For the third consecutive year Iran won the WatSave Award in the Young Professionals category.
Young experts Mohammad Bijankhan, Ali Mahdavi Mazdeh, Hadi Ramezani Etedali, Fatemeh Tayebi and Narges Mehri were announced winners of the Young Professionals Award for their plan “Applications of Constant Flow Rate Control Valve in Water Saving,” the Energy Ministry news portal Paven reported.
Young Professionals Award is given for promoting water saving technology, innovative water management practices, and original research leading to substantial water saving/conservation by young professionals (below 40 years).
Nominations for the awards are received through National Committees of ICID (International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage) via a call made at the beginning of every year.
The Iranians will receive their award, including a citation and a cash prize of $2,000, at a special ceremony during the ICID’s 70th International Executive Council Meeting and 3rd World Irrigation Forum, currently underway in Bali, Indonesia (September 1-7).
Established in 1950, the ICID is a leading scientific, technical, international not-for-profit, non-governmental organization. It is a professional network of experts from across the world in the field of irrigation, drainage, and flood management.
Its primary goal is to promote sustainable agriculture water management to achieve a water secure world free of poverty and hunger through sustainable rural development.
For the past two years, the Young Professionals Award has been won by Iranians.
Last year, Amirali Fatahi and Fatemeh Sadat Mortazavizadeh won the award for their work on ‘Generated Significant Savings in Irrigation Water by Adding Fuel from Livestock Waste to Agricultural Land’.
Also in 2017, Mahdi Sarai Tabrizi won the award for his project “Designing Micro-Lysimeter for Accurate Measurement of Crop Water Requirements”.
WatSave Award
A key challenge facing irrigated agriculture today is to produce more food with less water per unit of output, which means increasing water productivity in both, irrigated and rain-fed agriculture.
This goal will only be achieved if the appropriate water saving technologies, management tools, and policies are in place. All those involved in irrigation water management -- managers, farmers, workers -- need to be encouraged and guided, through appropriate policies and incentives, to save water and minimize waste to mitigate negative environmental impacts.
Recognizing the need to encourage innovation in irrigation and drainage, ICID instituted the WatSave Annual Awards in 1997, which are presented each year to recognize outstanding contributions to water conservation or saving in agriculture.
The awards are presented in four categories namely, Technology Award, Young Professionals Award, Innovative Water Management Award, and Farmer Award.
World Heritage Irrigation Structure
At the 63rd meeting of the ICID executive council in Australia 2012, it was suggested that a process for recognition of the historical irrigation structures on the lines of World Heritage Sites as recognized by UNESCO be initiated.
Later the council devised a scheme and gradually revised and updated it to include both the old operational irrigation structures as well as structures that have primarily archival value, fulfilling certain criteria.
In the 19-item list of Recognized World Heritage Irrigation Structures 2019, there are six structures from Iran including Baladeh Qanat and Water System, Abbas Abad Complex, Kurit Dam, Qanat of Qasem Abad, FazlAli Khan Qanat, and Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System.
Other structures in this year’s list are from China, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the US.
