The Forum presents an opportunity for scholars and senior water managers with interests in the water resource problems of semiarid lands to meet for an exchange of ideas and experiences. To-date, there have been three editions of the Forum: 1) in San Francisco, California USA in 1997 under the theme Resolving Conflict in the Management of Water Resources; 2) in Barcelona, Spain in 1999 under the theme Harmonizing Uses of Water Worldwide, and 3) in Canberra, Australia in 2002 under the theme Innovations in the Management of Water Resources: Perspectives from the Developed and Developing World. Each Forum has two components. The first component includes presentations of invited research papers; the second component includes discussion by major water policymakers on the implications and potential for implementation of the findings. Participation is by invitation only, and the expenses of all participants are defrayed by the Forum. The findings and policy implications from each Forum are widely disseminated through news releases, communiques, published proceedings and other mechanisms.