The 13th Annual Meeting of the Working Group on Hydrology of the Typhoon Committee

The 13th annual meeting of the Working Group on Hydrology (WGH) of the Typhoon Committee (TC) was held in Nanjing, China, from October 22 to 24, 2024, hosted by the Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute (NHRI).

About 70 participants gathered from nine countries (China, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and the United States) and the TC Secretariat. From Japan, in addition to officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and the Infrastructure Development Institute (IDI), two researchers also attended from ICHARM: Senior Researcher MIYAMOTO Mamoru, the current chair of WGH, and Researcher TAKEGAWA Shinya.

At the meeting, the member countries reported on this year’s typhoon events and damage. They also presented their efforts related to this year’s theme, “Strengthen Standardization for Better National Hydrological Services.” Additionally, the meeting discussed the progress and plans regarding the nine Annual Operation Plans (AOPs). Miyamoto made a presentation on AOP7 “Flood Resilience Enhancement through the Platform on Water Resilience and Disasters.” Overall, positive discussions took place to accelerate the progress of international joint projects, including questions from China and Korea regarding the publication of the meeting results and human resource development. The meeting also talked about the future operation structure of WGH and approved that Japan would continue to serve as the chair country and that the current chair and vice chair of WGH, including Miyamoto, would continue to lead the group during the next term of two years.

In the latter half of the meeting, the participants took a tour of NHRI and the Nanjing Research Institute of Hydrology and Water Conservation Automation (NIHWA). While receiving detailed explanations, they particularly showed strong interest in the hydrometeorological observation field and the hydrohill experimental catchment at NHRI, as well as the instruments and monitoring related to flooding at NIHWA.

ICHARM recognizes TC as one of the most important international frameworks for the risk reduction of water-related disasters and will continuously contribute to strengthening interregional cooperation to achieve the committee’s goals.

Participants in the WGH meeting
Participants in the WGH meeting
Senior Researcher Miyamoto speaking during the WGH meeting Participants receiving an explanation at Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute
Senior Researcher Miyamoto speaking
during the WGH meeting
Participants receiving an explanation
at Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute