K–water is pursuing innovation and change inline with ‘Water for the Happier World’ mission to become a ‘Best Water Partner’ in the world. As a leading water management agency in Korea, K–water has enjoyed knowledge exchange and technical cooperation with NARBO member countries such as organizing the ‘3rd NARBO IWRM Training Workshop’ with the Asian Development bank (ADB) in November 2005 and conducting ADB’s Pilot and Demonstration Project to develop a water quality management system for the West Tarum Canal of the Citarum river basin (CRB) in Indonesia with PJT Ⅱ in 2007 and 2008.

Since June 2008, K–water has served as a regional knowledge hub for water quality management in river basins, under the auspices of the Asia Pacific Water Forum (APWF). K–water regional knowledge hub focuses on

• (ⅰ) water quality monitoring and modeling;
• (ⅱ) point and non–point source control;
• (ⅲ) river and reservoir water quality management;
• (ⅳ) water quality improvement for public health and environment.

• Contribution to improve water quality management for healthy and sustainable river basins in Asia–Pacific Society
• Knowledge sharing in technology, information, and experience in river basin water quality management
• Hosting on–the–job training and technical assistance
• Promotion of collaboration with ADB, other Hubs in APWF, NARBO, UNESCAP, and other international organizations
• Providing service and product such as monitoring guidelines, models, and training workshop programs

The launch of the K–water regional knowledge Hub on water quality management in river basins was held on the 21^st August 2009 in Daejeon, Korea. It was held back–to–back with two other important international events:

• (ⅰ) a regional workshop of on river basin management in Asia on 19th August in Incheon, Korea as part of the World City Water Forum’;
• (ⅱ) launching ceremony of the Citarum river basin project pursuant to a letter of intent (LOI) between ADB and K–water on the 21^st August in Daejeon, Korea. The objectives of the event were:

• To launch K–water Hub as the APWF’s regional water knowledge hub on water quality management in river basins
• To allow the prospective clients to share their challenges and issues on water quality management in their river basins and to listen to their expectations from K–water Hub
• To allow K–water to showcase their facilities and to share the knowledge and capacity development services : and
• To facilitate networking and collaboration with K–water and other partners for building partnerships on water quality management in river basin

41 water professionals from 15 countries and 28 organizations, including river basin organizations (RBO), government agencies, regional water knowledge hubs and community–based organizations were participated in the event that was hosted by K–water. They shared experiences from their ongoing works to improve water quality in their respective river basins, highlighted issues, initiatives, keys for success, expectations from K–water Hub services, and proposed collaboration with K–water Hub. The workshop was successful in terms of promoting partnership and networking with K–water Hub. The recommendations made by participants for K–water Hub as a regional water knowledge hub on water quality management in river basins are solid and useful; providing scopes for K–water Hub to further develop the hub itself and its network. It was recommended that sharing of data, experiences, and toolkits through a dedicated website can facilitate collaboration and help strengthen coordination among the Hub network members.

A LOI between K–water and ADB was signed for $6 million worth of collaboration to support Indonesia’s Integrated Citarum River Water Resources Investment Program (ICWRMIP). The objectives of the project are to develop an effective decision support system (DSS) for integrated water resources management (IWRM) for the CRB and to strengthen the capacity of water resource managers for better water quantity and quality management decisions. The DSS to be developed in this project is expected to serve as a standardized framework on which all current monitoring, modeling, and conservation practices can be integrated and analyzed by the river basin managers in the CRB.

The representatives from Indonesian government, ADB and other organizations recognized the event as a successful example of exchanging experience and knowledge for water quality management in river basins, and they highly assessed K–water’s 40–year accumulation of technology and experience in water resources management, stating that K–water is expected to lead international cooperation through NARBO and APWF Water Knowledge Hubs. Also, K–water was asked to build relationships of multilateral cooperation, develop other pilot projects, and provide technical supports to resolve water–related problems in Asia Pacific region. Receiving highly positive assessments, K–water successfully finished the launching ceremony and signed the Indonesia Citarum project.

K–water Hub will begin its main activities in 2010 with its core team developed in 2009. One of the main activities will include initiation of the 1st phase of the Citarum DSS project, which is expected to be signed between ADB and K–water in 2010. In addition, K–water Hub will closely collaborate with other Hubs to cope with water resources and water quality management issues in our region.