WA Task Report Prepared by Rick Lawford May 29, 2008

WA Task Report Short Background and objective (Strategy Actions/GEO CB Targets being addressed) This task arose from a workshop on Capacity Building organized by IGWCO and hosted by CONAE in Argentina in October The workshop was one of three planned and organized by Integrated Global Water Cycle Observations (IGWCO) theme and TIGER. Task WA was initially included in the 2006 Work Plan with a Latin America only focus. The workshop recommended that a capacity building program similar to TIGER should be developed for Latin America. Subsequently the objective was broadened to include the excellent work being undertaken by ESA in Africa (through the TIGER project) and by JAXA in Asia (through the Asian Water Cycle Initiative).

WA Task Report Milestones achieved to date: - A small workshop was hosted by CONAE in Buenos Aires in 2006 to develop the Latin America proposal. Work has continued on developing this draft plan, although not all inputs have been received. -A number of briefings and discussions about the plan have taken place at IGWCO and GEWEX meetings. The proposal was last discussed at the IGWCO workshop held in Geneva in March 2008 and the UIC meeting in Toronto in May The Asian Pacific Network has announced that it will fund four of the five theme areas proposed to it by the Asian Water Cycle Initiative. This funding will support capacity building activities in floods, droughts and water cycle activities in basins in 17 countries of Asia. - ESA is completing the first phase of TIGER and has established a Secretariat in Africa. Together with UNESCO they are now completing an assessment and a report summarizing their findings from this activity.

WA Task Report NASA has developed a draft plan outlining the capacity building activities they plan to undertake in Latin America. This plan is now incorporated into the proposal being developed to address Task WA NASA is also providing support for the Task Lead. A meeting was held in May 2008 with US and Canadian GEO representatives to discuss the relationship between the Latin America proposal and the GEOSS in the Americas initiative. The proposal is being modified to address several concerns that were raised in that meeting related to the goals of the program and the balance between training and research.

WA Task Report Expected milestones for 2008: October 2008: - Completion of a GEOSS in the Americas Capacity Building proposal for the water sector. November 2008: - Visits to the offices of potential donors for Capacity Building in the water sector. Extent of Participation/Recommendations for additional participants - New partners, particularly in Central America and the Caribbean, will be sought as we move to the implementation phase of Water Cycle Capacity Building in GEOSS of the Americas.

WA Task Report Coordination points with other GEO work plan tasks: This activity serves as the Capacity Building component of IGWCO and GEO Water Tasks, consequently it is strongly coordinated with these activities. A central coordination point with the GEOSS in the Americas programme has recently emerged. Potential risks that may impede completion of task: The lack of resources and commitment for supporting a coordination service in Latin America has slowed the development of this project proposal. (Further discussions with INPE and CONAE and other interested parties will take place during the next few months).

WA Task Report Gaps that have been identified that need to be addressed independently: The balance of training, education, development and research needs to be more clearly addressed in the proposal. Funding sources for the projects and the training need to be identified and developed. Potential Contributions to the CB portal /GEO Portal - To date the project has not contributed to the CB portal although we anticipate that this Task will make a contribution when it has been fully initiated.

WA Task Report Expected products: - Tools and analysis techniques that users can apply to Earth Observation data sets to facilitate analyses needed to support water management decisions. - Training programs to show how to access and apply various satellite products, - Demonstration projects to show how remote sensing data can be applied to water resources in various parts of Central and South America. Expected date of completion of task: - It is expected that most of these actions as described in the Work Plan will be complete with the implementation of the Water Cycle Capacity Building program in GEOSS in the Americas in late 2009 or early Expectations of task lead from CBC: - None identified to date.