September 2012: The September edition of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Isotope Hydrology Section newsletter features articles on, inter alia: the IAEA water availability enhancement project (IWAVE); new approaches to interpreting precipitation stable isotope ratio variation; and projects in the Central African Republic and Colombia.

The newsletter, titled “Water and Environment News,” highlights the publication of a compendium of benchmark papers on isotope hydrology. It reports on the outcomes of the IWAVE pilot projects carried out in the Philippines, Oman and Costa Rica, which aim to identify and fill gaps in hydrological data, particularly groundwater. The IWAVE project includes training in the interpretation of isotope data.

The newsletter also provides updates from the Isotope Hydrology Laboratory (IHL), and reports on: the second Research Coordination Meeting (RCM) of the Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on Use of Environmental Isotopes in Assessing Water Resources in Snow, Glacier, and Permafrost Dominated Areas under Changing Climatic Conditions; and the second RCM of the CRP titled Estimation of Groundwater Recharge by Using Tritium–Helium-3 Dating Technique.

Two cases are presented in the newsletter. The first is a Colombian project on groundwater flow in the Urabá aquifer, which is using isotope hydrology techniques to estimate the hydrological features of the aquifer. The second is a project in the Central Africa Republic using isotopes to investigate drinking water supply potential. [Publication: IAEA Water and Environment Newsletter, September 2012]