Safety |
j East Asia led by the international team in Ramboll Water. The city of Baguio in the North-Western part of the Philippines has been prioritized because it faces a growing risk of natural hazards. Located approximately 1470 meters above sea level, Baguio has a rather cool climate compared to the rest of the country and is therefore considered the ‘summer capital of the Philippines’. It has an annual economic growth rate of 16% and is also attracting almost two million tourists annually. As the city is located on a mountainside with many of its houses built on steep slopes, it also faces a growing risk of severe flooding and landslide. “These growing risks have led to a clear need for a smart flood early warning system – and in our understanding and definition of ‘smart’ this includes that we design systems that don’t leave anybody behind,” explains Catherine Grant, Lead Consultant, Ramboll. “We also had a strong commitment by the Mayor of Baguio to explore gender more explicitly in the development of the city’s FEWS. We consider this commitment and our ongoing collaboration with the City decision- makers really critical in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the FEWs and particularly from a gender perspective.” By working with cities, AASCTF facilitates their transformation to become more livable, resilient, and inclusive, while in the process identifying scalable best and next practices to be replicated across cities in Asia and the Pacific. This task order also exemplifies the vision of the AASCTF as elaborated in the Fund’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Strategy, which seeks to implement GESI-focused interventions where we have identified an expressed need. Ramboll’s strategic collaboration with Practical Action Consulting builds on their experience researching and advocating for gender transformative EWS and their innovative approach to understanding the needs of those who are most marginalised, which has been endorsed and taken up by UN Women in subsequent research. Key to this approach is capturing the “missing voices” that tend to go unheard in traditional data sources. In addition to community surveys conducted in Baguio to support the study, the team have conducted a series of “missing voices interviews” to document the experiences and voices of individuals who are marginalized as a result of societal discrimination due to their gender, sexuality, marital status, physical ability, ethnicity, religious affiliation, among others. The first output of the collaboration with Practical Action Consulting will be a gender and inclusion baseline study report that reflects the surveys and interviews conducted in Baguio. The findings and recommendations will feed directly into the general design and development process of the technical FEWS, placing marginalized groups at the centre and helping the EWS to deliver effective early warning for people of all genders. ●
Underwater Acoustics International
Phoenix International Holdings, Inc. (Phoenix), in partnership with Underwater Acoustic International, L.L.C. (UAI) and Ocean Tech Services (OTS), mobilized a sonar team and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) team to the Wishon Reservoir to perform a comprehensive underwater acoustic imaging and visual inspection of the Wishon Dam for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). The intent of the inspection was to collect a baseline of current conditions to enable planning for effective repair and remediation. The acoustic imaging was accomplished utilizing a high resolution Underwater Acoustic Steered Beam Imaging system from UAI. The visual inspection was performed using an inspection class ROV. Operators maneuvered the ROV along the dam face to collect visual images of areas identified in the acoustic imaging inspection. The results of this acoustic and visual inspection were provided to PG&E within a 100+ page report that included mosaic images of the acoustic data and visual images from the ROV to provide a clear picture of the underwater condition of the dam.
Phoenix is an employee-owned, ISO 9001-2015 Management System certified marine services contractor providing manned and unmanned underwater solutions, design engineering, and project management services to a diverse set of clients worldwide. Expertise is available from seven regional offices in the areas of wet and dry hyperbaric welding, Nondestructive Testing, (NDT), subsea engineering services, conventional and atmospheric diving, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and ROV operations. The company’s capabilities are directed to underwater inspection, maintenance, and repair; deep ocean survey, search and recovery operations; submarine rescue; construction; subsea tieback; plug and abandonment; subsea mining; archaeological; and documentary projects. UAI (a subsidiary of C. H. Fenstermaker & Associates, L.L.C.) specializes in the utilization of underwater acoustic remote sensing for the investigation, imaging and modeling of submerged structures and the adjacent water bottom environments. Fenstermaker develops and deploys custom configured sensors, deployment platforms and software packages that are designed to specifically address the needs of the Hydro-Electric Dam Operator. OTS provides marine environmental measurement and operational maritime support to a wide range of industries. ●
Above: A sonar team and ROV team performed a comprehensive underwater acoustic imaging and visual inspection of the Wishon Dam
22 | August 2021 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com Wood
Wood is teaming up with United Nations Environment Program to improve water resilience in Grenada supporting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Stretching only 21 miles long, Grenada heavily depends on rainwater catchment and surface water for its freshwater supply. After suffering two severe droughts in 2010 and 2012, leaders of the region’s water sector have been seeking the answer to one critical question: how can we improve water resource management to ensure the availability of clean freshwater for current and future generations? With the recent prediction that rainfall in
Grenada will continue to reduce, lowering to between 25 to 30% of current values by the end of the century, the need for a sustainable solution has never been greater. The demand for water is also expected to increase across many sectors – most notably tourism – further intensifying the strain on accessible water supplies across the island. In alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 13, the National Water and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA) in Grenada is taking action to strengthen their resilience to the threat of climate change and ensure the future availability of high-quality, clean drinking water. Through funding provided by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization/ Climate Change Technology Network programme, Wood has worked in partnership with NAWASA to pioneer an open-source geographical information system (GIS) capability with a specific focus on driving future monitoring and management of clean water resources across the island. Our local digital partner, GISCAD Limited, supported Wood in these efforts. Wood developed improved digital infrastructure
layers for the new GIS system, trained NAWASA employees in digital data capture techniques and calculated the amount of water lost in the system before it reaches the customer. By improving data accessibility and information flows, the GIS structure and capacity building will enable NAWASA to target immediate leakage issues and provide reliable water supplies for residents and tourists alike. The outputs of the project will also advise NAWASA’s considerations on future infrastructure investment options, which fully align with the strategic objectives outlined in Grenada’s National Climate Change Adaptation Plan. ●
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