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International Riversymposium Tackles Water and Food Security |
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BRISBANE, AUSTRAILIA, May. 25 -/E-Wire/--
To most Australian city dwellers, water is clean to drink, cheap to use and fun to play in. While water still flows freely from taps, they overlook the fact that many river systems are being sucked dry or reducing their flows so that they become unhealthy. As city residents gradually adapt to the inconvenience of increased water restrictions, many ignore the devastating impact of drought, salinity, dams, sediment and pollution in major rivers and estuaries.
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Internationally, the situation is far worse. Once-great rivers like the Yellow in China, the Ganges and Indus in India, and the Rio Grande on the border of Mexico and the United States now regularly dry up and clog up, with obvious consequences for aquatic species, water-based recreation, and human health and sanitation, especially for people who depend intimately upon their rivers for drinking, bathing, and cooking water.
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The International Riversymposium, which Australia hosts each year in Brisbane, is a wake up call to better preserve and manage world water resources. This year's theme, 'Water and Food Security - Rivers in a Global Context' looks at the challenge of meeting human needs for water while keeping our river systems healthy.
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The International Riversymposium is an integral part of Brisbane's annual broad-based cultural event, the Riverfestival. Now in its eighth year, the symposium provides a global forum which aims to make a difference to the declining state of rivers and waterways globally.
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"But it's not all doom and gloom," says Riversymposium's chairman Professor Paul Greenfield of the University of Queensland. "The symposium's breadth of presentations show how good science and community action can improve the health of river systems, how new technology can maintain water quality, and how knowledge can be used to sustain community needs with adequate environmental flows. Hundreds of symposium participants share case studies and examples on how to tackle threats to their rivers. Mostly, it's about social problems that require political action."
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Riversymposium attracts leading water experts from around the world and Brisbane will be buzzing from 6-9 September with new ideas, policies, agreements, debates and technology to address some of the world's most pressing water related issues.
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International water expert Brian Richter, director of The Nature Conservancy's sustainable waters program, will explain why restoring and preserving more natural river flows are key to sustaining freshwater biodiversity and healthy river systems. He will describe innovative policies, scientific approaches, and management reforms for achieving those goals.
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"The conventional approach to river protection has focused on water quality and maintaining some ?minimum? flow that was thought necessary to ensure the viability of a river," says Richter.
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"In recent years, however, scientific research has underscored the idea that the ecological health of a river system depends not on a minimum amount of water at any one time but on the naturally variable quantity and timing of flows throughout the year."
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Richter, co-author the book 'Rivers of Life: Managing Water for People and Nature', will speak at Riversymposium along with a host of other passionate water scientists, conservationists and policy makers. Another is John Briscoe, senior water advisor at the World Bank.
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Briscoe, who takes an international perspective, is blunt when he describes the looming water shortage: Unless people learn to use water more efficiently, there won't be enough fresh water to sustain the Earth's population. "If nothing happens, the situation is really quite terrifying," he says. "Without innovation, you're dead."
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Internationally, the looming water crisis is partly driven by population growth. But even more, it stems from a spirited overuse of the Earth's fresh water for agriculture, industry and all sorts of uses that turn good water bad. For example, the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute projected that by 2025, only about a quarter of the world's population will have enough fresh water. Roughly a third of the world's population will have too little water to meet their needs. That includes people in Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Israel, South Africa and half of India and China.
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Riversymposium participants will debate the need to create better legal frameworks to protect water resources. Dr Stefano Burchi, senior legal officer at the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation, will outline the realities for conflict over shared water resources, particularly for countries that share rivers and catchments. "So it is important that countries reach agreement," he says. "In the process of reaching agreement, and through the agreement and the mechanisms for consultation and cooperation, countries can manage conflicting interests, and defuse the potential for conflict to escalate all the way to the water wars."
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The four-day event also includes the prestigious International and National Thiess Riverprize. The prize recognises outstanding achievements in river conservation and management. Finalists will present their work in both plenary and concurrent sessions. This year there are eight nominations from France, Uzbekistan, India, China, Canada and USA vying for the $150,000 International Thiess Riverprize. There are also ten nominations from Australia competing for the $50,000 National Thiess Riverprize. Successful river restoration award finalists will be highlighted from Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.
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Scientific case studies will focus on the Euphrates River in Iraq, the Fly River in Papua New Guinea, San Francisco River in Brazil, and the Thames River in England. A special session on the Yangtze River in China, the longest and most controversial river in Asia, will be offered. This session will cover many aspects of this fascinating river including the Three Gorges Dam and current problems with flood mitigation.
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While Australia may not yet be experiencing some of the more dramatic and life threatening situations as many river systems overseas, the clock is ticking, particularly in relation to the current drought and low levels in large dams that supply water to major population centres.
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The 8th International Riversymposium will be held at Brisbane's Convention Centre from 6-9 September 2005. It's the place to be for water professionals, students, educators, journalists, and conservationists. Other public activities include Riverfire, Riverfeast and pre-symposium study tours. For further information, booking and registration details visit: www.riversymposium.com.
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Regular updates on international river issues, such as water scarcity, estuary flows, wastewater treatment, community consultation, legal frameworks, damming rivers and water policy, will be published in regular free e-newsletters produced for the symposium.
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/SOURCE:
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International Riversymposium |
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05-25-2005 |
/CONTACT:
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Don Alcock - don.alcock@nrm.qld.gov.au
Ph: 61 7 3362 9373
Mb: 0418 882 063 |
| /WEB SITE: |
http://www.riversymposium.com
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