29 August 2014: The Global Water Partnership (GWP) has released several short notes and perspective papers, including ‘Ecosystem Services and Water Security,’ ‘The Links between Land Use and Groundwater,’ and ‘Proceedings from the GWP Workshop – Assessing Water Security with Appropriate Indicators.’

The briefing note on ecosystem services identifies as key messages that: politicians and policy makers need to address ecosystem challenges; the conservation of ecosystem services requires funding for protecting and managing ecosystems; coordinated efforts are required; and ministries of finance and government agencies need to better understand the role ecosystem services play.

The perspectives paper on land use and groundwater highlights why land-groundwater interactions matter, how land-use management can incorporate groundwater and which instruments facilitate coordinated governance. The paper examines regulatory options to control land-use change affecting groundwater and land-owner incentives for groundwater management.

The proceedings include sections on: assessing water security with appropriate indicators – challenges and recommendations; water security – old concepts, new package, what value; which way now – supporting decisions for climate compatible development in the water sector; indicators for assessing national water security – Asia Water Development (AWDO) 2013; water security indicators – the Canadian experience; water framework directive experiences in Spain; and fairness and flooding – assessing the distributional impact of flood interventions.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) founded the GWP in 1996 to promote integrated water resources management (IWRM). [GWP Press Release] [Publication: Ecosystem Services and Water Security] [Publication: The Links between Land Use and Groundwater] [Publication: Proceedings from the GWP Workshop – Assessing Water Security with Appropriate Indicators]