General Assembly

Distr. GENERAL  

4 May 1994

ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH

Agenda item 9 (b) 
 
CONSIDERATION OF PLANS AND PROGRAMMES TO SUPPORT THE SUSTAINABLE 
DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES AND THE UTILIZATION 
OF THEIR MARINE AND COASTAL RESOURCES, WHICH INCLUDES MEETING 
ESSENTIAL HUMAN NEEDS, MAINTAINING BIODIVERSITY, AND IMPROVING 
THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ISLAND PEOPLE, AS WELL AS MEASURES THAT 
WILL ENABLE SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES TO COPE EFFECTIVELY, 
CREATIVELY AND IN A SUSTAINABLE MANNER WITH ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES 
AND TO MITIGATE THE IMPACTS ON AND REDUCE THE THREATS POSED TO 
MARINE AND COASTAL RESOURCES: CONSIDERATION OF THE DRAFT 
PROGRAMME OF ACTION FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL 
ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES 
 
Report of the Main Committee 
 
Rapporteur: Mr. Takao SHIBATA (Japan) 
 
Addendum 
 
Chapter V 
 
Freshwater resources 
 
1.The Main Committee held a number of informal meetings on chapter  
V of the draft programme of action (A/CONF.167/L.1) and considered  
it at its ... meeting, on ... May. 
 
2.At the same meeting, the Committe approved the following  
amendments: 
 
(a)Paragraph 27 should be replaced by the following text: 
 
"Inadequate action to safeguard watershed areas and groundwater  
resources poses a further long-term threat, while in urban  
areas rapid population growth, changes in economic strategies and a  
growing per capita use of freshwater are significant  
challenges. In that context, sound long-term management  
strategies for water catchment and storage areas,  
including the treatment and distribution of limited water  
supplies, are of particular economic and environmental  
importance. Such strategies may involve substantial  
capital investment and ongoing maintenance programmes,  
which may affect the real cost of water. A common threat  
to the freshwater resources of small island developing  
States is the contamination of supply by human and  
livestock waste, by industry related pollution and, in  
some cases, by pesticides and other agricultural  
chemicals. All strategies need to take account of possible  
constraints to water supply from low groundwater recharge  
in times of drought, salt-water intrusion, and inundation  
as a result of climate change and sealevel rise. Such  
intrusions are made even more likely as a result of over- 
abstraction, particularly during times of extended  
drought. In that regard, due consideration must be paid to  
the primacy of the need to supply water for sanitation  
purposes"; 
 
(b)After paragraph 27, insert a new paragraph reading: 
 
"The Political Statement and Action Programme, adopted at the  
International Ministerial Conference on Drinking Water and  
Environmental Sanitation, held in the Netherlands in 1994,  
could serve as one of the important bases for small island  
developing States in implementing relevant portions of chapter  
18, programme area D, of Agenda 21";  
 
(c)Section A, subparagraph (ii), was amended to read as follows: 
 
"Adopt appropriate standards for the management of freshwater  
resources, and develop and strengthen low-cost monitoring and  
assessment capabilities, linked to water resource databases,  
for relevant decision-making tools, including forecasting  
models for water management, planning and utilization"; 
 
(d)Section B, subparagraph (i), was amended to read as follows: 
 
"Develop and strengthen initiatives for regional cooperation in  
training and research to assist Governments in the development  
and implementation of integrated water resource plans,  
including conservation and rehabilitation of watersheds,  
protection of groundwater, setting standards for the  
management of those resources, fostering public awareness and  
water quality monitoring". 
 
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