Water is too precious to waste...

You are receiving this monthly email alert for your timely information about forthcoming activities and new materials available on the SWIM websites.

We hope you will find it useful and will bring you even closer to the SWIM family!

With best wishes,

The SWIM-SM Team

SWIM- Support Mechanism

• A Call for Success Stories on Sustainable Water Integrated Management in the SWIM Partner Countries has been recently launched. The deadline to send information on the stories is the 30 April 2014. Solutions will fall under the following topics: non-conventional water resources, water governance, economic valuation of water degradation and remediation actions and water financing, and no-regret action for adaptation to climate change. More information about the scope of this activity and the selection process are available in English and French

• Guidelines on measures for improving compliance with water legislations and assessment of enforcement capacity in the SWIM-SM region with focus on Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon and Morocco are now available in English, while an executive summary is also available in French

• An Assessment about the cost of water resources degradation of the Oum Er-Rbia river Basin in Morocco is now available in French, while the related Policy Note is available in English and French

• The map section of SWIM website has been updated with information about all activities implemented at Regional and National level from all projects (SWIM-Support Mechanism and Demonstration Projects) until February 2014 and activities planned in the coming months. To read the information in English and French select first the language from the home page and then click on the map

• An article about the National Consultation in Algeria on the Cost Assessment of Water Resources Degradation of the Seybouse River Basin (Algiers, 26 November 2013) has been published by the National daily newspaper “Liberté” and is available in French

Errata Corrige:The planned training and study tour on the state of the art for desalination using renewable energy sources planned for 17-21 March 2014 in Spain has been canceled. 

www.swim-sm.eu

SWIM – Demonstration Projects

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SWIM - ACLIMAS

Adaptation to Climate Change of the Mediterranean Agricultural Systems

• Four field days have been recently organized on:

- The “Importance of planting days and fertilizer application in wheat cultivation” (Irbid –Jordan, 12 February 2014)

- “Crop establishment” (Lahyout, province of Settat – Morocco, 12 February 2014): a leaflet about this field day is available in French.

- “Weed control” (Gdana, province of Settat – Morocco, 25 February 2014).

- “Fertilization practices under conservation agriculture” (Tamadroust implementation site, Settat – Morocco, 4 March 2014).

• The programme of the Training course on the “Sustainability analysis of adaptation to climate change of Mediterranean agricultural systems” (11-13 March 2014, INRA regional center in Settat –Morocco) is available in English, while the training material will also be uploaded shortly.

• The following videos have been recently uploaded on the dedicated ACLIMAS website’s section:

- An old farmer' thoughts - Bekaa valley, Lebanon

- Byblos Field Day, promotion of wheat products from Bekaa Valley in the occasion of Santa Barbara

-Sowing period, Baalback, Bekaa valley, Lebanon

- Sowing period, Shaat, Bekaa valley, Lebanon

• A brochure related to the project’s activities in Lebanon is available in English

• A poster on Adapting to climate change and testing possible measures to stabilize wheat and barley yields in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon is also available in English

www.aclimas.eu

SWIM – All Across the Jordan

Trans-boundary NGO Master Planning of the Lower Jordan River Basin

• The semi-final baseline report describingthe current situation in the Lower Jordan River Basin, and presenting major challenges towards creating sustainable development conditions is now available in English. The final version will be approved after two public hearings organized in Jordan on March 17^th and in Palestine on March 19^th. The approved baseline report will be used as a starting point for the NGO Master Planning processforeseen in the framework of the project.

• Many meetings have been organized with government officials,particularly with the Palestinian Minister of Water,to update him about the report and invite him to the public hearing.

www.foeme.org

SWIM – IMPROWARE

Innovative Means to Protect Water Resources in the Mediterranean Coastal Areas through Re-injection of Treated Water

The following activities have been implemented and/or are planned shortly:

Nobariya Wadi El-Nutrun- Egypt

• The tender procedure for the realization of the Constructed Wetland works was finalised and the Evaluation Committee met for the award of the assignment for completion of work, that will start in mid March, after the contract’s signature.

• The engineering design of the waste water treatment plant upgrade is completed and after launching the tender dossier, offers will be received until May 31^st 2014. 

• The exact location of pumping wells and piezometers for hydrogeological investigations in Nobariya Wadi El-Nutrun has been identified and agreed with the Egyptian partners.

• The tender document related to the preparation of the new wells is finalised and has been launched.

• The selection of the Egyptian company that will perform the drilling of the new wells is planned for 20 March 2014 while the start of the activities on March 31th.

• The Communication strategy for the activities in the country has been updated and will be discussed with the relevant stakeholders at the end of March. 

• A mission is foreseen to facilitate the collection of missing data needed for the project (e.g., agricultural practices, surface water quality, climate regime).

• Estimation of a geophysical model of the subsurface after processing the collected data.

• A geophysical training course on “gTEM geophysical technique – from data acquisition to interpretation” is planned to be organised in Egypt until end of April 2014.

Korba – Tunisia

• A mission is planned in mid March to finalise the data collection related to the aquifer recharge site. After an analysis of the data the existing GIS will be updated. 

• A Technical Workshop “ANY DROP OF WATER” to disseminate information about the technical status of IMPROWARE activities as well as new methodologies, technologies and models in the field of hydrogeology and the outcomes of the recent investigations carried out in Nobariya will be organised in Tunis on 2-4 April, with the participation of stakeholders from Egypt and Tunisia.

The following updates have been published on the website:

• An article concerning the field mission organised on February 12-13, 2014 in Egypt with the specific purpose to clarify final technical issues on the design of the Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Nobariya is available in English. The photos related to this mission and to a visit in Nobariya on 12 February are available at the following link.

• An article related to the main project management features is available in English

• An article in English related to a groundbased TEM mapping in Nobariya (5-19 December 2014) and the related photos are available at the following link

Registration for the IMPROWARE E-learning Programme on Water Resources Mnagement is still open!

For more information, please visit: http://www.improware.eu/e-learning/e-learning-registration-form/).

www.improware.eu

SWIM – Sustain Water MED

Network of demonstration activities for sustainable integrated wastewater treatment and reuse in the Mediterranean countries

The following activities are planned in the coming months:

• A second call for presentation abstracts for the Regional Conference on Sustainable Integrated Wastewater Treatment and Reuse in the Mediterranean, which will be held in Cairo, Egypt on 1-2 December, 2014 will be distributed to the project’s contact list as well as on the project’s website by mid-March, the new deadline will be confirmed then.

• Local training on “Operation and Maintenance of Waste Water Treatment Plants, irrigation systems as well as pumping stations” (17-18 March 2014, Medenine Gouvernorate – Tunisia). The target group is the local agricultural authority (CRDA).

• Local training on “Environmental and Sanitation Monitoring and Management” (3-4, 6-7, 10 May, 2014, in Medenine Governorate – Tunisia). The target group comprises the local sanitation, agricultural, environmental and health authorities as well as farmers.

• A mission will start for the Jordanian pilot project in Moqablane-Jordan, at the beginning of April. The mission will target the project’s beneficiary, the Public Security Directorate and will comprise the development of a reuse and irrigation plan, a training on safe and efficient reuse practices as well as the development of information material. The mission will run until mid-October 2014.

• A regional training course will take place on 12-16 May in Djerba, Tunisia on ‘Wastewater Quality Monitoring and Environmental Impacts’. Participants include practitioners and policy-makers from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan. The selection process is now closed. For more details on the training content, please click here

• A mission will be conducted for the Egyptian pilot project to elaborate an Environmental Impact Assessment, deliver technology options and prepare tender documents for the decentralized wastewater treatment plant and reuse system in the pilot area, Al Gezayra village in the Ismailia Gouvernorate. The mission will run in May-June, 2014.

www.swim-sustain-water.eu

SWIM – WADIS-MAR

Water Harvesting and Agricultural techniques in Dry lands: an Integrated and Sustainable Model in MAghreb Regions

The following activities are planned in the coming weeks/months:

• The artificial aquifer recharge intervention plan of Biskra (Algeria) and Oum Zessar (Tunisia) will be finalized by the end of March;

• A geophysical data survey will be held at Oued Oum Zessar between 7-9 April 2014

• A training activity on agro-meteorology will be held in Biskra between 30 March and 5 April

• A training on geophysical data processing will be organized on 10-12 April in Medenine (Tunisia)

• A land use/land cover map for Biskra intervention area (including salinized soil mapping) will be prepared until the end of April

• Hydro-chemical equipment for activities in Algeria will be purchased shortly.