Standing Committee on Hydrological Services (SC-HYD) - Milestones on hold

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.

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 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 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.

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.