|
IWAC was established in September 2000 at the Netherlands Institute
for Inland Water Management and Waste Water Treatment (RIZA).
Please visit IWAC's web site
for its current and future activities and its achievements.
IWAC's
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Overall tasks
Assist in the development and implementation
of tailor-made monitoring and assessment systems
in the UN/ECE region, and upon request in other regions following
the offer of the Parties at their first meeting (ECE/MP.WAT/2, annex
I, Helsinki Declaration) to share their experience with other regions
in the world;
Organize training courses and workshops,
and/or render assistance to UN/ECE countries and joint bodies in
conducting such events to improve monitoring and information systems
for decision-making;
Act as a clearing house
on issues related to the sharing of data and information among UN/ECE
countries that are gathered through monitoring systems according
to the provisions of the Convention;
Act as a coordinator,
providing a network of scientists in Europe, promoting the exchange
of concepts and findings of scientific research on monitoring strategies,
and to establish a dialogue between scientists and policy makers,
for the transformation of scientific results and technical know-how
into policies, and to get the feedback from policy makers to scientists
to seek answers for solving still existing problems and tackling
those ahead;
Assist joint bodies
within the terms of article 9, paragraph 2, of the Convention in
matters related to monitoring and assessment.
IWAC's main activities
Provide scientific, methodological
and technical support to UN/ECE Governments to implement
the provisions of the Convention related to monitoring and assessment
of the conditions in transboundary surface waters and groundwaters
as well as international lakes;
Provide a platform for all key players,
such as scientists, experts and policy makers, to discuss cooperation
on transboundary waters in the UN/ECE region, to review scientific
developments in monitoring and assessment and to share knowledge;
Assist countries in
implementing the recommended practices through pilot projects for
transboundary waters;
Assist in, and promote the development
of, national training capacities for different target
groups at different levels, and organize the training of trainers.
IWAC's specific activities
Provide guidance on
the design and operation of monitoring networks, including the optimization
of existing networks for transboundary waters;
Assist in the drawing-up of proposals
for the region-wide harmonization of rules for setting
up and operating monitoring programmes in transboundary waters,
relevant devices and analytical techniques, methods for the registration
of water uses, including the discharge of pollutants, and methods
for assessing conditions of transboundary waters, including data
processing and evaluation procedures;
Assist in the drawing-up of proposals
for setting up, where appropriate, information transmission
by warning and alarm systems;
Promote and support, where appropriate,
initiatives on quality management, in particular
those undertaken by other bodies established under the Convention;
Assist countries in
the preparation of inventories of pollution sources and in conducting
surveys of hot spots and key locations;
Assist UN/ECE countries with economies
in transition, through the organization of seminars
and workshops, in the exchange of information on the best available
technology, the results of research and development, practices and
instruments, and training related to monitoring and assessment;
Assist in the preparation of status
reports, including region-wide information on the
conditions of transboundary waters, and in developing and maintaining
an appropriate database;
Ensure that the Guidelines on monitoring
and assessment of transboundary watercourses and
international lakes drawn up under the auspices of the Meeting of
the Parties to the Convention are kept
up to date.
IWAC's clearing house functions
Assist countries in transition to
improve the formulation of projects related to monitoring
and assessment, and promote their effective implementation;
Promote the exchange of experts;
Gather and distribute information
on relevant international organizations, activities and programmes
on monitoring and assessment;
Gather and distribute information
on methodologies, technical requirements and guidelines.
IWAC's coordination functions
IWAC shall ensure that
all its tasks and main activities are properly coordinated and harmonized,
to the extent feasible, with pertinent legislation and policies
of the European Union, activities of the European Environment Agency
and its relevant topic centres, and the activities of joint bodies
under the Convention.
|