Water & HealthCommunity of Practice (CP)

Taking a Watershed Approach (a draft for review)

GEO User Interface WorkgroupGeneva, Switzerland

December 16, 2005

Gary Foley, USA

Presentation Outline• Objectives of the CP, GEOSS Societal Benefit Area

addressed by the CP• Justification - What value will the CP add over

existing collaborative activities • Membership- Typology of members sought• Working methods - how will this CP operate • Plan of Activities to contribute to the GEOSS

implementation in relation to the targets set out by the 10 Year Implementation Plan

• Schedule of proposed activities - in particular for 2006

Objectives of the CP

• To improve and maintain (1) the health and well-being of the population with regard to surface water-transported microbial and chemical contaminants and also toxins from environmentally-disturbed aquatic ecosystems, e.g. harmful algal blooms, (2) the quality of the surface water sources of drinking water and (3) the quality of recreational waters (4) while sustaining and enhancing the economy of the countries and regions.

Objectives of the CP

• To operationally provide forecasts of the next day weather, landscape and anthropogenic-activity conditions in the watersheds and the water bodies that could be conducive to higher levels of contamination reaching drinking water plants and/or the recreational waters or to a higher probability of the formation of harmful algal blooms or other ecosystem issues impacting water quality. These forecasts would be available to the local and regional water and drinking water managers and public health officials as well as to industry, the public-at-large, sensitive subpopulations, the political leaders and public interest groups.

Objectives of the CP• To routinely make measurements of surface

source water quality using the optimal combinations of fixed-site monitoring, satellite and aircraft observations and operational modeling to meet the combined requirements of the users participating in the CP.

• To perform research and development to continually improve the health-, ecosystem- and water-related science and to upgrade the observational instruments and methodologies, the watershed & water quality models, and the decision support tools used by the CP members.

Societal Benefit Areas addressed by the CP

Health: Understanding environmental factors affecting human health and well-being (4.1.2 )

• Health issues with Earth observation needs include: marine & water pollution . . . . and monitoring weather-related disease vectors.

• GEOSS will improve the flow of appropriate environmental data and health statistics to the health community, promoting a focus on prevention and contributing to the continued improvements in human health worldwide.

Societal Benefit Areas addressed by the CP

Water: Improving water resource management through better understanding of the water cycle (4.1.5 )

• Water-related issues addressed by GEOSS will include: water & water quality . . . . and monitoring weather-related disease vectors.

• GEOSS implementation will improve integrated water resource management by bringing together observations, prediction, and decision support systems and by creating better linkages to climate and other data.

Societal Benefit Areas addressed by the CP

Health: Weather: Improving weather infor-mation, forecasting & warning (4.1.6)

• . . . . Access to weather data for the other societal benefit areas will be facilitated.

Building on Existing Efforts

• there is a minimum sampling design required to meet the accuracy specifications appropriate to that application

• An integrated observation strategy (i.e., one that is coordinated, co-designed and shares data) is both more effective and more efficient than stand-alone strategies

• This principle is exemplified by the work of the IGOS-P

Water & Health CP

The PublicPublic Officials

The Water Quality Observation Community

• Ground-based rainfall, water and water quality monitoring networks

• Satellite measurements • Watershed and coastal landscape

change observations • Groups working on "fusion of

data" • Researchers developing new

observation methodologies

The Operational Forecasting Community

• Weather forecasters

• Watershed Water Quality forecasters

• Coastal condition forecasters

• Harmful algal bloom forecasters

• Coastal & watershed hydrology & WQ model developers

The Water Quality Managers

• Water Quality indicators operations • Water Quality regulatory officials • Drinking water plant operators • Beach and recreational water managers • Storm and sanitary sewer managers • Regulated industrial groups • Land use planning groups • WQ management decision support tool

developers

The Public Health Officials

• Public Health outcome officials • Epidemiologists • Hospital & Emergency Room

management groups • Microbiological and chemical risk

assessors • Harmful algal bloom effects

researchers • Water-born disease researchers

The Hazard Alerting Community

• Water Quality indicators operations

• Beach and recreational water managers

• Public Health outcome officials

• Wireless & internet service providers

• The media

How will this CP Operate?

• To engage potential participants in different geographic regions where there are common water pollution problems, possibly encouraging them to set up regional CPs

• To engage globally and regionally each of the "communities" in the CP to do an inventory of activities that would be relevant to each of the elements in the GEOSS framework diagram as it might be applied to this CP

How will this CP Operate?

• To ask participants and potential participants to complete a "Users and their Decisions" survey form

• Using the information from the inventory and the surveys, plan, organize and conduct at least one large workshop to create the CP and/or regional CPs.

The Survey Questions• What do they do in their occupation and what

does their organization do? Is there a web-site? • Looking at the potential "typology" of CP

Members, which would describe your activities? Which would describe those of your organization?

• What decision-making are they involved in, either directly or indirectly by providing research or decision support tool development?

• What impact/benefits result or might potentially result from this decision-making, including the expected timeframe of the impact/benefits? Does the organization measure the impacts/benefits?

The Survey Questions• Do you operate a system or systems that collect

observational data, either in-situ or remotely sensed? Describe these systems. Are they part of a larger system?

• What observational data, geographical data, socio-economic data and/or models/forecasts, if any, are used in the decision-making or the indirect support to the decision-making

• What are the needs for additional information that could improve the decision-making or the indirect support to the decision-making?

• What regional or international working groups are you a member of or on the mailing list of? What is charge or objectives of each of the working groups? Do they have websites? If so, what are the web addresses? If not, is their an email address for a key point-of-contact?

Schedule of Proposed Activities

Dec 05 User Interface Committee agrees to create this CP

Jan 06 First two hour conference call of the organizing members of this CP to agree on the initial activities of this CP and to take on assignments

Jan-May Regular conference calls to report on status

May 06 ? First face-to-face meeting of the CP (as an add on day to the UIG meeting). Survey results will be reviewed and the Implementation Plan details will be drafted.

Schedule of Proposed ActivitiesNov 06 First workshop, possibly regional, to bring together

the members and participating organization of the CP. Dec 06 Second face-to-face meeting of the CP (as an add on

day to the UIC meeting). Additional Survey results and first Workshop results will be reviewed. The Implementation Plan details will be updated.

April 07 Second workshop, possibly in a different region, to bring together the members and participating organization of the CP.

May 07 Third face-to-face meeting of the CP (as an add on day to the UIC meeting). Additional Survey results and results of the Workshops will be reviewed. The Implementation Plan details will be updated.

Schedule of Proposed Activities

Nov 07 Third workshop, possibly in a different region, to bring together the members and participating organization of the CP.

Dec 07 Fourth face-to-face meeting of the CP (as an add on day to the UIC meeting). Additional Survey results and results of the Workshops will be reviewed. Progress will be evaluated and the Implementation Plan details will undergo a major rewrite based on the progress-to-date.

Dec 07 The UIC will review the progress-to-date and the implementation plan details for the next two years.

Water & Health Community of Practice (CP)

Discussion• What are your comments on this concept

for an Water & Health CP ?• How should this concept be modified?• What existing International Orgs bring

together these five communities, either individually or in any combination?

• How do we identify the CP members?