DIKTAS Presentation at European session World Water Forum

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IGRAC Director Dr. Neno Kukuric has been invited to give a presentation on the DIKTAS project during one of the regional sessions of the 7th World Water Forum, which will be held in the Republic of Korea. This European session, 'Sharing experiences of transboundary management of international rivers, lakes and aquifers', will take place on Monday 13 April (11:20-19:00) in Gyeonju and is coordinated by ISC and UNECE. 

About the session

Water doesn't know borders! Over 276 main rivers or lakes are transboundary. UNESCO initiated in 2002 the ‘ISARM' (Internationally Shared Aquifer Resources Management). There are now 592 identified transboundary aquifers, including transboundary ‘groundwater bodies' as defined in the European Union Water Framework Directive (EU WFD), underlying almost every nation.
 
Managing transboundary water resources efficiently should therefore be a strategic priority. It can be based on existing legal instruments, Worldwide (the 1992 UNECE Water Convention, the 1997 United Nations Convention or the 2008 United Nations Draft articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers) or regional (as the European Union Water Framework and Flood Directives detailing ambitious requirements for transboundary coordination between Member States).
 
But coordination, thanks to river commissions or international bodies, organizing exchanges of best practices (for instance through the International Network of Basin Organizations - INBO), is also crucial. This session will bring experiences sharing between Europe, Africa and the Arab region as well as case studies of transboundary management, either conflictual (as in some Arab countries) or cooperative ?with an emphasis on incentives for developing the latter.

About the DIKTAS Project

Protection and Sustainable Use of the Dinaric Karst Aquifer System (DIKTAS) is a project initiated by the aquifer-sharing states and supported by Global Environment Facility (GEF) to improve understanding of transboundary groundwater resources of the Dinaric region and to facilitate their equitable and sustainable utilisation, including the protection of unique karst groundwater dependent ecosystems.