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Quantity and Quality: Strengthening of the Knowledge-Based and Data-Driven Decision Making and Cooperation for Security and Peace

Better data and knowledge more generally can yield important agreed standards related to water quality, as well as a greater
improvements with regard to protection of the environment, institutional coherence at the global level.
developing the necessary legal frameworks for international
water cooperation, the needed financial frameworks, as well The UN activities mentioned in the preceding paragraphs
as for hydro-diplomacy. Additional international facilities are represent a good basis for further work. Much needs to be done
needed. Thus WMO established the Global Hydrometry Support in the context of the implementation of SDGs and UN peace
Facility (GHSF), designed specifically to build operational building activities. The current work on indicators to measure
systems and capacity in hydrometry and water monitoring, progress in the implementation of the SDGs is promising and
expand the base of hydrological data and exchange capabilities, should help UN Member States to define their policy priorities
and facilitate free and open data sharing. This will require the and cooperation potential of water cooperation for the future.
development and application of innovative monitoring and The expected SDG indicators will also provide an opportunity
database technologies, supporting regional and local projects to connect the technical data with the socio-political ones
aimed at building sustainable hydrometeorological networks in a meaningful way, thus contributing to the incentives for
and freely accessible data, and promoting the use of quality intensified cooperation among States.
management principles.
Standard Setting Related to Water Quality
Current developments suggest an already high awareness of the
importance of data and monitoring for future water cooperation Data collection and analysis – still imperfect as it may be –
and, indirectly for the strengthening of international stability must be assessed against the background of the already agreed
and peace. However, it has to be added that States need to use international standards relating to water quality. At the regional
and improve the existing data banks effectively and efficiently. At level, the European Union has developed an effective system
present, the fragmented nature of data collection and publication of standards. They include drinking water contaminant-level
makes it difficult to find and combine the existing data in a standards (Directive 1998/83/EC) and the Water Framework
manner that produces useful and comprehensive information. Directive (Directive 2006/7/EC), which established environmental
Many countries have well developed mechanisms to collect and quality standards for 33 pollutants in surface, ground and coastal
store data. These mechanisms have to be fully used in decision water. Particular standards are also set for discharges of nitrogen
making processes and strengthened as necessary. National and and phosphorus from urban wastewater treatment plants into
international activities have to go hand in hand. All these efforts sensitive water bodies (Directive 1998/15/EC).
have to be complemented by improvement in the internationally

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