Opening Ceremony

More than Over 500 experts from around the world gathered in Saskatoon, the heart of the Canadian Prairies to attend the International Conference and 69th IEC Meeting of ICID from 12-17 August 2018. Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA) in collaboration with the Canadian National Committee (CANCID) organized the six-day conference with participation of experts, researchers, policy makers, government officials, irrigators and the private sector professionals from around 41 countries.

The main theme of the conference “Innovation and Sustainable Agri-water Management: Adapting to a Variable and Changing Climate” and three Sub-themes 1. Competing Water Demands; 2. Resilient Agriculture – Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change; and 3. Irrigation and Drainage in Perspective.

President Honoraire Dr. Chandra A. Madramootoo conducted the opening ceremony and on behalf of the Government of Canada, Hon'ble Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness welcomed the audience and wished the event all the success. Hon'ble Goodale remarked that water is critical to agriculture in the Prairies and to realize that potential in the face of frequent severe floods and droughts caused by climate change, better water management is essential. Dr. John Pomeroy, Director of the Global Water Futures Program, University of Saskatchewan, kicked off the plenary session and provided an overview of some of the key challenges related to climate change including extreme floods and droughts.

President Felix Reinders pointed to the fact that as the water resources in the world remains the same, the population is growing and therefore we need to find solutions, methodologies and technologies to address the need for constant food supply. Secretary General A.B Pandya drew the attention of the members to the Action Plan 2017-21 for the Road Map to ICID Vision 2030, International Research Program on Irrigation and Drainage (IRPID), role of Technical Support Program (TSP), Knowledge Management Strategy and other issues that required special consideration during the event.

Dr. Peter McCornick, Executive Director of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska talked about challenges related to increasing food production for a growing world population and reflected on how effective water management is needed in order to ensure a more productive and resilient agricultural sector. Mr. Maurice Molony, Executive Director and CEO of the Global Institute for Food Security discussed technologies for crop growth and productivity.

Mr. Warren Helgason, ICID Conference Co-Chair emphasized that as the globe experiences an increasingly variable climate, the need to share information regarding sustainable agricultural water management has never been greater.

Mr. Roger Hohm, President, CANCID gave an overview of irrigation and drainage in Canada stating that the region of Canada has adopted many leading-edge technologies to manage and distribute its limited water resources and further elaborated on the activities undertaken by the CANCID.

Dr. John Pomeroy, Director of the Global Water Futures Program of the University of Saskatchewan, kicked off the International Conference Plenary Session and provided an overview of some of the key challenges related to climate change including extremes floods and droughts. He suggested that a Canada water security strategy may be beneficial in being more prepared and achieve greater resiliency in addressing these challenges.

Events Highlights

The conference organizers dedicated special sessions for young professionals and farmers and conducted workshops and symposia on specialized topics. Six concurrent sessions were held on socio-economic value of irrigation, water-food-energy nexus, climate change and its impact on agriculture, irrigation and drainage, and water reuse and water quality management. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) hosted a workshop on the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Program being administered by AAFC. The workshop featured seven presenters who provided an overview of the various research efforts and studies being carried out under the program.

ICID meetings kicked off on 12 August 2018 with four workshops and meetings of the ICID working groups and task forces during the week. The meetings were broader in scope, seeking to understand and develop solutions for regional and continental water resource management issues.

CANCID organized a special seminar on 14 August 2018 on the topic 'Development and Financing Models for Irrigation and Drainage Sector' in order to understand various options available for development and financing of irrigation infrastructure and its management and to learn from the merits and demerits of models already in use. Mr. Roger Hohm, President CANCID gave an introduction about the objective of seminar followed by a keynote speech on ‘Overview of Development and Financing models’ by Mr. Francois Onimus, Sr. Water Resources Management Specialist in the Water Global Practice in the MENA region, World Bank. Presentations from different National Committees (NCs) and the private sector formed a part of the seminar that enabled to comprehend the challenges and risks associated with private sector participation in the development and management of irrigation sector. This was followed by a panel discussion and a plan for the way forward.

The special session on ‘The Irrigation Production Forum’ focused on the challenges and opportunities that irrigation producers face in a fast-changing world and session on ‘The Financing Irrigation Forum’ emphasized the government support for infrastructure development and rehabilitation. It was noted t hat Canada has a considerable amount or high ratio of private investments in water infrastructure when compared to other countries. Panelists noted that cost-sharing between private industry/irrigators and governments varies considerably around the world.

The Council elected Dr. Marco ARCIERI (Italy), Dr. Kamran Emami (Iran), and Mr. Ahmed EL BOUARI (Morocco) as Vice Presidents for the period 2018-21.

Dr. Marco ARCIERI (Italy)	Dr. Kamran Emami (Iran)	Mr. Ahmed EL BOUARI (Morocco)

1. The Best Paper Award for 2018
   
   Selected out of the papers published in the ICID Journal during the year 2017 was presented for the papers titled "Diagnosing Drainage Problems in Coastal Areas Using Machine-Learning and Geostatistical Models" by Abdullah Darzi-Naftchali, Fatemeh Karandish and Ahmad Asgari, Published in The Irrigation and Drainage (Volume 66, Issue 3) and "The Benefit to Using Drainage Water of Fish Farms for Irrigation: Field and Modelling Study using Saltmed Model "by Abdelraouf Ramadan and Ragab Ragab, published in The Irrigation and Drainage (Volume 66, Issue 5)
   
   
    
2. This year WatSave Awards 2018 were given under 3 categories:
   • Technology Award

      

     Mr. John Hornbuckle, Mr. Jamie Vleeshouwer and Ms. Janelle Montgomery (Australia) for their work on “IrriSAT, a weather-based irrigation management and benchmarking technology app providing site-specific crop water management information across large spatial scales at fine resolution using remote sensing”

   • Innovative Water Management Award
     
     Mr. Richard Phillips (Canada) for his work on “Alberta Irrigation Management Model (AIMM), a Decision Support System to assist irrigation producers better manage their irrigation water application efficiency and optimize crop production”
      
   • Young Professional Award
      

     Mr. Amirali Fatahi and Ms. Fatemeh Sadat Mortazavizadeh (Iran) for their work on “Generated Significant Savings in Irrigation Water by Adding Fuel from Livestock Wastes to Agricultural Land”
     
     
      

      

ICID Register of World Heritage Irrigation Structures (WHIS)

The 69th IEC meeting approved inclusion of 14 new world heritage irrigation structures, which includes: China (4), Japan (4), India (2), Italy (1) ,and Sri Lanka (3) during the opening ceremony of the 69th IEC Meeting held in Saskatoon, Canada, August 2018 .

[Online Register ] [ Scheme & Nomination Form ]

14 irrigation structures were included in the ICID Register of Heritage Irrigation Structures (HIS) 2018.

1. China
   1. Changqu (Bai Qi) Canal
   2 Dujiangyan Irrigation System
   3 Jiangxiyan Irrigation System
   4 Lingqu Canal
    
2. Japan
   1. Kitadate Irrigation System  
   2 Gorobe Irrigation System
   3 Tsukidome Irrigation Canal
   4 Shirakawa basin Irrigation system
    
3. India
   1 Large Tank (Pedda Cheru)
   2 Sadarmatt Anicut
    
4. Italy
   1 . Aqua Augusta and Piscina Mirabilis
    
5. Sri Lanka
   1 Elahera Anicut
   2 Kantale Wewa
   3 Sorabora Wewa

Organizational Matters

• The Council elected Dr. Marco Arcieri (Italy) Dr. Kamran Emami (iran) and Mr. Ahmed El Bouari (Morocco) as Vice Presidents for the period 2018-21.
   
• Approved the nomination of VP Dr. Brian T. Wahlin (USA) as the Chairperson of PCSO.
   
• Adopted the amendments to the By-laws 3.9.5 (c) concerning PCSO Membership and thereby appointing Coordinator IYPeF as Vice-Chair of PCSO
   
• Approved the Direct Membership of Mr. Sajid Ali Bhutto (Pakistan) under Individual Category for three years.
   
• Approved the Letter of Agreement (LoA) for Hosting Congresses / World Irrigation Forums / Regional Conferences / International Micro Irrigation Conferences / International Drainage W orkshops between ICID and respective Host NCs.
   
• Approved future ICID future events listed below:
  1. 9th International Micro Irrigation Conference, Aurangabad, India, 16-18 January 2019
  2. 70th IEC and 3rd World Irrigation Forum, Bali, Indonesia, 1-7 September 2019
  3. 5th African Regional Conference to be held at Rabat, Morocco, March 2020
  4. 71st IEC and 24th Congress, Sydney, Australia, 22-28 September 2020

Technical Matters

• Approved the revised and renamed “World Heritage Irrigation Structures (WHIS)” Scheme
   
• Knowledge Management Portal to be launched in a year’s timeline.
   
• Approved the establishment of three Regional Nodes of IRPID – one each in Africa, Mediterranean and CA & Caucasus Regions.
   
• Approved the establishment/re-establishment of the following Working Groups, subject to fulfilling the guidelines:
  1. Working Group on Irrigation and Drainage in the States under Socio-economic Transformation (WG-IDSST)
  2. Working Group on Non-Conventional Water Resources for Irrigation (WG-NCWRI)
  3. Task Force to Guide ICID Inputs to 9th World Water Forum (TF-WWF9)
  4. Working Group on Adaptive Flood Management (WG-AFM) – In Principle
  5. Task Team on Transboundary Water Management and Effect on Agriculture Water Management (TT-TWM-AWM)– In Principle
  6. WG on Rain Water Harvesting.(WG-RWH)
  7. Task Force on Legislative Framework on Agricultural Drought Mitigation for European Region (TF-LFADMER)

• Approved the Theme and Questions for 25th ICID Congress in 2023
   
• Approved the Theme and Sub-Themes for WIF4 in 2022

Financial Matters

• Approved the Audited Accounts of ICID for the Financial Year (FY) 2017-18, Revised Budget for FY 2018-19 and the Budget for FY 2019-20
   
• Approved the revised Registration Fee Structures for the 3rd World Irrigation Forum in Bali, Indonesia in September 2019 and the 5th African Regional Conference in Rabat, Morocco in March 2020.
   
• In-principle approval to the recommendations of Special Task Force on Independent Business Unit (STF-IBU) for the development of detailed proposal and obtain necessary approvals for launch of an Independent Business Unit as part of 70th Year Celebrations to mark the establishment of ICID.