4th International Austrian

Introduction
Water is vital for the life and health of people and ecosystems and a basic requirement for the development of countries. Water resources, and the related ecosystems that provide and sustain them, are under threat from pollution, unsustainable use, land-use changes, climate change and many other forces. To provide water security in the 21st Century was identified as the common goal of water management in the Ministerial Declaration of The Hague on Water Security in the 21st Century at the 2nd World Water Forum in March 2000.

Preserving the quality of our water resources is one of the main challenges that we face to achieve water security.

Preserving the quality of our water resources in this sense is based on integrated water resources management, which includes the planning and management of water resources and land. This takes account of social, economic and environmental factors and integrates surface water, groundwater and the ecosystems through which they flow. It recognises the importance of water sanitation technology to re-establish good water quality.

In both countries, Israel and Austria, the quality of water resources is of paramount concern. In Israel, allocation of scarce water is one of the most important topics of the peace negotiations with its neighbours. Efficient treatment and recycling of water is a challenge for technology as well as for management.

Austria, while still enjoying a surplus of water of generally excellent quality, faces increasing pollution of groundwater resources from agriculture and industry. With respect to the quality of surface waters, deteriorated environmental quality of rivers due to a modified flow regime and river regulation is a more serious problem than chemical pollution.

Scope
The 4th International Austrian-Israeli Technion Symposium brings together experts from both countries, their neighbours and the international scientific community to present recent research results on a wide range of issues related to "quality of water resources", which are covered in 5 Session Groups:

A Preserving Groundwater Qualities
B Preserving Surface Water Quality
C Management of Water Resources Quality
D Improving Water Quality
E Wastewater Recycling

Proceedings and Monograph
All papers are published in a volume of Official Proceedings, which will be available at the symposium. After due additional review, after the symposium, a Monograph concentrating on specific topics will be published by Springer Verlag.

Format of the Symposium
Starting with the official opening on Monday, April 23, 2001 inthe evening, the symposium will take place on Tuesday, April 24 in the evening and Wednesday, April 25, 2001. On each day there will be morning and afternoon sessions. There will be parallel sessions. The conference language is English and no translations will be provided.

Venue
The symposium is hosted by BOKU - Universität für Bodenkultur (University of Agricultural Sciences) in Vienna. Its "Wilhelm Exner"-Building provides a convenient auditorium and is equipped with state of the art technical facilities. Exhibition space and extra rooms for the Industrial Forum are also available. Lunches will be served at the restaurant of Hotel Modul, adjacent to Wilhelm Exner building.

Address:
Universität für Bodenkultur
Peter Jordanstraße 82
A-1190 Wien

Industrial Forum
The Austrian-Israeli Technion Symposium also serves as an industrial forum, to bring together academics and industries. It provides the opportunity to establish contacts and explore possibilities for co-operation and transfer of technology where companies, products, and services can be presented. Inquiries and agreements are handled by the conference secretariat.

Program Committee
Prof. Uri Shamir, Water Research Institute, Technion, Haifa, Israel
Prof. Hillel Rubin, Department of Civil Engineering, Technion, Haifa, Israel
Prof. Hans Peter Nachtnebel, Department of Water Management, Hydrology, and Hydraulic Engineering, University of Agricultural Sciences (IWHW-BOKU), Vienna, Austria
AssProf. Josef Fürst, IWHW-BOKU

Symposium Organisation
The symposium is organised by the Austrian Technion Society, Vienna, together with the Universität für Bodenkultur (University of Agricultural Sciences) and The Water Research Institute, Technion IIT, Haifa.