International Drought Initiative (IDI)

Drought in Isfahan

International Hydrological ProgramDivision of Water Sciences

International Drought Initiative (IDI)

Homayoun Motiee (Ph.D.)Director , RCUWM - Tehran

Associate professor, PWUT University - Tehran

Ministry of EnergyI.R. Iran

IDI is a recent initiative proposed by Iran, submitted to the 35th session of the General Conference of UNESCO in 2009 proposing to establish the International Drought Initiative.

Introducing the International Drought Initiative (IDI) can be a starting point and driving force for a global movement under the supervision of UNESCO-IHP.

Introduction to International Drought Initiative - IDI

An Introduction to International Drought Initiative - IDI

The proposal of this initiative was at first prepared by RCUWM-Tehran on behalf of the Ministry of Energy, I.R. Iran,

It was delivered to Iranian national Commission for UNESCO for being presented in UNESCO General Conference

An IHP National Committee Meeting was organized with the presence of representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Japan, Oman, Kuwait and Tajikistan.

The draft proposal was put on the floor and reviewed by the attendees.

IHP Committees Meeting, Tehran

The International Drought Initiative (IDI) was approved by the 19th IHP Intergovernmental Council held in Paris, France July 2010.

The secretariat for this initiative is in Tehran, Iran.

19th IHP Intergovernmental council


• Droughts are symbols of water scarcity while floods are verses of too much water.

• In arid and semi-arid regions of the world such as the middle east, climate change has a greater impact on water resources and several parameters such as:

• - the increase in drought periods and intensities,

• - decrease in precipitation and increase in evaporation,

• Several parameters including drought intensification, period, area under coverage, considerable economic and social damages in long-term, has caused this phenomenon to be amongst one of the most fatal disasters.

Why Proposal of IDI?

Before coming to the objectives of this initiative, an introduction on drought situation in Iran is presented.

≤

Iran has an extreme drought situation in the world

Global Drought Map and Iran Situation

- 15% : with humid and semi humid conditions. - 20% : with Semi dry conditions, - 65% : with dry regions,Central and Southeast sections include huge desert areas.

Located in an Arid and Semi-Arid region.• Area: 1.648 million

km2

• Population: 70 million

• Average Rainfall: 250 mm

Introduction: General Information about Iran

8Blue line : mean annual precipitation of 250 mm

The country is divided in two parts”1- a semi dry area with a mean annual precip. > 250 mm2- a dry area with a mean annual precip. < 250 mm

Precipitating Distribution

.

- In the Northern and Western parts , most of water resources are surface water, while in the Center and East are Groundwater (Aquifers).

- These conditions lead to uneven distribution of population.

- More than 50% of the population live in the western and northern regions, while about 70% of water resources are located in these areas.

Comparison maps of Water Resources and Population

400 BCM • Average annual precipitation

130 BCM • Renewable water resources

270 BCM • Average annual evaporation & transpiration

92 BCM • Surface runoff

38 BCM • Seepage to alluvial aquifers

Annual Water Resources in Billion Cubic Meters (BCM)

Water Resources Potentials

At Present, Iran is facing water scarcity :

Main reasons :

• Fast growing rate of population,• Droughts and climate change• Over-use and Mismanagement of water resources • Demand of more water in different sectors• Decline of water quality• Delay in constructing new water projects

Present Situation

• One of the most dangerous hazards of nature in the middle east region including Iran is “Drought” which greatly affects water resources .

• A famous quote from King Syrus of Iran, 3000 years ago, shows high importance of droughts:

• “ I wish the country would be secure from two disasters : enemies , drought . “

• It is related to a deficiency of precipitation • over an extended period of time, usually for a season or more.

It also impacts : food production, life expectancy , economic performance of large regions .

Droughts in Iran

• The country has past one of the catastrophic droughts in the recent decade.

• It has severely affected the country, leaving over half the country's population vulnerable to food and water insecurity.

• In the period of fall 2010, the country past the worst period of drought in its history.

• The amount of precipitation during this time, has decreased to 70 % of its normal period of 40 years.

• According to the United Nations estimations the damages to agriculture and livestock are around $2.5 billion annually during drought periods.

Drought Condition in Iran

In recent years many rivers and lakes in Iran dried out particularly in summer due to deficit of precipitation and drought intensity.

Case Study IZayandeh Rood River, May 2011

Life running in Isfahan highly depends on Zayandehrood river. The historically city of Isfahan is located in the central part of Iran and it has a population of around 3 million. The river passes through the city providing water for its upstream and downstream area. A reservoir dam has been constructed with the aim of providing various requirements.

.


Due to drought intensity during the recent years, the water volume behind the dam has decreased annually and therefore sufficient amount of water is not released for permanently filling the river. Unfortunately as demonstrated in the photo, the city looses its beauty during summer.

.


During the recent years one of the most overwhelming damaging impacts of droughts on Iran’s water resources has been on Uromieh lake in the west north of Iran.

Uromieh Lake is the most saline lake in the world .

Case Study IIOromieh Lake

Basin Area: 51876 km2

Cultivable Area: 1300000 Ha Irrigated Area: 460000 Ha Rain fed Area: 840000 Ha

• The surface has now decreased to 1/3 and the volume has declined to ½.

• Water level is 2 meters under the normal depth.

• The normal volume of this lake is 30 BCM, while at present it holds only 15 BCM and estimations demonstrate that during the coming years by the decrease in rainfall and increase in evaporation, the destiny of this lake would be similar to Aral Sea basin in the Middle Asia.

Oromieh Water Basin

Significant drawdown in the lake’s water level

Increase in the lake’s water salinity

Appearance of salty released land and dispersion of salts by wind

Considerable decrease of the ecological conditions

Main problems and hazards threatening the sustainability of lake Oromieh

2010 2002 1995

•Experts believe this may have two main reasons:o70% of this is related to drought intensity and

climate changeo30% is related to human activities such as dam

construction on upstream rivers.

Satellite Images of Van Lake (Turkey ) and Oromieh Lake (Iran)

This critical situation in Iran and the region demonstrates that drought is an important issue highly affecting water resources management.

Hence dealing with this issue as a local phenomenon could not properly satisfy our needs.

Therefore, studying this natural disaster from the view point of regional and international cooperation could lead to a better understanding, and could contribute to mitigating its impacts.

IDI Objectives

Helping different countries specially developing and less developed countries to prepare and compile strategic and practical drought management plans.

Develop and build capacities in drought monitoring, mitigation, preparedness techniques and methodologies.

IDI Objectives

IDI Objectives

Surveying the current situation of drought management in selected countries in different aspects;

Surveying the plans and measures of international and regional governmental/non-governmental entities involved in drought management;

China - Drought


IDI Objectives

Holding international and regional events to exchange knowledge and experience related to different aspects of drought management;

Prepare and compile short, mid and long-term plans for IDI.

Supply financial, technical and logistic resources for IDI activities.

Shrinking Lake - Chad


• UNESCO-IHP• North American Drought Monitor• European Drought Centre (EDC)• Drought Information Centre (OIC)• Drought Coordination Centre

(DCC)• Drought Monitoring Centre for the

Greater Horn of Africa• Northeast Regional Climate Centre• Drought Management Centre for

Southeastern Europe• Monitoring Drought• Climate Prediction Centre (NOAA)• New York Drought Information• Drought Watch• Asian Disaster Reduction Centre

(ADRS)• Natural Hazards Centre• Drought Assistance website (Gov.

of Australia)

• Communicating with some active entities on working on drought around the world & requesting a comprehensive report of their activities and achievements

Recognizing International Drought Organizations

Most Important Activities, July 2010 – May 2011

Contacting managers of the following international organizations, inviting them to be a member of the IDI Executive Committee (EC) and receiving their willingness to cooperate. This resulted in receiving some nominations for the IDI- EC.

o International Research and Training Center Erosion and Sedimentation in China (IRTCES)

o Climatology and Remote Sensing Center of University of California (CHRS)

o World Metrological Organization (WMO)o The International Center for Water Hazards (ICHARM) -Japano United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN–

ISDR)

Correspondences with International Organization


Designing the preliminary flyer of IDI and submitting it to national and

international entities for their recommendations especially to

respected members of Iranian IHP

• Holding several coordinating sessions

• Holding several consultation meetings

• Preparing the draft road map, organization chart and work plan


• Establishing IDI Secretariat in Iran, hosted by RCUWM-Tehran

Designing and launching a website for IDI (

www.idi-drought.com)

Developing the IDI website on the basis of SharePoint

Designing the IDI logo

Forming the National Advisory Committee in close cooperation with RCUWM and other relevant

entities


http://www.idi-drought.com/

Management

Consultative Committee

Executive Committee

Planning, research and public relations affairs


Proposed Organization Chart for IDI

Preparing the IDI Introductory Booklet


o Workshop on Natural Water Disaster, Brazil, 2010o Training Workshop on Application of GIS and RS in Water

Resources Management, Oman, Dec. 2010.o International Training Workshop on Hydrology, Pakistan,

2010o Second International Istanbul Water Forum, May 2011o First National Conference on Drought & Climate Change,

June 2010o Iranian National Committee of IHP

Introducing IDI in Int. events of the Centre


Proposal for the establishment of an International Drought Initiative (IDI)

The Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Programme of UNESCO,

Welcoming the proposal submitted to the 35th session of UNESCO General

Conference by the Government of the I.R. of Iran which was received positively by UNESCO Member States and transmitted to the Intergovernmental Council of IHP for further consideration and decision; Noting that under the growing threat of water scarcity,

droughts may have different economic, social and environmental impacts depending on their intensity and duration, while their occurrence is not limited to a specific climatic and geographic region; Noting also that droughts usually affect vast regions with a

more widespread and extensive range of impacts that evolve over time and last for a longer period; Drawing attention to the fact that there is limited harmonized

effort among different concerned countries, universities, international organizations and UN agencies to coordinate and share experiences available on adaptation and mitigation of drought at regional as well as international levels; Recalling that the establishment of an International Drought

Initiative (IDI) as a global platform was very well received in the regional meeting of the IHP National Committees of West and Central Asia held in Tehran, Iran, in July 2009;

Recognizing the invaluable expertise and capacities available in the I.R. of Iran

and its efforts in addressing recurrent and severe droughts as a

common phenomena

Decides to establish the IDI within IHP as a long-term initiative through

which the research activities related to droughts as well as the

development of capacities to address such events will be designed,

coordinated and implemented; Invites the I.R. of Iran to host the

secretariat of IDI and provide the required

institutional and financial support towards the establishment and

continuity of this initiative; Invites the I.R. of Iran to discuss in further details the

activities of this initiative with the IHP Secretariat and the UNESCO network

of centres and institutes; Calls upon Member States to actively support the

initiative and contribute to its development and implementation to the highest extent of

their technical and financial available resources. Decides to inscribe in the agenda of the 20th session of

the IHP Council an item related to the development of the IDI within IHP.

Resolution XIX-12

Further communication with relevant International Entities Holding the executive committee of IDI Allocating specific budget for IDI activities Holding a meeting at the national/ international level with the aim

of introducing wing IDI Reviewing and completing the road map Recruiting active and qualified manpower based on the duties Reviewing and finalizing the organizational chart Holding an international conference on Drought Allocating a premises for IDI secretariat Organizing a consultation meeting

Future actions

RCUWM – Tehran Secretariat1st Floor, No. 1, Sharsaz Lane, Kargozar St., Dastgerdi Ave.,

Modaress Highway, Tehran, 1919839713

Tel: +98 21 22911027 - 8 Fax: +98 21 22911027

Email: [email protected] Web: www.rcuwm.org.ir

Thanks for your attention.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.rcuwm.org.ir/

Documents

International Drought Initiative (IDI)