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Inventory of existing national hydrological information systems in use in the IGAD countries of the Horn of Africa


Terms of Reference (TOR)
Duty station: Home based with travel within the IGAD Region (7 countries)
Type of Contract: Service
Contract Post Level: Short-term Consultancy
Starting Date: February 2013
Duration: 7 weeks spread between 1 January and 27th of March 2013. 1 week per country
Dead Line: 26 January, 2013

Background
The Inland Water Resources Management Programme (INWRMP) forms part of a major donor-supported effort to strengthen and reinforce the mandate of IGAD on behalf of its member states. The key issues that the region has faced in the past decade are related, among others, to instability arising from scarcity of water resources, coupled with the vagaries of the climate. Shortage of water undermines the people’s well-being and is a source of conflicts.
The focus of the INWRMP is, among others, on the establishment and institutionalization of regional cooperation( result area 1), the improvement of policy and legal frameworks for water resources management  (result area 2) , the strengthening of regional and national water resources management institutions,( result area 3) and the setting up of adequate information systems for decision making in water management.(result area 4) In particular, Result 4 – places emphasis on the  promotion of  water information systems
Important is to improve national water information systems, identify gaps and achieve consensus on harmonized set of Hydrological parameters and indicators to improve the national information system and  propose  which of these datasets are better handled at regional level.
The National information Systems within the member states of IGAD
Each member state operates a national hydrological unit which routinely collects, process, store, report and analyze hydrological data which are used for decision making by national and international stakeholders. Most systems will already have a long history which dates back from colonial times. Possible uses of these data relate to weather forecasting, the design of hydrological structures like intakes and capacity of water production and distribution systems, dams, flood protection structures, productive uses of water in agriculture, industry and hydropower. In order to have international basin wide data available for the various applications, there is a need to harmonize the data process in terms of uniform or system architecture, standard definitions of parameters, indicators, processing, reporting and data bank storages.
The scope of the harmonized national information’s systems are :
•    An inventory of the existing information systems in use by the different member states.
•    Comparison of the existing system with international standards of Hydrological Information Systems
•    Identification of information and system gaps per country
•    Ensure that the observed information systems are supposed to be set up as instrumental monitoring systems within a national water resource management policy and strategy
•    Further ensure that the information systems are able to produce baseline data and progress indicators related to strategic objectives
•    Use check lists that are included for answering the uses of the hydrological information per country.
Specific duties and responsibilities
Under the overall supervision of the IGAD-INWRMP – TA Team Leader, the incumbent shall:
1.    Make an inventory of the existing national water information Systems in use in all IGAD member states and IGAD Secretariat’s projects related to water
2.    Study the existing national and trans- boundary water resource management policies and strategies in use. ( use the checklists enclosed in the appendixes)
3.    Propose appropriate harmonized definitions of the hydrological parameters and indicators with uniform system architecture, processing and storage of the collected hydrological information.
4.    Study and review the harmonization process of the other Hydrological Information System developed by other institutions such as the NILE Basin Initiative and use this as potential methodology to make progress in harmonization
5.     Propose a national water information system without losing comparability of historic trend
6.    Develop a common format and system architecture for a regional water information  system
7.    Test the proposed common regional format and system architecture to develop water  information systems for the three demonstration sites (3 river basins)
8.            Propose standard timings of measurements in line with objectives.
9.            Recommend gradual stepwise improvement of the river basin water information systems with a view to harmonization.
10.          Identify per river basin (demonstration site) all potential stakeholders and partners in the hydro information system process from data capture, processing storage an  application
11.         Explore financing mechanisms for the short, medium and long term for sustaining the water information structures;      
12.          Suggest capacity building activities for the various stakeholders
13.          Suggest replication of the system for other river basins and for national level

Qualifications and Experience
An independent consultant (ground water) hydrologist or agency or organization with a background in hydrological measurements, GIS and IT systems, with at least five years experience in hydrological fieldwork and information management. Knowledge of water measurement technologies and land use planning are essential.
Procedure for the submission of applications:
Applications shall include:
-Company profile,  CV of consultants and staffs
-Evidence showing that the Firm or individual consultant have  relevant experiences in field level  hydrological measurement technology , data processing, Data management and data analysis and IT - The above should be sent to the following address: ayenew.mequanent@igad.int, Procurement Officer-IGAD/INWRM-Programme, Cc. Debalkew Berhe, Program Manager –IGAD – debalkew.berhe@igad.int