IVth MINISTERIAL EURO-MEDITERRANEAN WATER CONFERENCE
Mediterranean Water Strategy
Union for the Mediterranean
Non formal open Workshop
Water in the Mediterranean countries: Problems and solutions
Monday April 12, 2010
Workshop Minutes
Strategic analysis tool and prospective for the balance demand/water resources
Jean-Claude Vial, Water and Biodiversity Assistant Director, Ministry of Ecology, Energy and Sustainable Development of the sea, France (intervention)
« The Ministerial conference’s objective is to adopt the Mediterranean strategy and will examine the methods of implementation on regional and countries’ level. This implementation will reply on the different users’ experiences as well as on methods and tools of different natures that have been proven.
Some of these tools already exist; some others have to be built or adopted. Some are practical or technical vocations, others are more conceptual. Some have a free access, others are paid. Then, there is a big diversity.
The tool to be presented this morning, STRATEAU, falls into the category of decision making assistance tools intended for the different territory decision makers, administrations, basin bodies, local and regional authorities for example.
Its major objective is to help decision makers using the available data base relative to the territorial pressures, available demands and resources, in order to carry out arbitrations regarding structural usages and actions to be implemented. This tool could then meet the short term objectives and also mainly define long term visions to build political informed strategies.
This work, engaged since one year, has associated different countries and actors on the tool from the North and the South of the Mediterranean: Lebanon, Italy, Morocco, and France.
Vocational STRATEAUhas entered to tools’ box which will be linked to Mediterranean Water Strategy and to its associated action plan.
The access to this tool will be free, knowing that each country or actor could use it confidentially and according to its proper data base. I invite all interested actors to get associated in the development of this tool in order to allow better answering to the diversified situations existing in the water sector and in the UpM frame.
Finally, I formulate the wish that STRATEAU tool efficiently contributes to the Mediterranean Water Strategy implementation and to the realization of concrete projects joining the sustainable development frame. »
Fadi COMAIR, General Director of Hydraulic and Electrical Resources, Ministry of Energy and Water, Lebanon (intervention)
« Dear colleagues, Mediterranean water Directors, dear experts.
First of all I would like to thank our Spanish colleagues from the Ministry of water for organizing this meeting in the objective of presenting STRATEAU the tool of strategic analysis.
This tool of strategic analysis and perspective on resources sheets in the Mediterranean, mainly for South-West countries where resources are becoming more and more rare, and it is an essential tool to validate water Mediterranean strategy and to also validate the projects to be discussed in what follows. It will be a tool to offer political decision makers and our countries choices for hydraulic infrastructures in the frame hydrogeographic basins management.
This hydrogeographic basin management is getting more and more recognized. It is recognized in our countries as well as in the Northern countries.
I would really want to salute UpM initiative, as well as that of Water Embassy being the major actors and having the priority in the elaboration of this tool. Thank you. »
Walter Mazzitti, Consultant of the Ministry of Environment, Territories and Sea, Italy
President of SEMIDE
« SEMIDE has been chosen by the Water Embassy as the partner to have a very important work since it is a rare system helping us to collect, diffuse and model information. I should then thank Mrs. Jeannette Prétot, President of Water Embassy.
In November 2009, we signed a partnership agreement…
We are happy bringing our contribution to this tool which, in my point of view, will allow the anticipation of the strategy and favoring the decision».
Pascal Berteaud, former Director of water, Vice President of Water Embassy, France (intervention)
« Water Embassy is an NGO which objective is to mobilize students towards water projects. In the occasion of World Water Forum of Istanbul, we have mobilized many students towards projects in Morocco, Syria and Lebanon… But we have also rapidly came up against the fact that at the end we do not possess any tool allowing the effective exposure of the demand and the offer, which will allow to simply evaluate the effect of possible occurring actions on the demand or on the resource…
We have tried to work on building a simple tool, according to a macro scale of a watershed being a decision assisting tool for the authorities implementing policies: What is the effect of a policy aiming at updating irrigation, what is the effect of a policy in terms of resource’s dynamic management.
The idea is to have a tool at the disposal of decision makers being filled with data disposing and not necessarily 15 years acquisition data before filling it in order to allow the enlighten of the decision makers’ choice. »
Nicolas Houdant, Director of Energies Demain, France, does the technical presentation of STRATEAU, model designated for governance help
He announces that the tool could be officially available on UpM and Water Embassy websites starting April 15, 2010.
It indicates that future users should foresee a period of 3 months for a project use.
Abdeslam-Zihad, Director of Water Planning and Management, State Secretariat charged of Water and Environment, Morocco
He presents water situation at Morocco: resources, usages, previsions…
Gilles Pennequin, Responsible of territorial development and Assistant Responsible of Durable development, United Mission Union for the Mediterranean, France
After specifying STRAT.WATER tool interest, he invites the participants to express on the implementation of this tool in the Mediterranean countries related to the Mediterranean water Strategy.
The conflict is open by Jeannette Prétot who reminded that STRATEAU is a project that has been initiated by Water Embassy following to its participation in the Istanbul Forum, and that is a Mediterranean Union for young water ambassadors’ (UMJAE) project. This tool should be feed by the students after Ministries validation, forming part of greeting about twenty students in Lebanon this summer.
The presentation has been very technical but it recalls that STRATEAU tool is first of all for human service. It should bring to politician decision makers the experts for decisions.
Many interventions follow from the hall:
- Interest for the tool has been presented, but how to have access and how to get informed? (Mauritania)
Jeannette Prétot specified that Water Embassy wants to mobilize universities (students and teachers) making them work with decision makers. That’s why it has set up partnerships with REMOB, SEMIDE and RMEI.
Model use is free; it is accessible via Water Embassy and UpM website.
Fadi Comair specified that Lebanon has been actively engaged since STRATEAU elaboration. Modeling has started. Lebanon will greet 20 students from Mediterranean countries to work on the data base.
- Very interesting, in addition to the technical dimension, appreciating the social and economical dimension of the tool. How to integrate universities? (Morocco)
Pascal Berteaud insists on the countries’ interest to mobilize universities. Social and economical dimension is very important to define usages in rural zones same as in urban zones.
- The tool is utilized by the watershed or it could be utilized on national level to define politics? (Algeria)
STRATEAU tool allows working on different levels: countries, regions, administration, on communal or parcel scale to measure for example resources’ constraints. All depend of data level. The model adapts to data and could be refined to more specific data with time.
We should start with a large vision to foresee the studies. This model could be also utilized by transboundary basins.
Gilles Pennequin insists on the fact that this tool replies to all scales. Here is the interest of developing it all over the Mediterranean territory.
- Does the model allow relations between surface water and groundwater?
Nicolas Houdant specified that STRATEAU allows managing ground and surface resources and their interferences (runoff…).
In conclusion, Fadi Comair recalls that all Mediterranean countries have been engaged since 2008 to succeed the mission in adopting the water Mediterranean strategy. That’s why we should know how to choose the projects, thing allowed by STRATEAU tool.
Lebanon has been financially engaged in designing STRATEAU and for its utilization for Lebanon and for developing it for the transboundary and the Mediterranean border.
He invites all participants to develop STRATEAU for peace and cooperation in the Mediterranean basin.