UNESCOIHP and The FRIENDNile Project

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UNESCO-IHP and The FRIEND/Nile Project
Flow Regimes from International Experimental and
Network Data
Radwan Al-Weshah, Ph.D Regional
Hydrologist UNESCO Cairo Office Tel. 20-2-794
5599 ext 140 Fax [phone] E-mail
R.Weshah_at_UNESCO.org
June 2004
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FRIEND/Nile Project
Flow Regimes from International Experimental and
Network Data

• The FRIEND is a global project in hydrology
  started in 1985.
• Its aim is to develop a better understanding of
  hydrological variability and similarity across
  different regions.
• FRIEND was Project 1.1 of UNESCO's IHP-V
  (1996-2001) and currently it is a cross-cutting
  theme in IHP-VI (2002-2007).

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FRIEND/Nile Project

• Launched in 1996, its objectives are to

• Understand the spatial and temporal
  variability/similarity of hydrological regimes
  using regional data sets and research.
• Develop a regional research models in specific
  priority areas.
• Sustain networks by an active exchange of
  knowledge through research, capacity building
  and training.

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Participating Countries

• Five Nile countries showed interest and
  willingness to participate in the project,
  namely

• The project is opened to all interested Nile
  basin countries.

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Participating Countries


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Implementation of FRIEND/Nile
Executing Agency UNESCO Cairo
Office Overall Coordination Water Resources
Research Institute, Egypt Thematic
Coordinators 1. Rainfall/Runoff
Modeling University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
2. Sediment Transport and Watershed
Management UNESCO Chair in Water Resources,
Sudan 3. Drought and Low Flow
Analysis University of Nairobi, Kenya 4.
Flood Frequency Analysis Water Resources
Research Institute, Egypt 5. Training and
Capacity Building Hydraulics Research Institute,
Egypt
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Rainfall-Runoff Modeling

• Objectives
• Develop suitable rainfall-runoff models for the
  available gauged catchments within the Nile Basin
  with a view of application in flood forecasting
  activities,
• Design of water resources systems for gauged and
  un-gauged basins
• Investigate the impacts of land use change or
  climatic change on the river flow.

Research team Dr. Felix Mtalo, Tanzania Dr. F.
Mutua, Kenya Mr. Diksios Tarekegne, Ethiopia
Dr. M. Sonbol, Egypt Dr. K. Bashar, Sudan
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Sediment Transport and Watershed Management

• Objectives
• Understand sediment processes in watershed,
  stream and reservoirs and select a robust
  sediment model applicable to the region.
• Develop guide lines for watershed management.
• Bring together professionals from the Nile Basin
  to exchange experience, ideas and to foster
  common understanding and cooperation.
• Enhance regional research capacity on topics
  related to sediment transport and watershed
  management.

Research team Dr. Abdalla Abdelsalam, Sudan Dr.
M. El Moatasm, Egypt Dr. Wilson Ogembo,
Kenya Dr. Mwanuzi Fredrick, Tanzania Ms.
Semunesh Gola , Ethiopia
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Flood Frequency Analysis

• Objectives
• Develop regional design procedures for estimating
  flood magnitudes for a given probability of
  exceedence at gauged and ungauged sites in the
  Nile basin
• Utilize the output of the rainfall-runoff
  modeling component.

Research team Dr. Mohmed Abdelmotaleb,
Egypt Mr. L. Tadesse, Ethiopia Dr. Simon
Mkhandi,Tanzania Dr. Gamal Abdou, Sudan
Dr Alfred Opere, Kenya
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Drought and Low Flow Analysis
Objective Analyzing daily river flow data for
estimation of low flow magnitudes duration
frequency relationships as well as drought
analysis.
Research team Dr. Francis Mutua, Kenya Dr
Ahmed Hassan, Egypt Mr. R. Mngodo,
Tanzania Mr. Getaneh Asefa, Ethiopia Dr.
Muna El-Mirgani, Sudan
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Training and Capacity Building
Objective Supporting other research themes by
initiating on-job and tailored training workshops
as well as exchange of technical visits.
Coordinator Dr. Moustafa Gaweesh, Egypt
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UNESCO Support to FRIEND/Nile

• UNESCO continuously seeks additional support and
  technical assistance from bilateral, regional and
  international organization to support the
  implementation of the FRIEND/Nile project
• UNESCO (thru Cairo and Nairobi offices)
  regularly supports the organization of the annual
  steering committee meeting and
• UNESCO Cairo Office is the executing agency and
  the regional hydrologist in Cairo Office is the
  project director.

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UNESCO-FLANDERS FRIEND/Nile

• UNESCO succeeded to secure fund for the project
  from The Flemish Government of Belgium
• The Flemish support three research themes and
  recently in 2004 they decided to support the
  fourth theme of Drought and Lowflow Analysis
• The project has been officially launched in
  November 2001 for 4 years ending in Dec 2005 with
  a total budget of US 900,000
• Flemish Contribution is based on active
  partnership with research teams and
• Linkage with other initiatives like NBI,
  IHE-River Engineering Network, FEWSNET, has
  been initiated.

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Flemish Counterparts

• Overall Counterpart Dr. Rudy Herman
• Rainfall-Runoff Modeling Dr. W. Bauwens
• Flood Frequency Analysis Dr. J. Berlamont
• Dr. P. Willems
• Drought and Lowflow Dr. P. Willems
• Sediment Transport Dr. J. Poeson
• Dr. P. Jacobs
• Dr. V. Vanacker
• Dr. E. Van Lierde
• Dr J. Nyssen

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Progress in the FRIEND/NILE

• 1. Seven Steering Committee Meetings were
  organized annually since 1996-2001.
• Cairo, Egypt, 1997
• Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, 1998
• Khartoum, Sudan, 1999
• Cairo, Egypt, 2000
• Cairo, Egypt, December 2001
• Aswan, Egypt, January 2003 and
• Mombassa, Kenya, February 2004.
• 2. A network of research themes coordinators and
  focal persons has been established.

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UNESCO-Flanders FRIEND/Nile Activities Year 1

• Launching Workshop on Rainfall/Runoff Analysis
  Component Bagamoyo, Tanzania 1-5 November 2001.
• Consultancy mission and Launching Workshop of the
  Sediment Transport and Management Cairo, Egypt
  and Khartoum, Sudan 16-23 November 2001.
• Launching Workshop for Flood Frequency Analysis
  Cairo, Egypt 1116 November 2001.

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FRIEND/Nile Year 1 Activities (Contd)

• Training Workshop on Data Management, Dar Es
  Salaam, Tanzania 20-25 May 2002.
• All coordinators, focal persons of the project,
  the Flemish counterparts and researchers from the
  implementing institutes attended this workshop.
• The outcomes of each component were specifically
  defined.
• The available data in each participating country
  including its type and record length was defined.
  
• Common pilot areas/catchments to be used in the
  research activities of the project were defined
  as follows
• River Sondu in Kenya,
• River Semyao in Tanzania,
• Awash basin in Ethiopia, and
• Blue Nile in Sudan.

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FRIEND/Nile Year 1 Activities (Contd)

• STWM focal persons meeting, Khartoum, Sudan
  22-24 December 2002.
• STWM Coordinator and 4 focal persons in addition
  to key water experts from Sudan participated in
  the meeting.
• Review the implemented activities of the STWM
  component during the first year of the project.
• Prepare a detailed workplan for the STWM
  activities of the second year of the project.
• Discuss issues related to enhancing and improving
  the implementation of the STWM activities.
• Define criteria for selecting sediment transport
  software for the research activities of the
  component.

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FRIEND/Nile Year 2 Activities (Contd)

• Flood Frequency Analysis Workshop, Cairo, Egypt
  1-3 April 2003.
• The FFA Coordinator and 4 focal persons in
  addition to 4 key water experts participated in
  the workshop.
• The implemented activities of the FFA component
  during the first year of the project was
  reviewed. The second year Workplan was prepared.
• The deliverables of each FFA theme researcher
  were identified.
• A group of free FFA software were compiled on a
  CD and distributed to the FFA theme researchers.

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FRIEND/Nile Year 2 Activities (Contd)

• The Rainfall-Runoff Modeling (RRM) and Sediment
  Transport and Watershed Management (STWM)
  Training Workshops, Alexandria, Egypt 20-25 July
  2003.
• About twenty participant representing the RRM and
  STWM research team and the RRM Flemish
  counterpart attended these concurrent training
  workshops.
• For the RRM Component
• Two hydrological simulation models, namely the
  Watershed Modeling System (WMS) and Galway Flood
  Forecasting System (GFFS) were introduced to the
  RRM research team.
• The Hydro-meteorological data of the Tanzania,
  Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt was compiled on a
  CD and distributed to the RRM theme researchers.
• For The STWM Component
• The Surface-Water Modeling System (SMS) software
  was introduced to the STWM research team.

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FRIEND/Nile Year 2 Activities (Contd)

• The RRM and STWM Training Workshops, Alexandria,
  Egypt 20-25 July 2003. (Contd)

• The USGS DEM data of the whole area of Africa
  with resolution of 1km1km was compiled on a CD
  and distributed to all RRM and STWM themes
  researchers.
• The deliverables of each RRM and STWM theme
  researcher during the second year of the project
  were defined based on the applications of the
  selected software on the data of the case study
  areas in each country.

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FRIEND/Nile Year 2 Activities (Contd)

• Drought and Low Flow Analysis Workshop, Nairobi,
  Kenya, 25-28 August 2003.
• The data requirements for the analysis of drought
  and low flows in the region have been defined for
  each country.
• Methodologies for analyzing drought and low flows
  have been reviewed and approved to be adopted
  within the component activities.
• Training on the applications of the
  Partial-Duration-Series method for analyzing
  actual low flows data from the Nile basin were
  undertaken and future research activities were
  defined for each of the theme researchers.

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FRIEND/Nile Year 2 Activities (Contd)

• Flood Frequency Analysis Theme Researchers
  Meeting, Sharm El-Shiekh, Egypt, 29 November2
  December 2003.
• The FFA theme researchers submitted technical
  reports on the undertaken at site and regional
  analysis for the different regions of the Nile
  Basin .
• The deliverables of each researcher was reviewed
  and evaluated.
• The third year workplan and activities was
  identified.
• Harmonizing the methodology for regionalization
  Analysis has been discussed.

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FRIEND/Nile Year 2 Activities (Contd)

• Sediment Transport and Watershed Management
  Workshop, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, 26 December
  2003.
• The implemented research activities of the STWM
  component in Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia and
  Egypt have been presented and discussed.
• The encountered SMS application problems and
  difficulties have been reviewed and discussed.
  Solutions have been provided by the SMS
  experienced-participants from Egypt and Sudan.
• SMS application experience has been exchanged
  through practical SMS training sessions conducted
  by the Egyptian participants.
• SMS application (Hydro-dynamics runs) using data
  from the Nile countries has been carried out
  during the workshop.
• The Watershed Management component will be
  launched by June 2004. The Flemish counterparts
  provided the STWM research team a free catchment
  erosion model to be used
• The third year workplan and activities was
  identified.

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FRIEND/Nile Year 2 Activities (Contd)

• Rainfall-Runoff Modeling (RRM) Theme Researchers
  Meeting, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, 5-9 January
  2004.
• The implemented research activities of the RRM
  component in Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia and
  Egypt have been presented and discussed.
• The encountered WMS and GFFS application problems
  and difficulties have been reviewed and
  discussed. Solutions have been provided by the
  WMS and GFFS resource persons.
• Intensive group working sessions were undertaken
  using the real data of the Nile basin under the
  supervision of the resource persons.
• Technical progress pertaining to the application
  of the WMS and GFFS software was achieved and
  noted.
• The third year workplan and activities was
  identified.

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FRIEND/Nile Year 2 Activities (Contd)

• Data acquisition through the themes researchers.
• The required data for the implementation of the
  research activities of the three components has
  been collected and acquired through the various
  theme researchers in Egypt, Sudan, Kenya and
  Tanzania.
• Data has been submitted to the coordination
  centers of the three components.
• Progress in data acquisition activities in
  Ethiopia is recently noted.
• The exchange of data has been a successful
  exercise that has been achieved based on mutual
  trust and confidence developed among the research
  teams in the course of this project.

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FRIEND/Nile Equipment Purchase

• All required equipment for the coordination
  centers and the themes researchers of three
  components in Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt
  were procured according to UNESCO procedures and
  regulations.
• Equipment was purchased based on the coordination
  with the NBCBN to optimize the use of limited
  available resources.
• Equipment of the Drought and Low Flow Analysis
  theme researchers are under process.

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FRIEND/Nile Software Purchase

• Based on the recommendation of the RRM and STWM
  research team, the following software were
  purchased
• The Watershed Modeling System (WMS) for the
  implementation of the research activities of the
  RRM component.
• The Surface water Modeling System (SMS) for the
  implementation of the research activities of the
  STWM component.
• One License and one hardware lock were
  distributed to
• the RRM and STWM theme researchers, respectively.
  
• Based on the recommendation of the FFA
  coordinator, the ARC Info 8.3 (one license) was
  purchased for WRRI as the FFA coordination center
  to promote and enhance the implementation of the
  FFA component research activities.

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FRIEND/Nile Brochure, Website and Unified Cover

• Development of brochure, website and unified
  reports cover for the project.
• The FRIEND/Nile brochure and Website CD have
  been disseminated to the water related agencies
  and institutions in Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia,
  Sudan, and Egypt.
• The FRIEND/Nile project Web-site is now hosted at
  the UNESCO Cairo Office server. The web-site
  address is (http//62.193.88.134/fn/). The
  reports of the project activities are available
  on the website.

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FRIEND/Nile Achievementsso far

• A network of water resources experts in the Nile
  basin and the Flemish community has been
  established and strengthened.
• Four research teams have defined comprising
  researchers from the participating Nile Countries
  and Flemish experts.
• Different activities have been implemented
  comprising the organization of technical
  workshops and meetings, consultancy missions,
  equipment purchase, software purchase,
  development of a brochure, website and unified
  reports cover for the project.
• Mutual trust, confidence and understandings have
  been developed among the research teams.
• Capacity building in terms of technical
  experience and research implementing facilities
  is highlighted.

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FRIEND/Nile Achievementsso far

• Enhancement of the south-south cooperation
  through research cooperation is observed through
  better working relationships.
• Progress in the implementation of the research
  activities for year 2003 is significantly
  recognized.

Networking among the Nile water scientists and
experts is a powerful tool in enhancing and
addressing the common problems, and thus
introduce sustainable and workable solutions to
these problem.
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FRIEND/Nile Links with NBCBN

• UNESCO is coordinating the FRIEND/Nile Project
  activities with the NBCBN-RE Network.
• The NBCBN-RE representatives participated in the
  Steering Committee of the FRIEND/Nile project.
• The FRIEND/Nile Steering Committee stressed on
  the importance of strengthening the coordination
  between FRIEND/Nile Project and theNBCBN-RE to
  avoid duplication of research studies and to
  optimize the use of limited available resources.
• UNESCO-Chair of Sudan, University of Dar Es
  Salaam, and University of Nairobi are common
  partners in both projects.
• Within the continuous fruitful cooperation and
  coordination between the FRIEND/Nile and
  NBCBN-RE, equipment was purchased for the common
  partners to optimize the use of the available
  resources.

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FRIEND/Nile Links with NBCBN

• Representatives of the FRIEND/Nile participated
  in the NBCBN Cluster workshops in Sudan,
  Tanzania, and Kenya.
• The research themes of the FRIEND/Nile integrates
  the research topics of the NBCBN.
• Obtained results of the FRIEN/Nile research
  activities aer available to be used by other
  initiatives.
• Transfer of all FRIEND/Nile gained experience
  applications of used models, adopted
  methodologies, and the encountered problems

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FRIEND/Nile Steering Committee Meeting in Cairo,
2000
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FRIEND/Nile Workshop in Cairo, Egypt November
2001
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Training Workshop on Data Management, Tanzania,
May 2002
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STWM Focal Persons Meeting, Sudan December 2002
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FFA Workshop, Egypt April 2003
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RRM and STWM Training Workshop, Alexandria,
Egypt July 2003
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RRM Workshop, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania January
2004
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Thank you!
water life