The Hydrology and Water Resources Programme (HWRP) fulfils one of the major purposes of WMO, namely "to promote activities in operational hydrology and to further close cooperation between Meteorological and Hydrological Services" .
The activities under the HWRP concentrate on the measurement of basic hydrological elements from networks of hydrological and meteorological stations; the collection, processing, storage, retrieval and publication of hydrological data, including data on the quantity and quality of both surface water and groundwater; the provision of such data and related information for use in planning and operating water resources projects; and the installation and operation of hydrological forecasting systems.