Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) Workshop June 19-24, 2011
Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian water practitioners are invited to apply for the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) workshop from June 19-24, 2011 on Kibbutz Ketura, Israel. WEAP is useful microcomputer tool for integrated water resources management that goes a step beyond conventional supply-oriented water simulation models. The main purpose of the workshop is to build capacity and proficiency in the use of the WEAP software. The workshop is organized by the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES) in cooperation with the Stockholm Environment Institute and sponsored by GLOWA-Jordan River. The application deadline is April 15, 2011.
The justification for the workshop
Addressing severe water stress requires a multi-disciplinary approach to water resources management. The Water Evaluation and Planning system simulates water systems and allows the user to plan and manage the resource effectively.
Aims of the Workshop
Learning WEAP, building a regional WEAP model, and developing individual WEAP applications are the core activities of the workshop.
Instruction
Dr. Brian Joyce, Senior Scientist Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)-US, will be the primary lecturer at the workshop. Dr. Joyce’s is an expert in developing water resource decision support tools.
Audience, Venue, Language
The workshop is designed to meet the needs of professional water managers and planners, water user associations, technical consultants, utility technicians, researchers and graduate students interested in climate change, water management and policy from Israel, Jordan, and Palestine. The workshop will be held on Kibbutz Ketura, Israel. All sessions will be in English.
Participant Expectations
Every participant is expected to bring a laptop and download WEAP software. Participants must complete the WEAP tutorial (www.weap21.org/index.asp?doc=13 ) before the conference begins. The non-refundable registration fee is 200 NIS for Israelis and 100 NIS for Palestinians and Jordanians. Payment is required after admission, unless financial support is granted. The registration fee includes: training material, a one-year license for WEAP, full room and board, and a certificate of attendance.
Organization
The workshop is organized by the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES) in cooperation with the Stockholm Environment Institute. The workshop is sponsored by GLOWA-Jordan River, an interdisciplinary project addressing water scarce regions under the impact of climate and global change. GLOWA-Jordan River is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Full justification for the workshop
Many regions of the world are experiencing severe water stress. Unsustainable increases in water use are provoking growing competition for water resources, tensions among different users, water quality deterioration and the degradation of aquatic ecosystems. Addressing all these issues requires a multi-disciplinary, inter-sectoral, and participatory approach to water resources management.
The Water Evaluation and Planning system (WEAP) is a useful microcomputer tool for integrated water resources management that goes a step beyond conventional supply-oriented water simulation models. It simulates a broad range of natural and engineered components of a water system and allows the user to evaluate a full array of water development and management options based on a context defined by vulnerability and climate change impacts, water rights and allocation priorities, ecosystem requirements, reservoir operations, hydropower generation, and pollution tracking. WEAP also includes linkages to other models, such as MODFLOW and QUAL2K, and has been integrated with socio-economic models and knowledge elicitation tools.
WEAP attempts to assist in the planning and management of water systems by providing a flexible and user-friendly framework and a more comprehensive view of the ample diversity of factors that affect water use and water management in the short and long term.
Full Aims of the Workshop
The main purpose of the workshop is to build capacity and proficiency in the use of the WEAP software. The workshop will include two streams of activities:
I. Learning WEAP. This is the core activity of the workshop. It includes computer-based presentations on how to use WEAP and a variety of training exercises that will allow participants to get familiar with the wide range of applications that can be built using WEAP. Participants will practice by building a regional WEAP model.
II. Developing your own WEAP application. We encourage attendees to come to the workshop with their own data to develop original WEAP applications. A list of recommended data will be sent to all participants in advance of the event. Part of the final day will be reserved to present and discuss the WEAP applications developed by the participants.
Full Instruction
Dr. Brian Joyce, Senior Scientist Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)-US, will be the primary lecturer at the workshop. Dr. Joyce’s research focuses on developing decision support tools for evaluating various operational strategies in managed water resources systems. He has participated in the development and application of databases and tools used for water resources analysis in a variety of domestic and international settings, including extensive work with the water resource systems simulation model of the California water system used by government agencies for statewide integrated water planning.
for links to application form and schedule see
http://www.arava.org/news-item.asp?newsid=28