Asian Water Cycle Symposium 2016 (AWCS2016) - Day 2

Day 2 of the Asian Water Cycle Symposium began with a drought session featuring former ICHARM member Dr. Ali Chavoshian, who is now Director of the RCUWM in Iran. Given the high number of people affected by droughts, an Integrated Drought Monitoring/Prediction System in West and Central Asia is promoted. This system will:

1. Providing drought information based on multiple indicators and data sources including satellite observations and local ground-based data.
2. Providing multi-model multi-index seasonal drought prediction information for the region.  
3. Develop a user-friendly system for dissemination of the Drought information. 

PhD student Yohei Sawada from the Tokyo University introduced a monitoring system including the Leaf Area Index.

News in Japan - March

GEJET
Four years on from the Tsunami
Rebuilding trust after the Fukushima disaster
Transfer of tainted Fukushima soil starts
Aftershocks continue 4 years after giant quake There were more than 8,100 aftershocks in the first year after the quake. This fell to about 1,600 by the second year, and about 1,000 by the third. 
Japan marks 4th anniversary of 3/11 disaster The government says nearly 230,000 people were still living in temporary housing as of February. It plans to build about 30,000 public housing units, but only 19 percent of them have been completed so far.
Public housing for Fukushima facing delays Fukushima Prefecture plans to build around 2,700 units for people affected by the earthquake and tsunami. 4,900 are planned for those affected by the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. But only 44 percent of the units for quake and tsunami victims were ready for occupancy at the end of February. Only 5 percent has been completed for the nuclear evacuees. Prefectural officials say they are having difficulty securing land to build the housing. They say there is also a shortage of construction workers amid the growth in reconstruction-related demands. The officials say it will take until 2018 or later to finish building all the units for the nuclear accident refugees.
The ongoing fallout from Japan’s nuclear meltdown Scientists are saying there is a 70 per cent chance that a magnitude 7.0 or higher quake will hit Tokyo by 2016 and a 98 per cent chance it will hit in the next 30 years. As reminder: Tokyo 'has 70% chance of powerful earthquake within four years' The earthquake research institute at Tokyo University said that in the worst case, a quake of magnitude 7 would hit the southern part of metropolitan Tokyo by 2016, while the chances of a similar disaster occurring within 30 years are as high as 98%. The government, by contrast, estimates the possibility of an earthquake that size striking the capital at 70% in the next three decades.

Japan

Shimizu Corp. unveils advanced earthquake lab

Netherlands

Dutch minister Schultz chair World Bank Advisory Board of Global Water Practice

Dutch government establishes response team to advise on water emergency situations

USA
Flood and drought risk to cities on rise even with no climate change (USA)

Other

India's "smart cities" would be stupid without disaster strategy

Youth-led disaster alerts protect Sri Lankan tsunami village

Flooding in Madagascar's capital kills 14, uproots thousands

Mekong Delta Plan Vietnam (WUR, Deltares) 

How rivers creep, flow to shape landscapes over time

Predicting the extent of flash flooding

Rapid coastal population growth may leave many exposed to sea-level rise

Ten-year review finds 87% of disasters climate-related
Aqueduct Global Flood Analyzer

Vulnerable people
Japanese women at a crossroads The number of married women in their 20s who think women should stay at home and focus on housework has risen from 35.7% in 2003 to 41.6% in 2013 Two thirds of them think mothers shouldn't be back at work until the children are three years old, and about the same percentage of women give up their jobs after having their first child.

News in Japan - January

Japan:
20 years after Kobe quake, world rethinks disaster risk Earthquakes expose economic vulnerability to disaster events like no other natural hazard, with the possible exception of recurring extensive floods. They also demonstrate the futility of trying to implement building codes without the buy-in of the private sector. The private sector is responsible for 70 to 85 percent of overall investment in most economies.  

USA:
Going with the flow: Is river basin management misguided?
Rescuing farmland after a flood

Other:
Pakistan's coastal villagers retreat as seas gobble land
Greenland Ice: The warmer it gets the faster it melts
Better dam planning strategies
Long list of sustainable development goals likely to stay, UNDP says
Russia's forests overlooked in climate change fight

China sets 2020 "artificial weather" target to combat water shortages

Malawi floods raise fears of cholera outbreak, poor harvest
Thousands stranded in Malawi as floods trigger "slow tsunami"

More rains, more deaths as floods across southern Africa set to worsen Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world with a population of 16 million, has been hardest hit, with at least 176 confirmed dead and 121,000 displaced.
States, donors must do more to tackle rising disaster risk - UN According to a 2013 report from the London-based Overseas Development Institute, the international community spent $13.5 billion on reducing the risk of damage from disasters in the past two decades - just 40 cents for every $100 of aid.
Toward Resilience: A Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation

IFAD grant for flood-based farming in Africa and Asia

Gates foundation sees huge gains against disease, poverty by 2030

Africa can end hunger by 2025 with effective policies - FAO official

Mozambique says death toll rises after heavy flooding

Oysters and magroves protect Bangladesh against floods (Dutch)

Board game puts new spin on competitive land-use dynamics

Published paper

The journal Water International (since 1975) has published my article titled "Transboundary water law and vulnerable people: legal interpretations of the ‘equitable use’ principle". This could be the focus of a future postdoc.

Abstract

Vulnerable people require additional measures to ensure their water capabilities, as they have certain characteristics making them more vulnerable than others. As pointed out by recent studies, transboundary water access laws and policies do not sufficiently address the needs of vulnerable people. The prevailing legal arrangements often only address extrinsic vulnerability and forgo focusing on intrinsic vulnerability, which creates the need for different transboundary water legislation. This paper shows how international treaties can address the right to certain water capabilities by considering not merely the current but also future global populations into the creation of their transboundary agreements.

DOI:10.1080/02508060.2014.951827

Volume 39, Issue 5, 2014, pages 743-754
Received: 12 May 2014

Accepted: 30 Jul 2014

Published online: 02 Sep 2014
2013 Impact Factor: 0.639

International River Basins

The UN Watercourses Convention User's Guide (2012) contains maps of all the international river basins in the world. These show where transboundary agreements exist and where they are yet to be made. Most of the information comes from Oregon State (2009).
What we really need is a global organization focused on data management, monitoring the status of international agreements on for instance river basins, but also flood occurrences and other disasters would be a welcome addition. We have several UN organizations that might be suited for this task; and choosing one sole entity may be tricky.
Another interesting point of the user guide is that three countries voted against the convention in 1997: Burundi, China and Turkey. While Turkey had clear reservations against the ambiguous descriptions of equitable and reasonable use, what constitutes no harm, and how to settle international disputes while guaranteeing sovereignty; it was not clear why the other two countries voted against the convention.

News in Japan - February

GEJET

1,415 sue builders of Fukushima nuclear plant

Nuclear regulator raps TEPCO over Fukushima radiation readings

TEPCO took months to release record strontium readings at Fukushima

TEPCO says 100 tons of tainted water leaked at Fukushima

After the Tsunami, at the 'Women’s River'

(UPDATED) (Now They Tell Us) Highly Radioactive Pieces Found in Naraha-Machi in June/July 2013 Came from #Fukushima I NPP, TEPCO Now Says

Tsunami debris disposal on schedule for Miyagi, Iwate

Gov't to lift evacuation order for Fukushima town on April 1

Post-tsunami deaths due to stress, illness outnumber disaster toll in Fukushima Data compiled by officials and police show that almost three years after the huge waves smashed ashore, 1,656 people living in Fukushima Prefecture have died from stress and other illnesses related to the disaster, compared with 1,607 who were killed in the initial calamity. “The biggest problem is the fact that people have been living in temporary conditions for so long,” Hiroyuki Harada, a Fukushima official dealing with victim assistance, told AFP. “People have gone through dramatic changes of their environment. As a result, people who would not have died are dying,” he said.

Japan
Evacuation plan prepared for Mt. Fuji eruption The evacuation plan calls for 750,000 people leaving their homes in 14 municipalities in Shizuoka and Yamanashi due to lava and pyroclastic flows, as indicated in March 2013. In addition, 470,000 people, mainly in Kanagawa, would need to evacuate because of volcanic ash in the air, according to the latest plan.
Snowstorm leaves 19 dead; 6,900 trapped in small communities
Heavy Snowfall in Kanto That Has Killed 15 So Far Is Clearly Not Disastrous Enough for Prime Minister Abe
Trying to protect themselves from a sudden heavy rain, thunder, tornado!" Disaster prevention awareness video
Disaster prevention is top priority, Tokyo governor assures IOC

USA
Los Angeles' vulnerability to future sea level rise projected

Other areas
Climate change threatens to cause trillions in damage to world's coastal regions if they do not adapt to sea-level rise
Flood waters 'could last for months'
UK Monthly water situation report Environmental Agency
UK storms: Mapping the floods
Extreme weather images in the media cause fear and disengagement with climate change
Flooding kills nearly 70 in Burundi
Outsmarting nature during disasters: Instead of winging it, planners need to think carefully about costs and benefits
Ant Brood Function as Life Preservers during Floods
Massive Open Online Course in Emergency Management

Vulnerable people
Cancer 'tidal wave' on horizon, warns WHO
64% think it's difficult to raise children in Japan

In U.S., 14% of Those Aged 24 to 34 Are Living With Parents

Resilience: A Lesson From Sochi

Netherlands ceases aid to Uganda due to anti gay law (Dutch)

Dutch Risk Reduction Team

The Dutch water sector, traditional experts in prevention measures such as infrastructure levees, modifying river courses and movable weirs, now has expanded into recovery with the Risk Reduction Team.

It is comprised of a team of experts advising governments on issues related to both water quantity and quality. Beyond technological advice, they also offer advice on urban planning policies, public private cooperation and attracting funding. All solutions are said to be sustainable in the long term.

The team is activated if a country is facing or has just suffered a disaster, and the embassy or central government has requested the Dutch government for aid. There is a map showing the global water projects established so far, with project details.

UN online discussion on legal rights to water and sanitation

The UN has an interactive discussion online about the legal rights to water and sanitation. It is running from January 29 to March 10.

Anyone with internet access can join the discussion on the forum, read the related legal documentation provided on the website and even add their own information and polls. The forum is moderated by Virginia Roof (Adviser on human rights to water and sanitation) and Inga Winkler (Legal adviser on human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation). Let's all share our ideas on how we can ensure everyone has water access!

Environmental Ethics

Today was the first of 2 special lectures on Environmental Ethics, from the Environmental Diplomatic Leader program at Tsukuba University. Open to all without registration, I joined to learn more about ethical considerations in environmental policy.

The main question of environmental ethics is, given the facts, should we act, and then, what should we do?

Also important is how to answer these questions. Science and technology often refer to risk assessment or cost/benefit analysis to determine policies. This leads to the main conflict: who decides what is acceptable risk, and are all risks equal? Many environmental issues are often only handled by technological scientists, but those bearing the risks are often not included in decisions.

Often in global politics we are confronted with the right of the strongest, 'justice is the advantage of the stronger', or 'might is right'. Ethically, we should respect the dignity of each individual and consider ourselves better than other people. How can this practically lead to policies that we all can agree on, if we are to respect everyone's values? Theoretically a free market might lead to everyone's preferences being satisfied, but the rights of minorities cannot be protected without additional measures.

The lecture covered several historic streams of thoughts and explored modern day questions, such as 'does it make sense to talk about human rights of future generations who do not yet exist, and what about animals?' Should we then look at individual animals, or at species as a whole? Concerning climate change, the big question was, if we don't know the exact consequences, what should we do? Some people argue to act on the side of caution, while others say, we don't know what will happen so why do anything at all?

In my opinion, having rights also includes a responsibility for safeguarding those rights for yourself and the world. This links to the new Future Earth initiative: "Future Earth is a new 10-year international research initiative that will develop the knowledge for responding effectively to the risks and opportunities of global environmental change and for supporting transformation towards global sustainability in the coming decades. Future Earth will mobilize thousands of scientists while strengthening partnerships with policy-makers and other stakeholders to provide sustainability options and solutions in the wake of Rio+20."  Sounds interesting? Sign up to be on their committee before March 14 and actively participate in the future of the planet.

International Development Policy

All the material for the course 'international development policy' is available at this website. As disaster risk management, from prevention to recovery, is often dependent on development aid, it is important to understand the links and integration with development. The reading material includes in depth explanations of the working of developmental aid in both Africa and Asia.

Course description:

This course provides students with an in-depth understanding of international development policy through reading and discussing recent papers and reports, with special attention to global transformation. The course is offered through a mix of lectures and workshops. Students will be exposed to a range of international development topics and contemporary policy debates. The East Asian perspectives of aid and development will also be introduced.

International development has undergone significant changes over the last decades with the progress of globalization. The East Asian economies have achieved rapid growth with poverty reduction, while fragile states continue to struggle with the challenges of nation building. Development agenda have become increasingly complex, and new actors such as emerging donors, civil society, and the business community, are now important players in development. Such global transformation presents challenges to the traditional approach to development and aid.

The first few lectures will give an overview of the evolution of international development policy and development cooperation. Workshops include student presentations and discussions. At each class, one or two students will present the main points of pre-assigned policy-related reports or papers and share his/her perspectives, based on the assigned readings. In some lectures, guest speakers with first-hand experience of development cooperation and policymaking may be invited to interact with students.

Some food for thought (or hippos)

"Despite the government establishing resettlement areas and providing construction material, people who had lived in the risk zones preferred to return there after the flood waters receded because these areas had fertile soils, their ancestors were buried there and rituals took place in these localities. Earlier studies in the Rufiji River delta of Tanzania during the period of government-mandated resettlement found that people had difficulty farming in their new environment and would return to distant farms, and they suffered economic loss because at night the unguarded farms were ravaged by hippos."

- Chapter 21, Floods, by Hanna Schmuck, page 252 in the Handbook of Hazards and Disaster Risk Reduction (2012)

The Netherlands becomes Japan!

And Japan surprisingly becomes Sudan, when population sizes are linked to country sizes.

News - November

As seen in the ANWB magazine Kampioen:

• A triangular design from Jean Paul de Garde to solve space issues by combining ditches with bike paths:

The magazine De Ingenieur has a full length article about the redesigning of the Dutch Delta area near Rotterdam by visiting Harvard students, winning the Delta competition organised by engineering agency Royal Haskoning. More>>>

The magazine H2O reports:

• The new government:
  • The new government has decided that water boards will remain to exist.
  • Water board officials will be elected by city councils, rather than voted by the public.
  • All the current plans to finish deferred maintenance will also be executed to guarantee safety.
  • Future plans made by the Delta commission are under review.

• The Water Education day organised by UNESCO-IHE:

Professor Thea Hilhorst from Wageningen university showed an example of cultural differences. In Mozambique, earning money is often spatially divided but polygamy might prove a solution to climate change. A woman in the flood plains might provide food during droughts while a second woman in the hills provides during the wet season.

• The Deltaconference in Rotterdam:

Prince Willem van Oranje emphasized that we could be proud to have no flood victims since the storm surge of 1953, but now was the time to keep investing in a safe future. The costs of another flood, that might occur in 50 or 60 years, might not be affordable if we neglect this.

• A new book:

'Gebiedsontwikkeling in woelig water', a water governance book by Arwin van Buuren and others. More>>>

• New secretary of state for Infrastructure and environment promises clarity

At the first National Delta Conference the secretary of state for the new ministry of Infrastructure and Environment promised that water safety is an important building stone of the water policies of the current government. This year it would be made clear which investments are necessary to guarantee the safety in the Netherlands in the future. This year it will be decided if the norms for safety are to be adjusted and what this will cost. The current proposed funds advised by the Delta Act are 1 billion euro, to be spent from 2022 onwards.

Video of the prince (water ambassador) and more here.

• Ministries and provinces are determined to plan the Main Ecological Structure (Ecologische HoofdStructuur)

Within now 9 months it should become clear what the Main Ecological Structure (EHS) will look like in 2018. It was originally designed as a series of connected natural areas, but problems have risen with buying all of the envisioned connecting areas. More >>>

• New regulations for floating houses

The ministry of Traffic, Spatial planning and the Environment has released a document explaining all the regulations concerning floating houses, aimed at developers, builders and municipal plan testers.

Download it here.