College Events

International Conference on Economic Incentives & Water Demand Management

Venue: Sultan Qaboos University, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences (CAMS)
Date:   18-22 March 2006

Organized by: 

Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman		Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources

BACKGROUND

Several previous seminars have been organized at international level on the use of economic incentives and reform of water institutions to deal with the demand side of water as opposed to supply side. The main objective of this Conference is to review on-going experiences in different countries where these instruments exist. Oman has had a tradition of water markets for a long period, spanning several centuries. Water laws and rights are explicitly defined and separate from land ownership. Water markets are very active, mainly for short term leases. Farmers participating in water trade are small farmers, and weekly auctions are operational throughout the country. In many coastal areas ground water pumping is causing serious degradation of water quality, leading to complete abandonment of agricultural activities. Unlike harvested water, ground water in Oman is not governed by water rights. Thus, experiences from other countries where the adoption of water rights and economic incentives are the rule will be of interest to different Middle East countries. 

The main objective of this Conference is to bring together scientists, experts and decision makers working on the water sector from developed and less developed countries to learn from existing working experiences in the field of economic incentives and demand side management of water. 
 

CONFERENCE THEMES

• Water markets experiences in developed and developing countries.
  

• Economic evaluation of water transfer between countries (Iran and Kuwait for instance), other projects being considered mainly with Turkey as a supplier.
  

• Economic impacts of water transfer from agriculture to urban uses.
  

• Economic assessment of positive externalities of irrigation water in Arid regions. 
  

• Water rights and management of ground water and sea water intrusion.
  

• Environmental and economic consequences of disposing of oil-production water to aquifers.
  

• Sea water desalination in presence of negative externalities. 

CONFERENCE LANGUAGE

English will be the official language during the Conference. 

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

• Slim Zekri, Chairperson 

• Fe L. Alcachupas, Secretary

• John Waelti

• Hilal Al Hinai

• Hemesiri Kotagama 

• Mushtaque Ahmed

• Said M. Al Hinai

• Salim A. Al-Hinai

• Said Al Hatali

• Abdelaziz Al Mashikhi

• Mansoor Al Wadhahi

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

• Carlos Romero, Univ Politecnica Madrid, Spain

• Ariel Dinar, World Bank

• Zaher Al Sulaimani, DG, MRMEWR, Oman

• Houcine Boughanmi, SQU, Oman

• Rachid Doukkali, IAV Hassan II Morocco

• William Easter, University of Minnesota, U.S.A.

• Saif Al Shaqsy, MRMEWR, Oman

• Hayder Abdel Rahman, SQU, Oman

• Florence Jacquet, IAM Montpellier, France

• Guillermo Flichman, IAM Montpellier, France

• Rashid Al Abri

CALL FOR PAPERS

We invite potential contributors to indicate their interest in attending the conference by 
completing and returning the registration form. Participants are also invited to submit a paper and/or poster to the Organizing Committee by providing a title of the paper and an abstract of no more than 300 words. Abstracts should be sent to the Conference Secretariat preferably by Email. 

There will be dedicated sessions for Poster presentations. There will be Special Awards for Overall Best Poster and Best Poster by Student. Full manuscripts of papers/posters presented will be reviewed for publication. Selected papers presented at this Conference will be published in a special issue of a refereed scientific Journal or an edited book..

APPLICATION FORM

 Conference Brochure can also be downloaded from here

IMPORTANT DATES 

     Deadline for Abstracts submission: 30 November 2005
     Notification of Abstracts acceptance: 15 December 2005
     Submission of Full Paper: 15 January 2006   

COSTS

The registration fee will be US$ 100 or 40 Omani Rials for those attending the conference only.  Registration fees for those who will attend both the Economics of Water Course and the Conference will be 300 US$ or 120 Omani Rials. The registration fee covers a symposium pack, admission to all sessions, a book of extended abstracts, a digital copy of the conference proceedings, lunches, coffee and tea, the Conference Dinner and Conference Tour. The registration fee will be 80 OR for those who wish to attend only the 2 days Economics of Water Course.

SHORT COURSE: ECONOMICS OF WATER FOR NON ECONOMISTS

A short course on Economics of Water will be offered for non-economists on 18-19 of March 2006. Only 30 seats will be available. The program of the course is as follow: 

A 2-DAYS COURSE IN ECONOMICS OF WATER 

I. The value of water
    Irrigation
    Industrial uses
    Urban uses

II. Water demand
    Price elasticity
    Water demand management instruments
    Irrigation water pricing and cost recovery
    Water users associations
    Water markets
    Public private partnership
    Waste water reuse and water pricing

III. Water costs 
    Use cost
    Opportunity cost
    Desalination
    Water allocation between sectors

IV. Cost benefit analysis
    Environmental costs and benefits
    Positive externalities of irrigation

ACCOMMODATION

Special rates for conference participants have been negotiated with a range of hotels in all price categories. Transport will be provided from the hotels to the Conference venues.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

SQU will assist in issuing visas to all participants coming from abroad to participate in the Conference.

ABOUT SQU AND OMAN

The Conference will be held at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), the premier university in the Sultanate of Oman. The university is situated on a modern campus, located about 15 km from the International Airport. The architecture and beautiful landscape, in an otherwise stony desert environment, contribute to the unique characteristics of this special environment. 

The Sultanate of Oman lies at the crossroads of Africa, Europe and Asia. The capital city, Muscat, provides a captivating blend of the old and new characteristics of this ancient civilization. Increasing numbers of tourists are taking advantage of the desert and coastal scenery, the spectacular mountains and marine eco-tourism. March is an ideal time to venture the sands and seashore of Oman, with pleasant weather conditions (22-28ºC and low humidity). 

CONTACT

  Conference Secretariat
  College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences
  Sultan Qaboos University

  P.O. Box 34, Al-Khod 123

  Sultanate of Oman   

  Fax: + 968 2441 3418
  Tel: + 968 2441 5244, + 968 2441 5218
  E-mail: felca@squ.edu.om