HMEI Report on the 13th commission for hydrology (Chy-XIII)
Geneva, Switzerland, 4-12 November 2008

This report , by the HMEI Secretariat, is not intended to be definitive, but rather highlights items considered of interest for HMEI Members.

The meeting working documents plan is available here. Working documents presented at the meeting are at times included as a link in this report, the others are available at: ftp://ftp.wmo.int/Documents/SESSIONS/CHy-XIII/English/DOCs/PDF/.
Please note that these documents, presented at the meeting, are draft and background documents for information only and are the NOT final decisions of the Commission. For the final decisions please consult the WMO final report when it is available.

Attendees
The full provisional list of attendees is available here.
Attendees for HMEI were:
Wolfgang Zasche - Seba
Rob Doornbos - Vaisala
Luis Gomez - Siap+Micros
Bruce Sumner (HMEI Executive Secretary)
Christine Charstone (HMEI Administrator)

Opening of the session
The CHy President, Bruce Stewart, welcomed the attendees and then asked the WMO Secretary General, Mr Jarraud, to give an address to open the meeting.

Mr Jarraud emphasised particularly the new changes in WMO which now enabled an ameliorated cooperation between all the Commissions of WMO. He then advised that WMO is now structured to follow results based management. In the resultant restructure of WMO there is now a new Department within WMO responsible for hydrology, water and climate. Mr Jarraud stressed the importance of Hydrology in the Climate areas as well its natural involvement in the hydrological services of WMO members.

Dr Tyagi, the Director of the new Climate and Water Department (CLW),  then gave an address. He congratulated CHy on its 50th anniversary this year. He went on to outline for attendees the formal regulations by which the commission session would be run. Dr Tyagi emphasized the urgent need for setting of hydrological standards, and advised that the new agreement between WMO and ISO will assist with this process.

CONFERENCE ITEMS
Item 3.1
Report of the President of CHy See the presented working document here
In this report it was noted that water scarcity is a problem in all countries, including pressure from irrigation, expanding plantations, bushfires, uncapped groundwater extraction and expanding farm dams and not forgetting climate change. Good water information was noted as the key to minimizing all these issues. The report also summarized the achievements of the Hydrology and Water Resources Programme in the last 4 years.

Items 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4
Reports on the Hydrology and Water Resources Programme
Some items noted from these reports were:

• The Guide to Hydrological Practices (WMO No 168) is out of date (it is over 20 years old). It is undergoing an update, and Vol 1 has been finished and Vol 2 is expected to be finalized by the end of year.
• Manual on Stream Gauging (WMO No 519), dated 1980, has been updated and will be ready for distribution by end of 2008.
• Manual on Water Quality Monitoring (WMO No. 680) is dated 1988. It has also been revised, and the focus has changed more to national water quality issues. It is under review and printing will be in a few months.
• A project called Performance of Flow Measurement Instruments and Techniques, to access performance of instruments and techniques against WMO standards, met in 2007. HMEI is a partner and was thanked for its work in this activity.
• INFOHYDRO – provides information on global hydrological networks. Information has been received from 23 countries, and all countries were asked to contribute their information.
• There are currently 6 HYCOS projects under implementation, involving 40 countries, many in least developed countries. 20 million Euros have been obtained for these 6 HYCOS projects.
• Other HYCOS projects are under investigation or development, include Senegal, Congo, Sava South East Asia and Amazon. Also Aral HYCOS and IGAD HYCOS will be implemented shortly.
• A Global Runoff Data Centre has been implemented in Germany as a part of the requirement for international data exchange.
• The Manual on Water Resources Handbook was started in September 2005, and will be continued in consultation with UNESCO. It is expected to be ready by end of 2009.
• A hydrological data rescue project is underway. 55 countries have indicated their agreement to participate, but many other countries have not replied.
• Manual on Flood Forecasting and Warning was stared in Nov 2005. Needs further work to make it ready for publication.
• The Manual on Low Flow Estimation and Prediction has been reviewed, updated and is ready for printing.
• The Manual on the Estimation of Probable Maximum Precipitation has been reviewed and will be published soon.
• The International Flood Initiative has been established to promote an integrated approach to flood management. Members are UNESCO, UNU, IAHS, IAHR, ICHARM.
• HOMS (the Hydrological Operational Multipurpose System  - the HOMS Reference Manual (HRM) has been updated and is in four language versions. HOMS is also disseminates QMF (Quality Management Framework) for Hydrology.

• Education and training:
  ▪ Several training workshops were carried out in 6 regions since the last  Commission meeting. The Private Sector has also been involved in these at times.
  ▪ Presidents of regional associations are now able to nominate new WMO RTCs and the scope of these centres has been widened.
  ▪ There has been an increase in the demand for e-learning and this is currently being upgraded.

• Education vocationally and for teachers and children on floods has also been extensively carried out.
• Technical Assistance Program. Increased technical assistance has has been carried out in Mexico, Nigeria, Dihjbouti, Eritrea, Mali and Mauritania.