WMO RA VI Hydrology Forum
WMO RA VI Hydrology Forum
Concept and launch meeting
Koblenz, 8 to 10 May, 2012
- Summary report
- Terms of Reference
- Countries statements
- Presentations given during the Forum & Working Groups statements
- List of participants
- Activities 2012-2014
The WMO Regional Association VI (Europe) has established at its 15th Session (September 2009) a Working Group on Climate and Hydrology (RA VI WG-CH) with the goal to, inter alia, support the activities of the WMO Hydrology and Water Resources Programme in the region, and notably maintain the fruitful cooperation established with the European Commission in climate- and water-related matters. The WG has the task to promote professional activities of National Hydrological Services (NHS) in Europe, acting as a platform for exchange of scientific–technical expertise. Hydrometry is among the priority themes identified for the WGCH activities.
Through formal and informal meetings with different stakeholders in the water domain, the WMO RA VI WGCH identified the need to discuss strategic and operational aspects of hydrological monitoring systems between National Hydrological Services and their main partners. Sharing of experience and joint planning is becoming increasingly important particularly in this critical period for most economies, with the hydrological community facing growing pressure due to reduced public budgets, along with the need to take into account new monitoring objectives and client groups in response, inter alia, to the requirements emerging from the implementation of the European legislation. Therefore, to provide a platform for discussing these challenges among interested professionals and stakeholders, the RA VI WG-CH recommended to establish a Hydrology Forum for Members of WMO RA VI, with the following goals:
- To develop a common strategy in RA VI for the sustainability and design of regional hydrological monitoring networks (for water, climate and environment).
- To act as a platform for exchanging good practices and technical solutions and promote approaches that will improve the cost-efficiency of monitoring systems.
- To strengthen the networking amongst RA VI NMHSs in the field of hydrology .
- To provide advice to the WG-CH in identifying possible contributions of RA VI NMHSs to the WMO programs, in particular the Hydrology and Water Resources Programme (HWRP).
- To develop proposals on hydrological contribution for global, regional and national water and climate activities ( GFCS , RCCs, RCOFs , Climate Watches) and provide inputs in the development of the GFCS User Interface concept.
- To promote and facilitate the cross-border exchange of hydrological information and working practices.
- To enable coordinated positions on improving hydrological services in support of societal needs, such as, security, health, water management and climate adaptation.
Following the recommendation of WG-CH for the RA VI Hydrology Forum, WMO organized, in collaboration with the Federal Institute on Hydrology, Germany, a regional meeting to debate in detail the scope and operation of the Forum, gather ideas on its organization and working methods and set a plan for its implementation.
The meeting was held from 8 to 10 May 2012 in Koblenz, kindly hosted by the Federal Institute on Hydrology, Germany. The main objectives of this meeting were to:
- Identify challenges and weaknesses and collect the needs and wishes in the topic of hydrometry (statements from members)
- Definition of content, terms of reference, structure and mode of operation of the forum
- Develop an implementation road map.