Mumbai, the most densely-populated city in India with 13 million inhabitants in 2006, is currently facing a severe water crisis. The quantities of water available have reached a critical level, meaning the various uses of water resources have to be prioritised.

The 1st forum of the African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development programme (AMESD) was held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on 1-4 December 2009. It was designed to set up a continental policy to manage water resources using “global structures for satellite observation of changes in rain basins”.

At the end of 2009, the 2030 Water Resources Group (McKinsey & Company, financial institutions, agricultural and industrial enterprises, experts, etc.) issued a report on the economic and social risks induced by possible water shortages on the 2030 timescale, and a number of recommendations to prevent them.

The Copenhagen Summit is fast approaching and the European community is devoting an increasing amount of attention to climate change. Adaptation to the effects of climate change was the main topic of discussion at the informal meeting held 14 April last between the environment ministers of the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU).

Water consumption by the power sector was a central issue in discussions during the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul. After agriculture, the power industry is the second largest user of water. In the United States today, 39% of water withdrawals are used for power production, compared with 31% in Europe.

Despite its timing – late on the Friday 19th afternoon – session 6.1.3 about Education and Local Empowerment in water services, attracted more people than the conference room could host. The format of the session allocated a lot of time for discussion and debate. It was very much geared towards the question of how to harness web 2.0 and mobile technologies and how to develop new knowledge management systems favoring knowledge sharing and co-creation rather than just storage.