Introduction
At the kind invitation of the Government of Ghana, the eleventh session of the WMO RA I (Africa) Working Group on Hydrology (WGH) was held in Accra, Ghana from 16 to 20 November 2015. Twenty-one participants attended it from eleven countries including a representative of the Global Water Partnership (GWP) and an invited former consultant of the Monitoring of Environment and Security in Africa (MESA) Programme.
General Information
The inaugural meeting of this WG was held in Accra, Ghana from 16 to 20 November 2015. There were four broad areas of activity considered at that meeting.
Hydrology and Water Resources RAI (WGH ) Members
| Dr. Ashraf Zakey (Chair) | Egyptian Meteorological Authority |
| Mr Agostinho Vilanculos | Eduardo Mondiane University & Mozambique Tech. University |
| Mr Moussa Kourouma | Direction Nationale de I’Hydrologie, Conakry, Guinee |
| Mr George Lugomela | Ministry of Water Maji Ubungo, Tanzania |
| Mr Ntonga Claude | Conseiller en Hydrlogie du Cameroun |
Broad programs and activities
- Basic systems in Hydrology: This programme will provides guidance to and support for NMHSs in the development and maintenance of their activities for the provision of data and products with an emphasis on quality assurance. The WG will support standardization and regulatory activities through issuance of operational manuals.
- Hydrological forecasting and water resources management: The WG will be involved in supporting application of hydrological modelling and forecasting techniques; risk assessment and management approaches to the risk reduction of water-related disasters; and advocacy and support for adopting Integrated Flood Management approaches; as well as a better understanding of the implications of climate variability and change on water resources management. All WMO flood forecasting initiatives such as Flash Flood Guidance System (FFGS), the Associated Program on Flood Management (APFM) and activities related to Extended Hydrological Prediction (EHP) and the development of Hydrological Outlooks are also supported under this program.
- Capacity building in Hydrology and Water Resources Management: This programme facilitates rational development and operation of NMHSs including staff training and education and creates public awareness of the importance of hydrological work and provision of support through technical cooperation activities. It will be involved in implements a capacity building strategy based on a demand-driven approach, cost effectiveness (short duration, train the trainers, roving seminars, etc.), promotion of distance learning activities and support to the establishment of new WMO RTCs with a special focus in hydrology and water resources and promotion of partnerships.
- Cooperation with other bodies and international organizations: This activity is aimed at increasing the effectiveness and visibility of activities of NMHSs through inter-organizational collaboration in the field of water. Under this activity WMO has working arrangements with UNESCO, UNEP, Global Water Partnership (GWP), AMCOW, IGAD, SADC, IAHR, IAHS and with Global Data Centres such as GRDC, IGRAC, HYDROLARE, as well as, with River Basin Organizations including Niger Basin Authority and Volta Basin Authority.
In view of the above programs, these specific activities will also be carried out:
- Assess the performance of the various prediction and forecasting tools including seasonal forecasts produced by Regional Climate Centres and select a set of tools for prediction and forecasting in Africa;
- Integrate statistical/ empirical rainfall and runoff methods for low and high flow estimation and train on application of these methodologies in flow estimations;
- Assess the adequacy of institutional framework for water resources management to implement International Water Resources Management (IWRM) and conduct a study of the socio-economic benefits of hydrological data;
- Analyses status of hydrological networks and make recommendations on strengthening /rehabilitation of hydrological networks; compile and elaborate a catalogue of information that responds to the needs of users towards generating funds to support hydrological monitoring activities; assist in organising training for NMHSs on operational hydrology activities; and compile, catalogue and analyse hydrological database software for use in the Region;
- Create a framework to improve access to climate change information and data and hydrological science, modelling and assessment tools; organise training for users of climate data; assess climate impact of each climate scenarios on water resources, surface runoff and precipitation over Africa using either statistical or dynamic downscaled tools; explore the possibility of linking climate outlooks to water resources availability; and organise training for climate and water resources experts to clarify their needs from each other for the purposes of climate feedback on the water sector.
The state of National Hydrological Services and Water Resources monitoring in Africa
- During the activities of the Elevens session the participants made presentations on the state of National Hydrological Services, their operations, the status of hydrometric monitoring networks and activities, the challenges faced by the Services, as well as, strategies to address these challenges. In all, ten presentations from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda were made. It emerged that all the countries are making strenuous efforts to keep their hydrometric networks functioning, albeit, with some challenges. The challenges identified by the countries include:
- Lack or dwindling funding from national and external sources;
- Difficulties in paying gauge readers and observers;
- Inadequate qualified and aging staff to handle field measurements, water quality and sediment monitoring, remote sensing, GIS applications, and installation and configuration of automatic hydrometric stations;
- Vandalism of installed field equipment by some local residents;
- Aging and inadequate equipment for field installations and measurements;
- Abandonment of hydrometric monitoring stations due to lack of resources;
- Absence of efficient hydrological information system for effective dissemination of hydrological information to end-users;
- Absence of collaboration with other national and international institutions involved in water resources assessment;
- Difficulty to convey to governments the importance of collecting data on water for socio-economic development and the well-being of society.
- In the view of participants, the above state of affairs has hampered effective water resources assessment in their countries for socio-economic development, coping with water-related disasters such as floods and droughts, and adaptation to impacts of climate variability and change. Having identified the challenges, the participants made suggestions to overcome these challenges as summarized below:
- Increased funding portfolio from both national and international sources;
- Recruitment and training of appropriate personnel for field installations and measurements, water quality and sediment monitoring, remote sensing, GIS applications, and installation and configuration of automatic hydrometric stations;
- Human capacity building at both professional and technician levels;
- Ensuring the payment of allowances to gauge readers and observers to ensure the quality of the data;
- Acquisition of hydrological database equipment, software and hydrological information systems to improve data processing and analysis, and strengthen data dissemination;
- Strengthening collaboration with other institutions at both national and international levels;
- Raise awareness of local residents against acts of vandalism;
- Strengthening capacities, including training of the personnel of the Services, to carry out water quality and sediment monitoring and analysis;
- Need to rationalize hydrometric networks and prioritize stations according to available resources while keeping in mind the minimum requirements for network densities;
- Need to take advantage of opportunities offered by HYCOS projects and other bilateral or multilateral funded projects on water; and
- WMO Support to National Hydrological Services for advocacy for with governments and authorities on the importance of collecting data on water resources for socio-economic development and well-being of society and the need to fund data collecting activities.
Recommendations
- NMHSs should make use of guidance materials developed by WMO under the Quality Management Framework-Hydrology (QMT-H) as well as the APFM tools developed by WMO and GWP to enhance service delivery.
- WMO should organize a course in RA I on groundwater network design, monitoring and analysis of groundwater time series data to contribute to integrated water resources management.
- Countries should take advantage of HYCOS projects and other bilateral and multi-lateral funding mechanisms for rehabilitation and operation .of hydrometric stations.
- WMO should partner with UNESCO to revive the UNESCO training course for hydrological technicians.
- WMO should intensify its advocacy role with governments and development partners to provide funds for data collection and water resources assessment activities.
- Having been informed of the WMO Hydrological Observing System (WHOS), the session requested CHy to circulate a letter to NMHSs to solicit contribution of data to WHOS.
Final Report