9th International Symposium on Managed Aquifer Recharge, Mexico City, 20-24 June 2016

The 9th International Symposium on Managed Aquifer Recharge was organized this year in Mexico City between 20-24 June. The symposium, which takes place every three years, was organized by the Engineering Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and supported by several international institutions such as CONAGUA, ANEAS, IAH, AHS, GRA, UNESCO, ASCE, etc.

The symposium hosted two pre-conference workshops, three training courses, three plenary lectures, about 90 oral presentations and 30 posters, three special sessions and additional meetings and events. On the last conferenc day, two study trips were organized for visiting the Atotonilco Waste Water Treatment Plant and the Teotihuacan Pyramids.

The INOWAS group was represented at ISMAR9 with a pre-conference workshop on "Global MAR Inventory" (organized together with the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre - IGRAC and with contributions from the MAR Commission of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, Berlin Centre of Competence for Water and Australian National University), five oral presentations, two posters, and one working group report presented in the special session of the IAH - MAR Commission.

After the conference, the INOWAS team travelled to Merida, Yucatan, where we met representatives of the National Water Commission of Mexico (CONAGUA), the Yucatan Scientific Research Centre (CICY), and the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY). During the meetings, we introduced the INOWAS project and discussed various possibilities for cooperation.

After Yucatan, we travelled to Guatemala at the invitation of the German Foundation for International Cooperation (GIZ). In Guatemala City we met and fostered possibilities for cooperation with the GIZ, the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (Centro de Estudion Ambientales y de Biodiversidad), and the Guatemalan Ministry of Agriculture.