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Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan Leads Meeting on World Bank-Funded Uttarakhand Water Supply Program in Emerging Areas

Unknown drinking water, government, infrastructure, water management, water supply

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<div class="content count-br">
 
 
 Dehradun
 (
 Uttarakhand
 ) [India], April 3 (ANI): With an aim to reduce electricity costs for tubewells throughout the state,
 Uttarakhand
 Chief Secretary
 Anand Bardhan
 Has instructed the Department of Drinking Water and other relevant departments to develop an action plan for installing solar energy systems by identifying unoccupied areas.
 
 
 The Chief Secretary further instructed that obtaining a groundwater level report should be mandatory prior to setting up tube wells, and this report must be provided to both the Drinking Water Corporation and Jal Sansthan for regions facing severe drinking water shortages.
 
 
 Chief Secretary
 Anand Bardhan
 presided over the 12th High-Level Committee (HLC) meeting on Wednesday at the Secretariat, focusing on topics pertinent to the discussion.
 World Bank
 -assisted
 Uttarakhand
 Water Supply Program
 (2018-2025) in peri-urban areas.
 
 
 The Chief Secretary has instructed to keep up the continuation of positive procedures under
 World Bank
 -aided
 Uttarakhand
 Water Supply Program
 (2018-2025) in suburban regions. He provided directives for ensuring 100% water quality, uninterrupted water supply, sustaining an efficient energy consumption level during pumping operations to conserve electricity, achieving high levels of customer satisfaction, and continually enhancing the system for addressing complaints.
 
 
 During the meeting, the Chief Secretary endorsed the final adjustments across multiple programs.
 Uttarakhand
 Payjal Nigam and
 Uttarakhand
 Jal Sansthan.
 
 
 It was stated during the meeting that the
 World Bank
 -aided
 Uttarakhand
 Water Supply Program
 The (2018-2025) initiative in suburban regions with a budget of Rs 1,042 crore is set to conclude on June 30, 2025.
 
 
 The
 World Bank
 'Ss contribution to the project is ₹ 834 crore, and the
 Uttarakhand
 The government's contribution amounts to Rs 208 crore. This initiative covers 22 cities and spans across five districts within the state.
 Dehradun
 Tehri, Haridwar, Nainital, and Udham Singh Nagar.
 
 
 As part of this initiative, the aim is to guarantee a daily water supply lasting 16 hours, maintaining a minimum pressure level of 12 meters, and benefiting 4.35 lakh individuals from the intended beneficiary group at an allocation rate of 135 liters per capita per day. The scheme includes installation of meters along with full cost recovery through volume-based pricing.
 
 
 Authorities from the water supply division reported that 22 projects have been finalized under the initiative, resulting in 1,08,755 new connections being issued. This represents a 24% increase over the targeted number set by the program.
 
 
 The
 World Bank
 Has shown total contentment regarding the execution of the mentioned project.
 
 
 The Secretary along with officials from the finance department, additional secretaries, and relevant department officers attended the meeting. (ANI)
 
 
</div>
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Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan Leads Meeting on World Bank-Funded Uttarakhand Water Supply Program in Emerging Areas

Unknown drinking water, government, infrastructure, water management, water supply

Dehradun ( Uttarakhand ) [India], April 3 (ANI): With an aim to reduce electricity costs for tubewells throughout the state, Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan Has…

WaterAid Installs 12,000-Litre Water Plant to Transform Health Centre

Unknown health, healthcare and medicine, medicine and healthcare, water management, water supply

WaterAid Nigeria has set up a water facility with a 12,000-liter capacity at the Odo-Nla Primary Healthcare Centre in the Ikorodu North LCDA of Lagos State. This initiative aims to enhance effective healthcare services.


 This information was included in a statement shared on Wednesday on the official X page of the Lagos State Government.


 The announcement revealed that the water plant setup was an integral component of a larger refurbishment project conducted at the PHC center, which also encompassed the provision of water, sanitation, and hygiene maintenance equipment.


 At the opening ceremony of the refurbished PHC, the Country Director of WaterAid, Evelyn Mere, highlighted that their organization is dedicated to enhancing Nigeria’s healthcare infrastructure via better access to water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities.


 WaterAid is committed to making sure each healthcare center in Nigeria, such as Odo-Nla PHC, has access to lasting improvements in water supply, sanitation facilities, and hygiene practices.


 "Our collaboration with Ikorodu North LCDA and Lagos Health District II embodies our common objective to develop more secure healthcare spaces for patients and personnel alike," she stated.


 During her address, the Permanent Secretary of Lagos State Health District II, Dayo Lajide, emphasized that the refurbishment will establish a more favorable environment for delivering healthcare services in the region.


 She encouraged the locals in the region to utilize the improved medical center for better health services.


 Lajide stated, "The WASH kits play a crucial role in our approach to make sure health care centers serve as more than just sites for treatments; they should be secure spaces safeguarding both patients and medical staff from avoidable illnesses."


 Apart from the structural changes, this refurbishment has resulted in an environment that better supports healthcare services.


 We have additionally established wellness clinics aimed at promoting preventative care, and we urge our parents, children, teenagers, and seniors to fully utilize the enhanced facilities.


 She ended her statement by urging both the local residents and healthcare providers to ensure they sustain the improved medical center.


 During his address, Adeola Banjo, the Executive Chairman of Ikorodu North LCDA, emphasized that the provision of the facility along with the maintenance kits would enhance hygiene practices and health services in the region.


 "The inauguration of these WASH maintenance kits represents a crucial milestone for us. This indicates clearly that we are heading in the right direction to enhance sanitation and hygiene at our healthcare facilities, which will ultimately benefit the inhabitants of Ikorodu North LCDA," Banjo stated.


 The inauguration was completed with an official signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between WaterAid Nigeria and Ikorudu North LCDA. This document strengthens their ongoing dedication to maintaining the enhancements achieved at Odo-Nla PHC over the long term.

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WaterAid Installs 12,000-Litre Water Plant to Transform Health Centre

Unknown health, healthcare and medicine, medicine and healthcare, water management, water supply

WaterAid Nigeria has set up a water facility with a 12,000-liter capacity at the Odo-Nla Primary Healthcare Centre in the Ikorodu North LCDA of Lagos State. This initiative aims to enhance effective…

Empowering Rivers, Enriching Lives: Rethinking Flood Management for People and Nature

Unknown environmentalism, flooding, sustainability, urban and regional planning, water management

When considering flood management strategies, ideas typically revolve around constructing taller embankments, reinforced levees, and cement walls. However, could the optimal approach – beneficial for both communities and ecosystems – be to allow rivers more room rather than restricting their flow?


 This alternate solution is gaining traction as a method for reducing flood risks. However, giving rivers more space to flow also provides additional benefits.
 ecological benefits
 well past just reducing flood risks. It aids in biodiversity, enhances water quality, and captures carbon.


 With climate change exacerbating the occurrence and severity of
 extreme floods
 , reassessing our strategy for handling floodplain rivers has never been more pressing.

<h2>
 Climate change, flooding, and restricted rivers
</h2>

 Climate change is amplifying flood risks worldwide, and Aotearoa New Zealand is
 no exception
 Large-scale flooding is anticipated to become
 far more regular and intense
 , posing risks to communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems.


 A lot of these risks are
 exacerbated by previous leadership choices
 those with rivers restricted into tight channels artificially, isolating them from their natural floodplains.


 Floodplain river systems have
 historically been dynamic
 , transitioning through different terrains over time. However, extensive retaining walls, alterations to river channels, and land development have limited this natural variation.


 Choking rivers in this manner redistributes and amplifies flooding hazards further downriver by pushing water through narrowed passages at higher velocities. This practice also deteriorates the ecosystems dependent on the natural rise and fall of river dynamics.

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<h2>
 Allowing rivers room to spread
</h2>

 The concept of permitting rivers to resume control over areas on their natural floodplains is not novel.


 In the Netherlands, the
 Room for the River
 The program emerged as a reaction to the floods in 1995, which resulted in extensive evacuations of both residents and livestock. In England, forecasts indicating that the financial hazards linked to flooding could rise twentyfold during this century have sparked initiatives.
 Making Space for Water
 strategy.


 However, these initiatives typically
 stay concentrated on flood defense
 , missing chances to optimize ecological advantages. Our
 new research
 demonstrates that thoughtfully crafted strategies can provide both environmental benefits and flood defense.


 This is essential as floodplain river systems rank amongst the most
 valuable ecosystems
 They offer approximately one-fourth of all terrestrial ecosystem services like water retention and contaminant filtering, along with providing educational opportunities, recreation, and cultural benefits.
 benefits
 .

<h2>
 Managing rivers for variability
</h2>

 A key transformation in managing rivers entails recognizing and adjusting to their inherent variability. Floodplain rivers do not remain constant; they evolve over space and time, reacting to seasonal water movements, sediment transport, and ecosystem dynamics.
 processes
 .

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1Bw8n8" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1Bw8n8.jpg"/>

 Our research
 summarizes the ecological activities triggered when floodplain rivers have space to spread out.


 Rivers that have not been artificially restricted usually
 more physically complex
 For example, alongside the primary river channel, there could be narrower tributaries, spots where the flow collects and decelerates, underground springs emerging to merge back into the above-water currents, or even oxbow lakes within the surrounding plains.


 A wide variety of environments sustains a
 abundant diversity of flora and fauna
 . Even gravel bars, which appear along free-flowing river systems, serve as crucial nesting grounds for endangered bird species.


 Biodiversity isn’t uni-dimensional; rather, it functions across various levels, ranging from a tiny marshland pool to an extensive entire watershed or even broader areas. Within this evolving riverside environment, we could observe variations in the genetic makeup of a species differing throughout distinct sections of the river, or perhaps notice identical fish species showing regional disparities.
 differing in their bodily dimensions
 , based on the habitat conditions.


 These instances of inherent biological variation allow species and ecosystems to remain adaptable when faced with unpredictable future circumstances.

<img data-document-id="cms/api/amp/image/AA1Bw5R5" data-reference="image" src="https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1Bw5R5.jpg"/>

 On a broader scale, the variety and quantity of species inhabiting distinct floodplain river environments differ as well. Such biodiversity among ecological communities leads to this variation.
 variation in the functions
 Ecosystems function within the river, like absorbing nutrients or breaking down organic material. This capability can even assist with
 diversify food webs
 .


 These differences imply that various species or groups within the river may not experience the same disruptions like droughts or floods simultaneously. The reason for this lies in how different plant and animal populations in rivers operate.
 evolved to take advantage
 In various manners, these patterns examine the extended cycles of flooding and water scarcity occurrences.


 For example, the cottonwood trees in the southwestern United States synchronize their seed dispersal with the reliably recurring patterns of spring flooding caused by melting snow in that region. In Aotearoa New Zealand, certain whitebait fish species usually lay their eggs during strong autumn currents. These eggs later hatch into larvae that are carried out to sea via powerful winter flows.


 Certain creatures require various environments along the river.
 different stages of life
 . Various animals journey long distances to utilize the river floodplains temporarily. This group encompasses the banded dotterel (
 Charadrius bicinctus
 ), native to Aotearoa New Zealand. This bird
 journeys up to 1,700 kilometers for nesting
 Each spring, banded dotterels can be found on braided river gravels. These birds are declining in number, and they depend on river habitats that offer ample room to move around.

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<h2>
 An appeal for enhanced eco-friendly river governance
</h2>

 With the acceleration of climate change, it becomes essential to reconsider our approach to managing water systems. While strengthening embankments and increasing channel depths might appear as sensible solutions for heightened flooding threats, such methods frequently
 exacerbate long-term vulnerabilities
 and transfer risk elsewhere.


 We urge professionals to take action.
 expand the range of values
 incorporated into river management policies and programs to account for ecological variation.


 Nature-based solutions
 These methods aim to enhance benefits for both humans and nature. By cooperating with natural processes instead of opposing them, we can develop environments that are stronger, more adaptable, and conducive to supporting both human needs and biodiversity.


 The moment has come to adopt a fresh approach to managing our rivers—a strategy where we view these waterways not as hazards to subdue, but rather as vital resources essential for protection and rejuvenation.


 
 Christina McCabe is funded via an Aho Hīnātore doctoral research scholarship at the University of Canterbury.
 


 
 Jonathan Tonkin is funded by a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship and the Centre of Research Excellence Te Pūnaha Matatini. Additionally, he receives support from the Antarctic Science Platform as well as the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Empowering Rivers, Enriching Lives: Rethinking Flood Management for People and Nature

Unknown environmentalism, flooding, sustainability, urban and regional planning, water management

When considering flood management strategies, ideas typically revolve around constructing taller embankments, reinforced levees, and cement walls. However, could the optimal approach – beneficial fo…

Ministry of Foreign Affairs participates at international conference to ensure sustained leadership of water crisis

Unknown environmentalism, government, politics, united nations, water management

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 ABU DHABI, 22nd March, 2025 (WAM) -- Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability, participated in a ministerial meeting, convened by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, on ‘Tackling water security across the climate-nature-development nexus’, to underscore the need for urgent collective action and sustained leadership on the global water crisis.


 Balalaa also attended a reception ceremony hosted at Buckingham Palace by His Majesty King Charles III, on ‘Water and Climate’, in collaboration with WaterAid.


 The Ministerial meeting, held a few days prior to World Water Day (22nd March), was chaired by Baroness Chapman, the United Kingdom’s Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and the Caribbean. It also brought together Ministers from Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, Nepal and Bangladesh, as well as senior leaders from the European Union and key multilateral institutions and international organisations – including the European Commission, the World Bank, UNICEF, UN Water, Water Aid, and the Global Commission on the Economics of Water.


 The meeting aims to identify priority areas of collaboration over the next year for a systemic and responsible shift in addressing water security across the climate-nature-development nexus.


 During the session, Balalaa highlighted the UAE’s preparations for the 2026 UN Water Conference, and emphasised that the event will focus on accelerating the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6, stating “This Goal is the catalyst and enabler of all our global societal, environmental and economic goals.”


 Building on the discussion of the Ministerial discussions, participants agreed to leverage key moments in the year ahead to build and sustain work in providing clean water to enable the delivery of all SDGs; work in multi-stakeholder partnerships to drive scalable, innovative and inclusive solutions to the water crisis; and cooperate with existing UN processes to strengthen the integration of water within the multilateral international agenda.


 The Ministerial meeting convened following the Organisational Session of the 2026 UN Water Conference, which took place on 3rd March 2025, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where over 70 participants – including both Member States and stakeholders – shared their recommendations for the themes of the interactive dialogues of the Conference.


 The themes will be decided in a preparatory meeting convened by the President of the General Assembly on 9th July 2025.

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs participates at international conference to ensure sustained leadership of water crisis

Unknown environmentalism, government, politics, united nations, water management

ABU DHABI, 22nd March, 2025 (WAM) -- Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability, participated in a ministerial meeting, convened by the United Kingdom’s For…

DEWA’s general assembly approves dividend payment of AED3.1 billion to shareholders for H2 of 2024

Unknown business, energy sector, finance news, water, water management

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 DUBAI, 21st March, 2025 (WAM) -- Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) reported that its shareholders have, in the general assembly held today, approved the payment of total dividend of AED3.1 billion for H2 of 2024, with a record date of 31st March 2025.


 The meeting, chaired by Matar Humaid Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DEWA, was attended by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD&CEO of DEWA and Members of the Board of Directors of DEWA as well as 92.2% of the shareholders. During the meeting, a Board of Directors was elected for the next three years.


 Matar Humaid Al Tayer, Chairman of DEWA, said, "Dubai continues to consolidate its position as a global leader in economic growth, sustainability and innovation. At DEWA, we take great pride in being a key pillar of this success, ensuring that the energy and water infrastructure keeps pace with the rapid growth Dubai is witnessing.”


 Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, said, “In 2024, DEWA Group delivered another year of strong performance, reporting consolidated full-year revenue of AED30.98 billion, EBITDA of AED15.73 billion and net profit after tax of AED7.23 billion Our consolidated annual revenue grew by 6.17%, primarily driven by rising demand for electricity, water, and cooling services.”


 “DEWA’s network now serves over 1.27 million customer accounts, and we take pride in achieving the world’s lowest electricity line losses at 2%; the world’s lowest water network losses at 4.5%; the world’s lowest Customer Minutes Lost (CML) of less than one minute per year—setting a global benchmark for reliability,” noted Al Tayer.


 “I am optimistic about our outlook for 2025, driven by the continued growth in tourism, residential, commercial and industrial demand; the expanding active daytime population in Dubai; and opportunities for business expansion and infrastructure development,” added Al Tayer.

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DEWA’s general assembly approves dividend payment of AED3.1 billion to shareholders for H2 of 2024

Unknown business, energy sector, finance news, water, water management

DUBAI, 21st March, 2025 (WAM) -- Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) reported that its shareholders have, in the general assembly held today, approved the payment of total dividend of AED3.…