Responsible Water Management and Water Risks in the 21st Century

Time: Monday, October 8, 14:30 - 16:00
Venue: Žofín Palace, Knights' Hall

Moderator:
Bedřich Moldan, Senator, Chairman of the European Environment Agency, Czech Republic

Panel Discussion:
Martin Bursík, Minister of Environment, Czech Republic
Graham Mackay, CEO, SABMiller, South Africa/UK
Aaron T. Wolf, Professor, Oregon State University, USA
Mats Karlsson, Country Director for Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, World Bank, Sweden
Miriam Balaban, Secretary General, European Desalination Society, Italy
Jitzchak Alster, Advocate, Shimoni, Alster & Raziel, Israel

Responsible, equitable and effective water resource management is a long-term focus of the Forum 2000 Foundation - Exploring Water Patterns in the Middle East (EWaP) initiative. Over a series of events organized by EWaP a number of issues have been discussed, not only in the regional context, but also beyond the borders of the Middle East.

The water goals for the 21st century include, in general, basic human needs for water and sanitation for all, protection of the environment and the peaceful resolution of water conflicts. The tools and concepts for achieving these water goals point to water management. The evaluation of contemporary responsible water management concepts requires that we test them against water-related risks of the coming decades, which include water availability for business operations, extreme hydrological events (e.g. drought, flood, etc.), ethically and environmentally unsustainable patterns of water distribution (e.g. bottled water in the 3rd world), the water-sanitation gap, the vulnerability of water networks to violent attacks, the adverse environmental impacts of water infrastructure, etc..
Forum 2000 has to date organized a series of events with a variety of leadership personalities engaged in water issues. These workshops and roundtables have been aimed at collecting diverse views, approaches and expertise, and transforming them into tangible conclusions. These conclusions and recommendations are now available and on this basis, it is time to move on and outline available policy and funding options for the development of the water sector.

• What obstacles in your field must be confronted to meet expected water needs in the 21st century? What steps must your field take to overcome those obstacles?
• Without private investment it will be impossible to achieve the Millennium Development Goals water targets. What incentives can drive and spur investment in water-related services?
• How can the partitioning of responsibility for water management between the public and private sector mitigate 21st century water risks? 
• Are current water management practices (e.g. Integrated Water Resource Management) flexible enough to manage forecasted water risks of the 21st Century?
• How does the ongoing privatization of public water companies/utilities effect the poor and politically powerless?
• Decreasing water availability in some regions may disrupt supply chains in many industries. What can be done within the business community to manage and mitigate such disruptions?