Product category:
Hydrometry, Environment and Floods
News Release from: SonTek/YSI
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 21 February 2007
Hydrology discussions at SonTek/YSI
forum
From the transparent rivers of Nepal to the gritty flows of the Australian outback, multi-disciplined areas of hydrology were represented at the SonTek/YSI 2007 International Water Resources Forum
From the transparent rivers of Nepal to the gritty flows of the Australian outback, multi-disciplined areas of hydrology were represented at the SonTek/YSI 2007 International Water Resources Forum, held from 24-26 January in Spain Before an attentive audience of over 100 colleagues in the scientific community, nearly three dozen non-partisan users of acoustic Doppler technology presented on the challenges facing their respective geographies, and in many cases, identified a common thread when it comes to finding the right technological "fit" for measuring water flow in complex and challenging outdoor conditions
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 27 Feb 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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According to SonTek/YSI, it doesn't matter where you're from, water issues are on the forefront of the global mind.
"There was an extremely high level of passion and energy amongst all the delegates" said Global Business Director, Chris Ward.
"There is a sense of urgency that changes need to be made in many monitoring practices.
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This forum enabled a mechanism for users to compare experiences and facilitate the change process" said Ward.
While many of the presentations highlighted growing developments in respective geographies, it was the address of Keynote Speaker and retired Senior Hydrologist for the UK Environment Agency, Dr Reginald Herschy, that drew sober attention to what he has termed a "shocking state of affairs" in regards to the decline in world water resource monitoring over the past 10 years.
Dr Herschy, who is considered one of the most influential contributors to the science of hydrology in the past 30 years, said a decline in the investment into Hydrometric monitoring has left huge gaps in data collected in such (critical) areas such as Africa, China, Russia and India.
"In fact, it is a shocking state of affairs when many countries are reported to be less able to assess their water resources than they were 20 years ago.
And this is in spite of the fact that demand for water is rising more rapidly than at any time in history" said Herschy.
He also spoke on the topic of international water rights and the difficulties of managing trans-boundary rivers, especially where water scarcity is an issue for countries located downstream.
"Measurement of river flow to international standards in these circumstances is crucial to international agreements.
However it is clear that there are not sufficient streamflow stations to meet these demands" said Herschy.
On the topic of global warming, Herschy said without long term, reliable streamflow and rainfall benchmarks available, climate changes are difficult to quantify.
"The effect of possible global warming and consequent climate change on the components of the water cycle is not yet proven ...
an improved understanding of this variable is essential if signals associated with global warming are to be detected and quantified" said Herschy.
Additional organizations represented at the conference include the Catalan Water Agency, the US Geological Survey, the South Africa Dept of Water Affairs, the Environmental Agency of Italy, Graz University (Austria), the Thailand Royal Irrigation Dept, the Lower Colorado River Authority (US), the Izmir Institute of Technology (Turkey) and more.
A copy of Dr Herschy's paper, as well as papers shared by other presenters can be requested through SonTek/YSI.
A complete list of presentation topics can be found on the SonTek/YSI website.
The forum was sponsored in part by Qualitas Instruments of Spain.
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