stress the need to prepare a comprehensive and detailed
assessment of water resources in the Mediterranean and of
management policies and based on homogeneous and coherent
information”
‰ “reaffirm the importance of data, information and statistics on
water, based on internationally agreed definitions and
methods, structured within information system “
‰ “call for strengthening the coordination of existing EuroMediterranean initiatives and networks on information and
expertise, policy planning and monitoring “
‰ “underline the importance of exchange of good practices,
including through EU, Mediterranean, and other relevant
programme “
Feasibility studies output:
Strengthening Water Information and
monitoring in the Mediterranean
¾
¾
Improving National water data systems in
coherence with international standards
Coordinating data collection mechanisms
¾ Harmonisation of definitions (interoperability)
¾ Fostering NWIS as main source of reliable data
¾ Exchange of experiences
Definitions / Characterisation
„
“An information system is a set of social stakeholders that
records and transforms data representations via information
technologies”
=> a National Water Information System should include all the
stakeholders, directly or indirectly concerned by the water
sector, who agree to exploit information technologies with
common objectives.
=> Each stakeholder generally has its own Water Information
System which includes only one organisation and its
subsidiaries around common objectives
Shared Water information Systems
NWIS
Data access right
defined by data
owners
Data exchanges
can be restricted to
a close group of
stakeholders
WIS 4
WIS 3
WIS 2
WIS 1
Overall vision
International organizations
Med
Water strategy
Worldbank
Millennium
Objectives
Regional
reference framework
WWAP
UN agencies
AMCOW
Common rules
Common definition
Common basic indicators
Country 1
O3
UNEP-MAP
(Blue Plan)
OECD/Eurostat/Medstat
EU
DGEnv
EEA
Med Euwi
ENP
…
O1
CSD/
Johannesburg
Plan
Country 2
O2
On
O1
O3
Country 3
O2
On
Others …
O1
O3
Country n
O2
On
O1
O3
O2
On
P
u
b
li
c
i
n
f
o
r
m
a
ti
o
n
Content of a reference data
framework
„
Referencial datasets
‰ Hydrological networks (e.g. rivers, watersheds, lake, aquifers)
‰ Water management areas (e.g. protected areas, administrative units)
‰ ….
„
Data dictionaries (data models, reference lists)
=> Generic conceptual data model developed
„
Definition of indicators, data collection methods
=> Pilot activity on going on water quantities
„
Geo-catalogue of data sources and data services
=> Prototype available with a Mediterranean profile
„
Interoperability specifications (exchange formats/ service
protocols)
=> Recommendations on standards to be used (for WISE/INSPIRE
interoperability)
1st working group meeting, 19 March 2009 – Istanbul
Constraints
„
„
„
Lack of legal framework for
reporting water data
Many international
initiatives and political
processes
“Observation”/”monitoring
” seen as intrusive for
national water management
Opportunities
„
„
Strong demand of
international
stakeholders
Commitment to NWIS,
but not yet developed
(information necessary for daily
management)
„
„
„
Common basic data used
for the calculations of
indicators
Organisational problems
rather than lack of data
Union for the
Mediterranean
(Mediterranean Water
Strategy)
Institutional process
Policy Framework
Common
Agreement
language
(main objectives,
priorities)
Specific need
definition /
agreements
on procedures
System development
(e.g. interconnection
capacities)
A specific legislation
can support sustainability, clarify responsibilities
but must be flexible
not necessary to launch the process
MoU or partnership agreements
more flexible
can include MoU between sub-groups of actors
Water accounting & NWIS
„
System of Environmental-Economic
Accounting for Water –SEEAW
‰ Recognised mandate of National Statistic
Institutes
‰ Requires a lot of data from different sources
„
NWIS:
‰ Valuable use case for the provision of raw data
‰ Structuring approach, usually limited to
„
„
Water resources and use
Emission
‰ Water resource community aware of SEEAW
Major technical constraints in
developing countries
„
Lack of harmonised reference information
‰ Land cover
‰ Land elevation models
‰ Hydrographics networks
„
Limited level of quantity and quality
monitoring neworks
‰ High cost of monitoring networks
¾
Use of Earth Observation technologies could
help solving these data gaps
Thank you for your
attention
« who does what »
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Common taxonomy
(multilingual water
thesaurus)
www.semide.net
Thematic forums/folders
Ground water, water scarcity
Water glossaries, satellite images,
etc.
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and initiatives
Regional water projects database
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