1. GWG and TWAP programmes: UNESCO’s
ongoing contribution to furthering
knowledge on groundwater resources in
the Arab Region
Yusuf Al-Mooji
Senior Water Consultant, UNESCO-IHP
Scaling-up Integrated Natural Resource Management, furthering knowledge on
groundwater resources management and strengthening Monitoring and Evaluation
systems in the GEF MENARID program
Beirut, 16-18 June 2014
1

2. Outline
• Groundwater in the Arab region: An overview
– Aquifer types in the Arab region
– Water supply VS Demand
– Groundwater production VS withdrawal
• UNESCO’s implementation of current GEF (Global
Environmental Facility) initiatives in the Arab region
– GWG (Groundwater Governance Project)
(www.groundwatergovernance.org)
– TWAP (Transboundary Waters Assessment Program)
Project – Oceans, large marine ecosystems, lakes, rivers
and groundwater
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3. Aquifer types in the Arab region
1. Extensive sedimentary basins with relatively high productivity of essentially fossil
groundwater with acceptable quality (mainly sandstones of Cretaceous or older ages)
2. Extensive sedimentary basins with generally high but variable productivity of
essentially fossil groundwater with potential for significant salinization (mainly
carbonates of Cretaceous-Paleogene ages)
3. Local or discontinuous sedimentary basins limited mostly to mountainous areas
containing renewable good quality groundwater, with variable productivity and
commonly discharging as springs (mainly karstic carbonates of Cretaceous to Miocene
ages)
4. Local or discontinuous sedimentary/alluvial basins limited mostly to the vicinity of
tectonically active zones containing renewable groundwater, with variable
productivity and high potential for salinization (Miocene to Quaternary in age).
5. Local or discontinuous volcanic basins related to the Red Sea-Dead Sea rift system
containing renewable groundwater, with variable productivity and high potential for
salinization (Miocene to Quaternary in age)
6. Localized zones in crystalline rocks and/or overlying sedimentary formations with no
groundwater or very limited yields of groundwater of variable quality (intrusive and
evaporitic rocks) 3

4. 0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
160000
180000
200000
Agriculture Municipal Industrial Supply
millioncubicmeters
2000-9
2020-2030
2040-5080%
71%z
60%
12%
17%
24%
8%
12%
16%
XY%: proportians of water use in
each sector
Data source: Assaf et al. 2012. Climate change contributes to water
scarcity. MENA Report 64635, the World Bank.
Current and Projected water supply &
demand distribution by sector
4

5. Percentage of total renewable water
resources withdrawn by region
Data source: Compiled from FAO AQUASTAT for 1998-2002
The figure shows the simple percentage (that is, summing up withdrawals across all countries in a region and
dividing by the sum of all the renewable water available in each country). As with this figure, the definition of
“region” significantly affects the data, because of the heterogeneity between and within countries
Data source: Making the most of Scarcity – accountability for better water
management in the Middle East and North Africa, The World Bank, 2007
5

6. Production V/S withdrawal of
groundwater
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Bahrain Djibouti Egypt Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Morocco Oman Qatar Saudi
Arabia
Somalia Tunisia UAE Yemen
MCM
internal GW
external GW
GW withdrawn
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7. GWG
(Groundwater Governance Project)
www.groundwatergovernance.org
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8. UNESCO regional consultations
(5 regions – April 2012 to March 2013)
Objective: Solicit regional perspectives on the practical
application of groundwater governance through 3 specific
activities:
– Engagement of local sources in compiling of first-hand knowledge on
the regions
– Discussion of the specific characteristics, challenges and priorities of
each region on the basis of case studies elaborated by national
experts
– Building partnerships among cross-sectoral collaborating project
agencies, stakeholders, decision-makers and specialists
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9. The regional consultation
for the Arab Region
(Amman, 8-10 October , 2012)
• Invitation with a GWG questionnaire to 19 Arab countries
• All responded except Qatar and Syria
• A total of 24 filled-out questionnaire received 15 country reps
and 9 institution reps)
• Meeting structure:
– 69 participants from 26 countries
– 7 plenary sessions
– 6 working groups
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10. Main outcome of the consultation
process (5 needs)
1. Need to prioritize data acquisition and upgrading
2. Need to strengthen all aspects of water institutions
responsible for groundwater resources
3. Need for transparency and public involvement in the water
sector and groundwater management
4. Need for wide communication and awareness efforts for
the general public as well as decision makers
5. Need to assist governments in enforcing existing laws
before moving to efforts aimed at formulating new ones
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11. Water governance Framework
Data source: Groundwater governance: a decisive factor
in resilience strategies by Smidt and Satjin, 2013
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12. The Nexus approach: Water, energy
and food security
Data source: climatecommercial.wordpress.com/2011/11/09in-focus-water-energy-food-nexus-
report/) accessed on 10 June 2014
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13. Practical actions concerning
groundwater governance
(5 families of actions)
1. Engage with the policy makers to understand their concerns and
constraints; go outside the water ministry to seek harmonization and
support from agriculture, planning, finance and municipal
development.
2. Agree with policy makers on investment in groundwater knowledge,
and offer technical and financial support if needed.
3. Help government to chart a reform path towards better groundwater
governance; assess the needs and constraints to good governance.
4. Help build strong groundwater organizations/ departments/ agencies
to ensure groundwater’s place in IWRM planning and to strengthen their
support to the government approaches chosen
5. Identify the scope for collective management and devise ways to
support it; work with agriculture and other colleagues at the project and
local level.
Data source: Winjen et al., 2012: Managing the invisible. Understanding and improving groundwater
governance. The World Bank
13

14. Lessons learned from other countries
(India, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa and Tanzania)
All 5 countries:
• Were suffering from depletion and quality deterioration of the
aquifers to a greater or less degree.
• Had policy frameworks in place, but groundwater policies were
generally poorly articulated with those of the water-using sectors,
particularly agriculture.
• Formal governance arrangements were largely top down.
• The rights and regulation approach to governance was providing to
be not well adapted to the fast changing realities of the
“groundwater revolution” and everywhere implementation
capacity fell far short of the ambitious regulatory provisions.
Data source: Winjen et al., 2012: Managing the invisible. Understanding and improving groundwater
governance. The World Bank
14

15. Lessons learned from other countries
(contd.)
(India, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa and Tanzania)
• Information, knowledge sharing and communication were
insufficient to support management or to foster good governance.
• At the local level, there was generally a big disconnect between the
regulatory regime and facts on the ground, and in some cases local
collective management was substituting for more formal
governance
Data source: Winjen et al., 2012: Managing the invisible. Understanding and improving groundwater
governance. The World Bank
15

16. TWAP (Transboundary Waters
Assessment Program)
16

17. Why is TWAP needed?
• Currently ‘easily available information’ is insufficient to alert
and for defining priorities: major efforts needed to increase
accessible info on the world’s international waters and to
detect trends
• Need for objective and quantitative information on the basis
of observation, rather than subjective or qualitative
information or ‘educated guesses’
• More is needed than only priority scores: the underlying
information should explain ‘what, why and where’ ...
Data source Van der Gun, TWAP‐FSP Inception Meeting, Perugia, 14‐15 May 2013
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18. Objectives of TWAP
• Long‐term goal
“To promote financing of future management and development
of the environments and transboundary water systems through
strong stakeholder engagement”
• Project objective
“To undertake the first global assessment of transboundary water
bodies”. An implicit project goal is that partnerships will be
created that take care of repeating the assessments periodically
and put priority TBAs on the agenda
• Objectives of the preceding Medium Sized Project (MSP):
• Developing an agreed methodology for the assessment
• Catalyzing partnerships for conducting the assessment
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19. TBA Assessment Methodology
 Hydrogeological Aspects
 Delineation and description
 Classification, diagnostic analysis and zoning
 Data harmonization and information management
 Environmental issues
 Socio-economic framework
 Institutional setting and legal aspects
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20. Hydrogeological aspects
1. Geo-referenced boundary of transboundary aquifer/aquifer
system
2. Depth to aquifer formation
3. Full vertical thickness of the aquifer
4. Aquifer hydraulic conditions
5. Average groundwater recharge
6. Predominant aquifer lithology
7. Predominant type of porosity
8. Transmissivity
9. Total groundwater volume in the aquifer
10. Volume of groundwater depletion
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21. Environmental issues
1. Percentage of the aquifer’s area with groundwater suitable
for consumption
2. Percentage of the aquifer’s area that is affected by pollution
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Socio-economic framework
1. Mean annual volume of groundwater abstraction
2. Mean annual volume of groundwater abstraction per sector
3. Mean annual volume of fresh water abstraction (blue water
abstraction)
4. Mean annual volume of fresh water abstraction per sector

22. Institutional setting and legal aspects
1. Is there any institution with a mandate and/or capacity for
transboundary groundwater management?
2. Is there any agreement (signed, draft or under preparation)
between aquifer states?
3. Type of control measures for groundwater abstraction
4. Type of control measures for groundwater quality
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23. Objectives of TWAP
• Long‐term goal
“To promote financing of future management and development of
the environments and transboundary water systems through strong
stakeholder engagement”
• Project objective
“To undertake the first global assessment of transboundary water
bodies”. An implicit project goal is that partnerships will be created
that take care of repeating the assessments periodically and put
priority TBAs on the agenda
• Objectives of the preceding Medium Sized Project (MSP):
• Developing an agreed methodology for the assessment
• Catalyzing partnerships for conducting the assessment
Data source: Van der Gun, TWAP‐FSP Inception Meeting, Perugia, 14‐15 May 2013
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24. THANK YOU
Yusuf Al-Mooji
Senior Water Consultant, UNESCO-IHP