9 June 2011: The World Bank has approved US$4.59 million in Global Environment Facility (GEF) grants, and partnered with NASA and USAID, to improve water resource and agricultural management in Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon and the Arab Water Council.

The grants will finance the hardware, software and technical assistance needed for the application of remote sensing and Earth observation tools. These tools are expected to enhance countries’ capacity to: monitor fires, drought, flooding, freshwater availability, evapotranspiration and crop yield; and to study climate change impact on water resources based on long range climate scenarios. [World Bank Press Release]