RA VI Coordination Panel on Hydrology Meeting-Highlights

The RA VI Coordination Panel on Hydrology met to review progress on regional hydrology activities and to strengthen coordination across relevant regional and global initiatives. The meeting focused on advancing collaboration between operational hydrology, research activities and regional services supporting water management and disaster risk reduction.

A key discussion focused on the preparation of the regional statement on water resources, which will contribute to the annual global reporting process. Members agreed on the need to establish a small editorial team to coordinate inputs from different bodies, including the Hydrology Coordination Panel, HydroSOS activities and relevant working groups. The report will build on the structure of the pilot edition while allowing regional contributions and additional annexes highlighting basin-level information and regional expertise. The Panel also emphasized the importance of engaging regional river basin commissions and transboundary water authorities, recognizing their valuable datasets and operational experience that can strengthen the regional assessment of water resources.

Updates were provided on the development of observing requirements for floods and droughts under the Regional Basic Observing Network (RBON). Progress has been made in defining observation requirements for floods, including variables, reporting frequency and data-sharing latency, with further work planned on drought monitoring requirements. These efforts aim to strengthen observation systems supporting hydrological monitoring and early warning services.

The meeting also reviewed the Coordination Panel’s Action Plan for 2026–2030, which in practice provides the regional hydrology coordination framework and will guide regional cooperation in hydrology and support the implementation of WMO strategic priorities.

Participants further discussed strengthening cross-cutting collaboration with other regional and global bodies, including mechanisms to regularly exchange updates and ensure alignment between regional hydrology activities and global WMO initiatives.

The Panel agreed to continue coordination in preparation for upcoming activities, including discussions related to the Hydrological Advisors Forum and the Hydrological Assembly.