1. State of water quality assessment reporting at the global level - UNEP GEMS/Water Programme Intersecretariat Working Group on Environment Statistics, International Work Session on Water Statistics, Vienna, June 20-22, 2005

2. HOW TO ASSESS GLOBAL WATER QUALITY? There are two approaches: 1.Establish monitoring laboratories and staff worldwide to operate a global programme – this would be exorbitantly expensive and impossible at the present time. 2.Create a network of participating countries that provide data to a central global database. Ahmadabad Biochemical Oxygen Demand (mg/L O 2 ) Oxygen Dissolved (mg/L O 2 ) Faecal Coliform (No./100 ml MPN) 5000 0 0 0 0 60 0 0 1979 - 2002

3. 4 Core Activities 1. A global inland water quality database and international network. 2. A leading source of data for global environmental assessment processes. 3. Technical (QA/QC) tools and resources. 4. Building the capacity of developing and transitional countries to collect and manage water quality information.

4. Who Participates? Africa 138 206,907 1977-2004 Americas 662 417,994 1965-2004 Asia 332 641,940 1971-2004 Europe 318 823,323 1978-2003 Oceania 94 206,650 1979-2004 Region # of Stations # of Values Date Range Totals 1544 2,296,814 1965-2004

5. Global Water Quality Network

6. QA/QC – Quality Assurance and Quality Control Quality Assurance Manual Laboratory Evaluation Studies Assessment Programme QA LOOP Analytical Methods Dictionary Global Participation in Interlaboratory Study No. 5 - 38 countries and 68 labs

7. Global Runoff Data Centre Koblenz, Germany Total stations in 2005 = 7222

8. Joint GEMS/Water and GTN-H Stations (100) Joint GEMS/Water and GRDC Stations (446)

9. www.gemstat.org -- searchablewww.gemstat.org Station(s) selection Time period Parameter(s) selection Statistical Analysis promote access to information worldwide promote interoperability and comparability of datasets as up-to-date and comprehensive as possible Database Access & Data Distribution New online water quality database GEMStat – official launch, March 22 nd, World Water Day

13. UNEP GEMS/Water Programme Aare River at Brugg Figure 1: Station photograph Figure 2: Watershed Region Figure 3: Geographical Location Station Number (Country/Sequent)200004 Water TypeRiver Octant3 Latitude (Deg. Min. Sec.)47° 2902 N Longitude (Deg. Min. Sec.)008° 11 45 E Mean Surface Water Level (m)332.0 Average Sounding Depth (m)4.1 Date Station Opened1978-01-01 Regional CentreEurope Sub-regional CentreEastern Europe Geographical RegionEURA Responsible Collection Agency Watershed/BasinRhine Meuse Station Type (Baseline, Trend, Global Flux Station)Trend GRDC Number6935301 River Width (m)56.4 Discharge (m 3 /sec)314 Upstream Basin Area (km 2 )11750 Area Upstream of Tidal Limit (km 2 )Data not available Country NameSwitzerland

14. Station IdentifierAare River at Brugg Station NarrativeMeasuring station lies before the confluence of the Aare with the Limmat and the Reuss rivers. Catchment area of over 11, 000 km2 with approximately 2 million inhabitants. Additional Information Data Date RangeJanuary 3, 1978 – December 29, 2002 Applicable Parameters Full method description and codes can be found in the Analytical Methods for Environmental Water Quality at http://www.gemswater.org/quality_assurance/inde x-e.html http://www.gemswater.org/quality_assurance/inde x-e.html Physical Characteristics: 02041–Elec. Conductance 02062–Temperature 08001– % Do Saturation 08102–Dissolved Oxygen 10101–Alkalinity Total 10301–pH 10401–Suspended Solids Organic Matter: 06001–Carbon Organic Total 06101–Carbon Organic Dissolved Nutrients: 07001–Nitrogen Kjeldahl Organic (TKN) 07207–Nitrite 07313–Nitrate 07555–Ammonia 15255–Orthophosphate Dissolved 15405–Phosphorous Total Major Ions: 11105–Sodium Dissolved 12102–Magnesium Dissolved 14101–Silica Reactive 16309–Sulphate 17207–Chloride Dissolved 19105–Potassium Dissolved 20105–Calcium Dissolved Metals: 24002–Chromium Total 28001–Nickel Total 29005–Copper Total 30005–Zinc Total 48002–Cadmium Total 80011–Mercury Total 82002–Lead Total Hydrological/Sampling: 97160 – Instantaneous Discharge Related LinksBundesamt für Umwelt, Wald und Landschaft (BUWAL) http://www.umwelt-schweiz.ch/buwal/eng/ Bundesamt für Wasser und Geologie (BWG) http://www.bwg.admin.ch/d/ Eidg. Anstalt für Wasserversorgung, Abwasserreinigung und Gewässerschutz (EAWAG) http://www.eawag.ch/ Binderheim-Banky, Jakob, Liechti, Schriftenreihe Umwelt Nr. 319, Gewässerschutz, Messresultate 1977-1998, Nationales Programm für die analytische Daueruntersuchung der schweizerischen Fliessgewässer Binderheim-Banky, Jakob, Liechti, Series of environmental publications Nr. 319, Water Protection, Measuring Results 1977 – 1998, National program for the analytic continuous investigation of Swiss running waters Additional Photos UNEP GEMS/Water Programme Aare River at Brugg

15. PROGRAMME FOR DEVELOPMENT OF GLOBAL WATER QUALITY INDICES (2005-2007) FORMATION OF AN EXPERT GROUP TO REGULARLY REVIEW PROGRESS AND PLAN FUTURE ACTIONS PILOT STUDY ON A GLOBAL DRINKING WATER QUALITY INDEX (2005/2007) INDEX TO ASSESS THE STATUS OF COUNTRY WATER QUALITY MONITORING NETWORKS (2005) PILOT STUDY ON A GLOBAL INDEX OF EUTROPHICATION STATUS (2006/2007) GUIDELINE DOCUMENT ON WATER QUALITY INDICATORS AND INDICES (2006/2007)

16. UNEP GEMS/Water Programme Canada, UNEP Nairobi Thank You www.gemswater.org