WMO/IAHR/IAHS International Courses on Stream Gauging Claudio Caponi Water and Climate Department World Meteorological Organization Co-authors: V. Sauer; M. Nolan; M.E. Smith; P.Pilon; R.Ranzi; J. Le Coz

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Set up on 23 March 1950 Successor to International Meteorological Organization (IMO, created in 1873) Specialized agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences. UN system’s authoritative voice on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources.

Role of WMO in the field of Hydrology and Water Resources WMO Convention "to promote activities in operational hydrology and close co-operation between Meteorological and Hydrological Services" Art: 2(e): Hydrology and Water Resources Programme

Stream gauging - Background In 2010 WMO issues the 2nd edition of the Manual on Stream Gauging (1st ed. is from 1980) Mainly based on USGS material Reviewed by USGS, WSC, European, Asian and South American experts Member States request the development of training activities

Courses on Stream Gauging The International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) and WMO agreed in 2010 to cooperate in the development of a course on stream gauging based principally on the 2nd edition of the WMO Manual of Stream Gauging. In 2013, the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) joined the initiative WMO benefits from the scientific know-how of IAHR and IAHS experts IAHR and IAHS are keen to interact with representatives of the National Hydrological Services (NHSs), to learn from their operational experience.

Courses on Stream Gauging Intended audience: For WMO: staff of NHSs of developing countries For IAHR/IAHS: water engineers from public water authorities and private water services, as well as MSc and PhD students In general, the WMO audience needs a more basic and detailed training, while IAHR/IAHS audience is interested in a more “managerial” sort of training  Development of two versions of the course

Courses on Stream Gauging General course program developed For the IAHR/IAHS version  3 days For the WMO version  1 or 2 weeks Training material developed for the ‟WMO version” by two USGS experts – consists of: Presentations with notes for the instructor Exercises Assessments with suggested answers Simple Software tools

Training material

Training material

Courses held and planned IAHR/IAHS version: Brescia, Italy (2011) Andong, Korea (2013) Hanoi, Vietnam (2014) Planned: New Zealand (2015) WMO version: Bandung, Indonesia (2010) – regional (10 countries) Sto. Domingo, Dominican Republic, Mexico City, Mexico (2011) Accra, Ghana (2012) – regional (6 countries) – US and Canada instructors Mexico City, Mexico (2013) – ToT for 12 countries – US instructors Postponed: Cotonou, Benin (2014)

Training Plan Decision to translate the training material rather than the Manual Versions available in Eng, Fre, Rus, Spa Goal: to form pools of instructors in the 4 languages Focus on training local instructors for wider dissemination and adaptation to local conditions Each course is tailored to the needs of the concerned country/region

Community of practice Recently launched Moodle site with: Downloadable training material in 4 languages Downloadable version of the Manual and other background material Forum for exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, asking questions, uploading new material Syllabi of courses held (in related sites)

Community of practice WMO

Community of practice http://www.wmo.int/chy/communities/ Open to all interested instructors All material is free to download and use, quoting the source Comments, corrections, additions (especially pictures, videos and new proposed modules) are welcome! If interested, you can be part of the WMO team of instructors in international courses

Final thoughts The biggest gap between NHSs from advanced and developing countries is human capacity, not equipment As regards developing countries: In the use of traditional instruments and methods, ‟bad” practices slowly creep in and are much more diffuse that one would imagine Modern instruments seem to give a false sense of security to hydrologists, even if for most NHSs they are really a ‟black box” Unfortunately, most technical cooperation is focused on providing equipment and new technologies Effective training is not a one-off exercise, proper and continuous follow-up is needed

Thank you for your attention Claudio Caponi ccaponi@wmo.int