The Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) at the University of Nebraska is playing a key role in organizing the upcoming 10th World Water Forum in Bali, Indonesia, May 18-25, 2024, and ensuring that water for food is a key focus throughout the event.
The Forum is held every three years by the World Water Council (WWC) and a hosting country. It brings together stakeholders from around the globe – including heads of state and international organizations, high level government officials, experts, scholars, entrepreneurs and economists – to share their knowledge, experience and practices regarding a wide range of topics related to water.
The WWC’s overarching mission is to gather the international community to convey to decision-makers that water is a political priority for the sustainable and equitable development of the planet. DWFI is a member organization of the WWC and DWFI Executive Director Peter McCornick is serving his second three-year term as one of 35 members of the WWC Board of Governors, with DWFI Director of Research Christopher Neale as an alternate.
In addition to his role on the WWC, McCornick serves on the 10-person International Steering Committee (ISC) Bureau, helping to plan the World Water Forum at a high level. Neale is lead for the “Water for Food & Agriculture'' coordination group, topic coordinator for the “Water Security & Prosperity” sub-theme and co-coordinator of the “Americas” regional process. Other DWFI colleagues are co-convening several related sessions and DWFI is partnering with the Nature Conservancy and other organizations to host a large Nature Hub Exhibition Booth.
Detailed information on DWFI-related sessions and events can be found below:
(All times are in WITA (Central Indonesian Time) UTC/GMT +8 hours. Dates and times subject to change.)
Monday, May 20, 2024
4:00 - 5:00 p.m. | Nature Hub Exhibition Booth
- Agricultural water use, hydrology, and policy trends: Challenges and insights for action
- Special session at the Nature Hub Exhibition Booth
- Over the last decades, water use patterns in agriculture have shifted globally. Some regions have experienced a decrease in irrigated area, while others have experienced an increase. Changes in precipitation and drought events, groundwater availability and use practices, as well as evolving policies, have all influenced irrigation trends. These changes test decisionmakers’ ability to adapt and avoid potential negative consequences to rural economies. In this interactive session led by the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, speakers will highlight common misconceptions about water availability, demonstrate changes in irrigation patterns across space and time, and discuss challenges and pathways toward solutions related to agricultural water risk management.
5:30 p.m. | Nature Hub Exhibition Booth
- Nature Hub Evening Social
- DWFI is partnering with The Nature Conservancy and other organizations to host the Nature Hub, a large exhibition booth at the main conference expo. Conference attendees can join us at this special networking event.
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
10:20 - 11:50 a.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 10
- Water Security and Water for Humans
- RA1 (Regional Process - Americas)
1:00 - 2:30 p.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 12
- Using knowledge and innovation to finance the water sector
- RA2 (Regional Process - Americas)
2:50 - 4:20 p.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 10
- Water Cooperation and Peace in South America
- RA3 (Regional Process - Americas)
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
8:30 - 10:00 a.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 11
- Water Cooperation and Peace in South America
- RA4 (Regional Process - Americas)
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. | Nature Hub Exhibition Booth
- A Vital Connection: Exploring the Nexus of Water and Human Health
- Special session at the Nature Hub Exhibition Booth
- Water has a profound impact on human health. In this session, we’ll explore how water quantity and quality, as well as the effects of a changing climate, can significantly impact our well-being. We’ll discuss the efforts of the Water, Climate and Health Program at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which pioneers interdisciplinary research, education and collaborative solutions to public health challenges associated with water and climate in Nebraska and around the world. This session will be led by Dr. Jesse Bell, Director of the Water, Climate and Health at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute and is ideal for anyone interested in public health, environmental sustainability, or the interconnectedness of our planet's resources. A Q+A session will follow.
- Special session at the Nature Hub Exhibition Booth
Thursday, May 23, 2024
8:30 - 10:00 a.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 4
- Solutions for managing water for agriculture within river basins
- T1C1 (Thematic Process - Water Security and Prosperity)
- This session will explore solutions for managing fresh water in basins considering climate change and future weather extremes. Many options will be discussed, including additional storage infrastructure, groundwater recharge, reuse of treated municipal wastewater, and application of nature-based solutions. The focus will be on solutions that build resilience - mitigating impacts of floods and droughts and guaranteeing water resources for agricultural food production, food security and other uses.
10:20 - 11:50 a.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 4
- Agricultural water management technologies, practices, and outreach to support smallholder farmers
- T1C2 (Thematic Process - Water Security and Prosperity)
- The goal of this session is to examine inclusive and scalable solutions to improve food production by smallholder farmers (women and men) through rainwater harvesting, low-cost irrigation technologies, agricultural support services and viable business models.
1:00 - 2:30 p.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 4
- Revitalization of existing irrigated areas to be water-wise and climate-smart
- T1C3 (Thematic Process - Water Security and Prosperity)
- Irrigation development and management interact with different systems such as ecosystems, climate and society. Such linkages must be recognized and strengthened to avoid negative impacts and reinforce the positive ones. In the light of this assumption, how can future irrigation revitalization guarantee the sustainable, climate-smart and efficient use of water? What are the required social and environmental safeguards to make irrigation development sustainable and equitable?
To respond to these questions, the session will dive into the topic of the revitalization of irrigated areas from multiple perspectives of sustainability and showcase innovations from the ground.
Over the past decades, the performance of irrigation systems in many countries has declined due to the deterioration and aging of irrigation systems and infrastructure, exacerbated by local conditions in some countries whereas fragility persists. Despite the widespread dissemination of good practices for managing irrigation schemes and planning interventions, a significant gap exists in the form of a clear and practical guide for development and modernization. This is partly because irrigation development is increasingly contextualized in a broader and integrated concept, whereas mutual interactions amongst different systems must be understood to establish the best strategies for revitalization and modernization. Approaches for integrated assessments, including computer-aided solutions are available for different purposes such as digital tools for water accounting, water demand calculations or emission inventory. Other interactions such as the contribution of irrigation modernization to climate change mitigation through enhanced water management practices or renewable energy resources are also covered by standardized approaches. Nonetheless, some of them require traditional and case-specific approaches to unfold the complex relationships.
The session will provide a stocktaking of approaches for the revitalization and modernization of irrigation schemes, including the demonstration of tangible impacts on water efficiency and climate resilience, while ensuring access to water and food security. It will demonstrate the added value of established approaches for harnessing multiple benefits of irrigation system revitalization, including but not limited to the thematic topics of consumptive use of water, water measurements and accounting, impacts to downstream users, salinity and drainage, alternative irrigation methods for rice production and other crops to reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions, alternative and renewable energy sources for irrigation.
1:00 - 2:30 p.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 1
- Regional Process Synthesis Session - Americas
- RP (Regional Process - Americas)
2:50 - 4:20 p.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 4
- Effective governance approaches for agricultural water management
- T1C4 (Thematic Process - Water Security and Prosperity)
- This session will explore organizational and governance approaches that are working in different parts of the world for surface and groundwater management for agriculture, including local traditional and customary systems of irrigation water management, water user associations, local water markets and other forms of water governance to ensure equitable access to water.
2:50 - 4:20 p.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 1
- Regional Process Synthesis Session - Inter-Regional Dialogue
- R (Regional Process - Americas)
4:40 - 6:10 p.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 1
- Regional Process Synthesis Session - Wrap-up
- R (Regional Process - Americas)
- R (Regional Process - Americas)
Friday, May 24, 2024
11:00 a.m. - Noon | World Water Council Pavilion
- Water for Food & Agriculture: A Resilient Future
- Special session at the World Water Council Pavilion
- How can we ensure everyone has long-term availability of clean water and nutritious food in the face of a changing climate? In this discussion, we will tackle this critical question together, exploring innovative solutions to build a more resilient tomorrow.
1:00 - 2:30 p.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 12
- The Many Faces of Drought: Monitoring Societal Impacts and Building Resilience
- SE48 (Side event)
- Drought is one of the most impactful, widespread climate-related disasters that commonly leads to significant economic and societal consequences. For example, droughts over the last century have caused numerous severe famines resulting in more deaths than any other climate-related disasters. Due to climate change, drought events will likely continue to increase in severity and frequency, which increases the economic and societal impacts of these events. Although better early warning systems have improved our ability to respond to drought events, much work is needed on implementing the appropriate responses to reduce societal impacts due to drought. It is important to address these issues to lessen the burden of future climate change. The purpose of this session is to highlight societal impacts from drought and discuss opportunities to utilize early warning systems to reduce impacts. The goal is to highlight pathways to decrease impacts by building more resilient systems (agricultural, public health, water resources, etc.) to drought. The targeted audience for this session is decision- and policymakers and resource managers interested in learning more about drought impacts on society and engaging in opportunities to address these impacts. The outcome of this session is to facilitate a more thorough discussion of drought impacts on society and showcasing opportunities to help build better drought resilience.
1:00 - 2:30 p.m. | Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Room 1
- Sub Theme 1 Synthesis Session
- T1C4 (Thematic Process - Water Security and Prosperity)
The full schedule for the World Water Forum can be found here.