Part I - FTP Directory Listing - WMO

10 ABRIDGED FINAL REPORT OF THE THIRTEENTH SESSION OF THE COMMISSION FOR HYDROLOGYdeveloping seasonal to annual hydrological predictions for monitoring droughts and establishingbest practice guidelines for drought monitoring. It noted that the Commission for AgriculturalMeteorology, which was charged with the activities of drought management and prediction, hadestablished a group on drought management. The Commission saw merit in closely collaboratingwith that Commission and the Commission for Climatology to work towards developing tools andbest practices guidance for hydrological drought monitoring and prediction.8.6 The Commission adopted Resolution 3 (CHy-XIII) – Hydrological forecasting and floodmanagement.9. WATER AND CLIMATE ISSUES (agenda item 9)9.1 The Commission welcomed the formation of the new Climate and Water Department,noting that it would offer expanded and comprehensive opportunities to plan and implementclimate-related activities in hydrology and water resources. In that respect, the Commission furtherappreciated the efforts undertaken thus far in the development of a WMO initiative to supportadaptation to climate variability and change, to which it offered full support. It also noted theestablishment of the Executive Council Working Group on Climate and Related Weather, Waterand Environment Matters.9.2 The Commission noted that many countries had started activities to develop nationaladaptation plans to cope with climate variability and change. Recognizing the vast amount ofvaluable information available in the water and climate communities, the Commission called uponits Members to provide tools, mechanisms, technologies and know-how related to hydrologicalimpacts of climate variability and change, including extreme events, and share them among allMembers through HOMS.9.3 The Commission noted the valuable services provided by the Global TerrestrialNetwork – Hydrology (GTN-H) thus far in support of climate research and applications. TheCommission further noted that strong observational networks covering climate sensitive variableswere essential for climate- and water-related research and applications. In that regard, theCommission expressed its appreciation to governments of members that were sharing data fromtheir networks and to those governments that provided the resources and infrastructure to host theglobal data centres and institutions that formed the core of GTN-H. In particular, the Commissionexpressed its gratitude to the Government of the Russian Federation for hosting the InternationalData Centre on the Hydrology of Lakes and Reservoirs (HYDROLARE) at the State HydrologicalInstitute in St Petersburg, on the basis of an agreement between ROSHYDROMET and WMO inJune 2008.9.4 The Commission recalled that water and climate issues reached beyond the traditionalconstituency of WMO and noted the United Nations-system wide coordination of climate activities.It therefore expressed its expectation that collaborative activities would be undertaken with otherUnited Nations agencies, including UNESCO and governmental and non-governmentalorganizations at the national, regional and global levels.9.5 While noting the progress that had been made in the organization of the World ClimateConference-3, although a separate water and climate session had been planned the Commissionwas concerned that water was not yet sufficiently reflected in the agenda of the conference and, inparticular, that active involvement of hydrologists and water managers was required. TheCommission further expressed its view that seasonal to annual timescales of climate variabilityshould be the focus of hydrological contributions to the conference.9.6 The Commission recognized the complementary nature of the water tasks of the Groupon Earth Observations (GEO) to activities undertaken by the Commission and expressed itsexpectation that the Integrated Global Water Cycle Observations, co-hosted by WMO, acted aseffective conduit of Commission inputs in support of the GEO water tasks.