Fourth International Conference on River Basin Management Including all aspects of Hydrology, Ecology, Environmental Management, Flood Plains and Wetlands

23 - 25 May 2007
Kos, Greece

 Overview

The fourth International Conference on River Basin Management took place recently on the beautiful island of Kos in Greece.  The Conference was co-organised by Professor Carlos A. Brebbia, Director of Wessex Institute, and Professor Kostas Katsifarakis from the University of Thessaloniki in Greece.  It was sponsored by the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Centre for Water Research of Saudi Arabia.

The aim of the Conference was to share recent advances in the overall management of riverine systems, including advances in hydraulic and hydrological modelling, environmental protection and flood forecasting.  It highlighted the latest developments in these fields and the applications of software tools to practical problems.  The first of the River Basin Management conferences took place in Cardiff UK in 2001, followed by a meeting in the Canary Islands in 2003 and another in Bologna in 2005

 Opening Address by Professor Kostas Karisfarakis

The Co-Chairman of the conference, Professor Kostas Katsifarakis from the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Thessaloniki, welcomed the delegates to Greece and stressed the importance of meetings such as these for the advancement of science.  Kostas referred to the importance of the conference and international prizes presented in the beautiful island of Kos where the works of man fit perfectly with those of God.

The demand for water, Kostas said, has constantly increased due to population growth and the increase of per capita demand.  While many people worldwide have no access to safe water resources, adverse climatic changes, fuelled by impudent human activities may aggravate the problem further and even lead to political changes and armed conflict.  It is the duty of scientists to use their knowledge wisely in order to reverse the current unfavourable trend.

 Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Prize for Water

Prof Carlos Brebbia

Dr Abdulmalek AL-ALSheikh

1. Surface Water:
             Topic: Sedimentation Control in Surface Water Systems.

2. Ground Water:
             Topic: Exploration and Assessment of Ground Water.  

3. Alternative (Non-Traditional) Water Resources:
             Topic: Innovative Methods and Systems in Desalination.  

4. Water Resources Management And Protection:
             Topic: Water Demand Management in Urban Areas.

The Prize for each of these categories will be around $150,000.  Winners will also receive a gold medallion, a trophy and a certificate which will be presented at a special award ceremony.

In addition, a new Creativity Prize will be awarded to any original work (research, innovation, techniques, etc) which is considered as a breakthrough in any water related field.  The work must be practically applicable, economically feasible and environmentally friendly.

Receipt of nominations for the current round of the Prize will close at the end of December 2007.

 Hromadka Prize

Two Hromadka prizes were awarded during the Meeting as well as an Eminent Scientist Medal. The prizes were instituted by Professor Ted Hromadka, a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute.  Ted has been associated with WIT since its beginning, and has contributed in many ways to its development.  His brief CV demonstrates the extent of his interests:  

Theodore Hromadka II: M.A., Ph.D., Engineering (Water Resources), University of California; B.A., M.A. and Ph.D., applied mathematics and computer modeling, California State University, and University of California; Ph.D., transport modeling methods, Wessex Institute of Technology.  Licensed Civil Engineer; Licensed Geoscientist; Certified Professional Hydrologist, and Certified Professional Hydrogeologist.  Surface and Ground Water expert; Principal Hydrologist, Hromadka & Associates; Professor Emeritus, California State University; Adjunct Professor, and member of the Board of Directors, Wessex Institute of Technology; Professor, United States Military Academy at West Point.  Dr. Hromadka has extensive scientific, engineering, and litigation support experience, serving as an expert witness in more than 200 cases.  His frequently referenced scientific contributions to the Hydrologic, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences have been published in peer-reviewed scientific literature including 20 books, and over 350 scientific papers and book chapters.  His professional engineering experience includes supervision and development of over 1000 engineering studies.  Engineering and scientific computer software developed by Dr. Hromadka is widely used throughout the engineering community.

Dr Hamed Assaf

The first Hromadka Medal was given to Professor Jorge de las Heras from the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain for his paper at the Water Resources Management Conference, entitled “Spatial and temporal distribution of Nitrate contents in the Mancha Oriental Hydro-geological System, SE Spain:1998-2003”.

The other Hromadka Medal was awarded to Dr Hamed Assaf from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon for his presentation “Assessing Ground Water Quality conditions in the upper Litani River basin utilising geostatistical analysis tools”.

 Outstanding Presentations

A number of outstanding presentations were highlighted by the Prize Committee.  They were from the River Basin Meeting:  

• “Focus on environment assessment needs for water resources development projects in India”, by Dr Leena Deshpane, from the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, India.
• “Attitudes of residents in the Tokyo Bay area toward flood hazards” by Professor Mitsuo Takezawa from Nikon University, Japan.
• “Stochastic optimization of multi-reservoir systems with power-plants and spillways” by Professor Bernard Lamond, University of Laval, Canada.
• “Velocity and suspended sediment concentration profiles in rivers in situ measurements and flux modelling” by Dr Philippe Laguionie, INSA Rennes, France
• “Natural hazard management Buwela” by Dr Gerhard Holzinger, Torrent and Avalanche Control, Austria
• “Real-time environmental information for the public and public safety organisations in case of flood events”, by Mr Patrick Antoch, PSI Environmental Disaster Protection of Germany
• “Mitigation of flood hazards in Japan” by Hiroshi Gotoh, Nihon University, Japan
• “A case study: The approach to the integrated and cooperative management of the water resources of the Maputo River Basin by Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa” by Andrew Tanner, Ninham Shared Ltd, South Africa
• “Monitoring river pollution with high-resolution satellite images” by Maria Borasi, University of Eastern Piemont Avogadro, Italy
• “Numerical hydrological and hydraulic simulation of the effects of a possible flood wave as part of a risk analysis and risk management at the Suggadinbach”, by G Jager, Forest Technical Service, Austria.

 Conference Session

The Conference papers were grouped into sessions dealing with:  

• River and watershed management
• Hydrological modelling
• Stream ban erosion and protection measures
• Flood studies
• Ecological and environmental impacts
• Sediment transport
• Water resources management
• Water quality issues

 Invited Presentations

There were a number of invited presentations by well known scientists:  

• “Three-dimensional flow in a barb field”, by RD Townsend, University of Ottawa, Canada
• “Estimation of monthly stream flows based on the sequential water budget technique applied to the Thornthwaite potential evapotranspiration”, by MM Portela, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal
• “Landscape factors of nutrient transport in temperate agricultural catchments”, by U Mander, Tartu University, Estonia
• “River pollution models as an instrument for basin management”, by G Genon, Politecnico di Torino-Diget, Italy
• “Ecocide and genocide in the Iraqi marshlands”, by JW Dellapenna, Villanova University, USA
• “Seawater intrusion into the aquifer of Eleftherae-N. Peramos, Kavala, Greece”, by KL Katsifarakis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
• “Mitigation of flood hazards in Japan”, by M Takezawa, Nihon University, Japan
• “Effects of topographic data resolution and spatial model resolution on a bi-dimensional hydro-morphological model”, by S Fattorelli, University of Padova, Italy
• “The use of modelling to implement the Water Framework Directive”, by M Hartnett, National University of Ireland
• “MODCEL: an integrated cell model for river basin simulation”, by FCB Mascarenhas, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• “Optimal rule curves for interconnected reservoirs”, by A Turgeon, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Canada
• “Environmental control of torrents environment: one valorisation for prevention of water flood disasters”, by P Dioudis, TEI of Larissa, Greece.

 Special Session

A special session was organised by Dr RD Townsend on the topic of Stream Bank Erosion and Protection Measures.  The Session consisted of several papers by well known specialists.

 International Scientific Advisory Committee

The International Scientific Advisory Committee Meeting took place over lunch to discuss reconvening the Conference in 2009.  It was suggested that some of the topics be replaced by others which are more related to interdisciplinary topics and strategic issues.  A number of new colleagues were put forward to serve on the ISAC. A discussion followed about the location of the 2009 meeting and it was decided to continue to hold it in Europe.

 Conference Dinner

The Conference dinner consisted of a number of Greek specialities accompanied by wine from Crete.  The delegates were entertained by a folkloric group and a music ensemble.  A series of Greek dances were tried by the most adventurous participants during what was a truly enjoyable occasion.

 Publication of Papers

The Proceedings of River Basin Management IV, 560pp (ISBN: 1-84564-075-0) are available in hard back from WIT Press priced at £185/US$365/€277.50. Orders can be placed by telephone: +44 (0) 238 029 3223, fax: +44 (0) 238 029 2853, e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or via the WIT Press web site at www.witpress.com.  

Papers from the conference will also be hosted online at the WIT eLibrary as Volume 103 of WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment (ISSN: 1743-3541). For more details visit the WIT eLibrary at www.witpress.com