Guide to Hydrological Practices, 6th edition, Volume II - Hydrology.nl

II.2-6GUIDE TO HYDROLOGICAL PRACTICEScoordinate data exchange, avoid duplication andassure national interests, for example. These tasksmay be assigned to a national head office andcarried out by its secretariat, which may be providedby the NHS or be completely separate. Inter-agencycoordination and liaison are absolutely necessaryin such cases.The increasing complexity of decision-making inthe water sector with a variety of stakeholders andactors, often with conflicting interests, necessitatesa clear definition of the roles and responsibilities ofeach player. Furthering the main aim of integratedwater resources management requires that data andinformation be available to all participants.Therefore, an appropriate legal framework andsome form of legal instrument are desirable toprovide a basis for a Hydrological Service’s operations.In particular, such a legal framework may beneeded to provide authority for activities or functionssuch as traversing private property as part ofmaintaining a monitoring station; charging fees forthe delivery of products or services; requiringother organizations, including those ofthe private sector, to provide copies of their data foraddition to the national archives; ortransnational activities or liaison.When laws related to water are being revised,managers should seek to participate in the draftingprocess. In particular, they should try to implementmeasures that have been successful in other countriesand attempt to introduce these into theirnational legislation. Contacts with other organizations,such as WMO and its regional associationworking groups, will provide useful ideas. WMOpublications also provide practical guidance (seeWMO, 1994, 2001a).The functions of a National Hydrological Servicemay be undertaken by a National HydrometeorologicalService, by one main sectoralHydrological Service or by federal HydrologicalService overseeing various state or regionalHydrological Services.In a survey of 67 countries carried out in 1991(WMO, 2001a), four principal models were foundfor organizing Hydrological Services at the nationallevel. Some 51 per cent of those surveyed hadnational hydrological or hydrometeorologicalagencies ; 1 per cent, regional (subnational) hydrologicalor hydrometeorological agencies; 42 percent, both national and regional hydrological orhydrometeorological agencies; 6 per cent hadneither national nor regional hydrological orhydrometeorological agencies.The organizational arrangements of HydrologicalService are very diverse. Much depends on the legalsystem, governmental structure and stage ofeconomic development, and successful examplessuggest that effective operational hydrology can beconducted under a variety of circumstances.Although managers of a Hydrological Service mayhave limited influence on organizational arrangementsat the national level, they should take everyopportunity to participate in organizational restructuring.They should draw on the experience ofHydrological Service managers in other countries inorder to propose changes that will help improve theperformance of their Service.At the level of an individual Hydrological Service,the organizational structure will largely depend onthe Service’s functions, products and activities. Asthese are always evolving, so too, should the structureevolve.Managers of a Hydrological Service should draw onthe experience of other Services when consideringappropriate organizational structures. Extensiveinformation on the relative merits of differentorganizational models, such as pyramidal structuresor flat structures, is always useful.In a country with several Hydrological Services,defined standards are of particular importance inensuring comparability of hydrological data andproducts. A key role of the NHS or lead HydrologicalService is to establish national standards. The samecould be said of an international river basin inwhich there are several NHSs. In this case, a key rolefor a river basin organization would be to establishstandards for the whole basin and assist NHSs inachieving them.The Technical Regulations, Volume III – Hydrology(WMO-No. 49) provides a set of long-establishedtechnical standards, as does the ISO Handbook 16 –Measurement of Liquid Flow in Open Channels(ISO, 1983).The technical standards adopted by a HydrologicalService provide an objective basis for performancemonitoring and appraisal. These standards shouldbe incorporated into a Service’s objectives.2.2.8 Managing relationships withother institutionsWater is vital to many sectors of the economy, andmany governmental as well as non-governmentalorganizations are likely to have an interest in water.Indeed, most countries have several organizations