FloodsDroughts
Tribune: Groundwater recharge tech ultimate solution to urban flooding: experts
- IWMI in the news The country’s experts cognisant to the issue have forcefully suggested on Monday to adopt groundwater recharge wells technology as a national policy to counter urban flooding and ensuing drought due to climate change. Read the full article on ...more
The News: Climate action
- IWMI in the news It will come as no surprise to much of Pakistan’s population that their country ranks among the lowest for disaster risk management for water security in Asia, according to the Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO). Following the extreme heatwave of May – the city of Jacobabad hit 51 degrees C on May 14 – Pakistanis are now experiencing ...more
New Scientist: Farmers in Bangladesh pump so much water it may help reduce floods
- IWMI in the news Millions of smallholder farmers in Bangladesh pump huge amounts of groundwater for irrigation, helping to triple the country’s rice production and possibly mitigate floods during monsoon season. Intensive irrigation and other agricultural improvements since the 1980s have enabled Bangladesh to produce enough food each year to be nearly self-sufficient. “In Bangladesh we rely heavily on groundwater for irrigation,” ...more
Popular Science: Farmers accidentally created a flood-resistant ‘machine’ across Bangladesh
- IWMI in the news To control unpredictable water and stop floods, you might build a dam. To build a dam, you generally need hills and dales—geographic features to hold water in a reservoir. Which is why dams don’t fare well in Bangladesh, most of which is a flat floodplain that’s just a few feet above sea level. Read the full article on ...more
The Nation: Water Management Institute helps Pakistan assess flood damages
- IWMI in the news The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is helping the Pakistan government carry out flood damages assessment and aiding the recovery efforts, in the wake of extreme flooding across the country, says a press release issued here on Monday. Dr Mohsin Hafeez, Pakistan’s Country Representative for the IWMI, said, “All four of Pakistan’s provinces have been severely hit ...more
Daily Times: IWMI supporting Pakistan to deal with unprecedented floods
- IWMI in the news Pakistan is one of the top 10 nations most vulnerable to climate change and the worst affected provinces of Balochistan and Sindh have received 400 per cent more precipitation this year than their 30-year average. The unprecedented and early heatwave this year also accelerated the melting of glaciers in the Himalaya, Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountain ranges, ...more
Pakistan Observer: IWMI helps Pakistan to assess flood damages
- IWMI in the news The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is helping the Pakistan government carry out flood damages assessment and aiding the recovery efforts, in the wake of extreme flooding across the country, says a press release issued here on Monday. Read the full article on ...more
Associated Press of Pakistan: IWMI offers support to Pakistan govt to deal with unprecedented floods
- IWMI in the news In a press statement issued here on Monday, Dr. Mohsin Hafeez, Pakistan Country Representative for the IWMI, said, “All four of Pakistan’s provinces have been severely hit by the riverine floods and excessive rainfall in hill torrents, with some rural regions unreachable by road. We are working closely with the federal, provincial and local governments to help ...more
Urdu Point: IWMI offers support to Pakistan govt to deal with unprecedented floods
- IWMI in the news The International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a research for development organization, has offered its support to Government of Pakistan for flood damage assessment and aiding recovery efforts, following the extreme flooding events across the country. Read the full article on ...more
World Asia: Half a million in relief camps as flood death toll passes 1,000
- IWMI in the news There are at least 386 children among 1,136 people who lost their lives in the floods, according to the latest National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). More than 1,600 have been injured in the destructive rains since June 14. Rescue efforts continue across Pakistan after catastrophic flooding that has affected 33 million people. The floods after heavy monsoon ...more
Managed aquifer recharge: A reliable solution to manage droughts?
- Blog By Paul Pavelic, Senior Researcher, and Mohammad Faiz Alam, Researcher, IWMI IWMI researcher determining the physical characteristics of check dam structures in the Kamadhiya catchment in Saurashtra, IndiaPhoto: Mohammad Faiz Alam/IWMI Enhancing groundwater availability through MAR India, as the largest user of groundwater globally, has been promoting managed aquifer recharge (MAR) over the past two decades to mitigate the negative impacts of ...more
More nations can be better prepared for drought as IWMI takes its space-based monitoring tool online
- Blog By Giriraj Amarnath Dried-up canal in Gujarat. Photo: Hamish John Appleby / IWMI Experts at COP 27 have made apocalyptic forecasts of weather under climate change if urgent action is not taken. In South Asia, the anticipated ‘climate chaos’ is already a reality for many, with extreme droughts and floods increasingly affecting the region. According to the World Bank, losses will ...more
IWMI launches the South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS)
- Media Release August 31, 2022, Gandhinagar, Gujarat There is now a successful solution to reduce vulnerability to droughts in South Asia by providing national authorities the maximum possible lead time to put mitigation strategies into place. A next generation of South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS), developed by International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in a close partnership with Indian Council of Agricultural ...more
Planning for drought in MENA
- Blog With only two percent of the world’s renewable water resources, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is one of the driest regions in the world and home to 12 of the world’s most water-scarce countries. Increasing temperatures and evapotranspiration rates, in addition to decreases in precipitation across the region, are making water resources even more scarce and exacerbating challenges ...more
Tunisia joins Morocco, Lebanon, and Jordan in using state-of-the-art drought management technology
- Blog With the first-ever Middle East and North Africa Climate Week just concluded, learn how improved drought preparedness is helping strengthen the region’s resilience to climate change. By Carolyn Fry Wadi Nebhana, Tunisia. Photo: ©IRD – Christian Leduc. www.indigo.ird.fr Drought-monitoring technology that is currently being embedded in water and agricultural ministries in Jordan, Lebanon, and Morocco will now be implemented in Tunisia. The ...more
Gulf News: Year for drought action for the MENA region
- IWMI in the news While MENA Climate Week may last only four days, adaptation actions need to accelerate fast to continue the region’s development, and the success of both comes down to smarter water management. Water is life and bringing today’s technologies and policy solutions, together with traditional understanding and management of this precious resource will be critical in the decades ...more
MENADrought, collaboration, and lessons learned on Jordan's path to drought resilience
- Blog By Lucy Lawrenson, IWMI Consultant Between the mountains of Iran and the coastal plains of Morocco lies a region facing significant drought risks: the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Drought has been common in MENA for centuries, but climate change is making droughts more frequent, unpredictable, and dangerous. Faced with this growing threat, the Government of Jordan is strengthening its ...more
Thinking Hydrologically
- Blog An Interview with Oyture Anarbekov, IWMI Country Manager – Uzbekistan By Clara Colton Symmes, Princeton in Asia Fellow, IWMI Water is running out in Central Asia. New approaches to water regulation, energy production, and agricultural education are necessary to be able to feed the region. An irrigation water channel in Central Asia. Photo: Neil Palmer / IWMI To ensure that the voices of ...more
Innovations and smart water technologies key to food systems transformation in Central Asia
- Media Release (Tashkent/Colombo, 23 April 2021) – Creating the food systems that people want and need across Central Asia will depend in part on how water is managed under climate uncertainty, delegates at the UN Food Systems Summit Independent Dialogues (Central Asia) concluded. Photo: Madeline Dahm / IWMI Representatives from academia, government and NGOs highlighted the critical need for innovation, promotion and ...more
New project brings five African countries together to jointly manage region’s groundwater
- Media Release (Pretoria/Colombo, 8 April 2021) – The five Partner States of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) have joined forces with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) to manage groundwater resources spanning an area larger than Austria and Germany. Photo: Xueliang Cai / IWMI Groundwater and aquifers are increasingly playing a role in supplying reliable water supplies to dispersed ...more
Population pressure and increasing water competition in a changing climate require us to take stock of the availability and use of water across scales. Water availability not only influences farmers’ commercial prospects but also irrigation-related enterprises and agri-businesses. Greater water scarcity could jeopardize irrigation and agricultural markets while excessive water use can lead to declining ecosystems, water quality and soil health. IWMI advises development partners and the public and private sectors on all aspects of water resource availability and use through a variety of advanced modeling and remote-sensing products and tools, including 
The ability of farmers to engage in or expand irrigation depends on the prevailing socioeconomic, ecological and political contexts, which are often complex, non-linear and changeable. Overcoming systemic barriers to farmer-led irrigation development while taking advantage of existing opportunities 
A lack of affordable credit, particularly for women and resource-poor farmers, is one of the main barriers to expanding farmer-led irrigation in low- and middle-income countries. But 
Scaling farmer-led irrigation requires strengthening human capacity and knowledge exchange among all actors and stakeholders involved. IWMI takes an action research approach, working with national and international research institutions, governments, extension agents and public and private organizations to co-develop the scaling ecosystem and strengthen capacity to drive scaling networks and collective action. We support the