ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA. IWR Director Bob Pietrowsky delivered the keynote talk at the annual general assembly meeting of the North American Network of Basin Organizations (NANBO), which was held in conjunction with the International Symposium on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at the Manoir St-Castin in Lac Beauport, Quebec, on 27-29 May 2013. The symposium was organized by NANBO in collaboration with the Regroupement des organismes de bassins versants du Québec (ROBVQ).
NANBO, which is part of the global network of river basin organizations known as the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO), includes member river basin organizations from Greenland to Panama, including the Caribbean.
Mr. Pietrowsky’s keynote address was entitled: “The Challenges of Integrated Water Management in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.” It addressed how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) approaches integrated water resources management (IWRM) within its Civil Works program at the river basin level, along with discussion of current USACE efforts on adaptation to climate change and international water security. He discussed examples of integrated water resources management within the U.S. and abroad in partnership with other nations.
Mr. Pietrowsky also spoke about the activities of the Institute’s International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM) under the auspices of UNESCO, which is affiliated with the United Nation’s International Hydrological Program (IHP). ICIWaRM operates within USACE IWR as a portal to water resources expertise not only within the Institute, but across USACE and other Federal agency partners such as the Department of Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Reclamation. It also works with a consortium of universities and non-governmental organizations that are committed to working together in support of the strategic water goals of both the U.S. Government and the IHP program.
ICIWaRM works closely with the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, the U.S. National IHP Committee, and other UNESCO affiliated water centers in other nations around the world. The mission of ICIWaRM is the advancement of the science and practice of IWRM to address water security and other challenges by regional and global action, sharing new knowledge and innovative technologies, and collaborative interdisciplinary scientific research, networking, training, education and capacity development.
Other symposium topics included:
- Wetland conservation and development in Québec, Canada and around the world
- Source water protection in North America
- Indigenous participation in integrated water management in Canada, with global examples
- Land management and flooding security in America
The event’s topics centered around integrated water resources management of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River Basin, as well as worldwide. Approximately 100 participating organizations as well as local and international partners attended. During the event, about 20 basin organizations from Canada, the United States and Mexico signed the World Pact for Better Basin Management in the presence of the Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Mr.Pierre Arcand. The first steps toward this pact first took place during the 6th World Water Forum at Marseille on March 16, 2012. The signing ceremony, which was presided over by Mr. Jean-François Donzier from the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO), closed the symposium.
More about NANBO
NANBO’s mission is to further the science and practice of integrated watershed management among basin organizations, state, province and local water agencies, ministries or departments, in collaboration with academic and research institutions, and other non-government groups throughout North America. The NANBO’s board of directors is now composed of members from Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, the United States and Mexico, thus ensuring representation across the North American territory. Additional information on NANBO and INBO can be found at
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