n° 7 - 2nd semester 1999 - english version · n° 7 - 2nd semester 1999 - english version mexico...

2Special

InternationalO f f i c efor Water

InternationalO f f i c efor Water

N° 7 - 2nd Semester 1999 - English Version

MEXICOIn front of Mount Popocatepetl The training Centreis being built at Texcoco

FRENCH NEWS● National Training Centre P 2

for Water Professions● National Water-related Information P 2

and Documentation Service● French Water Data Network P 3INBO● International Network P 4

of Basin Organisations

INTERNATIONAL NEWS● AFRICA P 6● LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN P 10● CENTRAL ASIA P 13● THE MEDITERRANEAN P 16● CENTRAL EUROPE P 18● Large Projects:

POLAND P 21TURKEY P 22MEXICO P 23

● IOWater on Internet P 24

Contents

IOWater on the WEBhttp://www.iowater.org

INBO - 3rd General AssemblyInternational Network of Basin Organisations

BOLIVIA - NICARAGUAAuthorities for regulating public water utilities

International News - IOWater - N° 7 - Second Semester 1999

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IOWater - FRANCE - TRAINING AND INFORMATION

THE NATIONAL DOCUMENTATIONSERVICE AT THE FOREFRONT OF NEW TECHNOLOGIESIOWater is entirely renewing the management system of theNational Water-related Information and Documentation Service(SNIDE) with the technical assistance of CS-SI, an integratorspecialised in information processing.The new system will be operating in December 1999.It will offer:● access to documentary reference bases and to entire texts,using

a very comprehensive search engine,● the downloading of documentsthanks to the electronic manage-

ment of copyrights and electronic payment,● wider services: current news, selective dissemination of informa-

tion, documentary summaries on advanced subjects,● world-wide detailed information,● a geodocumentation systemwhose objective is to find documents

with GIS by selecting a territory, a river basin, a river,...The new system is based on ORACLE (data management) andVERITY (search engine).The production of references and their analysis will be carried outthrough teleworking thanks to the networking of the SNIDE’s scientificcorrespondents on the Internet.

EUROPEAN PROJECTS“VILIB” (Virtual Library):The objective of this project, financed by the European Union, is toquery distant Z39.50-formatted bibliographical databases, using acommon protocol. Queries are automatically translated into English,German, Spanish and French.The project also includes a template for accessing full-text bases. It usesthe SYSTAL company’s “gmios” engine which processes informationusing concepts, analyses, all types of electronic formats and very quick-ly indexes several gigabytes of information.

“EWRB” (European Water Regulation Bank):IOWater leads this project, financed by the European Union, whichregroups German (Textec), Italian (Proaqua), Spanish (Cedex) andFrench (Systal) partners. EWRB consists in collecting all water-rela-ted legal and regulatory textsfrom five countries of theEuropean Union (Italy, Spain,France, Germany and the UnitedKingdom) and in providing theuser with unique and multilingualaccess to information.

THE FOREMOSTCENTRE WORLDWIDE“ ”180,000 bibliographical refe-rences on the technical andinstitutional literature avai-lable in all water sectors inFrance and abroad.

“ ”2,000 references on Frenchand European regulations.

“IPERE”1,500 references on studiesand research underway inFrance and Europe.

AN OUTSTANDING TOOL,QUALITY ASSURANCEOn its two sites of Limoges and La Souterraine,

(The National Training Centre for Water Profesions) uses outstan-ding human and technical means:

● A full-time team of 25 trainers, specialistsin the differentareas of expertise involved in the water professions; manage thetraining programmes.

This training is reinforced with professional resource persons in thewater sector who intervene in the courses whenever necessary. IOWaterthus relies on a “reserve” of about 350 specialists and lecturerswhoseknow-how and educational abilities have been validated.● Training under real working conditionsPilot units -treatment plants, trial benches, laboratories, drinking watersupply and wastewater collection systems, specialised workshops-enable the testing of solutions, the simulation of dysfunction, the acqui-sition of the necessary skills and professional reflexes,with the possi-bility of making mistakes as these units are solely devoted totraining.● The catalogue for year 2000 includes 150 training

courses which can be implemented in english.

ISO 9001 QUALITY, which started a process for “quality” assurance

two years ago, was awarded an ISO 9001 certification by AFAQ on31st March 1999 for the design and implementation of its professio-nal training courses proposed in a catalogue.It is therefore an official acknowledgement of the CNFME’s ability andknow-how. It is an international reference as the AFAQ’s certificate(French Association for Quality Assurance) is only awarded after thecompany’s quality system has been thoroughly examined and conside-red to comply with the standard.

now belongs to the very restricted club of Europeantraining centres acknowledged as being the most performing in theirvarious specialities. IOWater is the only certified French autono-mous organisation as regards continuing professional training inthe water sector.With high quality certified training programmes,

thus contributes to the improvement in the know-how of municipal and private companies in the water sector in france and over the world.

TRAINING


THE FRENCH WATER DATA NETWORK

“RNDE” : A PORTAL FORACCESSING DATA

The French Water Data Network -RNDE - groups together themain French organisations in

charge of water issues(Ministries ofRegional Planing and the Environment, ofHealth, the Water Agencies, the HigherCouncil for Fisheries, the French Institutefor Environment, the IFREMER,METEO-FRANCE, Electricity of France(EDF), the BRGM).IOWater manages the project and the“SANDRE” and also operates thenational base and the “RNDE” server.One of its objectives is to offer users easyaccess to data. This objective is being pro-gressively achieved by the setting-up ofdatabases and access portals on theInternet.The architecture which has been retainedis federating many existing or under-construction databases on the Internet:producers’ bases, specialised bases andriver basin bases.The users are directed towards thesebases through windows or “electronicportals” which enable them to easilyfind, through a sole access, all informa-tion issued from data processing:sani-tation indicators, water quality maps,bulletin of hydrological conditions, etc.

For instance, the “RNDE” windowenables the user to:● find all the monitoring stations,● consult the descriptive sheets of these

stations,● access the measured data,whichever the base where this informationis stored.

▲

Examples of information availableon the “RNDE” server

▼

RIVER BASINWINDOW

RNDEWINDOW

USERSANDRE

Reference Base

GeographicReferences

Reference Bases

HYDRO BaseFlowrate of watercourses

PLUVIO BaseRainfall

River BasinBases

BNDENational Base

QUADRIGE BaseSea Water Quality

ProducerX's Base

“RNDE” ARCHITECTURE

THE“SANDRE”The “SANDRE”, NationalData Reference Centre forWater, is a common lan-guage for all water dataproducers and users.

“SANDRE” elaborates:

● a description of datausing data dictionariesand models,

● l ists of national refe-rences,

● standardized formats forelectronic exchanges(EDI).

Information- International Office for Water -

Fax: +33 1 40 08 01 45E-mail: [email protected]

THE

Web:http://www.iowater.org


THE I NTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF BASIN O

INBOA QUADOC was born because the Inter-

national Network of Basin Organisa-tions needed to set up a system for ex-

changing information on the management oflarge river basins.

It consists in proposing the users uniqueaccess, via the Internet, to selected informa-tion made available by focal points in thepartner countries.Eleven focal points have already beenidentified on three continents:● Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru,● the Czech Republic, France, Hun-

gary, Romania, Poland,● Morocco, Senegal.EMWIS (Euro-Mediterranean WaterInformation System) has the sameobjective of enabling the Mediter-ranean countries to have access toinformation.IOWater is AQUADOC Frenchfocal point.Therefore, it selects the nationalinformation which is related to riverbasin management, regulations andinstitutions, research activities, trai-ning and data management.It also offers methodological assistance and requiredtools, especially the ARISEM Company’s multilin-gual search engine and is developing, with the sup-port of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, acomprehensive computerised system for the focalpoints which wish to rapidly and economically enterthe network.

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ENGINEERINGMOROCCOONEP (the National Office for DrinkingWater Supply) in Rabat, is setting up, withfinancing from the World Bank, a documen-tation centre for processing information.Since 1998, IOWater has carried out the fol-lowing activities:■ audit of the operation of ONEP’s docu-

mentation centres,■ selection of documentary technologies

suited to ONEP and to its ambition ofsharing information and widely dissemi-nating its knowledge and know-how,

■ the training of documentation teams,■ technical support with the database crea-

tion and management,■ assistance with the design of dissemina-

tion tools (periodicals, web site, ...).

SENEGALThe French Co-operation Mission supports the Ministry of Water of the Senegal Republic in orderthat the Secretariat for Water Resources Managementand Protection (SGPRE) becomes the national docu-mentary focal point. SNIDE has thus assisted in:➥ equipping SGPRE with TEXTO systems for do-

cumentation management,➥ providing a system for exchanging information

with the Prime Minister’s departments,➥ disseminating the SGPRE documentation base

onto its web site.A specialised training of the personnel of the Minis-try of Water and Prime Minister’s departments wascompleted in December 1998.

“INTERNATIONAL AQUADOC”1ST INFORMATIONNETWORK WORLD-WIDE

The 1998 General Assemblyof the International Net-work of Basin Organisa-

tions took place in Salvador deBahia (Brazil) from 1st to 4thDecember at the invitation ofthe Brazilian Authorities.The works were honoured by thepresence of Dr. Cesar Borges, Go-vernor of Bahia State, and Dr.Fernando Antonio Rodriguez, Se-cretary for Federal Water Re-sources, who officially opened thedebates, as well as Dr. RobertoMoussalem and Mrs. Stela Gol-denstein, Secretaries for WaterResources in the Bahia and SaoPaulo States respectively, Mr. Ja-cek Kurnatowski, Director forWater in Poland and Mr. SekouToure, High Commissioner forWater in Ivory Coast who chairedthe technical workshops.The Assembly gathered 351 de-legates who represented 158Organisations from 27 coun-tries.To date, 125 Organisations from49 countries have already expres-sed an interest in becoming eitherfull “Members” or “Observers” tothe Permanent Technical Secreta-riat. Several other organisations,that meet the criteria, have alsoshown an interest.The delegates reaffirmed their sup-port for INBO’s Charter principlesand reasserted that the members ofINBO must comply with the fourfollowing principles:■ an overall, integrated and

consistent management ofwater resources on the rele-vant scale of large river ba-sins and aquifers,

■ the participation of the localAuthorities concerned, thedifferent categories of usersand associations for envi-ronmental protection in de-cision-making within basincommittees, besides the ap-propriate GovernmentalAdministrations,

■ the definition of mediumand long-term objectives tobe achieved through mas-terplans and priority actionplans,

■ the mobilisation of appro-priate financial resources,based on the “user-polluter-pays” principle.


3RD GENERAL ASSEMBLYSALVADOR DE BAHIA - BRAZIL

ORGANISATIONS

INTE

RNATIONAL NETW

ORK

OF

BASIN ORGANIZATIO

NSO

Upon the proposal of the BrazilianMember-Organisations and in ac-cordance with the Charter, the General Assembly unanimouslynominated Mr. Raymundo GARRIDO , since nominated Secretary of State for Federal Wa-ter Resources, as the new INBOChairman until the next GeneralAssembly in the Spring of 2000.It also confirmed the followingmembers of the Liaison Bureau:Africa: A. Mekki (Algeria), A.Kouadio (Ivory Coast),America:M. Ballestero (Costa Ri-ca), E. Reyna Chacon (Guatema-la), C. Abihaggle (Argentina), C.Aguilar (Ecuador), D. Bravo (Co-lombia), R. Chongo (Cuba), D.Favero Brochi (Brazil), R. GarciaMayen (Mexico), J.M. Latulippe(Quebec), Asia: R. Usman (Indonesia),Western Europe:J.M. Santaféand J.A. Llanos Blasco (Spain),J.P. Chirouze and A. Duchein(France)Central and Eastern Europe:A.M. Pelin (Romania), T. Walc-zykiewicz and A. Badowski (Po-land), Mr. Punchocar (Czech Re-public). In addition: Messrs J.M. Ara-gones Beltran (Spain), G. ChavezZarate and E. Mestre (Mexico) areex-officio members of the Bureauas former Chairmen, as well asMr. J.F. Donzier (IOWater) whorepresents the Permanent Tech-nical Secretariat in the LiaisonBureau and whose mandate wasrenewed for a new statutory per-iod.The Assembly was pleased withthe unquestionable success of the“Network Newsletter” publica-tion and of the Internet site:http://www.iowater.org/inbowhich currently provides informa-tion on the Member-Organisa-tions:➥ information sheet concerning

the “Member-Organisations”,➥ agenda of events and semi-

nars,➥ identification of educational

materials and available infor-mation,

➥ inventory of competentconsulting firms and serviceproviders,

➥ inventory of new Member-Organisations capable of mo-bilising experts at internatio-nal level for missions of gene-ral interest to INBO as well asa list of these experts.

The newsletter n° 8 will be publi-shed in October 1999.From now on, “discussion fo-rums” will take place on theWEB, especially on the topics al-ready dealt with by INBO duringthe Salvador meeting:● “ financing of Basin Organisa-

tions”,● “masterplansfor water deve-

lopment and management”,● “participation of users in the

sustainable management of wa-ter resources”, by developing,in particular, an appropriate“social engineering” approach,

● as well as on other importanttopics such as “the informa-tion necessary for decisionmaking”.

In particular, the General Assem-bly wished that a Working Groupon the management of sharedwaters be created within INBO,which would, in liaison with theexisting International Commis-sions or Authorities, propose draftrecommendations to be presentedduring the Ministerial Conferencein The Hague in 2000.Following the Management Com-mittee which took place in Salva-dor on 1st December 1998, the de-legates reviewed the progress ofthe “AQUADOC-INTER” pro-ject, for the dissemination of insti-tutional documentation betweenthe Member Organisations and at-tended a demonstration of the mo-del of this service. “AQUADOC-INTER” operation on the Internetcould start in December 1999.

They were, however, very pleasedwith the organisation, in Brazil bythe MMA/DGRH, with the sup-port of IOWater, the French WaterAgencies and Co-operation, offour seminars on basin manage-ment which gathered more than180 participants from Brazil andother Latin American countries,held respectively in Rio de Janei-ro, Mato Grosso, Minas Geraïsand Salvador.

The next INBO General Assem-blies will take place in Kracow(Poland) during the Spring of2000 and in Quebec and Colom-bia in 2001 and 2003.

INBO’s active participation in theMinisterial Conference in TheHague (The Netherlands) plannedfor March 2000 is also considered.

Moreover, the General Assemblywas pleased with the creation, withinINBO, thanks to the support of theBasin Organisations and Govern-mental Authorities of Brazil and Co-lombia, of the firstRegional Net-work of Latin American Basin

Organisations (LANBO), of whichMr. D. Bravo Borda was electedChairman, following the Constituti-ve Assembly in Brasilia (Brazil), on9th and 10th July 1997 and the firstGeneral Assembly in Bogota (Co-lombia) from 4th to 6th August 1998.

It was also pleased with the mee-ting of the Member Organisationsfrom Central America and the Ca-ribbean that was held in Guatema-la from 29th to 31st July 1998 un-der the Chairmanship of Mrs. E.Reyna Chacon and with the sup-port of the Authorities and Organi-sations of that country.

LANBO’s General Assembly washeld in Mendoza (Argentina) on 3to 5 August 1999, under Mr. Car-los Abihaggle’s Chaimanship.The next meeting for CentralAmerica will be held in Nicaraguaat the beginning of year 2000.

Mr. Ambroise GUELLEC, President of Loire-Brittany Basin Committee, chaired the round table on “user’s participation”

Mrs. Christiane RUNEL, from IOWater, presented a paperon the strategy for informing water users

ContactINBO’s Permanent

Technical SecretariatFax: +33 1 40 08 01 45

E-mail: [email protected]

INBO on the Internet:http://www.iowater.org/inbo


FROM ONE CONTINENT TO ANOTHER

Construction of the new documentary centre has just begun

SOUTHERN AFRICA

It was within the framework of afinancial Agreement between theFrench and Botswanese Govern-ments that the Water UtilitiesCorporation (WUC) of BOTS-WANA signed a contract withthe International Office for Wa-ter (IOWater) and LYSA(Lyonnaise-des-Eaux’ Associa-ted Services) to the amount of5.500 MFF for the implementa-tion of a programme for techni-cal assistance and for develo-ping the training capacities ofthe Ministry of Water and Mi-neral Resources’(MMRWA).This programme, completed in1999, included:➥ the training of 18 Botswane-

se trainers, organised inBotswana by IOWater andLYSA, to enable them to ac-quire basic educational tech-niques so that they are then ca-pable of teaching them to thedifferent categories of person-nel in the water utilities oftheir country.

➥ specialised technical trai-ning courses, aimed at impro-ving the Botswanese techni-cians’ skills in the followingareas: operation of systems(drinking water supply, sani-tation), operation of treatmentplants, electromechanics andtelemanagement, water utili-ties management (quality ap-proach, safety, analyses...).These training courses werecarried out both in France, inthe regional offices of theLyonnaise-des-Eaux and inthe National Training Centrefor Water Professions (CNF-ME) in Limoges-La Souter-raine and in South Africa

through a subsidiary companyof the Lyonnaise-des-Eaux, inJOHANNESBURG, KWA-ZULU (Natal) and QUEENS-TOWN (Easter Cape). In total, 30 Botswanese mana-gers attended these trainingcourses.

➥ the creation of a documenta-tion centre and computingcentre, with modern docu-mentary material, softwarewhich is adapted to require-ments and on-line access tothe EAUDOC+ system.This network could, in thelonger term, be part of the glo-bal information exchange sys-tem: “Aquadoc-Inter”.

➥ a feasibility study for a wa-ter-related regional trainingsystem in all the SADCcountries (Angola, Botswana,Lesotho, Malawi, Mozam-bique, Namibia, South Africa,Swaziland, Zimbabwe) in or-der to develop permanent andsustainable capacities for trai-ning in the water professions,making it possible to meet, onsite, very important needs inthis sector.

IOWater has just submitted the fi-nal report of this study which re-commends the networking of thetraining centres already existing ineach of the SADC countries, ma-king it possible to develop a com-plementary range of the necessarytraining courses and to promoteco-operation and exchanges bet-ween them

The Water Utilities Partnership(WUP) is a programme whichwas launched in 1996 by theAfrican Union of WaterSuppliers (AUWS), with theparticipation of the Interna-tional Training Network (ITN)and above all the RegionalCentre for low-cost DrinkingWater Supply and Sanitation(CREPA) and the Training andNetworking Development(TREND), with the aim ofimproving public water utilitiesin Africa. Its objective is to raise awarenesswith a view to achieving the inte-grated management of waterresources and to credit environ-mental issues with the importancethey deserve. The Programme is currentlydeveloping projects in four areas:institutional reform, performanceindicators, leak control and theprovision of utilities to low-inco-me communities. The Programmebudget totals 2 million US dollarsper year.The co-ordination of funding isregularly examined amongst thedonors who support the WUP,particularly the World Bank, theEuropean Commission (DGVIII)and the English, French andSwedish co-operations.An institutional monographAn institutional monograph of thecompanies which supply water in48 African countries has just beencarried out within the WUP (20English speaking, 23 Frenchspeaking and 5 Portuguese spea-king countries).In 34 of them, (notably 21 of the23 French speaking countries),water utilities are organised atnational level with a single utilityin charge.

An official sanitation utility existsin only 20 countries.Water utilities are linked to thoseof sanitation and, if need be, toelectricity or gas in 28 of the 48countries involved in the survey.In all cases the facilities areowned publicly. Delegation ofthese utilities to private compa-nies occurs to various degrees in26 African countries, 11 of whichfor less than 4 years.The follow-up of institutionalreformsTo take things further, WUP isaiming to create tools for exchan-ging experiences and buildinginstitutional capacities amongpublic and private, local or natio-nal water and sanitation operatorsin Africa.In consultation with the AfricanUnion of Water Suppliers(AUWS), the World Bank and itsnew World Bank Institute (exEDI), IOWater has proposed aproject based on the creation of:● a documentation centre on

the institutional developmentof water and sanitation utili-ties in Africa,

● ways of exchanging expe-riences in order to promotespecifically African know-how in this sector,

● an identification and deve-lopment system for researchon institutional reforms inAfrica in this sector.

● the necessary trainingmeans for utilities’ managers.

“WATER UTILITIESPARTNERSHIP”

THE AFRICAN WATER UTILITIESARE POOLING THEIR EXPERIENCE

Type of contract for Countries concernedthe delegation of utilities

BOT: Build, South Africa, Tunisia, SenegalOperate,Transfer

Leasing Central African Republic, Ivory Coast,Gambia, Guinea, Senegal

Concession The Comoro Islands, Gabon, MoroccoService contracts Mali, Sao Tome & Principe, Tunisia,

South Africa

DEVELOPING TRAININGIN BOTSWANESE WATER UTILITIES


In Chad, less than one thousandthof the exploitable surface waterand less than half of exploitablegroundwater are currently used.In July 1998, Chad started a re-form of the public utilities whichare responsible for the productionand supply of electricity and wa-ter. UNDP, the European Union andthe French Development Agency(AFD) have developed pro-grammes for sharing out responsi-bilities between State institutionsand private investors.The administration of the newChad Ministry for Water and theEnvironment is aware of the lackof a legislative text clarifying therole of each institution and takinginto account the recommendationsof the international community. Itthus asked the French Ministry forForeign Affairs to give financialassistance with the review of drafttexts which have already beendrawn up and to validate their pro-posals.Regarding the water Code, thosein charge in Chad have drawn up atext which makes it possible to re-concile the three types of rights re-sulting from the animist custom,from the Islamic traditions, andfrom the legacy of legislation is-sued before independence.The action of the International Of-fice for Water has made it possibleto complete the Code draft, high-lighting in particular:

■ the importance of supplyingwater, not only to villages butalso to transhumant herds,

■ the need to bring decisionmaking centres and consu-mers together,

■ the use of giving autonomy tothe future public or privatewater supply operators,

■ and the principles of overall,sustainable and balancedmanagement, of preventingpollution at its source, cautionwhen dealing with varioushazards and the application ofthe “polluter-pays” or “user-pays” systems which are nowcommonly accepted.

CHADA WATER LAW EAST OF THE CHARI?

Mr. SALAH, Deputy Director for Water, Mr. MOUSSA, Head of the Villageand Rural Water Division, and Mr. OUMARA, Head of the Division for

Equipment and Maintenance, with Messrs. ROBAUX (IOWater) and LE PRIOL, French advisor to the Water Directorate

The CEFOD Training and Documentation Centre of N’Djamena University

LOW-COSTTECHNOLOGIESCREATION OF A FRANCOPHONETELEMATICSCENTRE

The International Office for Wa-ter is going to set up a Franco-phone Telematics Centre regar-ding resources, information,discussions and references onlow-cost water and sanitationtechnologies, in partnership withthe Regional Centre for low-costDrinking Water Supply and Sani-tation (CREPA) of Ouagadougou,Canada Environment and the Wa-ter Solidarity Programme (pS-Eau).This project is financed by theFrancophone Information High-ways Fund, by the Limousin Re-gional Council, the French Minis-try for Foreign Affairs, within theframework of decentralised co-operation and by the participatingorganisations themselves.The Centre will have many pur-poses: a site which enables dis-cussion and consultation and isaccessible via the Internet, it willbe devoted to the implementationof low-cost water managementtools; it will integrate databasesrelated to the topic, offer assistan-ce and advice to small and me-dium size companies and indus-tries of the sector and to both hu-manitarian organisations and tho-se helping development, whetherthey be from the North or the South; it will be a useful educa-tional tool for training purposes.This Centre, a place where thewater environment and new infor-mation and communication tech-nologies meet, will favour thecontribution and know-how ofFrench-speaking experts in thisfield, as to date, the only access ofthis type is in the English langua-ge.We would welcome any organisa-tion wishing to co-operate in oneway or another with a view toreinforcing the Centre. Please getin touch with us.

A water reservoir in N’Djamena

AFRICA

Information - International Office for Water -

The International

Institute for Water

Administration Fax: +33 (0) 4 93 65 44 02

E-mail :[email protected]



The French-Kenyan co-ope-ration programme relatedto the development of

human resources in the water sec-tor started in July 1995 when anexpatriate expert from theInternational Office for Waterwas seconded to the KenyanMinistry of Water Resources.His work was to assess the situa-tion in the Kenyan water sectorand supervise a Task Force toprepare an Action Plan forHuman Resources Developmentwith two objectives:

● The creation and develop-ment of a Human ResourcesDevelopment Unit (HRDU)within the Ministry,

● The organisation of trainingcourses aiming to developabilities in a pilot district.

1996 was devoted to the prepara-tion of job descriptions, theassessment of training needs inthe water sector, the drafting of atraining plan, then of the actionplan which involved the DistrictWater Offices, the Municipalities,the headquarters of the Ministryof Water, the National WaterConservation and PipelineCorporation, and the Nairobi CityCouncil and which was approvedby the Task Force in May 1997.

This action plan is now a referen-ce document, prepared by theKenyan partners, which makes itpossible to work within differentorganisations in the sector and toimprove their Human ResourcesDevelopment actions.

The cost of the reforms andactions (above all training)

recommended by this plan is sha-red between the Kenyan institu-tions and the different donors. Forits part, French Co-operation (theFrench Embassy) is in charge ofsome training initiatives and hassecured technical assistance fromthe International Office forWater.

The work completed in 1997 and1998 with the support of a Frenchnational on Voluntary ServiceOverseas seconded to the KenyanMinistry, was devoted to the set-ting-up of the HRD unit and theorganisation of the first trainingcourses, identified in the trainingplan, after selecting Machakosas a pilot district, a town 70kilometres south of Nairobi.

The objective of these technicaltraining courses is to prove that,thanks to a suited training policy,it is possible to noticeably impro-ve the efficiency of a service, notonly through the acquisition oftechnical abilities, but alsothrough staff motivation.

It should be emphasized that theproject furthered the develop-ment of capabilities of theKenyan Water Institute(KEWI), as far as short and tai-lor-made training courses areconcerned, since it had beendirectly involved in the prepara-tion and implementation of trai-ning courses.

Lastly, the project also made itpossible, with the support ofFrench companies from the watersector, to hold a seminar, inSeptember 1998, on the partici-pation of the private sector inthe management of water sup-

ply and sanitation utilities for-ming part of the new policyapproved by the Kenyan parlia-ment. Representatives fromUganda and Tanzania participatedin this seminar, thus ensuringregional representation and fruit-ful discussions.

After a “take over” in February1999, with a seminar gatheringall the top-level engineers fromthe District Water Offices, thenext stage of the co-operationprogramme will also allow thesharing of Machakos’ experiencewith other districts and the furthe-ring of the planned reforms,above all the transfer of responsi-bilities as far as water manage-ment and supply are concerned,from districts to local authoritiesand communities. In this context,training is of utmost importanceas regards the following topics:

● the management and deve-lopment of human resources

● community mobilisationand services management

● the training of trainers

The HRDU is now going to deve-lop its advisory role towards theDistrict Water Offices, to favourthe implementation of short trai-ning courses and the co-ordina-tion of the donors’ actions interms of training.

This entire approach could thenbe extended to other organisationsinvolved in the sector: theMinistry of Local Governments,the Nairobi City Council,NWCPC.

The French Ministry for ForeignAffairs which has supported theproject in full from the start, to atotal amount of 3.700 MFF forthe period 1995-1998, is finan-cing the 1999 programme at atotal cost of 842,000 FF. In addi-tion to the technical assistance tothe HRDU, it will be possible toimplement technical trainingcourses in the districts chosen tocontinue Machakos’ experience,to train trainers at KEWI and fortop-level Kenyan officials tocome to France to share theknow-how of our companiesabove all concerning delegatedmanagement.

Seminar for District Water Engineers, 23rd and 24th February 1999

KENYAHRD with the District Water Offices

Seminar for District Water Engineers, 23rd and 24th February 1999

LARGE

P R O J E CT

S


The International

Institute for Water


E-mail :[email protected]


The National WaterResources Institute(NWRI) is the only institu-

te in NIGERIA in charge of trai-ning and applied research in thewater sector. This institute, loca-ted in Kaduna, was created in1979 under the supervision of theNigerian Ministry of Agricultureand Water Resources. The NWRI’s 4 main activitiesand missions are: basic and pro-fessional training, basic andapplied research, documentationand database management.

The institute has trained 1,400students since its creation.

NWRI has a staff of 200 peopleand an annual budget of about1.000 MFF.

The actions of the InternationalOffice for Water with NWRI fallwithin the scope of the co-opera-tion established between theFrench Ministry for ForeignAffairs (the French Embassy) andthe Nigerian Authorities.

Since 1993, the total budget ofour co-operation has amounted to4.600 MFF.

The objective of this co-operationis to provide technical assistanceto NWRI with the furthering of itsdevelopment by adapting Frenchknow-how in the water sector.

Several types of mission havebeen carried out:

■ the training of trainers andof NWRI’s clients on majortopics such as treatment ofdrinking water, wastewatertreatment, maintenance, thereuse of treated water for irri-gation,...

■ experts’ evaluation linked tothe development of theNWRI’s new activities (ana-lysis laboratories, technicalassistance with wastewatertreatment, positioning regar-ding the water agencies,documentation, ...)

■ equipment supply: OTVpilot unit for drinking waterproduction, SOAF pilot unitfor wastewater treatment,

pollution monitoring andlaboratory equipment,documentary collections,computer hardware,...These SOAF and OTV pilotunits are demonstrationmodels of the French techno-logy in Nigeria.

Among other things, these actionshave allowed NWRI, in 1996, toget a contract with the WorldBank for the training ofNigerian operators of drinkingwater treatment plants withinthe framework of a rehabilitationprogramme for drinking watertreatment plants in Nigeria. Thiscontract was signed owing to adrinking water treatment pilot

unit supplied by OTV and thetraining of NWRI’s trainers on itsuse.

In the next few years, the deve-lopment of this co-operation willbe concerned with:

➥ the establishment of a tea-ching pilot unit for drinkingwater supply network allo-wing training courses to beheld on this topic,

➥ the setting-up of a NigerianWater Data Network led byNWRI and inspired by theFrench experience of theFrench Water Data Base andSandre (the National DataReference Centre for Water).

SOAF’s wastewater treatment pilot unit

NIGERIANWRI - National Water Resources Institute

OTV’s pilot unit for drinking water production

Training of trainers in Kaduna

AFRICA

LARGE

P R O J E CT

S



LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Given the progress made in thedelegated management of munici-pal drinking water supply in Co-lombia, above all in the Cali re-gion (Palmira) and on the Carib-bean coast (Carthagena and Bar-ranquilla), the International Of-fice for Water has undertaken,with LYSA (Lyonnaise-des-Eaux Associated Services), afeasibility study for the creationof a Colombian Training Centrefor Water Professions.

A first mission carried out in No-vember 1998 and funded by theFrench Ministry for Foreign Af-fairs (“Andean countries” regionaldelegation) enabled IOWater tounderline the interest of creatingsuch a Centre.

Training is an important stake inthe current situation in which Co-lombian communities are respon-sible for water supply and thecountries of the Andean region arecommitted to delegating the ma-nagement of public utilities.

The short term objective is there-fore to be able to offer all catego-ries of professionals from the wa-ter sector in Colombia and neigh-bouring countries in the Andeanregion, a range of practical trai-ning courses, in all the technicalsectors of drinking water supplyand sanitation, in terms of bothconstruction of plants and opera-tion, maintenance and manage-ment of utilities.

A study could be undertaken, inyear 2000, involving a partnershipwith the Colombian institutionsand subsidiary companies of theFrench and Spanish groups wor-king in the country, for the setting-up of a training centre.

BOLIVIAINTEGRATED MANAGEMENT

OF THE RIO ROCHA

During 1998, it was possible toestablish close links with severalBolivian partners, mainly withPROMIC (Programa de ManejoIntegral de Cuenca) and the townof Cochabamba.

These contacts should make itpossible to swiftly launch a co-operation action on the RioRocha which would be made upof three components:

● legal and institutional,aiming to define administrati-ve procedures for a real orga-nisation at basin level;

● economic and financial, pro-viding decision makers withthe means to offer the neces-sary incentives for implemen-ting their policy. The use oftools such as the polluter-pays principle will be favou-red;

● technical: development of aconsistent and reliable moni-toring system which would bea real tool for decisionmaking and the implementa-tion of a priority investmentprogramme at basin level, inorder to deal with the mosturgent requirements, in termsof both access to the resourceand pollution control, andmore generally environmentalprotection.

Funding is currently being soughtto launch this project.

At the same time, IOWater provi-ded legal assistance with thedrafting of the future BolivianWater Law, above all thanks tothe expertise of Jacques SIRON-NEAU, Head of the Legal AffairsDepartment in the Water Directo-rate of the French Ministry for theEnvironment.

REGULATION OF WATERAND SANITATION UTILITIES

The Inter-American DevelopmentBank (IDB) selected, through aninvitation to tender, the Internatio-nal Office for Water, associatedwith BCEOM, to assist with the“Programme for the Develop-ment of a Regulatory Frame-work in the Drinking WaterSupply and Sanitation Sector”in Bolivia.The Bolivian government wantsto develop the concession of waterutilities in townships with morethan 10,000 inhabitants. The ob-jective is to create independentstructures capable of ensuringtheir own financial sustainability.The aim of this study is therefo-re to identify and propose eva-luation and control criteria, aswell as quality standards for theutilities’ services on different to-pics, both technical (continuity ofthe service, pressure and producti-vity of the network, leak detec-tion) and commercial (metering ofconsumption, invoicing and pay-ment, management of complaintsand information of users).

Specific problems such as the cri-teria required for the acceptationof industrial wastewater in “do-mestic” collection networks willalso be studied.The first phase made it possible toanalyse the existing situation inBolivia and at international level(particularly in France). In a se-cond phase, the proposal of quali-ty standards, regulations and tech-nical indicators which are specificto the Bolivian context will be de-veloped and completed by analy-sing their economic impacts.These proposals will enable theIDB and the “Superintendancia deAguas”, the national organisationin charge of controlling theseconcessionary services, to drawup the future contracts for delega-ted management.

COLOMBIATOWARDS THE CREATIONOF A PROFESSIONAL TRAINING CENTRE?


LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

VENEZUELAHIDROVEN: A NATIONALPROFESSIONALTRAINING SYSTEM

Venezuela is currently having hu-ge problems dealing with the needfor personnel training. There isgreater awareness of the need toimprove personnel’s abilities sin-ce more and more private opera-tors are now working in the coun-try.1998 saw the launching of a co-operation programme, to a totalcost of 1.000 MFF, between theInternational Office for Waterand Hidroven, with the support ofthe French Embassy in Venezuelaand the assistance of the Mar-seilles Water Supply Company.This programme is continuing in1999 with 3 components: ➥ Training in the water pro-

fessions with the definitionof a National ProfessionalTraining System,

➥ Decentralisation and partici-pation of private companies,specifying the conditions andthe different forms of participa-tion and the procedures for co-ordination between the diffe-rent levels of government (fe-deral, state, municipal),

➥ Technical assistance to pro-vide Venezuelan operatorswith the necessary bases forthe development of patternsapplicable in their country.

Following the training carried outin 1998 (theory and case studies),this year will be devoted to the im-plementation of a pilot model inHidrocaribe, a regional “Hidro”:➥ evaluation of technical ser-

vices, organisation of opera-tional and network manage-ment,

➥ formulation of an actionprogramme aiming to impro-ve the operational control ofthe facilities,

➥ definition of the adapted tech-nical information system.

Moreover, after having carriedout studies to identify the existingtraining opportunities and de-mands, in partnership with localconsultants, IOWater has nowbeen entrusted by Hidroven, wi-thin the framework of a contractwith the Inter-American Develop-ment Bank, with proposing a Na-tional Professional TrainingSystem in the Drinking WaterSupply and Sanitation sector.

The PACADIRH (Action Plan forthe Integrated Management of Wa-ter Resources in the Central Ameri-can Isthmus) is currently in its finalstages within the framework of theCCAD (Central American Com-mission for Development and theEnvironment) and the SICA (Cen-tral American Integration System),in partnership with CAPRE andCRRH (Regional Committee forWater Resources).Among the PACADIRH’s priorityprojects, following the meeting ofbasin organisations from CentralAmerica and the Caribbean whichtook place in Guatemala in July1998, under the chairmanship ofMrs. Reyna Chacon, co-ordinatorof the Lake Amatitlan project, IO-Water has worked out a multian-nual programme for the applica-tion of the principles of river ba-sin management in the whole re-gion with its partners in the 7 coun-tries concerned (Belize, Costa Ri-ca, El Salvador, Guatemala, Hon-duras, Nicaragua and Panama).Priority topics of the project:❶ Improvement in the knowled-

ge of water resources, varioususes and withdrawals, dis-charges and pollution sources,water quality and associatedaquatic ecosystems (Data stan-dardisation - integrated geogra-phic information systems, com-puterised exchange formats -establishment of national basininformation systems).

❷ Formulation of the appro-priate institutional frame-works (legislative reforms,definition of responsibilities,creation of basin organisa-tions, participation of users inBasin Committees, training ofexecutives from the Civil Ser-vice and representatives ofusers and Local Authorities...)

❸ Planning and Action Pro-grammes, integrating theconcept of participatory ma-nagement, the formulation ofinvestment plans aiming toachieve sustainable develop-ment and therefore integratingenvironmental issues, esta-blishment of instruments ne-cessary for administrative andtechnical follow-up.

❹ Adaptation of financial sys-tems (application of the “user-polluter-pays” principle, fea-sibility studies and establish-ment of water charge systemsto finance collective invest-ments in the basin, ...).

These topics will be developed aspart of a move towards regionalintegration.Recommended action plan:The French regional co-operationdelegation supports the implemen-tation of this ambitious project.Complementary actions are nee-ded: ■ specific training courses on

administrative know-how re-lative to the four priority to-pics;

■ specialised international ex-pertise, from INBO and IO-Water experts in particular, aswell as from the French Admi-nistration and the six WaterAgencies, for in-depth mis-sions requiring specialised as-sistance;

■ life-size field experiments inthe hydrographic basins ofthe two transboundary rivers(Rio San Juan and Rio Lem-pa). Therefore it will be pos-sible to deal with the issue oftransboundary rivers, a funda-mental one in this region since57% of water resources areshared.

CENTRAL AMERICA INTEGRATED MANAGEMENTOF SHARED RIVER BASINS

NICARAGUALATEST NEWS

The International Office for Wa-ter together with BCEOM havejust won a tender from the Inter-American Development Bank forthe modernisation of drinking wa-ter supply and sanitation utilitiesin Nicaragua, in particular thecreation of a regulation Authorityfor the sector.


The International

Institute for Water


E-mail:[email protected]

The Basin Committee and the In-tercommunity Syndicate of theCentre and South of the Marti-nique (SICSM), in liaison withthe Regional Directory for the En-vironment (DIREN) and the Loi-re-Brittany Water Agency, re-quested the assistance of the Inter-national Office for Water (IOWa-ter) with the launching of a reflec-tion on the SDAGE formulationphases.The approach was the following:● Preparation of a diagnostic

document:This document includes a set ofsheets summarising the generalsituation of Martinique.It is an attractive and educationalsummarised document featuring12 topical sheets:➥ Sheets 1 to 3: water-related

regulations / water stakehol-ders in Martinique / tools forwater management and finan-cial aid

➥ Sheets 4 to 11: Martinique’scharacteristics / natural ha-zards / management of the re-source / uses / urban areas andsanitation / agricultural andindustrial pollution / waterquality / the protection ofaquatic ecosystems

➥ Sheet 12: diagnosticsFive additional sets of sheets weredrawn up to put forward the speci-fic problems arising in the 5 hy-drogeographical units identifiedby the SDAGE.● Organisation of a seminar

addressing the members ofthe Basin Committee:

The seminar proceeded as fol-lows:■ plenary sessions (reminders

of the regulatory principlesand existing tools in the watersector, the state of water ma-nagement in Martinique),

■ workshops on the followingtopics: better sharing of res-ponsibilities, contracts forbetter water management, en-vironment and pollution, re-sources and uses, water price,

■ an exhibition which illustra-ted the water uses in Marti-nique and the role of the diffe-rent stakeholders.

● Organisation of decentralisedinformation sessions

Five decentralised sessions, onefor each hydrographic unit of theisland, are planned in 1999 to as-sociate all the local stakeholdersin the SDAGE formulation.

MARTINIQUE



PARANAINSTITUTIONALREFORM

The International Office forWater is participating in the Pa-rana State’s project aiming tomodernise its institutional orga-nisation regarding water re-sources management.In association with SOGREAHand COBRAPE (the Brazilianpartner), IOWater has been entrus-ted with the implementation of thetraining component as well as ins-titutional assessment within theframework of this ambitious pro-gramme financed by the WorldBank, to an amount of 1.8 millionReais (6.500 MFF). It consists of: ■ Technical assistance with

the implementation of theState Law for Water Re-sources Management, byseeking a consensus amongstthe partners involved: electedofficials, users... This workwill include the definition ofarrangements for representingthe different interests at stakein the deliberative procee-dings and a proposal for theestablishment of suitable me-chanisms, above all in finan-cial terms (polluter-pays prin-ciple, user-pays systems);

■ Legal assistance with thedrawing up of decrees forthe application of the Law,in accordance with the institu-tional context defined alongthe same lines;

■ The definition of operationalprocedures for the “Integra-ted System for the Protec-tion and Management ofWater sources in the Curiti-ba Metropolitan Area” andthe “State System for WaterResources Management”.

Upon the request of the MMA(Ministry for the Environment),several training courses werecarried out in Brazil on the inte-grated management of water re-sources in river basins, with aview to swiftly implementing thenew federal law n° 9433 of 8thJanuary 1997.

IN MATO GROSSO

The “Fundação Estadual do MeioAmbiente” (FEMA) in Mato Gros-so, led by Mr. Frederico Guilher-me, jointly organised a trainingcourse from 14th to 18th Septem-ber 1998, with the International Of-fice for Water. This event, co-fi-nanced by FEMA and the FrenchMinistry for Foreign Affairs, ga-thered more than 40 participants,among them several representa-tives from the neighbouring Statesof Mato Grosso do Sul and SantaCatarina, as well as from Mexico(Comisión Nacional del Agua andIMTA), from Chile (Distrito deSantiago) from Costa Rica (Comi-sión del Río Tempisque), and fromUruguay (Ministerio de Transportey Obras Públicas) within INBO.The presence, in the audience, ofMessrs. A. Bernard (IOWater) andJ.F. Talec (Loire-Brittany WaterAgency), of specialists from theMinistries, FEMA and also fromthe civil society and Basin Com-mittees, alongside Dr. E. Lannaand Dra. Dalvacir Evaristo (SRH),made it possible to hold a very li-vely session in which dialogue andexchange of experiences were va-ried and enriching.Moreover, the training course waspreceded by the inauguration cere-mony of the “Conselho Estadualde Recursos Hidricos” by Mr.Dante Martins de Oliveira, Gover-nor of the Mato Grosso State.

IN MINAS GERAIS

IOWater has been requested bythe Minas Gerais Federation ofState Industries to conduct a cour-se addressed to company mana-gers and others in charge in the ci-vil society to prepare them forplaying a role in the system of par-ticipatory water resources mana-gement, defined by the federal law9433/97 and the correspondingState law.This course, organised by FIEMG,IBRAM, SENAI, IGAM and

ADOCE, with the support of theWorld Bank, gathered 80 partici-pants on 19th and 20th November1998. Its objectives were:● to raise the participants’

awareness about the newlaw and emphasize its strate-gic significance for environ-mental management, repla-cing the traditional “order-control” system (legislationand policing power) with eco-nomic mechanisms and incen-tives for self-management.

● to prepare company mana-gers so that they may play,among other things, an acti-ve role in River Basin Com-mittees and participate in thetechnical debates which willtake place within the WaterAgencies being set up.

IN BAHIA

IOWater led another trainingcourse on integrated water re-sources management in Salvadorde Bahia, the week prior to the Ge-neral Assembly of the Internatio-nal Network of Basin Organisa-tions (INBO) held in this sametown. This course gathered 30 par-ticipants from the State of Bahia,but also from many other Statessuch as Rio, São Paulo, Alagoas,Paraiba, Maranhas, Mato Grossodo Sul, Minas Gerais, Piauli.On the initiative of the WaterResources Secretariat of theBrazilian Ministry for the Envi-ronment, 3 new courses, suppor-ted by the French Embassy, areplanned in the second semesterof 1999 in Vitoria (Espirito San-to), Porto Alegre and Brasilia.

TOWARDS A BRAZILIANTRAININGCENTRE FOR WATERPROFESSIONSFollowing the conclusions of theFrench-Brazilian Commission’smeeting which took place in Bra-silia in November 1998, and onthe request of the Water ResourcesSecretariat of the Brazilian Fede-ral Ministry for the Environment,IOWater has started a feasibili-ty study for the creation of aBrazilian Training Centre forWater Professions.

The objective is to study the viabi-lity of a structure under Brazilianlaw, whose task could be twofold:

➥ Administrative: the trainingof federal and BrazilianStates’ civil servants to pro-mote the implementation ofthe Law of January 1997, which above all instituted theprinciple of integrated waterresources management in riverbasins.

➥ Technical: to enable all cate-gories of professionals fromthe Brazilian water sector tobenefit from practical vocatio-nal training courses, in all thetechnical fields of drinkingwater supply and sanitation, interms of both facility designand operation, maintenance,and management of utilities.

The seminar organised by ACTIMin São Paulo, at the end of April1999, aiming to introduce theFrench know-how and technologyrelated to the environment, madeit possible to confirm the interestthat such a project would generateamong all the institutional, publicor private partners, both on theBrazilian and French sides.

Mining (gold) in Mato Grosso

BRAZILIMPLEMENTATION OF THE FEDERAL WATER LAW


The International

Institute for Water


E-mail:[email protected]


D’UN CONTINENT A L’AUTRE

CENTRAL ASIA

Two projects are underway, oneconcerning the whole basin of thislarge river which is shared bet-ween China, Kazakhstan and Rus-sia, the other dealing mainly withwater quality and concerning onlyKazakhstan.International management of the IrtyshThe Irtysh basin stretches from theAltaï Mountains in the People’sRepublic of China to Russia whe-re the river flows into the Ob, aftercrossing eastern Kazakhstan. Itcovers a large part of Kazakhs-tan’s industrial areas (mining andmetallurgic complexes) and be-cause of this the river is polluted,however it is still used for indus-trial fishing and for supplyingdrinking water to the towns in thePavlodar region.The objective of the study, which isfinanced by The French Fund forGlobal Environment (FFEM)and implemented by the FrenchMinistry of Regional Planning andthe Environment and its operatorIOWater in association with SAFE-GE and ANTEA, is to allow the dif-ferent administrations responsiblein Kazakhstan and Russia and theInternational Commission for themanagement of the Irtysh, createdin 1992, to better plan their in-vestments, in order to improvewater quality and follow up pro-gress which has already been ma-de. To date, two missions have beencarried out in these two countriesin order to:● analyse the institutional si-

tuation,● assess the existing water

quality monitoring net-works, in relation to pollution

in the basin,● assess the existing systems

for data management (dataquality, enhancement, ex-change)

● involve national and regio-nal authorities and determinethe local counterparts’ role.

In Kazakhstan: protecting the resourceThe project, entrusted to the AN-TEA/IOWater/SAFEGE groupand financed by FASEP (FrenchMinistry of Economy) concernsthe three towns of Oust-Kameno-gorsk, Semipalatinsk and Pavlo-dar, located in the Kazakhstan partof the Irtysh basin.It is integrated into the programmefor the “Improvement of the envi-ronment for the sustainable deve-lopment of the north-eastern re-gion of Kazakhstan”, formulatedby the government of Kazakhstanwith the assistance of the WorldBank.The French project is based onthree actions:❶ Protection of the resource

quality,❷ Study of sanitation systems

and their impact on the Irtysh,

❸ Institutional organisation.These studies should make it pos-sible to formulate a pollutioncontrol programme and to proposean economic framework enablingthe mobilisation of local financialresources and the search for thenecessary bi or multilateral finan-cing so that priority investmentscan be made as soon as possible.

BETTER WATER QUALITYIN THE IRTYSH

The Tai-Hu lake basin, with anarea of 36,500 km2, is one of themost economically developed inChina with 3% of the population(36 million), but 17% of the grossproduct. The lake itself covers anarea of 2,400 km2.Environmental constraints are ve-ry significant since the lake is themain source for the supply of drin-king water in the region, but is al-so very polluted with an eutrophi-cation which is rapidly increasing.Therefore, to meet the needs in themedium and long terms, the pro-vincial authorities have decided,

after several years of investiga-tion, to formulate a real water po-licy, and as such, to create aconsistent data network similar tothe one implemented by the Fren-ch Water Data Network (RNDE).Several French and European or-ganisations will be involved in theimplementation of this projectwhich is currently dependent onthe funding requested from theEuropean Commission.

CHINAEUTROPHICATION CONTROLIN THE TAI-HU LAKE

FLOOD FORECASTINGAND WARNING SYSTEMIN THE DONGTING LAKE BASIN

On the request of BISIE (the Bei-jing Institute of Satellite Informa-tion Engineering) and of the Plan-ning Committee of HUNAN Pro-vince, the International Office forWater (IOWater) gathered a Fren-ch team of high level experts,from the Montpellier Remote Sen-sing Company, BCEOM, theGEOIMAGE company, the Geo-graphy and Graphic Process La-boratories (MTG) from the Uni-versity of Rouen, to provide tech-nical assistance with the finding ofsolutions to be implemented tocontrol recurrent flooding in theHunan Province.The aim of the project is to use asoftware package to calculatefuture variations in the water le-vels of the lake and its tributa-ries. The software will be instal-led in a pilot unit and will enablelocal decision makers to definesuitable measures to be taken intimes of flooding. The system willalso serve as a testing ground forall equipment linked to flooding inthe region.

The cost of the project is 21.000MFF of which 8.500 MFF will co-ver the purchase of this softwareand the training of Chinese per-sonnel.The Chinese Authorities havesought French financial participa-tion to an amount of 6,000 MFF,justified by the will to build an ef-fective warning system on thissensitive site, benefiting fromFrench know-how.The Chinese part has agreed to in-volve the French companies in fu-ture invitations to tender in thearea of flood warning in Chinaover the next few years.

A TRAINING COURSEON DRINKING WATER MANAGEMENTIN THE CANTON PROVINCE

The French Embassy in Beijinghas entrusted IOWater, assisted bythe Lyonnaise-des-Eaux, with thepreparation of a 15-dahy trainingcourse addressing Chinese execu-tives from the Canton region ondrinking water production and ex-ploitation.

The course will take place in Au-tumn 1999. Encompassing boththeory and practice, it will illustra-te the concepts and methods usedby French companies.

Ice melting in the Irtysh in Pavlodar

ASIA



Upon the request of theDepartment for Co-opera-tion and Cultural Action

and the Trade Commission of theFrench Embassy in Vietnam, amission involving Messrs.François Ozanne from the WaterManagement Company of Paris(SAGEP), and Jean-FrançoisDonzier from IOWater, was orga-nised with the assistance ofACTIM, in Ho Chi Minh City,Hue and Hanoi from 14th to 22nd

March 1999.The project is entering its 2nd phase

Several working meetings withthe Ministry of Construction, theSchool of Construction and UrbanDevelopment, representativesfrom the French Embassy andFrench companies in Vietnam,made it possible to formulate adevelopment plan for the secondphase of the Training Centre forProfessions in the Water andEnvironment Sectors, in existencesince 1997 in Gia Lam-Hanoi,with financial and technical assis-tance from the French bilateralco-operation and the Lyonnaise-des-eaux-Suez (SAFEGE).

The needs to be met are huge

They concern both:

■ The institutional training ofexecutives from nationaland municipal administra-tions, to fulfil two objectives:the implementation ofreforms in the area of watermanagement, and the moder-nisation of the managementof municipal drinking watersupply and sanitation utilities.

■ The operational training ofpersonnel from municipaldrinking water supply andsanitation utilities

It involves providing the necessa-ry practical knowledge in order toplan for essential new invest-ments, above all for sanitationand wastewater treatment, torehabilitate drinking water supplysystems (leak detection,...) andwater treatment plants, to ensurethe effective operation and main-tenance of facilities, to improveadministrative and financial ser-vices, to develop relations withconsumers, to introduce the prin-ciples of quality assurance.

It is estimated that the Viet-namese water utilities employaround 14,000 people for a popu-lation of 76 million inhabitants.Once the whole population is sup-plied with drinking water and alltowns are equipped with a sanita-tion system, the number of

employees will be around 50,000.We can consider a ratio of 20%executives and 80% workers andemployees.

It seems that compared to the nor-mal average ratios, workers areover represented, but that thereare not enough junior executives(foremen, technicians).

An ambitious project

In order to meet these importantneeds for improving the efficien-cy of Vietnamese water utilities,it is necessary to move towardsa system of professional trai-ning:

● organised by Vietnamesetrainers in the locallanguage,

● with reduced training costscompatible with the waterutilities’ revenues and paidfor in local currency,

● offering modern trainingcourses,

● based on the technologicalknow-how of leadingFrench industrial groups,

● using both equipmentcurrently available in thecountry and facilities andmaterial which will be deve-loped in the coming years,for practical learning underworking conditions.

It is clear that it must result in asustainable system, which, afterits setting-up, can “exist by itself”without being dependent on per-manent external financing.

Based on these principles, a pre-liminary agreement was signed,in the presence of Mr. NguyenVan Lien, Vice-Minister forConstruction, by Messrs. Donzierand Ozanne on the French sideand Messrs. Nguyen Dang Can,Director of International Co-ope-ration at the Ministry and NguyenVan To, Director of the School ofConstruction.

This agreement plans, above all, ajoint investment between Franceand Vietnam for carrying out thesecond phase of the project whichwill mostly associate French com-panies working or interested inthis country.

A study tour from 18th to 28thMay 1999, enabled a delegationfrom the Vietnamese Ministry ofConstruction, led by the Vice-Mi-nister Nguyen Van Lien, and fromthe water utilities of Hanoi and HoChi Minh City, to meet Frenchsuppliers and companies interes-ted in this project, to visit the Na-tional Training Centre for Wa-ter Professions (CNFME) in Li-moges-La Souterraine as well asthe University of Montpellier andour partners from VERSEAU.

Meeting with the Vice-Minister for Construction

VIETNAMTraining Centre for Professions

in the Water and Environment Sectors

Visit of the Training Centre for Professions in the Water and Environment Sectors

LARGE

P R O J E CT

S


The International Institute for Water Administration Fax: +33 (0) 4 93 65 44 02

E-mail : [email protected]


Since the beginning of the1990s, France and the IndianUnion have been involved in

a multiannual programme for ins-titutional co-operation in the watersector, dealing with, in a first pha-se, the training of high level fede-ral and state civil servants andwhich led to the organisation inDelhi, in December 1994, of aFrench-Indian seminar on Inte-grated Water Resources Mana-gement, which was hailed as agreat success.In fact, in many Indian regions, itis becoming more and more diffi-cult to ensure that there are suffi-cient resources available to meetall needs and to efficiently controlpollution and, therefore, there is arisk that in the near future, accessto water will be a significant factorlimiting economic and social de-velopment.

The main problems encounteredare not technological but mainlyinstitutional and financial.

From the beginning of 1995, theIndian partners, together with theFrench Embassy and experts fromthe International Office for Waterand the Rhone-Mediterranean-Corsica Water Agency, have:

■ set up a French-Indian Stee-ring Committee, gathering allthe Indian central ministriesconcerned by water manage-ment,

■ selected a “pilot basin” totest a new process for integra-ted water resources manage-ment, aiming then to use thefindings in other Indian ba-sins:

➥ in a first phase, the Indianpartners chose six prioritybasins. It involves the SA-BARMATI, TAPI, UPPERYAMUNA, GODAVARI,SONE, SUBARNAREKHArivers,

➥ in a second phase, the SA-BARMATI River basin wasselected by the local and fede-ral Indian Authorities in1995, for a first pilot experi-ment in the GUJARAT State.

In the SABARMATI River Basin,the shortage of water is criticaland the problem of resource sha-ring is unavoidable.

The security of water supply to theGujarat towns requires significantinvestments.

Ahmedabad, the main town in theState, and four average sizedtowns, Kheda, Gandhinagar,(the capital of Gujarat State), Hi-matnagar and Mehsana have thetask of organising settlements fora section of the population who isgoing to leave rural areas over thenext few years. They will fulfilthis role provided that they cancontrol the development of urbanutilities and, above all, water sup-ply for industry and the popula-tion.

The drinking water supply projectwhich is starting in Ahmedabadamounts to 140 million US$ alone(1996 price), of which 30 million$ were mobilised by the issuing ofmunicipal bonds in 1998.

The project for the building of theNarmada diversion canal, if it iscarried out, will relieve the pressu-re on the resource. But the oppor-tunity effect must be managed,particularly in the agricultural sec-tor, so that the sharing out of thisnew resource does not result, inthe short term, in an even greaterimbalance.

The Gujarati Authorities have pre-pared the launching of the pilotproject, with:

● the appointment of a co-or-dinator within the GUJARATwater administration - Mr.PARMAR, Chief Engineer,who is also in charge of theWorld Bank’s “HydrologyProject”,

● the setting-up of an interad-ministrative co-ordinationCommittee, gathering all thewater-related sectoral utilitiesin GUJARAT and associatingthe town of AHMEDABAD,

● the drafting of a “positionpaper”, presenting an assess-ment of the situation in the ba-sin and its prospects in theshort and medium terms,

● the drawing up of the “me-morandum of understan-ding” that the Government ofGUJARAT signed on 9th Fe-bruary 1998 with the Interna-tional Office for Water, to cla-rify the areas where they wish

for the co-operation of Frenchexperts, in particular to:

➥ prepare a masterplan for ri-ver basin development, ba-sed on the technical and eco-nomic pre-feasibility studiesof the investments to be made,

➥ set up a basin information sys-tem, which will make it pos-sible to know precisely thestate of the available resource,as well as the main discharges,then to measure the progressi-ve impact of decisions imple-mented in the basin,

➥ formulate an action plan inthe medium term (fiveyears), the priorities of whichwill be, for the first time in In-dia, validated using a cross-sectoral approach and corres-ponding to the real financialpossibilities of the differentgroups of users.

The Indian Authorities also expectfrom this project, the testing in li-fe-size units of an integrated ma-nagement method, adapted to theIndian context, which will serve asa reference for other river basins,including those covering severalStates, based on sustainable sys-tems for planning and financing,the current lack of such a systembeing the main factor preventingthe adaptation of the water sectorin India.

In fact, the Indian governmentand the World Bank have for-mulated an action plan whichaims to reorganise the water sec-tor in 24 river basins, covering436 million hectares.

The experience acquired in the Sa-barmati River pilot basin will ma-ke it possible to speed up the pro-cess elsewhere in India.

To meet this request of the IndianAuthorities, with all the requiredcompetence, a project group hasbeen set up gathering BCEOM,BRL Engineering, SEURECA andIOWater.

The French Ministry of Econo-my (FASEP) is supporting thisproject with a grant of 4.000MFF for the carrying out of pre-liminary studies amounting to5.000 MFF.

INDIA - GUJARATIntegrated Management

of the Sabarmati River Basin

The Sabarmati River bed in Ahmedabad during the dry season

LARGE

P R O J E CT

S

ASIA



The ESC’EAU project, ledby IOWater within the fra-mework of the ADAPT

1997 initiative programme of theEuropean Social Fund, has madeit possible to develop a new mo-del for evaluating and certifyingthe knowledge and competenceof workers in the water sector.Linking French, English, Italianand German experiences in Europeand in connection with the ADAPTprojects led by BEW (Germany)and HYDROCONTROL (Italy),the ESC’EAU model perfectly fitsin with the current trend for reco-gnition of the knowledge acquiredthrough experience and professio-nal training.The ESC’EAU model deals withmulti-skill professions in operationand management which are charac-teristic of the water sector and which need to incorporate severalspecialities. The ESC’EAU modelevaluates them following two mainlines: “basic knowledge” and “per-formance”, but with greater signifi-cance given to the latter.This approach, which brings toge-ther the sometimes contradictoryconcerns of practitioners and trai-ners, is similar to the American

certification system. It shows thebenefit of defining the whole ofthe multi-dimensional nature ofthe water professions at everylevel.The ESC’EAU model, a self-eva-luation tool which is accessible onthe Internet, is based on multiplechoice questionnaires (MCQ) forbasic knowledge and evaluationsoftware for performance.It proposes to view the level rea-ched by the worker with thehelp of a histogram in which each competence is clearly iden-tified. We can easily imagine thatthe graph related to a given wor-ker could serve as a certificate orrepresent his weaknesses. Fromthis it will be easier to determinethe necessary training in order tocompensate for his weak points.The ESC’EAU software packa-ge will be tested in the next fewmonths on volunteer operatorsfrom wastewater treatmentplants in the Provence-Alps-Ri-viera region.If there are other people interestedin the model or in its practical ap-plication, they would be very wel-come in our panel.

“ESC’EAU” A NEW MODEL

FOR EVALUATING KNOWLEDGEAND COMPETENCE

This course, organised by IOWater,from 20th to 24th April 1999, on therequest of the World Health Organi-sation (WHO) and the Mediterra-nean Action Plan (MAP), gathered15 managers of wastewater treat-ment plants from Algeria, BosniaHerzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus,Egypt, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Li-bya, Malta, Morocco, Slovenia, Tu-nisia and Turkey. This training cour-se is part of the joint WHO/MED

POL project, Phase III (Programmefor the monitoring of environmentalpollution in the Mediterranean of theUnited Nations Environment Pro-gramme (UNEP).It dealt with technical (operation,maintenance, crisis management)and financial and administrativeaspects (budget, human re-sources), as well as with the mana-gement of wastewater treatmentplants and domestic wastewater.

Following the Marseilles Eu-ro-Mediterranean Conferen-ce on Local Water Manage-

ment (November 1996), a studywas carried out in 1997 by a wor-king group of ten countries, to cla-rify the procedures for the setting-up of a system which, through theuse of modern communicationtechnologies, would make it pos-sible to network existing sourcesof information on water in the 27countries who signed the Barcelo-na agreement: EMWIS (Euro-Mediterranean InformationSystem on know-how in the Wa-ter Sector).The final outputs of this study, co-funded by France and the Euro-pean Union, and led by the WaterDirectorate of the French Ministryfor the Environment with the as-sistance of the International Offi-ce for Water, were approved inNaples (Italy) on 9th and 10th De-cember 1997, during a conferencewhich gathered water managersand the main operators from thecountries involved in this project(see International News n°6)Since this conference, severalmeasures have been taken which were necessary for settingup EMWIS structures, with, inparticular:● The first meeting of EMWIS

Management Committee(Paris - 17th March 1998),following which the govern-ments of 14 countries (Alge-ria, Belgium, Cyprus, Egypt,France, Israel, Italy, Jordan,Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, thePalestinian Authority, Spain,Tunisia) agreed to set up theirEMWIS national focal point.

● The creation of a EuropeanEconomic Interest Group(EEIG) “in charge of propo-sing and implementing annualaction programmes, validatedby EMWIS ManagementCommittee”.The EEIG statutes were si-gned on 15th June 1998 by theInternational Office for Wa-ter, represented by Mr. Don-zier (General Manager) andthe “SOcieta per la GEStionedegli impianti IDrici” (SO-GESID S.p.A) for Italy, re-presented by Mr. Mazzola(President), while an agree-ment was signed by these twoorganisations and the “Centrode Estudios y Experimenta-ción” (CEDEX) from Spain,represented by Mr. Felipe

Martinez Martinez (GeneralManager), in order to formali-se their willingness to co-ope-rate within EMWIS Techni-cal Unit.The International Office forWater has been nominated“EEIG manager” and theheadquarters have been esta-blished in Sophia Antipolis(FRANCE).

● The second meeting of EM-WIS Management Commit-tee (Rome, 6th July 1998) du-ring which the working pro-gramme and the annual bud-get corresponding to the firstyear of the Technical Unit’sactivity were approved.

● The mobilisation of finan-cial resources:➥ Contributions from the

three countries whichmake up the TechnicalUnit (France, Italy,Spain), with the Frenchpart co-funded by theFrench Ministry for theEnvironment (Water Di-rectorate), the MaritimeAlps General Council, theProvence, Alps, RivieraRegional Council.

➥ The Subsidy from theEuropean Commission,which will cover regionalexpenses concerning boththe Technical Unit and thenational focal points(strengthening of the com-munication network, tra-vel costs for representa-tives of Southern coun-tries, technical assistance,training, ...).

WHO/MAP MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS:TRAINING COURSE FOR 15 MANAGERS

“EMWIS” BEGINNING OF THE OPERATIONAL PHASE

ContactEMWIS experimental Web site

www.iowater.org/emwis


MOROCCOTHE OUM ER RBIA PILOT AGENCY

The law 10/95 of 16th August 1995is the legal basis of water policy inMorocco. It aims to establish thelegal instruments necessary forcontrolling the use of water re-sources and for their conservation.

It plans for the creation of basinagencies, for which the missionsare extensive. These bodies, which have financial autonomyand a legal status, are in charge of:

● regalian missions concernedwith water law enforcementwhich are currently taken careof by State directorates (Di-rectorate General for Water):

➥ the inventory of waterrights and concessions,

➥ the monitoring of qualityand quantity, both forground and surface water,

➥ the issue of new permitsand concessions for wa-ter withdrawals,

➥ the control of the use ofresources,

● new missions within the ri-ver basin context:

➥ the formulation and im-plementation of the waterdevelopment plan whichis to be integrated into thenational water plan,

➥ the levying of pollutionand withdrawal feeswhich will be reinvestedin pollution control,

➥ providing contractingauthorities with finan-cial assistance and ser-vices for pollution control,

improvement in water re-sources and flood mana-gement.

To help the structures and humanresources of the Ministry of PublicWorks adapt to this new policy,the Director for Water at the French Ministry for the Environ-ment and the Moroccan GeneralDirector for Water signed a spe-cial co-operation agreement, on19th April 1996. This agreementdeals mainly with the creation of afirst pilot basin agency for theOum Er Rbia basin.

IOWater is the main operator forthe French Authorities. This pro-gramme, carried out between 1996and 1998, with the assistance ofspecialists from the Adour-Garon-ne Water Agency, included:

■ awareness campaigns forusers and communication ac-tions among the population,

■ assistance with fees and aidsystems (institutional and fi-nancial aspects),

■ training on floods (flood pre-vention, forecasting and war-ning),

■ the restructuring of regionalwater analysis laboratories,

■ the drawing up of the docu-ments necessary for the effec-tive implementation of theOum Er Rbia pilot BasinAgency’s financial services(procedures, control of taxbases, legal department, pre-paration of multiannual pro-grammes),

■ technical training courses for

Moroccan executives leadingto a “Higher Education Certifi-cate in Engineering and WaterResources Management” withthe assistance of the NationalSchool of State Public Works.

This action will be followed by anew 1999-2001 programme ba-sed on three main actions:

➥ the continuation of the assis-tance to the Oum Er RbiaBasin Agency with the formu-lation and drawing up of ad-ministrative and financial pro-cedures linked to the firstmeeting of the Board of Direc-tors,

➥ the setting-up of a basin in-formation system to allow forquick access to information onthe state of water resources,

➥ the development of an effec-tive flood warning system inthe Oum Er Rbia basin whichis likely to be extended to thewhole country.

The implementation and co-ordi-nation of all these co-operation ac-tions are carried out, on the Frenchside, by a steering committee ledby the Water Directorate of theMinistry for the Environment, in-cluding the Adour-Garonne WaterAgency and IOWater which pro-vides the secretariat.

Jurisdiction area of the Oum Er Rbia basin agency

THE MEDITERRANEAN




The future framework directiverequires integrated waterresources management in riverbasins. It will lead to the standar-disation of practices, especially asregards transboundary rivers. Inorder to be prepared, theInternational Office for Water hasproposed and led a comparativestudy of the methods used formonitoring industrial pollutionin the Meuse River basin. Thisbasin concerns 4 countries:France, Germany, Belgium(Walloon region and Flanders)and the Netherlands. The study was undertaken withinthe framework of the DGXI’sLIFE programme, with the assis-tance of the Rhine-Meuse WaterAgency, RIZA (the Netherlands),the North Rhine Westfallen

Lander, VMM (Flanders) and theMinistry of the Walloon Region.This study includes a precise inven-tory of the practices used in eachcountry. It proposes significantchanges in administrative and tech-nical practices in order to constitutehomogeneous inventories ofdischarges on the scale of the riverbasin. Its conclusions were submit-ted and discussed during a seminarheld in Liege in June 1998.The final report summary is avai-lable in French, English, Germanand Dutch and can be obtainedfrom IOWater.

Web:www.iowater.org/life

EUROPE

MEUSE RIVER BASINCOMPARATIVE STUDY FOR MONITORINGINDUSTRIAL POLLUTION

What does com-munity “acquis”mean?

The twinning process involvesproviding the Central and EasternEuropean countries, which arecandidates for becoming membersof the European Union, with allthe technical and administrativeknowledge they require to includein their national law all the legisla-tive and regulatory texts adoptedand applied by the current Mem-ber States.

General introductionThe European Commission hasproposed to focus the actions ofthe PHARE programme on twopriorities aiming to assist thecountries which are candidates toEuropean integration:● investments for infrastruc-

tures,● capacity building which will

be achieved by twinning bet-ween Eastern and WesternInstitutions having the sameresponsibilities.

This institutional assistance re-quires general co-operation for se-veral years. Conveyed by a preci-se working programme which isscheduled and financially esti-mated, it is accompanied by anobligation to achieve results, ai-ming to provide a candidatecountry with an efficient opera-tional organisation, making itpossible to fulfil communityobligations in complete safety.A twinning covenant is thus si-gned by the candidate country andthe member State. It will definethe expected results of the project,the responsibilities of each party,the means to be used and theircost.When several member States areconcerned, one of them will be theproject leader and will sign the co-venant on behalf of the others.The following co-operation me-thods have been envisaged for each twinning arrangement:● long term full-time second-

ment of civil servants frommember States,

● short missions carried out byspecialists,

● training courses in the admi-nistrations and organisationsconcerned in the memberStates, addressing experts

from the candidate countryparticipating in the adaptationand setting-up of new sys-tems,

● training of personnel who willhave to operate the new sys-tems, and particularly the trai-ning of trainers.

As regards the preparation andimplementation of twinning co-venants in the water sector, theInternational Office for Wateris the operator of the Ministry ofRegional Planning and the Envi-ronment (MRPE).The implementation of pro-grammes will require experts fromthe MRPE and external services ofthe Ministries involved (DIREN,MISE..), as from the Water Agen-cies and IOWater.

6 Twinning agreements

have been signedby the French

Ministry of Regional

Planning and theEnvironment:

BULGARIAThe Bulgarian Ministry for theEnvironment and Water, has si-gned an 18-month twinning cove-nant with Germany which coversthe areas of air, water, wastes, en-vironmental protection and accessto information.Germany is the project leader, with Austria and France as part-ners. France has chosen ADEMEand the International Office forWater as its operators.Interventions in the water sectorwill deal with the formulation ofregulations for wastewater dis-charges, the establishment of pro-cedures for issuing discharge per-mits, a method for determining theemission threshold taking into ac-count discharge standards and thequality of the receiving environ-ment, and also training initiatives.The means used in this areaamount to a budget of 90,000 Eu-ros (590,000 FF.) involving ex-perts’ missions of short durationand training courses in Bulgaria.

ESTONIAThe Estonian Ministry for the En-vironment has signed a twinningcovenant in the water sector withSweden in partnership with Fran-ce, represented by the Internatio-nal Office for Water.For 18 months, this project will in-clude the introduction to the orga-nisation of water management inFrance, the analysis of proceduresfor the transfer of our experienceacquired in terms of basin mana-gement as well as an analysis withrecommendations for the setting-up of new economic instrumentsfor financing water policy.The budget will total 73,000 Euros(480,000 FF.) for short experts’missions, a study tour in Franceand training courses in Estonia tobe carried out.

HUNGARYA twinning covenant, signed bythe Hungarian Ministry for the En-vironment and France in partner-ship with Austria, Finland andGermany, was approved by theCommission in May 1999. It willcover the areas of wastes, chemi-cal substances, air, water and in-dustrial hazards and will last 18months.The interventions in the water sec-tor involve the reviewing of theprocedure for issuing dischargepermits in accordance with the di-rective on hazardous substances,as well as the definition of a me-thod for setting up a water qualitymonitoring network and systemsfor the follow-up of the ecologicalquality of rivers. The budgetamounts to 57,000 Euros (375,000FF.) for carrying out short experts’missions.

POLANDThe twinning covenant benefitingthe Polish Ministry for the Envi-ronment covers the areas of water,air, wastes, environmental protec-tion, natural resources manage-ment and access to information.This 2-year twinning covenantwas approved by the Commissionin May 1999.France is the member State lea-ding the project in partnership with Germany and the UnitedKingdom.

Intervention in the water sector in-volves the adaptation of the mainDirectives, the analysis of the ins-titutional framework and methodsand procedures for applying them,particularly at the river basin le-vel, together with the preparationof a water management and deve-lopment plan and a monitoringand investment programme.The budget totals 1,020,000 Euros(6,700,000 FF.). This includes thelong-term secondment of an ex-pert for the duration of the project,a study tour in France, short ex-perts’ missions and trainingcourses in Poland.

ROMANIAThe Romanian Ministry of Water,Forestry and Environmental Pro-tection has retained the Frenchproposal for a twinning covenantin the water sector. The Internatio-nal Office for Water will lead this21-month project, which will in-volve the adaptation of the mainDirectives, the analysis of the ins-titutional framework, methods andprocedures for applying them, es-pecially at the river basin level,procedures for accessing informa-tion and training activities.The total budget amounts to600,000 Euros (3,900,000 FF.).

SLOVENIAThe Slovenian Ministry of Regio-nal Planning and the Environmentsigned a twinning covenant withAustria, covering the air and watersectors. France and Germany areinvolved in the project which isexpected to last a year.Interventions in the water sector,entrusted to the International Offi-ce for Water, will enable the defi-nition of procedures for adaptingthe draft Framework Directive, theanalysis of the institutional frame-work and the organisation of riverbasin management, the creation ofnew economic instruments, theformulation of procedures for ac-cessing information.The budget devoted to this sectoramounts to 150,000 Euros(985,000 FF.) and covers short ex-perts’ missions, seminars and trai-ning courses in Slovenia and a stu-dy tour in France.

Twinning agreements for adhesion to the European Union

PAGE 18




Due to its central location in theheart of the Danube basin, Hunga-ry has already developed some ve-ry efficient tools for water re-sources management, particularlyfor flood control.

With a view to joining the Euro-pean Union and applying the futu-re community framework directi-ve, the National Office for Wa-ter (OVF) of the Ministry ofTransport, Telecommunicationsand Water has started a co-ope-ration programme with IOWa-ter aiming to develop its Inte-grated Water Information Sys-tem (IWIS).

The first component of this pro-gramme is now completed and du-ring 8 months (between August

1998 and March 1999), the follo-wing was organised successively:

➥ A mission to study the exis-ting information systems inHungary,

➥ A study tour in France for 5Hungarian experts for their in-troduction to the French WaterData Network (RNDE),

➥ 4 missions of French specia-lists to Hungary.

The main results obtained were:

● A rich exchange of experienceson techniques for the integratedmanagement of water-relateddata with the adoption and thestart of the implementation, inHungary, of methods develo-ped in France by RNDE;

● The development of a firstconceptual model of IWIS’shydrological data by combi-ning data models from severalsystems which already existedin Hungary;

● The formulation of technicalterms of reference for the im-plementation of a “pilot pro-ject for the standardisation ofprocedures for the exchangeand management of data ongroundwater”. This projectwill enable the use of proce-dures for managing and ex-changing groundwater data inHungary with the possibility ofapplying them for the manage-ment of an international aqui-fer, shared with Romania.

HUNGARYTHE NATIONAL OFFICE FOR WATER - OVFAN INTEGRATED WATER INFORMATION SYSTEM

The Ministry for EnvironmentalProtection and Nuclear Safety hasentrusted the REDECO - IOWater- VERSEAU group with the deve-lopment of a strategy for impro-ving and protecting water qualityin the transboundary basin of theBug, Latorica and Uzh rivers, tri-butaries of the Vistula. This pro-ject, costing a total of 1.980 mil-lion Euros (12.900 MFF), is finan-ced by the European Commis-sion’s TACIS programme and in-volves the Ukraine, Poland, Bela-rus, and Slovakia.

The project, which applies theterms of the 1992 HelsinkiConvention, plans:

■ to develop a control and fol-low-up strategy for waterquality in the Western Bugbasin,

■ to apply the European direc-tives on water quality in thisbasin,

■ to define and promote analy-sis and technical controlprocedures in accordancewith the terms of these di-rectives,

■ to propose possible changesin these directives accordingto the results obtained.

The project is based on:

● the collection of existing dataregarding quality,

● the identification of the mainpoint sources of pollution,

● an assessment of non-pointsources of pollution,

It should enable the standardisa-tion of procedures in all the ripa-rian countries.

A basin information system, ga-thering the various data collectedboth at national and internationallevels, will be the tool for the stan-dardised, co-ordinated and per-manent follow-up of water qualityin order to control pollution.

The system will make it possibleto:

➥ facilitate the collection andprocessing of data related towater quality,

➥ develop the national informa-tion system in the Ukraine,

➥ use data exchange proceduresat international level betweenthe Vistula riparian countries.

A computer expert was secondedby IOWater to Kiev in April 1999for one year.

By alternating between trainingand experts’ missions in theUkraine and a seminar in France,with the support of the Rhone-Me-diterranean-Corsica Water Agen-cy, this pilot project, funded by theEuropean Commission’s TACISprogramme and the French Minis-try for Foreign Affairs, deals withintegrated water resources ma-nagement in the Youjny Bug ri-ver basin (Southern Bug), after afirst phase aiming to raise the awa-reness of executives of the Minis-try for Environmental Protectionand Nuclear Safety as well as oflocal representatives from com-munities and industry.This experience is likely to beused for other basins in the Ukrai-ne and for international basins such as that of the Dniestr or theDniepr.

The training courses have introdu-ced executives to the French insti-tutional arrangements and therefo-re made it possible to think abouttheir adaptation to the Ukrainiancontext.Draft legal texts are taking shapeand towards the end of the pro-gramme, proposals will be madeto the Ukrainian Soviet for forma-lising the Bug basin pilot systemwith the possibility of extending itto the whole country.The Vice-Minister in charge ofWater and Aquatic Ecosystems ishimself leading the formulation ofthis new water resources manage-ment policy, all the more so that,in March 1999, the Ukrainian Mi-nistry for the Environment gathe-red under its responsibility theState Committees for water re-sources, geology and mineral re-sources and hydrometeorology.

UKRAINE

Presentation of a conceptual model

CENTRAL EUROPE

MONITORING WATER QUALITYIN THE BUG, LATORICA AND UZH RIVERS

THE SOUTHERN BUG:TOWARDS A BASIN COMMITTEE





T he Training and Informa-tion Centre for DecisionMakers on water manage-

ment in the Czech Republic wascreated in the T.G. MasarykInstitute with the assistance ofthe International Office for Wa-ter.In 1997 and 1998, this project mo-bilised 220,000 Ecus (1.430MFF), co-funded by the CzechMinistry for the Environment, theFrench Ministry for Foreign Af-fairs and the European Commis-sion within the framework of thePhare-Partnership programme.

The project enabled:

● The setting-up of a ScientificCouncil made up of the repre-sentatives from the main sta-keholders in the water sectorand Czech training organisa-tions;

● The training of personnelfrom the T.G. Masaryk Ins-titute on the organisation andoperation of a training centre;

● Three training courses fortrainers carried out in theCzech Republic and in France,on:

➥ legislative, economic andtechnical aspects of wa-ter management as a re-sult of the application ofEuropean Directives,

➥ the necessary educatio-nal techniques for the de-velopment of professionalcontinuing training,

➥ methods for assessingtraining needs in waterutilities.

● Training modules to bedrawn up on the following to-pics:

➥ the development of mo-dern water managementmethods at the level of theadministration and localcommunities,

➥ economic and legislativetools for controlling pol-lution sources,

➥ legislation in the water sec-tor, modified and closely re-lated legal arrangements,

➥ management tools andpossibilities for fundingactions relative to drin-king water supply and sa-nitation, local and interna-tional resources.

● Two training courses, orga-nised by the Centre’s trai-ners in Prague and intendedfor staff of the administra-tion, and 2 seminars addres-sing elected officials gathe-red 115 participants.

The Centre is managed by Mrs.Jitka Spoustova and has its pre-mises in the Masaryk Institute inPrague (offices and a conferenceroom), and the necessary compu-ter and audio-visual equipment fororganising training courses on itspremises and in other towns in thecountry.

The catalogue of trainingcourses plans the organisationof 10 courses in 1999 intendedfor representatives of regionaland local administrations, basedon the modules developed wi-thin the project.

The Masaryk Institute’s documen-tation centre has access to the“EAUDOC” data base that can beconsulted either locally or on-linevia the Internet. A project is un-derway to examine the possibilityof the Masaryk Institute being partof the international AQUADOC-INTER network of Documenta-tion Centres in the Water Sector.

CZECH REPUBLICT.G. MASARYK: TRAINING AND INFORMATION CENTRE FOR DECISION MAKERS

The WAWAMAN project (Wa-ter and Wastewater Manage-ment) started in 1998 to helpCentral and Eastern Europeancountries prepare their execu-tives from public services andwater utilities for joining theEuropean Union.A consortium has been formed ga-thering organisations which areheavily involved in the training ofwater specialists, such as the T.G.Masaryk Institute (Czech Repu-blic), the National Committee ofWater Producers and Suppliers(Romania), the Engineering Eco-logy Consultative TechnicalCentre (Lithuania), the Centre forDistance Learning of the GdanskTechnical University (Poland), theFrench National Centre for Dis-tance Learning, the International

Office for Water, as well as theGdansk Water Foundation (Po-land) which, in addition, is mana-ging the project. The objective is to enable distan-ce training in the different coun-tries involved using the New In-formation and CommunicationTechnologies (NICT).The project is currently in its finalphase. The consortium has alreadywidely achieved the project’s ob-jectives, with:● The drawing up of a handbook

for quality assurance and theassociated procedures for thefollow-up of the project,

● An in-depth survey of the fu-ture users in the 4 Central andEastern European countriesinvolved in order to assess the

training needs of water specia-lists as well as the teachingmeans.

● The drafting of training mo-dules and their technical spe-cifications.

● The drawing-up and transla-tion (into English, Polish,Czech, Romanian and Lithua-nian) of five training modules,

● The creation of a virtual tele-matic training centre on wateron the Internet.

It is planned to “test” this telema-tic centre on target groups of trai-nees and then to promote it aftersome possible changes.

“WAWAMAN”FOR BETTER INTEGRATION INTO THE EUROPEAN UNION




W A W A M A N


1999 PROGRAMME

10 courses will deal with the followin topics:

Topic 1:The economic and legislativeinstruments for controlling pollution sources

● Legislation in the water sec-tor, its adaptation to the Eu-ropean Union’s regulations,

● Choice of water manage-ment techniques accordingto the town’s particular si-tuation, resources, treatmentplants, wastewater treatmentplants.

● Management tools and thepossibilities for financingwater supply and sanitation.

Topic 2:Techniques for environmentalprotection

● Flood prevention: The roleof State administrations andmunicipalities.


The setting-up in Gdansk ofthe Polish National Trai-ning Centre for Water

Professions, between 1994 and1998, required an amount of11.400 million French francs thatwas co-financed by the French(national and decentralised) andDanish co-operation, the PolishAuthorities and by the EuropeanCommunity’s “LIFE program-me for the Baltic”.The Gdanska Fundacja Wodywhich owns and manages theCentre, is a Foundation under Po-lish law, whose founder membersare the Polish Ministry for the En-vironment, Gdansk Voivoidship,City Hall and Regional Environ-ment Fund, as well as the Fresh-water Centre (Denmark), the Li-mousin Region and IOWater.The Centre has currently a full ti-me staff of seven.Located ul. Rycerska 9, right inthe centre of Gdansk city, the ad-ministrative headquarters have thenecessary offices and conferencerooms, computerised and audio-visual equipment and a documen-tation service that has access to the“EAUDOC” database that can beconsulted locally or on-line via theInternet.

A technical-educational unit, desi-gned in conformity with the prac-tical training principles that havebeen applied by the French Trai-ning Centre for Water Professions(CNFME) for many years in Li-moges-La Souterraine, enablesemployees and technicians ofPolish water utilities to attendcontinuous vocational trainingunder real working conditions.The building of the technical unit,situated on the premises of theWschöd wastewater treatmentplant (Gdansk city), is now com-pleted. It consists of various edu-

cational units, in particular a pilotwastewater treatment plant provi-ded by STEREAU company, a la-boratory for water analysis equip-ped with Polish material and aneducational drinking water supplysystem for the training on leak de-tection, using materials providedby Pont-à-Mousson company.Today, GFW offers a completerange of professional trainingcourses for staff at all hierarchicallevels of the municipalities, admi-nistrations and companies in allregions of Poland and the ripariancountries of the Baltic Sea (Balticcountries...). The training coursesare conducted in Polish and arecharged at cost price, in zlotis, tothe trainees’ employers.The first training programmes we-re organised in the second half of1995, and today enjoy a huge suc-cess, which is illustrated by in-creasing participation which hasrisen from 146 participants in1995, to 506 in 1996, 715 in 1997and 723 in 1998. Thirty one trai-ning courses were organised lastyear.In 1999, 30 training courses areplanned, with the aim of welco-ming more than 1,000 trainees.The GFW, together with IOWater,has been entrusted by the Euro-pean Commission with the imple-mentation of the international dis-tance learning programme, WA-WAMAN (Water and WastewaterManagement), which aims to trainexecutives from PHARE coun-tries for their integration into theEuropean Union. (see article onprevious page 20)

PARTICIPATION OF 30 FRENCH COMPANIES IN GFWSupply of pilot units and equipment, contribution to training courses, technologi-

cal information and supervision of trainees during study tours in FranceBAYARD - BSDV - BUREAU VERITAS - CGE - COMEF - DEGREMONT

E.M.O. - FRANCE ASSAINISSEMENT - GENERIKGUINARD CENTRIFUGATION - HYTEC - LEGRAND

LYONNAISE DES EAUX - MECAMIDI - METRAVIB FLUIDEO.T.V. - PERAX - PONT-A-MOUSSON - QUERV INFORMATIQUE

SAFEGE - SAUR - SADE - SCHLUMBERGER - SITE - SOCLASOFRESID - STEREAU - SYBRON - OPKAPI - TROUVAY & CAUVIN

POLAND Gdanska Fundacja WodyThe Polish Training Centre for Water Professions Training

coursesand seminars

organisedin 1999

Drinking water supply:● Automation of the operation

of drinking water supply sys-tems

● Microbiological analyses ofdrinking water

● Principles for operating wa-ter mains in rural areas

● Recent developments in wa-ter treatment plants

● Leaks in water supply sys-tems: detection, methods forcleaning and renovating thesystems.

Sanitation:● Operation of wastewater

treatment plants: problemsand practical solutions forwastewater and sludge mana-gement

● Optimisation of the operationof wastewater treatmentplants using the activatedsludge process - for techni-cians

● Optimisation of the operationof wastewater treatmentplants using the activatedsludge process - for operators

● Analysis of the constructionand operating costs of waste-water treatment plants

● Wastewater management inrural areas - legal, technicaland economic aspects

Water quality:● Use of quality procedures in

water analysis laboratories● The control role of a labora-

tory in the operating ofwastewater treatment plants

● Sanitary recommendationsfor swimming pools

● Covered swimming pools.Operational problems anddesign of a project

Legal and regulatory aspects:● Reform of the State adminis-

tration - sharing of respon-sibilities and missions regar-ding environmental protection

● Water conservation: regula-tions concerning the cons-truction of small wastewatertreatment plants

CENTRAL EUROPE

Training course for technicians from Polish municipalities

The STEREAU’s wastewater treatment pilot unit

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When they met in Parison 5th March 1997, theTurkish and French

Ministers for the Environmentagreed to launch a pilot projectaimed at the integrated manage-ment of water resources (infra-structures and pollutioncontrol) of the three Aegean ri-vers, GEDIZ, KUZEY EGE andMENDERES, in the Izmir area.This project, which particularlyaims to control pollution in IzmirBay in the Aegean Sea, is supervi-sed by a joint steering committeemade up of the Ministry for theEnvironment, DSI, Iller Bankasiand SPO, on the Turkish side, andof the Ministry for the Environ-ment, the French Embassy in Tur-key, the Rhone-Mediterranean-Corsica Water Agency and IOWa-ter, on the French side.he French Ministry of Economy, Fi-nance and Industry has agreed to payan amount of 3.200 million Frenchfrancs out of the FASEP Fund forthe first phase of this programmewhich was jointly implemented byIOWater, ANTEA, BRL Enginee-ring and SEURECA-SPACE, insupport of a technical field team ma-de up of the Turkish partners.For 18 months, IOWater has or-ganised and planned the actionsof many experts. Using existingcollected information, these ac-tions have made it possible to as-sess the state of this area, both inqualitative and quantitative terms,in order to “prove the feasibility of

integrated water resources mana-gement in the Aegean river ba-sins”, and to propose measures tomake further progress.In Izmir, on 22nd March 1999,World Water Day, the InternationalOffice for Water, on behalf of thegroup, ceremoniously submittedthe final conclusions of this firstphase to Mr. Firuz Demir YASA-MIS, the Turkish Under Secretaryof State for the Environment, in thepresence of Mr. Cyril BOUYEU-RE, head of the Trade Commissionof the French Embassy in Ankaraand Mr. Laurent CAPLAT, repre-sentative of the French Ministry forthe Environment.A detailed presentation of the do-cument was given to the joint PilotCommittee who approved theconclusions.In addition to an overall assess-ment and a detailed survey of thearea, the study of the first phaserecommended three main ac-tions corresponding to the termsof reference:● A priority action program-

me, with a budget of 40 mil-lion Euros, regroups 28 pro-jects, the most important ofwhich deal with water qualityprotection in the Gediz basin.In general terms, these actionsare to be undertaken in theshort term and involve urbanor industrial treatment plants.This priority action program-me was drawn up after the as-sessment of the ability to pay

of the different water usersin the region and the simula-tion of a financial system ba-sed on their contributions.

● A pilot institution for the Ge-diz basin: the study proposesthe creation - based on existingtexts regarding associations inTurkey - of a basin organisationapplying the principles of inte-grated management, users’ par-ticipation and the use of finan-cial incentives through the in-troduction of taxes on withdra-wals and discharges, so that thefunds collected can then beused for the preservation of wa-ter quality.

● A basin information system:it is broadly outlined in the as-sessment document whichdeals above all with the quali-ty of collected data, their com-prehensiveness, and the part-nership between the variousdata producers. In the mediumterm, this system could besupported by a local body such as the one proposed forthe Gediz basin,

Various missions (from November1997 to March 1999), carried out bythe Group’s experts, have made itpossible to establish precisely:

➥ The objectives to be setfor this system, based onan analysis of the localpartners’ expectations;

➥ The organisation of themanagement structure andthe necessary co-ordina-tion for the efficient ope-ration of this system;

➥ The identification of the in-formation to be collectedand the organisation of theinformation flow betweenpartners, while ensuringthat the quality of the dataexchanged is controlled.

A 3-year working programme hasbeen recommended, aiming at thecollection and optimum develop-ment of regional data necessaryfor integrated water resources ma-nagement.It is essential to get effective andreliable measurements and ana-lyses, thus ensuring an in-depthknowledge of the uses of abstrac-ted water and of discharges, car-ried out while using the same stan-dards whoever the network mana-ger may be.Taking into account the conclu-sions of the first phase of the co-operation programme, the stee-ring committee is now trying tomobilise the funds necessary forimplementing the Priority Ac-tion Programme, by calling uponEuro-Mediterranean (MEDA) andmultilateral funds, within the fra-mework of the METAP III Pro-gramme in particular.

Irrigation systems in the Gediz basin

IZMIR BAY

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P RTURKEYProtection of Izmir bay against pollution and integrated management of Aegean rivers




IZMIR CITY


T he Mexican TrainingCentre for Water Profes-sions will, by year 2000,

offer a range of practical trai-ning courses for continuing trai-ning, in all the technical areas ofdrinking water supply and sani-tation, in terms of both design offacilities and operation, mainte-nance and management of utili-ties.

In the long term, it will be possibleto train nearly 3,000 people fromall professional categories in thewater sector, employees from theNational Water Commission(CNA), from the water utilities ofthe Federal District of Mexico andlarge Mexican cities, from Mexi-can, French or other companies inthe sector, working in Mexico orin the neighbouring countries inCentral America (engineering,equipment, public works, watersupply, sanitation)...

It was during the visit to France,on 6th October 1997, of the Presi-dent of the United States of Mexi-co, Mr. Ernesto Zedillo, that theMexican Minister of Finance, Mr.Ortiz, signed an agreement withhis French counterpart, Mr. Domi-nique Strauss-Kahn, amounting to5.500 MFF, to finance this projectwith a grant for the technical andeducational engineering providedby IOWater.

This project is original as it in-volves the creation of a technicalunit, gathering all the equip-ment and material actually usedin Mexico in municipal waterutilities in order to develop acti-ve educational methods, settingthe trainees under real workingconditions.

The building of the Training Centrebegan in November 1998, on theoccasion of the visit to Mexico ofthe President of France, Mr.Jacques Chirac. It is located on thebank of Texcoco Lake, on the outs-kirts of Mexico City, close to the fu-ture wastewater treatment plantplanned for the Federal District.

The cost of the project is estima-ted at about 59.000 MFF, sharedbetween the National WaterCommission (CNA) on theMexican side and forty Frenchcompanies, gathered under theaegis of the French Embassy inMexico (PEE) around the Géné-rale-des-Eaux (Vivendi) and theLyonnaise-des-Eaux-Suez.

From next year, the TrainingCentre will be provided with adrinking water clarification unit, aworkstation with a treatment pro-cess by ozonisation, a laboratory,some pumping units, a pilot unitfor leak detection in drinking wa-ter supply systems, a unit for trai-ning on the laying of mains and, of

course, all devices necessary forautomation and remote control...,organised in eight educationalworkshops designed by IOWa-ter.

In a second phase, it will be equip-ped with a pilot wastewater treat-ment plant and sanitation-relatedunits.

It will be managed by a non-pro-fit making foundation underMexican law. The chairmanshipof its Board of Directors will beassumed by CNA and the vice-chairmanship by IOWater. Thelarge Mexican organisations in thewater sector will be their partnersand the financial resources of thecentre, when full completion isachieved, will come from the sa-le of its training programmes,invoiced at cost price and in pe-sos.

Given the rapid progress of thebuilding work, the training ofMexican trainers, led by the In-ternational Office for Water,should start in the first quarterof 2000 and the first trainingcourses could therefore be orga-nised in Texcoco, in Spanish, be-for the end of 2000.

List of the 42 French companiesproviding educational

equipment:

AGRIPPA FAST - A.K.AALPHACAN - AREAL

CHARLATTE - DEGREMONTENDRESS & HAUSER

FAURE Equipements S.A.FRIATEC

GENERALE DES EAUX - GIRPIHUOT - HYDROVIDEO

HYTEC - LEGRANDLEROY SOMER

LYONNAISE DES EAUXMETRAVIB

OLDHAM FRANCEOTV - PCM POMPES

PE INDUSTRIEPERAX - PRONAL

R & O DEPOLLUTIONRAMUS

RAUFOSS FRANCE S.A.SAHOWER - SAINTE LIZAIGNE

SALMSON - SAPPELSEPEREF - SERES

SEWERIN - SNFSODIMATE - SOFREL

TALBOTTRAILIGAZ

TROUVAY & CAUVINULTRAFLUX - YSM

This list is likely to change according to the interest shown

in the project by other manufacturers.

The construction site: the educational building

MEXICOThe Training Centre for Water Professions:building work is quickly progressing

Texcoco, the construction site viewed from outside

The future reception hall

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+ Documentary serviceenables its suscribers to access to180000 bibliographical references

available and to itslegal database

All Training Courses of the International

Office for Water

- N° 7 - 2ND SEMESTER 1999Publishing Director: Jean-François DONZIER

Production: Frédéric RANSONNETTE - E&di - Limoges - France - Tel.: +33 5 55 35 08 70Printer: GDS - Limoges - France

International Office for Water - 21, rue de Madrid - 75008 Paris - FranceTel.: +33 1 44 90 88 60 - Fax: +33 1 40 08 01 45 - E-mail: [email protected]

Web: http://www.iowater.org

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IOWater on the InternetIOWater on the Internet

n° 7 - 2nd semester 1999 - english version · n° 7 - 2nd semester 1999 - english version mexico...

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