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Information and Data Sharing

Good practice in river basin management includes strong strategy and methodology for sharing information and data. This requires :

  • Making sector information (generally scattered amongst technical administration departments, funding agencies, civil society, etc…) easily available to the planners and decision-makers at national level
  • Making information available to decision-makers and planners at international level  for  tackling trans-boundaries issues in a context of transparency
  • Allowing access to the information for stakeholders (including Civil Society) in order to document, to strengthen and to better balance the water dialogue amongst those stakeholders
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# Web Link Hits
1   Link   FAO - Find Interactive Maps, GIS datasets, Satellite Imagery and Related Applications
GeoNetwork opensource is a standard based and decentralised spatial information management system, designed to enable access to geo-referenced databases and cartographic products from a variety of data providers through descriptive metadata, enhancing the spatial information exchange and sharing between organisations and their audience, using the capacities and the power of the Internet. The system provides a broad community of users with easy and timely access to available spatial data and thematic maps from multidisciplinary sources, that may in the end support informed decision making. The main goal of the software is to increase collaboration within and between organisations for reducing duplication and enhancing information consistency and quality and to improve the accessibility of a wide variety of geographic information along with the associated information, organised and documented in a standard and consistent way. 		110
2   Link   Oregon State University - International River Basin Organizations (RBO) Data
As part of her PhD research, Marloes Bakker (link to the thesis), created a database of the currently known international river basin organizations currently known. Documents are coded by the basin and countries involved, and include level and type of collaboration, principal issue(s), date of creation, a short description of the organization and the source.

The 'organizations' in this database relate to formal, government-based institutions specifically designed for the management of international river basins. For more on river basin organizations, see the comprehesive case study River Basin Organizations [PDF] by Jerome Delli Priscoli

The purpose of this database is to increase our knowledge on institutional capacity per international river basin. As such, this data was integrated into a five-part series of continental reports on Hydropolitical Resilience and Vulnerability in International River Basins, a collaboration between UNEP-DEWA and the Universities Partnership for Transboundary Waters.

This database is a work in progress, and we invite observations and additional entries. Please contact Aaron Wolf with comments or new/missing organizations. 		177
3   Link   EarthTrends - Watersheds of the World
EarthTrends is a comprehensive online database, maintained by the World Resources Institute, that focuses on the environmental, social, and economic trends that shape our world.
The maps and profiles in this collection portray issues affecting water resources, including land cover and use, population density, and freshwater biodiversity. 		124
4   Link   Malaysia - Online Hydrological Data
This website gives an example of good practice in information sharing. Hydrological stations and rainfall are online in real time with public access 		479
5   Link   Belgium - Wallonia - Hydrological Data On Line
An example of good practice and transparency in sharing the information publicly. The user may choose the hydrological station on a map or through a browser. He will then get tables and grafics related to the selected station. (this website is in French) 		133
6   Link   Global Lake Database
You may search the global lake database by lake name, country or region: 		90
7   Link   Global River Discharge Database
This site contains a compilation of monthly mean river discharge data for over 3500 sites worldwide. The data sources are RivDis2.0, the United States Geological Survey, Brazilian National Department of Water and Electrical Energy, and HYDAT-Environment Canada. The period of record for each station is variable, from 3 years to greater than 100. All data is in m3/s. 		123
8   Link   USGS Water Data Discovery
The National Water Information System (NWIS) is the Nation's principal repository of water resources data. It includes data from more than 1.5 million sites, some in operation for more than 100 years. Most NWIS data can be accessed directly at:
waterdata.usgs.gov
Additional tools are provided here to help find data in NWIS, in other USGS products and services, and from other federal partners and national organizations. If you do not find what you need try contacting a local USGS Water Science Center. 		71
9   Link   The Russian River Interactive Information System
Welcome to the community based Russian River Interactive Information System (RRIIS) 		93
10   Link   St. Croix River Basin Cooperative Hydrologic Network
Example of International Cooperation to share data between USA and Canada 		124
11   Link   Watershed Atlas of India
Ministry of Water Resources - India
The watersheds are natural hydrological entities that cover a specific aerial expanse of land surface from which the rainfall runoff flows to a defined drain, channel, stream or river at any particular point. The terms region, basin, catchment, watershed etc are widely used to denote hydrological units. Even though these terms have similar meanings in popular sense, technically they are different. Size of a watershed is governed by the size of the stream occupied by it. Size of the watershed is of practical importance in development programmes. For example, size of irrigation cum hydel project has its watershed size several thousands of square kilometers but for a farm pond the size may be few hectares only. In deserts and flat terrains with little incipient drainage, it may be difficult to delineate small sized watersheds whereas in undulating and hilly terrains smaller sized watersheds could be easily delineated. Hence the aerial extent of watersheds vary widely in the various attempts made earlier for demarcation of watersheds. 		189
12   Link   Welcome to the GBIF Data Portal
Global Biodiversity Information Facility 		57
13   Link   Welcome to TheWaterChannel
Hi! TheWaterChannel is an open resource with lots of videos related to water. And a community of creative people tuned into water. Join in, explore and add to it! 		57
14   Link   UN-Water Activity Information System (UNWAIS)
The UN-Water Activity Information System (UNWAIS) developed by the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development (UNW-DPC) is an online tool for managing, representing, analyzing and querying as well as disseminating information on existing water-related programmes, projects and activities carried out by UN-Water members, partners and associated programmes. Currently, the UNWAIS contains information on UN-Water members' and partners' activities regarding transboundary waters which were collected during the Mapping Exercise of the UN-Water Thematic Priority Area on Transboundary Waters in 2009-2010. 		46
15   Link   CA Water Info - Portal of Knowledge for Water and Environmental Issues in Central Asia
The first Central Asian Knowledge Portal is focused on water and land resources and environmental problems in the Aral Sea basin.

The Portal was created within the framework of the Central Asia Regional Water Information Base (CAREWIB) Project funded by the Swiss Agency for the Development and Cooperation and being implemented by SIC ICWC jointly with the UNECE, Zoi Environment Network with active participation of EC IFAS and ICSD. 		94
16   Link   Dutch Portal to International Hydrology
The Dutch contribution to the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO is coordinated by the Netherlands' National Committee IHP-HWRP. The Committee is an interdepartmental advisory commission of two Dutch ministries:
the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management (V&W)
the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW)
The Netherlands National Committee IHP-HWRP consists of a core team and the Committee at large. The Committee is advised by a scientific advisory board, which is formed by key hydrological scientists from all the relevant Dutch institutions. 		105
17   Link   Mountain Geoportal - A Mountain Knowledge Hub (MKH) Initiative
Promoting Geographic Information and Earth Observation Application for the Sustainable Development of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) Region. 		186
18   Link   UNEP/GRID - Arendal
Policy development and planning for sustainable development and coherent environmental management demands information, national data and knowledge of the state of the environment. As assessments and analyses become multi-sectoral, the degree of complexity generates the need for integrated information. These products in turn require organizational infrastructures for the acquisition, integration, analysis and dissemination of data and information. 		60
19   Link   UNITAR’S Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT)
UNOSAT is a technology-intensive programme delivering imagery analysis and satellite solutions to relief and development organisations within and outside the UN system to help make a difference in critical areas such as humanitarian relief, human security, strategic territorial and development planning. UNOSAT develops applied research solutions keeping in sight the needs of the beneficiaries at the end of the process. 		57
20   Link   Global Water System Project
After the publication of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report it has become clear that vulnerability of societies is closely linked to modifications to the water system. At the same time, there is a broad array of other more direct changes to the water system within the Earth system - including impacts of water engineering, aquatic biodiversity loss, point and non-point source pollution, and land use change.

Societies require a broad knowledge of the global water system with regard to achieving sustainability, reducing poverty or maintaining biodiversity and environmental flows. GWSP will lead the way to provide well researched, integrative solutions, involving the biological and physical sciences as well as economists and social sciences, to reduce the vulnerability of the Earth system and to give guidance to societies by assessments and future projections of the state of the global water system. 		35
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