On 8-13 September 2024, the annual International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) congress will take place in Davos, Switzerland. IGRAC will be present at this conference and is involved in several sessions, including three sessions as co-host. Each of the sessions described below is currently open for abstracts. Abstracts can be submitted until 29 February 2024.
Groundwater monitoring and reporting: navigating challenges and promoting collective action
Co-hosted by: IGRAC, WMO & FOEN
This session will gather practical experiences in groundwater monitoring, reporting, or other data-driven activities raising awareness about groundwater issues and promoting collective action. It will cover a variety of topics, such as existing monitoring networks and programmes, reporting methodologies and strategies (time-series analysis, indicators, and other technical aspects), enabling legal and institutional environments for groundwater reporting, communication channels for effective dissemination of groundwater information and data, etc. Case-studies are sought from hydrogeologists and professionals from other disciplines (including social sciences), representing various stakeholders (governments, communities, private sector, media, research institutions), at different scales and from various regions.
Effective transboundary groundwater areas for shared aquifer management
Co-hosted by: IAH-TBA Commission, IGRAC, SADC-GMI, UNESCO & Centre for Sustainable Solutions in Applied Hydrogeology
Dealing with shared aquifers crossing jurisdictional boundaries presents complex decisions regarding the scope of transboundary aquifer assessments. These decisions involve choosing between assessing the entire aquifer, specific zones, hotspots, or other criteria such as groundwater flow systems and residence time. Understanding groundwater dynamics near borders is crucial, with consideration for social, economic, and political factors. While comprehensive aquifer-wide assessments are valuable, focusing on border regions or troubled zones may offer practical solutions due to data, funding, and capacity constraints. Identifying appropriate transboundary groundwater management units is a key challenge. This session, therefore, aims at discussing existing challenges, approaches, and foster best practices in prioritising assessment areas to support transboundary aquifers' sustainable management and governance and help guide policy and decision-making.
Conjunctive management of water resources: aquifers at the heart of hydrological interactions and sustainable water management
Co-hosted by UNESCO-IHP, UNECE, IGRAC, GEF-IW:LEARN, SADC-GMI, IAH-TBA Commission
This session is devoted to improving measures, policies, and practice for how to ensure that conjunctive management, with aquifers at its core, can be adopted to enhance water security and sustainability under greater water demands and climate change, from local to transboundary scales. Contributions from practitioners in all relevant disciplines are invited to increase understanding and awareness of the benefits of conjunctive water management, especially for climate change adaptation, but also to move from spontaneous conjunctive use to planned conjunctive water management.
Abstract submission
Abstracts for oral and poster presentations can be submitted via the online submission platform before 29 February 2024. Before submitting an abstract, a user account has to be created, which can later be used to register for the congress and modify an abstract. The abstract can be entered in the online form with a maximum length of 2000 characters (including spaces). Special characters, pictures or graphics cannot be included. Abstract submitters must indicate whether they prefer an oral or poster presentation and select the session topic.