World Waternet featuring in NWP WaterTalks Podcasts
09 July 2021The Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) and New Business Radio developed WaterTalks, a podcast series about the Dutch water sector sharing knowledge and experience abroad. The Netherlands have always been challenged to look for solutions for too much, too little and too dirty water. Also internationally, Dutch water organizations make use of their expertise to find creative solutions for complex water challenges, thinking from an integrated approach. To share knowledge with partners, but also to learn from each other. World Waternet is featuring in two episodes of the NWP WaterTalks podcast series.
WaterTalks episode #5: Room for the River in Argentina
Kees van der Lugt, Regional Manager for Latin America and Asia, elaborates on the Room for the River project as part of the NWP Partners for Water programme. He is joined by Janett Tapia, NWP’s Project Manager for the Dutch Resilience Hub.
Kees van der Lugt (World Waternet)
In 2016, the cities of Buenos Aires and Amsterdam made the decision to collaborate on waste management, water quality and urban planning. Further exchange between the two cities and their challenges showed that water pollution is one of the most pressing issues Buenos Aires is facing. Funded by the NWP Partners for Water programme, several municipal organisations Buenos Aires, together with World Waternet and the City of Amsterdam, took on the challenge to develop the Masterplan ‘Room for the River’ for the estuary Morón of the Reconquista River.
The Reconquista River is heavily polluted due to a great variety of industrial activities settled on its basin. Some 10,000 plants discharge their untreated effluents into the river, as well as a large number of informal settlements that are not connected to the sewerage system. Some 50 years ago, the city of Amsterdam faced similar challenges with its rivers and was able to avert further deterioration, making it possible to even swim in its canals. In this podcast, Kees explains how all the relevant municipal stakeholders joined forces as the ‘Amsterdam-Buenos Aires Platform’ and developed an integrated framework for water, solid waste management & urban development for the estuary Morón. With this framework, the estuary Morón can became, instead of an open sewage, the spine of urban development and recreation - where livability has improved tremendously.
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WaterTalks episode #6: Drought and Water Scarcity
Koen Maathuis, Regional Manager for West-Africa, shares his insights into the impact of drought and water scarcity in Mali and Burkina Faso. From the technical point of view, Sabine Stuiver (Hydraloop) and Sid Vollebregt (Elemental Water Makers) elaborate on how their solutions can contribute to water scarcity worldwide.
FLTR: Sid Vollebregt (Elemental Water Makers), Koen Maathuis (World Waternet), Sabine Stuiver (Hydroloop) and host Folkert Tempelman (New Business Radio)
Groundwater is extracted in rapid speed, causing salinization in coastal areas. More than half of the world’s wetlands have disappeared. More water is being withdrawn than is available on earth, so drought will became a serious issue everywhere. More and more cities around the world are close to reaching ‘Day Zero’, the day taps actually run dry.
Also for our Malian partner, water utility SOMAGEP-SA, water scarcity is a huge problem. Wells are drying up, and World Waternet supports the water utility with developing a water use hierarchy, to sustainably divide the water over different actors, such as nature, people, but also cattle, agriculture and industries. What does it take to combat water scarcity? Which innovations and investment for recharge, retention and reuse of water are needed to turn the tide? Listen to the podcast to find out what the three podcast guests deem essential in order to safeguard a reliable water supply in the next decades.
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