Read at : Sabrina Barker <sabrina.barker@gemswater.org>
The Vision for the Future of GEMS/Water includes:
• Continuing to diversify the database to meet the needs of water authorities and decision-makers that have to deal with increasingly complex and multifaceted water issues in this century. Improved data coverage in turn provides a more comprehensive resource for indicator development and assessments;
• Creating GEMSoft software as an automated data collection and capacity building resource for all participating countries. Such a resource contributes to data integrity and comparability;
• Providing more sophisticated web-based services, such as statistical and graphing packages, mapping, and flux computation;
• Implementing more laboratory studies, as a component of improving standards, and a flagship component of quality assurance activities;
• Expanding interoperability with other online data sources to promote data use by a broad decision-making community, including the UN Spatial Data Infrastructure on Water. This positions water quality data and information in a broader context, not only of Integrated Water Resource Management, but also climate change, and humanitarian preparedness and response; and
• Strategically integrating GEMS/Water into the international water agenda, by developing partnerships with other organizations, particularly universities.
What does GEMS/Water do?
Since its establishment in 1978, UNEP’s Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) Water Programme has become the primary source for global environmental water quality data. It is a multi-faceted water science centre oriented towards knowledge development on inland quality issues throughout the world. Major activities include monitoring, assessment and capacity building.
The twin goals of the programme are to improve water quality monitoring and assessment capabilities in participating countries, and to determine the status and trends of regional and global water quality. These goals are implemented through the GEMS/Water data bank, at www.gemstat.org, including water quality data and information from more than 3,000 stations in 100 countries, with over four million entries for lakes, reservoirs, rivers and groundwater systems. By compiling a global database, GEMS/Water adds value to country-level data by contributing to global and regional water quality assessments.
Through its Quality Management System (QMS), UNEP’s GEMS/Water Programme improves global water quality data by ensuring the comparability and validity of analyses performed by laboratories worldwide, and by encouraging and supporting data integrity at all levels.
The programme also carries out evaluations on a range of water quality issues and methodologies. GEMS/Water data have been used by other organizations, including the UN system and universities around the world.
For more information about GEMS/Water, please contact: Dr. Richard D. Robarts, Director, tel: +1-306-975-6047 fax: +1-306-975-5143 e-mail: richard.robarts@gemswater.org or visit www.gemswater.org
