World Rivers Day, a day dedicated to celebrate rivers and create awareness of the need for better care of our water resources, is celebrated every year on the last Sunday of the month of September.
Maintenance of rivers are paramount as they support humanity’s development and is home to world’s biodiversity © iStock / hidesy
At DHI, we concur that rivers, like the heart, pump life force to the entire planet. And like the heart too, there is a primary need to ensure its health and vitality. Our extensive experience in hydrology, water resources management, morphology and hydraulics help real-time operations and planning requirements for river management. We seek to solve riverine environmental challenges effectively with our expertise.
Amongst the numerous riverine projects we have undertaken is the Transboundary Waters Assessment Programme (TWAP). Recently, in mid-2016, DHI, in a collaboration with UNEP through the UNEP-DHI partnership, completed a project to assess and protect the 286 transboundary river basins around the world, spanning 151 countries. The assessment of the river-basins is measured by 15 core indicators covering water quantity, water quality and ecosystems.
Results map of River Basins Assessment © GEF-TWAP
The key findings from the assessment, which include moderate to high extinctions risk of freshwater biodiversity, prove to be an alarming indicator of the ailing condition of our rivers. These findings should become an impetus for a greater need to create awareness of the condition of our rivers, as well as a concerted effort to alleviate it.
Our rivers are important in supporting development and wellbeing of humanity. Join us as we drive towards solving river challenges to ensure the health of our rivers, and consequently, this place we call home.