The Global Environment Monitoring System for freshwater (GEMS/Water) provides the world community with sound data on fresh water quality to support scientific assessments and decision-making on the subject.
Surface and ground water quality monitoring data collected from the global GEMS/Water monitoring network is shared through the GEMStat information system.
GEMS/Water supports the Sustainable Development Goal for Water (SDG 6) with methodology support, data management, quality assurance, indicator calculation and capacity development.
Our work comprises:
- Collecting and sharing freshwater quality monitoring data
- Maintaining the global water quality information system GEMStat
- Capacity development and training to empower countries to deliver authoritative and reliable data
The GEMS/Water Data Centre, coordinated by the International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change and hosted by the Federal Institute of Hydrology in Koblenz, Germany, maintains GEMStat.
The GEMS/Water Capacity Development Centre is hosted by Environmental Research Institute of University College Cork, Ireland.
The GEMS/Water Regional Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the Group of Portuguese-speaking African countries, is based at the National Water Agency of Brazil (ANA).
GEMS/Water was established in 1978 to collect world-wide water quality data for assessments of status and trends in global inland water quality. In 2014, after more than 30 years of being successfully operated by the Department of the Environment of Canada, the GEMS/Water mandate was renewed and strengthened by the first universal United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA). With new donors the Programme was restructured into its current form.
