Tenth Water Information Summit (WIS-10)

The 10th Water Information Summit (WIS-10) organized by the Water Web Consortium and hosted by the National Service of Territorial Studies (SNET for its Spanish acronym) of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador will take place at the Royal Decameron Salinitas in El Salvador on June 16-18, 2008. The WIS-10 celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Water Information Summit which has been an annual event since 1998. These summits have been gathering stakeholders and practitioners from the Americas for the last decade and have become one of the most prominent interamerican meetings on water issues related to information technologies.

Over the years, these summits have provided feedback from the region to the Inter-American Water Dialogues organized by the Inter-American Water Resources Network and the World Water Summits. These gatherings have brought together a diverse group of stakeholders interested in water information tools and their use to educated the public and promote water issues (conservation, clean affordable water, etc.).

WIS-10 is co-sponsored by the Water Resources Regional Committee for Central America (CRRH for its Spanish acronym), the InterAmerican Water Resources Network (IWRN), the Center for Environmental Studies (CES) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), the Organization of American States (OAS), the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO/IHP), and the Global Water Partnership (GWP). This event is also supported by other water-related and information projects and organizations.

This year’s meeting will include a historical overview of the summit and a discussion of future approaches centered around the theme .New Paradigms in Water Information in an Age of Global Change.. This theme will be explored in four general sessions followed by four working group sessions to address the issues raised in the previous two days of meetings.

Session 1: Water Education
• E-learning courses and technologies
• Water and Education in Central America

Session 2: Water Information and Decision Making
• Early warning systems
• Hydrogeological maps and their application in water and sanitation services
• Water scenarios and investment

Session 3: Appropriate Technologies and new ICTs
• Tools for granting water permits
• Geographical information systems

Session 4: Models and Forecasting Tools
• Modeling for estimating water balance
• Forecasting extreme events