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Standing Committee on Hydrological Services (SC-HYD)

Activity Areas (1)

Commission for Weather, Climate, Hydrological, Marine and Related Environmental Services and Applications (SERCOM)
SC-HYD group picture

 

The Standing Committee on Hydrological Services (SC-HYD) is leading activities of WMO in services aspects of operational hydrology and water resources management. Terms of References of SC-HYD has been approved at the third session of SERCOM and provided here. The SC-HYD is composed of technical experts, including the Chair (Dr Yuri Simonov) and Vice-chairs (Eng. Marcelo Uriburu Quirno and Ms Milica Djordjevic), selected from the WMO Expert Network by the President of the Commission. Other technical experts may be invited, on a needs basis, to serve as Observers on the Standing Committee, as determined by the chair/vice-chair of the Standing Committee in consultation with the president of the Services Commission.


The SC-HYD articulates its workplan in 36 milestones. More information about these milestones is provided below. The SC-HYD will be working until the next ordinary session of the Services Commission where, if required, the Standing Committee can be re-established at the discretion of the Services Commission . The work of SC-HYD is done in coordination with the Hydrology and Water Resources activities of WMO.

 

 

Main achievements

Meetings and reports

Milestones

One of the purposes of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is to promote the standardization of meteorological and hydrological observations and to ensure a uniform publication of observations and statistics. With this objective, the World Meteorological Congress has traditionally adopted Technical Regulations laying down the meteorological and hydrological practices and procedures to be followed by Members of the Organization. These Technical Regulations (WMO-No. 49) are supplemented by several manuals and guides describing in more detail the practices and procedures that Members are requested or invited to follow, respectively, in monitoring and assessing their own water resources. It is therefore hoped that improved uniformity and standardization in hydrological practices and procedures will also contribute to enhanced collaboration among WMO Members and further facilitate regional and international cooperation. The aim of the Guide to Hydrological Practices is to provide the relevant information on current practices, procedures and instrumentation to all those engaged in the field of hydrology, thereby enabling them to carry out their work more successfully. 

The revision of the Guide to Hydrological Practices (WMO-No. 168), last published in 2008, has now become a priority. SERCOM will focus mainly on Volume II, possibly with some inputs to Volume I with respect to the observing network requirements for flood forecasting, while INFCOM will take the lead in the revision of Volume I. The whole process will be supervised by HCP. The Guide is expected to be a “living document”, with additional sections added possibly at a later stage. It is planned to establish a Review Committee composed of volunteers cross-cutting between SERCOM and INFCOM, and other experts from the WMO Expert Network as needed/identified. The main role of the Review Committee is to coordinate the process of revision of the Guide, Volume II. This would include: a) establishing a new Table of Contents for the Guide; b) propose the potential authors for each chapter (min. 2 authors per chapter); and c) propose peer reviewers. Also, considering the size of the publication and, more importantly, the overarching nature of topics covered by the Guide, it is felt that the Review Committee should have a wide representation of geographical distribution and expertise.

The Manual on Flood Forecasting and Warning provides the basic knowledge and guidance to develop or to set up an appropriate and tailored system for any case in which a flood forecasting and warning system is required. It is the basis of the End-to-End approach, and of the Assessment Guidelines for End-to-End Flood Forecasting and Early Warning Systems (WMO-No 1286) that provides the assessment of National Needs and Capabilities in Flood Forecasting. The first edition was published in 2011. The aim of this publication is to provide a succinct but comprehensive overview of the basic knowledge and information that the relevant personnel of the National Meteorological or Hydrometeorological Services or other flood management service should require. The current edition would benefit from a revision to better reflect the advancements in the field of flood forecasting and early warning in the last decade, as a contribution to the EW4All initiative. To comply with its nature of non-regulatory material, the second edition will be labelled “Guide” as opposed to “Manual”.

This publication provides guidance to the senior managers of Hydrological Services, on the key issues they might face, as they lead, manage and administer their Services . The first edition was published in 2006. All aspects of management will be reviewed: strategic planning, human resources management, financial management, marketing, asset management, process and quality management and relationships with other institutions. The review of this publication (considering also the Guidelines on the Role, Operation and Management of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (WMO-No. 1195) is especially important at a time when National Hydrological Services (NHSs) worldwide are typically having their mandate expanded from basic hydrology to hydrology in the broader context of sustainable water resources management.

Originating from a request of CHy-XIV (2012), and taking into account a request from the WMO Plan of Action for Hydrology 2022–2030 a Checklist for Developing a Quality Management System (QMS) for a National Hydrological Service identifying the basic steps required to establish a credible QMS as outlined by the International Organization for Standards (ISO) and containing case studies from NHSs having implemented a QMS had been prepared, and presented as a draft to CHy-XV (2016). Neither the checklist nor the case studies were then published, hence it is necessary to resume the draft of 2016 and produce a first edition updated with the developments since it was first drafted.

The third edition of the UNESCO-WMO International Glossary of Hydrology was published in 2013. It builds on the pioneering efforts of the WMO Working Group on Terminology established in 1961 which evolved into the joint WMO/UNESCO Panel on Terminology in 1967, the work launched in the framework of the International Hydrological Decade, as well as the publication of the first edition in 1974 and second edition in 1992. The fruit of a longstanding partnership, this edition was prepared by a Standing Committee on Terminology, comprising members designated by UNESCO and WMO. WMO has been recently contacted by UNESCO on the joint development of a fourth edition. SERCOM will need to contribute to the development of the fourth edition jointly with INFCOM.

The Assessment Guidelines (WMO-No. 1286) were developed to assist NHSs to evaluate their End-to-End Flood Forecasting and Early Warning Systems (E2E FFEWS) and to assist Members in improving their understanding and assessing their capabilities of such systems. The objective of the Assessment Guidelines is to assess NHS capability to deliver accurate, timely, and spatially adequate flood forecasting information that is understood by the receivers and can be utilized for decision making at all levels. A web-based tool is being developed through a partnership with the WMO Regional Training Centre of Santa Fe, Argentina (FICH-UNL). Members are invited to propose volunteers for the beta-testing of the web-based tool once it becomes available.

One of the objectives of the Community of Practice (CoP) on flood forecasting is to provide access to interoperable technologies, including platforms and models, training and guidance material. There are currently 6 models and 3 platforms that have been listed in the Inventory on CoP based on criteria listed in the report on Interoperable Models and Platforms for use in flood forecasting and early warning systems, categorized as hydrological, reservoir and hydrodynamic platforms.

Resolution 3 (SERCOM-2) - Hydrological services, endorsed the evaluation of additional models and platforms to supplement the inventory as pointed out by SERCOM Members. In this regard, templates on urban flood, flash flood and global hydrological models are being developed and will be made available in addition to the current templates (hydrological, reservoir, hydrodynamic and platforms) that are already available on CoP. The inventory report will also be updated as new template types are added to the inventory.

NHSs worldwide exhibit variations in size and responsibilities, influenced by government priorities. Despite these differences, they share a common goal, which is to enhance services for users and extend benefits at national, regional and global levels. The services, increasingly characterized by a multisector and multi-stakeholder approach, underscore the need for reviewing and better defining the mandate and functions of NHSs along with the roles of the stakeholders such as the private sector. In particular, the deployment of new technologies across the hydrology value chain is an area where the private sector can play a key role in developing innovative applications and services. The global push towards digitalization across the entire hydrological value chain necessitates an accelerated digital transformation within the NHSs. Recalling the Geneva declaration 2019: Building Community for Weather, Climate and Water Actions which welcomes closer collaboration among public, private and academic sectors in achieving the sustainable development goals. This is further outlined in the WMO Plan of Action for Hydrology 2022–2030 which mandates SC-HYD to establish guiding principles and agreements to support flood-related early warnings and risk management. 

To support the development of these guidelines, SC-HYD 2 has decided to set up a dedicated Working Group on Digital Transformation for Hydrology and Water Resources that will explore, on the one hand, the use of new technologies in this domain and in parallel also explore the approaches for engaging with various stakeholders including the private sector. One of the main milestones of this working group will be to develop a concept note on engaging with these stakeholders that will also encompass case studies outlining the areas of such collaboration.

Achievements

The goal of the Community of Practice on flood forecasting is to provide access to interoperable technologies, including platforms and models, training and guidance material and the related discussion. It is primarily designed for scientists and engineers working in an NHS but could also be useful to users in other institutional settings.

The SC-HYD during its second session from 13 to 17 November 2023, discussed ways to facilitate the dissemination and access to the information made available on CoP. The SC-HYD decided to implement the charter to define a roadmap and communication options for CoP (forum, blog, HelpDesk, webinars, etc.) considering sustainability.

The Implementation Plan was needed to provide a roadmap for efforts contributing to the sustainability over the longer term (e.g. detail on what needs to be done, by whom, in what time frames, and with an estimated cost).

It is valuable for informing efforts addressing the critical factors in the strategy that influence sustainability, such as governance, advancing broader Research to Operations including developing the functionalities and priorities of the analysis version of the FFGS (termed AFFGS), developing the Training Plan for refining the FFGS/WGC Training Programme, and developing the FFGS Marketing Strategy. Therefore, the strategy recommended that efforts proceed on preparing the Implementation Plan on addressing sustainability issues. 

This plan should be viewed as a living document, with sections and items within the plan being updated as needed. As a living document, it will be further developed, adopted, and managed by the Programme Management Committee. The FFGS/WGC Implementation Plan was developed by the Task Team on FFGS Implementation Plan, under the FFGS Technical Support Group. This Implementation Plan will be presented to SERCOM MG 2024 as a SC-HYD deliverable   .

The concept note for focusing on the Application of Satellite Earth Observation for Flood Forecasting, was recently presented to SC-HYD during its session from 13 to 17 November 2023, in Rome, Italy, and subsequently approved.

The concept note was the initial milestone to advance flood forecasting through satellite technology and was developed collaboratively with the lead of SC-HYD and experts from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), academia, EUMETSAT, UNOOSA, WMO Space Programme, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The concept note provides an overview of the satellite-derived products and remote-sensing techniques in supporting operational flood forecasting services, especially in meeting the real-time demands for high-quality data with minimal latencies. Satellite and remote sensing information possesses significant potential for monitoring and forecasting hydrometeorological events across different timeframes due to their continuous availability and broad coverage.

The concept note also addresses limitations in utilizing satellite-derived products, emphasising the lack of specific skills required for managing and processing datasets, particularly for NHSs. Consequently, there is a call for capacity-building activities to aid NHSs and regional institutions in understanding the available satellite information for flood forecasting and detection.

In the next phase, as determined by SC-HYD 2, the experts will focus systematically on the following:

  • Identifying capacity gaps to assist NMHSs in utilizing Earth observations for flood monitoring and forecasting;
  • Advancing efforts in developing essential technical guidelines for Earth Observation for Flood Forecasting to enhance the capacity of NMHSs and regional institutions, in coordination with INFCOM experts.

Achievements

At its fourth session in December 2021, the Executive Council’s Flood Forecasting Initiative Advisory Group (FFI-AG) recommended establishing clear guidance on Socioeconomic Benefits (SEB) to support the ‘pull through’ of research into sustainable operations, and committed to provide guidance on its application to flood forecasting. 

The working group under SC-HYD Activity 5d has provided a preliminary draft for the guidelines and SC-HYD 2 in November 2023 decided to include the guidelines on SEB for flood forecasting in the workplan of SERCOM for the next intersessional period. The next steps are the inclusion of applied methods through case studies, tools and data requirement considerations for various geographical and socioeconomic contexts. For this purpose, Members will be invited to share relevant know-how, tools and case studies on SEB to enrich analysis for flood forecasting. This includes methodological alignment with other SEB studies and guidance material currently in preparation at other WMO bodies.

The objective of the WMO FFI is to “Improve the capacity of meteorological and hydrological services to jointly deliver timely and more accurate products and services required in flood forecasting and warning and in collaborating with disaster managers, active in flood emergency preparedness and response. 

Resolution 15 (Cg-XVI) established the WMO Flood Forecasting Initiative - Advisory Group (FFI-AG) with the objective of providing guidance and advice on the hydrological forecasting elements of a number of flood-related initiatives to provide broad-based support to improve collaboration between the meteorological and hydrological communities for improved flood forecasting related practices. The terms of reference for the Flood Forecasting Initiative Advisory Group were updated following the transfer of FFI-AG from EC to SERCOM (Resolution 7 (EC-77)). 

This initiative supports the implementation of the Flash Flood Guidance System with global coverage (FFGS/WGC), which is being implemented in over 70 countries to allow early warning of the potential for flash flooding. Close linkages are also made with the WMO Severe Weather Forecast Programme and Coastal Inundation Forecasting Programme. Moreover, the purpose of WMO FFI is also to strengthen collaboration with disaster managers, active in flood emergency preparedness and response. For this purpose, FFI is linked to the Associated Programme on Flood Management (APFM), with its HelpDesk for Integrated Flood Management acting as the main interface to FFI products and know-how, as well as an entry point for the Community of Practice on End-to-End Early Warning Systems for Flood Forecasting and establishing effective joint planning and implementation mechanisms with major partners such as UNECE, UNESCO-IHP and GWP. Members are invited to support its initiative to continue to implement with volunteers.

Following the approval of Resolution 19 (Cg-19), it was agreed to expand the Integrated Flood Management (IFM) and Integrated Drought Management (IDM) HelpDesk approach to inform Members on the wider topic of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). It therefore decides to support the inception phase (lasting until June 2024 as highlighted under the Annex to the Resolution 19 (Cg-19)) in the mapping and review of existing tools, materials and experts available on the IWRM related topics with the WMO Member countries and partners (e.g., GWP, UNECE Water Convention and other potential partners) to ensure complementarities and added value. This mapping can be carried out jointly by the SERCOM Standing Committees on Hydrological Services and Agricultural Meteorological Services, and the INFCOM Joint Expert Team on Hydrological Monitoring under the overall guidance of the WMO HCP. Following the inception phase, the next year will be to develop and test the HelpDesk for informing IWRM-related topics mainly integrating the different identified resources from WMO Members (with the support of experts from WMO Technical Commissions) and Partners. Lastly, the operational phase (2 years) during which the HelpDesk is expected to provide technical assistance to users (National Meteorological and Hydrological Agencies, water resources agencies, disaster management, academia, the private sector, etc. and possibly implementation of extra-budgetary projects to improve Members’ capacities in informing water resources management.

As mentioned under Doc. 4.7 of SC-HYD 1, the Associated Programme on Flood Management (APFM), a joint initiative of WMO and the Global Water Partnership was established in 2001. For more than 20 years, APFM has been promoting and implementing the concept of IFM in WMO Member Countries especially through capacity development workshops/training courses, development of IFM tools and policy documents, and the implementation of pilot projects at local, national and regional levels. The APFM is supporting practitioners, academia, policymakers, etc. on the concept and application of the IFM concept through the IFM HelpDesk which is available for users of APFM to request assistance (more than 500 requests have been assisted in the last 10 years) to APFM Technical Support Unit (TSU) and Support Base Partners (a network of experts working in different topics of IFM) on topics related to IFM.

WMO, through APFM, is supporting the development of tools and guidelines on Transboundary Flood Risk Management such as Transboundary Flood Management supporting management of floods on a transboundary river-basin scale through institutional cooperation, implementation of IFM strategies and plans for sustainable use of water resources. WMO and APFM partner, UNECE, have been working on topics related to Transboundary flood management especially sharing experiences from UNECE regions including the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. APFM is implementing a transboundary flood and drought management project in the Volta basin where integrated approach to flood and drought management is carried out in a transboundary context. WMO encourages Members and Partners to identify and share existing resources, tools with good practices and expertise on Transboundary Flood Risk Management which could be reapplied or used in other regions where similar needs and requirements are identified.

Recognizing the growing strain on water resources from a growing demand for use in food and energy production, this initiative aims to encourage Members to monitor and account for water consumption within their basin-scale water budgets. This aligns with the WMO Plan of Action for Hydrology output D.4, which focuses on better understanding the water-food-energy nexus and ecosystem services for enhanced food security and informed water use allocation

SC-HYD will collaborate with SC-AGR, SG-ENE and external partners to explore and share best practices on water use, allocation and accounting in the WEFE nexus through discussions, workshops, webinars, and a collection of case studies. The findings from the discussions, case studies and Member contributions will facilitate the development of guidance on the use of hydrology to optimize water resources management in the context of the WEFE nexus. 

The work on the WEFE nexus will strengthen collaboration to better understand climate change implications on water resources and allocations for climate projections for food, energy, ecosystems, and other mitigation efforts. This will aim to provide guidance on water allocation and usage accounting for the dynamic and increasing demands for water resources especially for energy and food production in a changing climate.

WRA, under various names (e.g., water accounting, water resource audits, water census) is being increasingly promoted as a key component of integrated and sustainable water resources management. It provides a basis for the sound and proper planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of projects associated with all socioeconomic sectors including agriculture, energy, health, and water supply, among others. Although the concept of WRA may appear straightforward, its comprehensive implementation can be complex and difficult to achieve.

 As such, the WMO Water Resources Assessment (WRA) website was officially launched during the Q1 2022 SC-HYD meeting and SERCOM-2. It collects a considerable amount of guidance material and tools for water resources assessment, thus providing to NHSs an evolving toolkit of appropriate and adaptable techniques that are consistent with their needs and capabilities. 

In Resolution 3 (SERCOM-2), SERCOM endorsed the WRA web portal as a contribution to the hydrological knowledge base activities and invited Members to enrich this web portal with additional tools and guidance materials. This was supplemented by a Circular Letter. An interactive tool, in the form of a decision tree, will be developed to enable the selection of appropriate methodologies and tools of WRA by Members.

The Extraordinary Congress in October 2021 approved the end of the Hydrological Status and Outlook System (HydroSOS) pilot phase as well as the new structure of the initiative, based on three pillars: Technical Development, Implementation, and Coordination & Support. At the same time, during 2020 and 2021, WMO Regional Associations tasked their Hydrological Bodies to "develop a regional implementation plan for HydroSOS" and these plans were endorsed by Congress (Cg-19) in May 2023. Based on this, SC-HYD is committed to supporting the Technical Development Team and Implementation teams of HydroSOS, related to the provision of hydrological status and outlook services, especially on the side of hydrological outlooks.

 As an example of support required by HydroSOS, the Technical Development Team is looking to develop an inventory of methodologies and models to perform sub-seasonal to seasonal hydrological prediction. A guideline related to this effort is available here.

More information about the work related to the Technical Development team is available here, while the Implementation information is available here, while HydroSOS implementation is currently ongoing in several scales (National, Basin and Global products), an overview of the current products and implementation status can be found here. Currently, Terms of Reference for Global and Regional HydroSOS portals are being developed which will be hosted by volunteering Members (organizations) with the required capacities.

The Dynamic Water Resources Assessment Tool (DWAT) is aimed at ensuring the sustainable and effective management of water resources, by adequately assessing their sources, extent, dependability and quality to inform long-term planning, and policy assessment and development. This tool is intended to help users, particularly policy specialists and water resources managers, identify current and future water management challenges and compare those with current and past water resources availability. This tool can also help better understand the impacts of past and present water management practices on water resources, as well as the interactions between climate, water and landscape. Its use can contribute to water reform by providing nationally and regionally consistent water resources information and data, such as surface water, groundwater, urban and agricultural water supply and use. Moreover, it can aid in the formulation of government policy and the development of broad-scale strategic plans and decision making.

DWAT has been under development since 2012 [Republic of Korea] as part of the activities of WMO for the Regional Association II Working Group on Hydrological Services, and is supported by the Han River Flood Control Office, Ministry of Environment[Republic of Korea], Republic of Korea. 

As part of the improvement of the tool, a global workshop is held every year to present the application of DWAT in basins of several countries around the world. WMO and the Republic of Korea support such efforts, while the Republic of Korea also supports new technical developments and support for the tool. For information on the latest workshop, please see the website of the 5th DWAT Global Workshop.

WMO will continue producing the annual yearbook on global water resources providing a quantitative overview of water resources in terms of variables like streamflow, groundwater, soil moisture, reservoir inflow, total terrestrial water storage, evapotranspiration, cryosphere indicators (e.g. snow water equivalent (SWE)) at a global scale. The report will continue to use remotely sensed products and modelled products in addition to in situ observations to achieve maximum coverage for the variables mentioned above. Once HydroSOS is operational globally, the State of Global Water Resources report would be a direct output of the HydroSOS portals.

This milestone is closely linked to the one on the WRA webpage enriched, including an interactive tool for water resources assessment tools and methodologies. Resolution 3 (SERCOM-2) that endorsed the WRA web portal also invited Members to support it with the inclusion of additional tools and guidance material. To complement the WRA web portal, SC-HYD considers it necessary to develop a Community of Practice to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, experiences and adoption of best available, sustainable and tailored tools and methodologies for WRA.

Many member countries, particularly those in developing regions, face significant challenges due to inadequate financial, technical, and human resources. This hinders their ability to develop the necessary skills, tools, and infrastructure required to enhance the capacity of their NHSs in transforming hydrological and meteorological information into actionable water resources insights. Consequently, there are difficulties in providing accessible WRA information to the public and advanced users.

These challenges encompass various issues, including the absence of methods for integrating high-resolution datasets of parameters such as streamflow, rainfall, water levels, and soil moisture at relevant hydrological scales. Additionally, there is a lack of a comprehensive catalogue of hydrological tools for WRA, a need for capacity building, and a necessity to assist NHSs in understanding stakeholder needs to develop tailored products. Addressing these challenges requires the integration and coordination of expertise in hydrology and other relevant fields, such as climate.

One proposed solution involves implementing twinning projects between member countries. NHSs with robust capacities in WRA and WRM can provide support and contribute to the capacity development of NHSs lacking in these aspects. The success of such projects relies on effective coordination facilitated by the Regional Associations and relevant working structures. These entities play a vital role in aligning the twinning projects with the WMO Plan of Action for Hydrology. The endorsement by SC-HYD 2 underscores the importance of close collaboration with Regional Associations in the development and implementation of these twinning projects.

A white paper for including water quality status assessment and forecasts in streamflow (also included in HydroSOS as an indicator) will be developed in collaboration with experts from standing committees and expert teams under INFCOM and RB, and partners (e.g. World Water Quality Alliance). An implementation of water quality assessment will be conducted in at least one pilot basin. Global products available for monitoring water quality parameters in groundwater will be explored.

The purpose of the Guidelines on Impact-based forecasting for hydrology is to support Members (NHSs), Disaster Risk Reduction entities and their partners) in providing IBF for flood and drought early warning services. These guidelines will focus on IBF-Hydrology implementation and how to make it operational, taking into consideration that the starting point and priorities are different for each country/service. The collection of real examples from around the world will be particularly key to illustrating the impact forecasting methods that will be presented in the guidelines.

This activity is in accordance with Activity B.8.2 and C.5 of the WMO Plan of Action for Hydrology 2022–2030. The group currently has 18 members, representing the 6 Regional Associations, and additional experts will be invited as needed to provide input on specific topics in the table of contents during the drafting process. During 2023, the Table of Contents was developed.

The aim of these guidelines is to enhance the national consultations and communications between forecasters and users, fulfilling Activities B.8.3 and B.8.4 of the WMO Plan of Action for Hydrology 2022–2030. These guidelines will serve as a reference point for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS), national and local agencies involved in hydrological risk communication, and various stakeholders, providing guidance on delivering and disseminating effective communication of risks and warnings across the value cycle to the end users. The guidelines are intended to streamline processes, ensure consistency, and promote best practices.

The purpose of the WCM is to enable access to authoritative weather, water and climate information and the provision of expert advice from WMO Members to the UN and other humanitarian agencies to advance anticipatory action and crisis support. The WCM is a platform to leverage the collective strength of the WMO community, delivering timely, accurate, and actionable advice to the UN and humanitarian agencies. The impact of WCM on anticipatory measures builds on the specific needs of the humanitarian sector coupled with authoritative information and advice from WMO Members. Hydrological representation and support to the Advisory Group are to be provided to ensure an integrated provision of services.

To comply with Resolution 7 (SERCOM-1), SC-HYD has been collecting information for the development of case studies on the application of CAP to hydrological hazards. These case studies should cover NMHSs of different degrees of development from as many WMO regions as possible and should highlight the benefits and challenges derived from the use of CAP. The template for the case studies on the use of the CAP for hydrological hazards was approved by the SC-HYD 10. The case studies, once developed, will be showcased on the WMO webpage. Under Resolution 3 (SERCOM-2), SERCOM invited Members to contribute to the collection of case studies on the application of CAP to hydrology, with the assistance of Regional Associations.

Activities under the Standing Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction, led by specific Expert Teams under it, will certainly benefit from input on hydrological hazards. Two of the main topics that need to reflect the advised opinion of operational hydrologists are the Catalogue of Hazardous Events, and its Implementation Plan approved through Resolution 12 (EC-76). This Implementation Plan (IP) includes five elements that constitute the building blocks for the WMO-CHE operational and collaboration frameworks. These building blocks include guidelines for event recording methodology and processes, tailored guidelines for specific regional needs, operational aspects, changes to WMO Regulations and guidance products, partnerships with Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) stakeholders, loss and damage communities, and the private sector. In addition, hydrological expertise should also be ensured in the Expert Team on Early Warning Systems, coordinating the SERCOM contribution to the EW4All initiative.

The Research Board leads implementation of the WMO Research Strategy for Hydrology, and the long-term ambition related to the science of the Plan of Action for Hydrology in close collaboration with the HCP, SC-HYD and related bodies of INFCOM. To coordinate this, the RB has initiated a Task Team on Hydrology Research, and several SC-HYD members are members of this Task Team and will consequently support achieving all research-related actions of the Plan of Action for Hydrology. 

Besides leading the implementation (including updating actions where necessary) of the related actions, the following key activities are foreseen: The implementation of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Global Precipitation Experiment (GPEX); Science Plan completed and launched in October 2023, SC-HYD and WMO Secretariat are part of the Science Team that will support achieving identified priority activities and the WWRP 2024–2028 programme on Integrated Hydrology and Precipitation (InPRA); work programme under development, co-led by SC-HYD member, details of activities are currently defined). Furthermore, a stronger cooperation with the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) (part of WCRP) has started, for instance, through the support of the upcoming Global GEWEX conference in Japan in 2024 and subsequent activities are currently defined.

This activity stems from the WMO Plan of Action for Hydrology (activity G.3.1), the development of Regional Specialized Hydrological Centres (RSHC) of the WMO Integrated Processing and Prediction System (WIPPS) providing Members with WRA products, including training products and tools for interpretation, is one of the milestones related to hydrology for SERCOM in the next intersessional period.

The RSHC-WRA centres will focus on supporting WMO Members facing challenges related to WRM, e.g. data collection and analysis to implementing effective forecasting and planning strategies; Regional Specialized Hydrological Centre for Water Resources Assessment (RSHC-WRA) is a “service provision centre” focused on the following objectives, in coordination and collaboration with other WIPPS centres in order to enhance the capacity of Member countries in their region to manage their water resources. WRA requires Members to be able to operate or access the locally available data systems, products and information, often in coordination with regionally available products and services, which may be augmented further through coordination with operational centres of WIPPS. SERCOM will be requested to develop requirements for the RSHC-WRA.

Aligned with the EW4All initiative and the long-term ambitions “No one is surprised by a flood” and “Everyone is prepared for drought” SC-HYD 2 prioritized hydrological topics to be further covered by capacity development activities and to be jointly developed with Regional Training Centres under the guidance of CDP. These are:

  1. Capacity development on WMO-No. 1286 for Regional Association I (RA I), possibly in the framework of a voluntary cooperation project in South Sudan;
  2. Capacity development on the Guidelines on Seasonal Hydrological Prediction (WMO-No. 1274), in particular for RA III, RA IV, and RA V. This capacity development would clearly also support the implementation of HydroSOS Regional Plans in the different RAs. The development of training materials to be initiated in 2024;
  3. Capacity development on the Guide on Flood Risk Mapping, to be published in 2024;
  4. Capacity development on the Guidelines for Verification of Hydrological Forecasts to be published in 2024.

The Guidelines on Implementation of a Coastal Inundation Forecasting-Early Warning System (WMO-No. 1293) are a joint development with SC-MMO, therefore SC-MMO could lead the development of the training materials. 

SC-HYD 2 also decided to support capacity-building activities to assist NMHSs in learning about and in using satellite Earth observations that are currently available for flood forecasting and monitoring and to develop technical guidelines on the use of satellite Earth observations for flood forecasting.

To support the implementation of the call made by WMO Members in their 2021 Water Declaration, efforts should be made to increase the understanding of the value of hydrological services and to support sustainable development by Member States’ ministries and governments, international partner organizations, and other relevant public, private, and academic institutions. Policy advice should be provided through intergovernmental processes, such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as through international cooperation and coordination (e.g. via UN-Water and its various Expert Groups on Water and Climate, Innovation, Groundwater, etc.) to increase impact and consolidate actions in support of the implementation of the WMO Vision and Strategy for Hydrology (WMO-No.1319) and its associated Plan of Action.

NMHSs are key to assessing the interdependencies of water and climate change related actions. NMHSs own and operate most of the infrastructure that is needed for ensuring weather, climate, hydrological, marine and related environmental services. Observations and data gathered, processed, archived and shared and the development of products and implementation of services by NMHSs provide critical inputs for addressing international conventions and agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The integration of such services into development policies and national planning is an essential element in reducing the risks of negative water-related trade-offs and achieving mitigation and adaptation targets and building the resilience of society. 

WMO Members, the NMHSs, provide global leadership and expertise in fostering international cooperation to deliver and utilize high-quality weather, climate, hydrological and related environmental services. WMO is strategically positioned to spearhead the general guidance for Members to use to develop their own technical guidance aimed at facilitating the [USA]national level assessments of water and climate change measures’ interdependencies. Policy makers can draw on such assessments to take informed decisions to sustainably manage different mitigation and adaptation measures at the scale required to achieve the Paris Agreement targets.

Spanning from activity A.1.5 of the WMO Vision and Strategy for Hydrology (WMO-No.1319) and its associated Plan of Action for Hydrology, this milestone aims at developing a self-assessment tool for Members to evaluate their level of hydrological services delivery. This self-assessment will be feeding the WMO Country Profile Database, providing WMO Members with an overview of their current capabilities, and facilitating the identification of needs to reach the required level.

Providing the required hydrological services is often not sufficient for National Hydrological Services to reach the desired level of visibility and therefore financing by their governments. The purpose of this milestone (derived from activity A.4.2 of the Plan of Action for Hydrology) is to collect and exchange experiences in marketing hydrological services among WMO Members, possibly through interactive video materials showing how different NHS, at different levels of service-delivery capabilities, cope with the marketing of the services provided by them. Based on the advocacy material above, this e-learning (corresponding to activity A.4.1 of the Plan of Action for Hydrology) will be developed to enhance marketing skills of NHS staff, taking into consideration the delivery capability of each NHS.