EWRI and ASCE Attend the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City

Thousands of engineers and planners from Mexico also participated in the event, including this group from San Luis Potosi that EWRI/ASCE member Mark Killgore met at the Forum.

The World Water Forum kicked off its 8-day program on Wednesday, March 15 with the theme “Local Actions for a Global Challenge”. The Forum included five framework themes: water for growth and development; implementing integrated water resources management (IWRM); water supply and sanitation for all; water management for food and the environment; and risk management. About 20,000 people attended the World Water Forum. There was a massive water fair and expo where several nations highlighted their latest technological advances in the field of water and wastewater management. Companies, professional associations and NGOs also hosted exhibits. The Forum’s Keynote address was presented by Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan and focused on the history of water transport in Tokyo. He outlined the development of several engineering solutions and the subsequent application in modern water infrastructure projects.

The Forum concluded on Wednesday, March 22 and featured a Ministerial Declaration signed by 148 participants that reinforced the importance of water and its linkages to sustainable development and poverty reduction. The declaration included over 13 points and is available on the web at http://www.worldwaterforum4.org.mx

Daene McKinney presented his local action on a U.S. Mexico Binational Water Information Database.

EWRI’s session on shared vision modeling tools under the IWRM framework was co-sponsored by the Mexican Water Technology Institute (IMTA) and Danish Hydraulics Institute (DHI) and was very well attended – drawing close to 200 people. Daene McKinney, of the University of Texas at Austin, presented the work of his team of a Binational Water Management Information System for the Rio Bravo/Grande Basin that included both Mexican and American data. Hugo Loaiciga, of UC Santa Barbara, served as a panelist and shared his thoughts on the development of models over the years and how despite many advances there was still room for improvement in capturing maxima and minima.

Several Committee members gave short courses on a variety of topics. The continuing education program was conducted under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institute and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Joe Dellapenna, of Villanova University, conducted courses on “The Berlin Rules” and “The ASCE Model Water Codes”. David Watkins and Kate Berry gave a workshop on “Designing Water Resources Education Programs for the Millennium Development Goals”. Mark Killgore gave a course entitled “The Development of Transboundary Water Quality Management Plans”.

Several other parallel activities also took place.  Our Governing Board met on Saturday, March 18th in Mexico City and board members toured the forum. ASCE’s President, Dennis Martenson, participated in a session titled Clean Drinking Water for All. This session was organized by the EPA Office of International Affairs and our Mexican sister civil engineering society, the Federacion de Colegios de Ingenieros Civiles de la Republica Mexicana (FECIC). ASCE, the Canadian Society for Civil Engineers (CSCE) and FECIC together form the North American Alliance for Civil Engineering. All five of the panel members spoke relative to actions being taken in various locations. These included three speakers from Mexico, one from the U.S. EPA and the ASCE president. The first presentation was on a program in Mexico for ensuring clean drinking water. The second speaker was from the U.S. EPA speaking on the development of a Water Safety Plan for Water System that serves Spanish Town, Jamaica. The third speaker was the president of ASCE speaking generally how civil engineers could assist in ensuring clean drinking water for all. The fourth speaker was Damian Robledo, FECIC, with a presentation on Clean Water / Agua Limpia in Mexico. The fifth speaker was from the National University of Mexico and his presentation was on what the university and some of their students were doing in the area of clean water.

EWRI/ASCE member Don Phelps had the opportunity to interact with Forum participants at EWRI's Booth at the World Water Expo.

EWRI exhibited as part of the Water Expo and had several visitors from all over the world drop by. A special catalog of key water standards, water law publication and other environmental and water resources books was available to visitors. EWRI members also met informally with several colleagues from the Mexican Hydraulics Association (AMH) and discussed possibly hosting an EWRI Panel at their National Water Congress this September in Cuernavaca and encouraged a reciprocal session at our 2007 Tampa Bay Congress.

Additionally EWRI members served on other sessions and panels. For example, Lisa Bourget, past chair of the International Council, participated in a session entitled “Water Management in Transboundary Basins” in her role as the Secretary of the International Joint Commission.

A more detailed report on the World Water Forum will be presented as part of a session on Transboundary Water Quality Standards at the EWRI Omaha Conference. For more information please contact Mark Killgore at mkillgore@louisberger.com. We invite you to view the Forum’s website at http://www.worldwaterforum4.org.mx to
fully comprehend the breadth and scope of this major event occurring every three years. The next World Water Forum will take place in Turkey in 2009.

The Water Carrier (left, oil on canvas, 2006) by Canadian artist Yar Taraky was exhibited at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City as part of the Reweaving a Life Exhibition, a Project of Caminamos Juntos Para Salud y Desarrollo/ Walking Together for Health and Development. The exhibition, REWEAVING A LIFE: Art of Women Weavers of Palm, their Struggle with Poverty, Water and Pride uses art as a powerful vehicle for public education around the problems of water and poverty in the indigenous town of Tlamacazapa, Guerrero (located three hours south of Mexico City). The exhibition containing paintings, etchings and baskets will tour Mexico and Canada in order to raise consciousness around the toxic synergy of poverty and contamination, especially in regards to water. Baskets woven by women weavers of Tlamacazapa (below, photo by Alejandro Gonzalez Román) were also exhibited at the Forum. To learn more about this project, visit www.caminamosjuntos.org. For more information on water issues in Tlamacazapa, check out the Winter 2006 issue of Currents, featuring an article on the region, available online at www.ewrinstitute.org/currents/archive.html.