ICID Watsave Awards and Recognition of World Heritage Irrigation Structures (WHIS)
WatSave Awards: For details, please visit: https://www.icid.org/awards_ws.html
WHIS Recognition: For details regarding nomination and criterion for the recognition, please visit: http://www.icid.org/awards_icid.html
From this year onwards, ONLY ONLINE NOMINATION FORM SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED at  https://icidevents.org/awards
The deadline for receipt of the entries for WatSave awards and WHIS from the National Committees along with the completed ‘Nomination Form’ and related details to the ICID Central Office, New Delhi (India) is 31 July 2020. 
For queries, please contact Dr. Sahdev Singh, Director (Knowledge Management) at icid@icid.org
 

Mode of Application

As informed, the nominations for the awards were to be accepted only via online submissions. However, given the technical limitations imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are accepting the nominations via email as well.

If possible, we encourage you to submit your applications online. In case you face any difficulty, kindly inform us at icid@icid.org

Kindly email us your applications with all relevant documents at icid@icid.org

ICID's Important Events Postponed
The 24th ICID Congress and 72nd IEC Meeting: The 24th ICID Congress has been rescheduled to 6-12 July 2021 in Sydney, Australia, on the recommendation of Irrigation Australia Ltd., & Irrigation Australia's Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (IACID) because of COVID-19. The 72nd IEC will be held with the Sydney Congress in July 2021 instead of 71st IEC. For more information, please contact: Mr. Bryan Ward, Chief Executive Officer, Irrigation's Australia Limited (IAL) (Incorporating IACID); Email: bryan.ward@irrigation.org.au, info@irrigation.org.au; Website: http://www.icid2021.com.au/
 

The 71st IEC Meeting and the 5th ARC: The 71st International Executive Council (IEC) Meeting will be held along with the 5th African Regional Conference (ARC) and the Young Professional's Training Program (YP-TP) in 2020. Tentatively, the 5th ARC and 71st IEC as decided in consultation with the Moroccan National Committee (ANAFIDE) are to be held in the first week of December 2020. Further updates will follow upon receipt of definitive information. 

The 10th International Micro Irrigation Conference (10MIC): 10th International Micro Irrigation Conference (10MIC) in Agadir, Morocco, will be a standalone event in 2021. Dates to be announced later.

Saskatchewan Agriculture Technology
30 May 2020
Agriculture in Saskatchewan is constantly evolving, and farmers are adopting modern practices and technology to improve farm efficiency and ensure food sustainability.
https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/agriculture-natural-resources-and-industry/agribusiness-farmers-and-ranchers/sask-ag-now/public-trust/saskatchewan-agriculture-technology
 

Analysis of government support for Australian agricultural producers
30 May 2020
Australian farmers are some of the least subsidised in the world – second only to New Zealand in terms of countries where comparable information is available. As measured by the OECD, just over 2% of Australian farmer revenues in 2016-18 were derived from government support.
https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/research-topics/trade/analysis-of-government-support-agricultural-producers

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CLIMATE CHANGE 







Is this the perfect time, or the worst time, to bend the climate change curve?
01 June 2020
Our world’s climate is changing. The related impacts affect human health through a variety of pathways, from exposure to extreme weather and heat waves to worsening air pollution, reduced nutritional value of foods and the spread of insect-borne disease. At the same time, we are living through the greatest public health crisis of our time.
https://ag.purdue.edu/climate/bending-the-climate-change-curve/
 

Chemist-turned-intelligence expert Rod Schoonover on climate change and COVID-19
31 May 2020
Last year, a political fight over climate change science led Schoonover to resign his government position. “The very nature of the planet on which all of our institutions sit is changing underneath our feet,” he says, explaining why he thinks the national security system needs to change, too. The COVID-19 pandemic, Schoonover says, “could be a wake-up call.”
https://cen.acs.org/careers/nontraditional-careers/Chemist-turned-intelligence-expert-Rod/98/i21
 

Climate Change Adding to Potential Danger of Hurricane Season
30 May 2020
The last five years have been the hottest on record for the planet Earth. The last three years have seen an unprecedented series of shocking storms that scientists point to as being amplified by climate change.

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/climate-change-adding-to-potential-danger-of-hurricane-season/2241155/
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
 

DROUGHTS 






Auckland drought: It's time to talk about our water problem
01 June 2020
The driest first half-year on record took Auckland's water supply lakes to a winter low of 59.2 percent, but Mayor Phil Goff was happy that Watercare had it managed, with its low-key warning to cut usage. Then hefty rain from August to December, seemed to put things back to almost "normal" - until a more severe drought set a new low-rainfall record for the first six months of 2020.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/121665416/auckland-drought-its-time-to-talk-about-our-water-problem
 

The World’s Forests Are Getting Younger and Shorter, Research Finds
29 May 2020
The changes in forest composition are the result of rising temperatures and carbon dioxide levels, which are causing increased environmental stress, an uptick in carbon dioxide fertilization, and an increase in the severity and frequency of extreme events such as wildfires and droughts.
https://e360.yale.edu/digest/the-worlds-forests-are-getting-younger-and-shorter-research-finds
 

Majority of Oregon Experiencing Drought
25 May 2020
Though we’ve been experiencing some moderate rain in the valley in the past couple of days, 97% of the state is actually in some level of drought, according to a government report released on Thursday, May 21.
https://www.corvallisadvocate.com/2020/majority-of-oregon-experiencing-drought/


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 FLOODS






Floods and COVID-19 restrictions lead to an increase in the population in Crisis
30 May 2020
Moderate to locally heavy rainfall in late April and early May caused widespread floods across Uganda, including around Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, and Lake Kyoga and in southern Karamoja.
https://reliefweb.int/report/uganda/uganda-key-message-update-floods-and-covid-19-restrictions-lead-increase-population
 

Ethiopia: Floods impact thousands of people
29 May 2020
Excessive heavy rains in Ethiopia that started in April and peaked in May have led to flooding, displacement, loss of lives and livelihoods, as well as damage to infrastructures in different parts of the country.
https://www.unocha.org/story/ethiopia-floods-impact-thousands-people
 

Polish scientists get their heads around Sumatran floods
29 May 2020
“If it is the dry season, it rains 26 days a month in Sumatra. If it is the rainy season, precipitation occurs 29 days per month on average,” tropical meteorologist Dariusz Baranowski of the Geophysics Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) explains, adding that every now and then heavy rainfall hits the Indonesian island bringing about floods and landslides.
https://polandin.com/48288041/polish-scientists-get-their-heads-around-sumatran-floods
 

FOOD SECURITY 








Demands for food, childcare assistance growing in Wyoming
31 May 2020
According to figures presented to the Joint Committee on Labor, Health and Social Services, family enrollment in programs like SNAP, which provides food to needy families, experienced sharp increases between the months of March and April that will likely continue into the summer.
https://www.kpvi.com/news/national_news/demands-for-food-childcare-assistance-growing-in-wyoming/article_96781f31-9836-5a24-8860-2fe1d89e0c72.html
 

COVID-19: Food insecurity looms –Experts
31 May 2020
Principal Scientist and Country Representative, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid and Tropics (ICRISAT), Dr. Hakeem Ajeigbe, has warned that there may be food scarcity post-coronavirus, as the measures taken to check its spread have disrupted the supply chains of both input and output as producers – farmers now find it difficult to access the markets.
https://www.newtelegraphng.com/covid-19-food-insecurity-looms-experts/
 

Pakistan turns locust threat into chicken feed
28 May 2020
Pakistani scientists have successfully tried a simple solution to turn the pests into protein and income amid the worst swarms for decades

https://www.thethirdpole.net/2020/05/28/huge-swarms-of-locusts-could-be-fed-to-chickens/

IRRIGATION





Waster pans bring hope to farmers in dry areas
01 June 2020
A seasoned farmer, Mr Njagi is using water collected in a recently built pan to irrigate horticultural crops for his household needs and for sale. The water pan occupying about an eighth of an acre was ready in March this year. Gardens of well-irrigated tomatoes, capsicum, cow peas, kales, fruit trees and green maize, radiate in their calming green hue amid the scorching sun that has left the ground parched and cracked, just a few weeks after the season’s rain stopped.
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001373466/water-pans-bring-hope-to-farmers-in-dry-areas#
 

Why aren't we encouraging more rain water harvesting?
31 May 2020
With water restrictions being placed on Auckland and Northland due to drought, should urban dwellers be storing rainwater for irrigation and non-potable use when the weather gets dry?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018748707/why-aren-t-we-encouraging-more-rain-water-harvesting
 

Technology is studied that could save 12% of the energy used in pressurized irrigation
27 May 2020
Irrigation agriculture not only requires a large amount of water but it also uses a significant amount of energy, which in addition to affecting the environment, constitutes a major financial burden for the agricultural sector. According to a study by the Hydraulics and Irrigation research team at the University of Cordoba and Trinity College Dublin, recovering energy in water distribution networks for irrigation could mean a 12.8% savings of energy each year.
https://scienmag.com/technology-is-studied-that-could-save-12-of-the-energy-used-in-pressurized-irrigation/

 

WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 






Kenya aims to build dams to beat cycle of floods and droughts
31 May 2020
Plagued by alternating floods and droughts partly brought on by changing weather patterns, Kenya’s government plans to build several new dams in a bid to improve water security and management.
https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/africa/2020-05-31-kenya-aims-to-build-dams-to-beat-cycle-of-floods-and-droughts/
 

Good rain ensures extra water supply
29 May 2020
“Practicing water conservation should become an ingrained part of our daily lives and the driver of behavior change as it relates to this scarce resource” – Shami Harichunder
https://highwaymail.co.za/410309/good-rains-ensures-extra-water-supply/
 

Zimbabwe: More Effort Needed to Upgrade Water Infrastructure
28 May 2020
Eight years ago, more than 1 000 delegates from all African countries gathered in Cairo, Egypt to find ways of promoting cooperation, security, and ensure poverty reduction among member states through adequate provision of water. Sharing case studies from different countries, the majority of delegates agreed that there was need to mobilize the investment required to meet the targets of the Africa Water Vision 2025 for basic water supply and sanitation.
https://allafrica.com/stories/202005280162.html

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IWMI Launches Webinar Series on Farmer-Led Irrigation Development: The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is launching a collaborative webinar mini-series on Farmer-Led Irrigation Management in collaboration with the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, the World Bank, and the Global Water Partnership. Session I: Accelerating inclusive FLI and reaching scale: Key things to consider, Thursday, June 11, 2020, 8-9 a.m. CST (13:00-14:00 UTC) Session II: Accelerating inclusive FLI sustainably: A systems approach to reaching scale, Thursday, July 9, 2020 Workshop on Effective Ways of Cooperation with Other Specialist Groups Dealing with the Evolution of Water Culture and History at the Hellenic Open University: Hellenic Open University in Patras, Greece, is organizing a one-day workshop on 06 September 2020 in the University.

The key theme of this workshop will be to look for effective ways of cooperation with other Specialist Groups dealing with the Evolution of Water Culture and History.
Website: http://wwetc2020.eap.gr/

6th IWA International Symposium on Water, Wastewater and Environment in Ancient Civilizations: Traditions and Cultures 8-10 September 2020
The 6th IWA International Symposium which will be Co-organized by the Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey and the Hellenic Open University, Patra, Greece. It will take place at the Bogazici University (8 & 9 September) and in the Conference Hall of the Theological School of Halki in the island of Heybeliada, Istanbul, Turkey (10 September).
https://iwa-network.org/events/iwa-regional-symposium-on-water-wastewater-and-environment-traditions-and-cultures/

MinWat 2020 3rd International Multidisciplinary Conference on Mineral Waters: Genesis, Exploitation, Protection, and Valorisation. Postponed, owing to the international health situation concerning the epidemy of COVID-19, from May 2020, to 11-15 October 2020. For more details, please visit: https://iah.org/events/minwat-2020; Email: segratario@iahitaly.it
 

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Drought Impact and Vulnerability Assessment: Available Approaches and Policy Recommendations
UNCCD Publications
This policy brief summarizes findings from a rapid preliminary review of available approaches to drought impact and vulnerability assessment. The review draws on experiences from different parts of the world. Recommendations focus on the policy needs to enable proactive assessment approaches that can include vulnerable people and work across sectors, scales and timeframes.
https://www.unccd.int/publications/drought-impact-and-vulnerability-assessment-available-approaches-and-policy

 

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