Your search found 25 records
1 ESCAP. 1995. Protection of water resources, water quality and aquatic ecosystems in Asia and the Pacific. New York, NY, USA: UN. vii, 317p.
Water resources ; Water quality ; Monitoring ; Ecology ; Water conservation ; Statistics ; Groundwater ; Water law ; Legislation ; Pesticide residues ; Fertilizers ; Water pollution ; Wastewater ; Water resource management ; Catchment areas ; Reservoirs ; Irrigation water / Asia / Pacific Islands / Pakistan / Cambodia / China / India / Indonesia / Laos / Malaysia / Mongolia / Myanmar / Nepal / Philippines / Korea Republic / Vietnam / Mekong Basin
(Location: IWMI-SEA Call no: 333.91 G570 ESC Record No: H018419)
2 Phanrajsavong, C. 1996. Mekong Basin development plan: Past experiences and current efforts. In Regional Seminar on Integrated River Basin Management, 2-5 September, 1996, Malacca, Malaysia: Proceedings vol.2 - Special lectures and country experiences/case studies. Malacca, Malaysia: Malaysian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage. pp.1/2/1-16.
River basin development ; International cooperation / Cambodia / Laos / Thailand / Vietnam / Mekong Basin
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: 333.91 G000 REG Record No: H019204)
3 1996. Regional Seminar on Integrated River Basin Management, 2-5 September, 1996, Malacca, Malaysia: Proceedings vol.2 - Special lectures and country experiences/case studies. Malacca, Malaysia: Malaysian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage. v.p.
River basin development ; Rivers ; Legal aspects ; Water law ; Water resource management ; Simulation models ; Drainage ; Design ; Flood control / Egypt / Taiwan / Thailand / Singapore / Malaysia / Iran / India / Bangladesh / Sri Lanka / Mekong Basin / Nile River / Muda River Basin / Tanshui River Basin / Mun River Basin / Melaka River / Karkheh River / Ganges River Basin / Brahmaputra River Basin / Meghna River Basin
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: 333.91 G000 REG Record No: H019203)
4 Maxwell, W. C. H.; Preul, H. C.; Stout, G. E. (Eds.) 1996. Proceedings Rivertech 96 - Volume 1: 1st International Conference on New/Emerging Concepts for Rivers, September 22 - September 26, 1996, Fairmont Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Urbana, IL, USA: IWRA. xii, 474p.
River basins ; Estuaries ; Satellite surveys ; Water quality ; Simulation models ; Nitrogen ; Water pollution ; Water resources ; Hydrology ; Runoff ; Open channels ; Flood plains ; Discharges ; Gates ; Environmental effects ; Fish ; Flood control ; Dams ; Case studies ; GIS ; Drought ; Watershed management / USA / India / Hungary / China / Nepal / Russian Federation / Italy / Portugal / Spain / Egypt / Siberia / Algeria / Mississippi River / Andhra Pradesh / Gautami Godavari River Estuary / Danube / Gemenc Floodplain / Mekong Basin / Three Gorges Project / Kosi River / Columbia River / OB River Basin / PO River / DuPage River / Nile River / Ohio River / Fox River / Ural River / Chester Creek watershed / Bee Creek Watershed / Farakka Barrage / Ganges / Sacramento River / Butte basin / California / Upper Illinois Waterway / Colorado River Basin / Chiffa River
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: 627.12 G000 MAX Record No: H021106)
5 Frederiksen, H. D. 1998. International community response to critical world water problems: A perspective for policy makers. Water Policy, 1(2):139-158.
Water policy ; Legal aspects ; River basins ; International cooperation ; Conflict ; Resource allocation / China / Thailand / Turkey / Syria / Iraq / Iran / Israel / Jordan / Palestine / Lebanon / Egypt / India / USA / Canada / Salween Basin / Mekong Basin / Euphrates / Tigris / Jordan River / Yarmuk River / Nile River / Ganges Basin / Indus Basin / Narmada Basin / Columbia River / Rio Grande Basin / Aral Sea
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: P 5141, PER Record No: H024361)
6 Green Cross International. 2000. National sovereignity and international watercourses. Geneva, Switzerland: Green Cross. 144p.
Watercourses ; Water resource management ; Groundwater ; River basins ; Water quality ; Monitoring ; Water law ; Water rights ; Dams ; Conflict ; Political aspects ; International cooperation / India / Central Asia / Mexico / South Africa / South East Asia / Egypt / Ganges / Aral Sea / Senegal River / Danube River / Mekong Basin / Mahakali River / Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Dam / Tigris River / Euphrates River / Nile Basin
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: 333.91 G000 GRE Record No: H026884)
7 Kite, Geoff. 2000. Developing a hydrological model for the Mekong Basin: impacts of basin development on fisheries productivity. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI) v, 141p. (IWMI Working Paper 002) [doi: https://doi.org/10.3910/2009.137]
Simulation models ; Hydrology ; River basins ; Water resource management ; Productivity ; Flow ; Fisheries ; Mapping ; Data collection ; Computer techniques ; Climate ; Soil properties ; Stream flow ; Dams / China / Thailand / Cambodia / Vietnam / Mekong Basin
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: IWMI 631.7.1 G800 KIT Record No: H027027)
(772 KB)
This report describes the hydrological aspects of a CGIAR project to model the effects of water flows on aquatic resource production in the Mekong Basin. The project was carried out by the International Centre for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM, Penang, Malaysia) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI, Colombo, Sri Lanka) in cooperation with the Mekong River Commission (MRC, Phnom Penh, Cambodia) together with other institutes and national and regional agencies working in the riparian countries of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. The project commenced in January 2000 and finished in December 2000. The land cover analysis for the Tonle Sap area was carried out, and the data on existing and proposed dams were collated, by Dilkushi De Alwis, IWMI, Colombo.
8 Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) 2000. Proceedings - SIWI Seminar: Water Security for Multinational Water Systems: Opportunity for Development, Stockholm, August 19, 2000. Stockholm, Sweden: SIWI. 154p. (SIWI report 8)
Water resource management ; International cooperation ; Organizations ; Conflict ; Groundwater ; River basins ; Institution building ; Design criteria ; Water pollution ; Food production ; Legal aspects ; Runoff / South East Asia / Thailand / Vietnam / Cambodia / Paraguay / Argentina / Bolivia / Uruguay / Brazil / India / Middle East / Israel / Jordan / Syria / Lebanon / Angola / Botswana / Namibia / Zambia / Zimbabwe / Europe / Mekong Basin / Plata River Basin / Ganges / Brahmaputra / Meghna / Jordan River Basin / Okavango River Basin / Danube River Basin / Aral Sea
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: 333.91 G000 STO Record No: H028148)
9 Aerts, J. C. J. H.; Droogers, Peter. (Eds.) 2004. Climate change in contrasting river basins: adaptation strategies for water, food and environment. Wallingford, UK: CABI. ix, 264p.
River basins ; Climate change ; Indicators ; Hydrology ; Models ; Food security ; Food production ; Ecosystems ; Environmental effects ; Water availability ; Irrigation water ; Sustainable agriculture / Central Asia / Iran / South East Asia / West Africa / Sri Lanka / USA / Syr Darya Basin / Zayandeh Rud Basin / Rhine Basin / Mekong Basin / Volta Basin / Walawe Basin / California / Sacramento Basin
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: 630.2515 G000 AER Record No: H036667)
10 IWMI. (Comp.) 2006. IDIS basin kit, Mekong Basin, V1.0. Colombo, Sri Lanka: IWMI. 1 DVD.
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: DVD Col Record No: H038919)
11 Kirby, M.; Mainuddin, M.; Ahmad, Mobin-ud-Din; Marchand, Pierre; Zhang, L. 2006. Water use account spreadsheets with examples of some major river basins. In 9th International Riversymposium, Brisbane, Australia, 4-7 September 2006. 15p.
River basins ; Water use ; Hydrology / Australia / South East Asia / Iran / Murray-Darling Basin / Mekong Basin / Karkheh Basin
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: IWMI 333.91 G000 KIR Record No: H039913)
12 Lacombe, Guillaume; Pierret, A. 2011. Land cover change and catchment water yields: from local to regional scales. [Abstract only] Paper presented at the International Conference on Watershed Management - From Local Watershed Management to Integrated River Basin Management at National and Transboundary Levels, convened by the Mekong River Commission, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 9-11 March 2011. 3p.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H043679)
(0.06 MB)
Catchment water yields control the availability of the water resource and the levels of flood risk. With the demographic rise that is underway in the developing world, inter-dependencies between populations and flow variability become higher. A better management of watersheds, from local to regional levels, is therefore required.
The prerequisite for a sound catchment water management is a clear understanding of the drivers of flow variability, in relation to four main ranges of controlling factors, namely i/ the climate (rainfall-runoff relationship), ii/ water infrastructures (i.e. river flow regulated by hydropower dams), iii/ water withdrawals mainly for irrigation and iv/ land cover changes. The hydrological impacts of the first three categories of controlling factors are relatively easy to assess, as demonstrated by previous modeling efforts, noticeably in the Mekong Basin. In contrast, the way land-cover changes alter catchments’ runoff responses is less obvious and still subject to controversy.
The most reliable facts, which seem to be widely and independently acknowledged, are that deforestation, via the reduction of evapotranspiration, increases annual basin water yield, while afforestation results, over the long term, in opposite trends. These relationships were established based on analyses of hundreds of paired catchments whose surface areas rarely exceed 2 km2. The impact of land cover change on seasonal flows not only depends on evapotranspiration rates but also on soil properties such as permeability and water storage capacity, and rainfall intensities. For example, in very particular conditions, deforestation may reduce infiltration which, if not offset by a reduction in evapotranspiration, may result in reduced low flows during the dry season. For extreme flood events, the impact of reforestation may become imperceptible as over such short periods, evapotranspiration does not control the runoff response. These two examples indicate that, although deforestation and reforestation generally increases and decreases, respectively, low flows and flood peaks, the hydrological impacts of land cover changes do not follow a general rule as they depend on a complex convolution of climatic, edaphic and biological factors. However, a recent study undertaken in northern Laos in a 0.7 km2 headwater catchment under shifting cultivation corroborates most of previous results observed in other parts of the world: the development of fallow vegetation reduces groundwater recharge, leading to a drop in annual stream flow due to a decrease in wet and dry season base-flow.
Studies on the hydrological impact of land cover change over large catchments (i.e. > 1000km2) are extremely rare, in comparison with the abundance of small-scale studies. This is explained by several facts: over large areas, the heterogeneity of land covers combined with the spatial variability of climate compounds the attribution of observed hydrological changes; counteracting changes in vegetation covers may occur simultaneously and result in an apparent basin-wide stability of the runoff production. However, the sudden and irreversible bomb-induced deforestation that occurred over more than 50,000 km2 in the lower Mekong Basin during the Vietnam War has been found to have significantly increased the runoff production. This unique example of flow change induced by broad-scale deforestation in Southeast Asia demonstrates that the causal link between flow and vegetation established in small catchments can still hold over an area 4 orders of magnitude larger.
The 5 key messages:
Deforestation and reforestation increase and decrease annual water yields, respectively.
Seasonal flow response (base flow and floods) to land cover changes are less predictable and depend on climate, soil and biological conditions.
Over large scales, the detection of hydrological change is difficult, due to the heterogeneity of land cover and of their change.
Land-cover changes may have deeper hydrological impact than those expected from climate change, irrigation and hydropower development.
The inclusion of land-cover changes in the Mekong hydrological models is urgently required as land-cover change is expected to continue at a high rate over the coming decades.
The prerequisite for a sound catchment water management is a clear understanding of the drivers of flow variability, in relation to four main ranges of controlling factors, namely i/ the climate (rainfall-runoff relationship), ii/ water infrastructures (i.e. river flow regulated by hydropower dams), iii/ water withdrawals mainly for irrigation and iv/ land cover changes. The hydrological impacts of the first three categories of controlling factors are relatively easy to assess, as demonstrated by previous modeling efforts, noticeably in the Mekong Basin. In contrast, the way land-cover changes alter catchments’ runoff responses is less obvious and still subject to controversy.
The most reliable facts, which seem to be widely and independently acknowledged, are that deforestation, via the reduction of evapotranspiration, increases annual basin water yield, while afforestation results, over the long term, in opposite trends. These relationships were established based on analyses of hundreds of paired catchments whose surface areas rarely exceed 2 km2. The impact of land cover change on seasonal flows not only depends on evapotranspiration rates but also on soil properties such as permeability and water storage capacity, and rainfall intensities. For example, in very particular conditions, deforestation may reduce infiltration which, if not offset by a reduction in evapotranspiration, may result in reduced low flows during the dry season. For extreme flood events, the impact of reforestation may become imperceptible as over such short periods, evapotranspiration does not control the runoff response. These two examples indicate that, although deforestation and reforestation generally increases and decreases, respectively, low flows and flood peaks, the hydrological impacts of land cover changes do not follow a general rule as they depend on a complex convolution of climatic, edaphic and biological factors. However, a recent study undertaken in northern Laos in a 0.7 km2 headwater catchment under shifting cultivation corroborates most of previous results observed in other parts of the world: the development of fallow vegetation reduces groundwater recharge, leading to a drop in annual stream flow due to a decrease in wet and dry season base-flow.
Studies on the hydrological impact of land cover change over large catchments (i.e. > 1000km2) are extremely rare, in comparison with the abundance of small-scale studies. This is explained by several facts: over large areas, the heterogeneity of land covers combined with the spatial variability of climate compounds the attribution of observed hydrological changes; counteracting changes in vegetation covers may occur simultaneously and result in an apparent basin-wide stability of the runoff production. However, the sudden and irreversible bomb-induced deforestation that occurred over more than 50,000 km2 in the lower Mekong Basin during the Vietnam War has been found to have significantly increased the runoff production. This unique example of flow change induced by broad-scale deforestation in Southeast Asia demonstrates that the causal link between flow and vegetation established in small catchments can still hold over an area 4 orders of magnitude larger.
The 5 key messages:
Deforestation and reforestation increase and decrease annual water yields, respectively.
Seasonal flow response (base flow and floods) to land cover changes are less predictable and depend on climate, soil and biological conditions.
Over large scales, the detection of hydrological change is difficult, due to the heterogeneity of land cover and of their change.
Land-cover changes may have deeper hydrological impact than those expected from climate change, irrigation and hydropower development.
The inclusion of land-cover changes in the Mekong hydrological models is urgently required as land-cover change is expected to continue at a high rate over the coming decades.
13 Suhardiman, Diana; Giordano, M. 2014. Legal plurality: an analysis of power interplay in Mekong hydropower. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 16p. (Online first). [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00045608.2014.925306]
Water power ; Natural resources management ; Territorial waters ; Legal frameworks ; Decision making ; Fund ; Private sector ; State intervention ; Capacity building ; River basins ; Case studies / Lao People's Democratic Republic / Mekong Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046525)
(0.21 MB)
The changing notion of state territoriality highlights overlapping power structures at international, national, and local scales and reveals how states can be “differently” powerful. This article analyzes how the interplay of these power structures shapes the dynamics of natural resource management in one of the world’s fastest changing transboundary basins, the Mekong. Taking the Lao People’s Democratic Republic as a case study, we highlight the existing inconsistency and institutional discrepancies in land, water, and environmental policy related to hydropower and illustrate how they are manifested in multiple decision-making frameworks and overlapping legal orders. The resulting legal plurality reveals the inherently contested terrain of hydropower but, more important, it illustrates how the central state has been able to use contradictory mandates and interests to further its goals. The specific Mekong hydropower case demonstrates that an understanding of power geometries and scale dynamics is crucial to meaningful application of social and environmental safeguards for sustainable dam development.More broadly, the case sheds light on the important role of states’ various agents and their multiple connections, partially explaining how the achievement of the central state’s goals can be derived from legal plurality rather than hindered by it.
14 Reis, J.; Culver, T. B.; Lacombe, Guillaume; Senaratna Sellamuttu, Sonali. 2015. Reservoir operation for recession agriculture in Mekong basin, Laos. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 141(7):1-9. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000485]
Agriculture ; Reservoirs ; Water resources ; Water management ; Water levels ; Water power ; Dams ; Rural areas ; Living standards ; Vegetable growing ; River basins ; Case studies / Lao People s Democratic Republic / Mekong Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046633)
(0.44 MB)
As hydropower dam construction in rapidly growing economies dislodges communities, rural development experts must help the displaced make their livelihoods in new lacustrine environments. One question is whether the dam infrastructure can directly benefit those who remain within the vicinity of the reservoir. Integrated water resource management seeks to concurrently consider hydrological, socioeconomic, and ecological factors, yet water managers lack the information needed to include livelihoods in their analyses. The objective of this paper is to develop tools and plans for coordinating hydropower reservoir operation and management for rural livelihoods. Specifically, this study investigates how dam management may accommodate vegetable farming on the banks of a reservoir. The intervention investigated is to lower water levels during the cultivation period in order to expose shoreline gardens. Based on the recession agriculture rule, evaluated through simulation of a dam in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the average annual hydropower production was reduced by between 0.4 and 8.1%, depending on the agricultural goal, with the loss to power occurring mainly in the months April to June. By focusing on hydropower reservoir systems, the techniques developed in this study have the potential to be applied to support communities throughout the world that farm on the shorelines of water reservoirs.
15 Lacombe, Guillaume; Douangsavanh, S.; Baker, J.; Hoanh, Chu Thai; Bartlett, R.; Jeuland, M.; Phongpachith, C. 2014. Are hydropower and irrigation development complements or substitutes?: the example of the Nam Ngum River in the Mekong Basin. Water International, 39(5):649-670. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2014.956205]
Water power ; Irrigation development ; River basins ; Water resources ; Irrigated land ; Irrigation water ; Water demand ; Water balance ; Water availability ; Simulation models ; Environmental flows ; Dry season / Lao People s Democratic Republic / Nam Ngum River / Mekong Basin / Vientiane Plain
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046639)
(0.51 MB)
Hydropower and irrigation developments to address rising demand for food and energy are modifying the water balance of the Mekong Basin. Infrastructure investment decisions are also frequently made from a sub-catchment perspective. This paper compares river flows with irrigation development stages in the Nam Ngum sub-basin where the potential for irrigation and hydropower expansion is largely untapped. It shows that full hydropower development in this basin allows irrigation water use to triple, even as it reduces competition with environmental flow requirements. The implications for the wider Mekong are, however, unclear, particularly given uncertainty over parallel transformations elsewhere in the basin.
16 Lacombe, Guillaume; Douangsavanh, S.; Vogel, R. M.; McCartney, Matthew; Chemin, Yann; Rebelo, Lisa-Maria; Sotoukee, Touleelor. 2014. Multivariate power-law models for streamflow prediction in the Mekong Basin. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 2:35-48. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2014.08.002]
River basins ; Stream flow ; Water resources ; Catchment areas ; Rain ; Drainage ; Land cover ; Models / South East Asia / Mekong Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046640)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581814000226/pdf?md5=0a53266de35fd719967a25ed004835bc&pid=1-s2.0-S2214581814000226-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H046640.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H046640.pdf
(0.88 MB) (898.20 KB)
Study region: Increasing demographic pressure and economic development in the Mekong Basin result in greater dependency on river water resources and increased vulnerability to streamflow variations.
Study focus: Improved knowledge of flow variability is therefore paramount, especially in remote catchments, rarely gauged, and inhabited by vulnerable populations. We present simple multivariate power-law relationships for estimating streamflow metrics in ungauged areas, from easily obtained catchment characteristics. The relations were derived from weighted least square regression applied to streamflow, climate, soil, geographic, geomorphologic and land-cover characteristics of 65 gauged catchments in the Lower Mekong Basin. Step-wise and best subset regressions were used concurrently to maximize the prediction R-squared computed by leave-one-out cross-validations, thus ensuring parsimonious, yet accurate relationships.
New hydrological insights for the region: A combination of 3–6 explanatory variables – chosen among annual rainfall, drainage area, perimeter, elevation, slope, drainage density and latitude – is sufficient to predict a range of flow metrics with a prediction R-squared ranging from 84 to 95%. The inclusion of forest or paddy percentage coverage as an additional explanatory variable led to slight improvements in the predictive power of some of the low-flow models (lowest prediction R-squared = 89%). A physical interpretation of the model structure was possible for most of the resulting relationships. Compared to regional regression models developed in other parts of the world, this new set of equations performs reasonably well.
Study focus: Improved knowledge of flow variability is therefore paramount, especially in remote catchments, rarely gauged, and inhabited by vulnerable populations. We present simple multivariate power-law relationships for estimating streamflow metrics in ungauged areas, from easily obtained catchment characteristics. The relations were derived from weighted least square regression applied to streamflow, climate, soil, geographic, geomorphologic and land-cover characteristics of 65 gauged catchments in the Lower Mekong Basin. Step-wise and best subset regressions were used concurrently to maximize the prediction R-squared computed by leave-one-out cross-validations, thus ensuring parsimonious, yet accurate relationships.
New hydrological insights for the region: A combination of 3–6 explanatory variables – chosen among annual rainfall, drainage area, perimeter, elevation, slope, drainage density and latitude – is sufficient to predict a range of flow metrics with a prediction R-squared ranging from 84 to 95%. The inclusion of forest or paddy percentage coverage as an additional explanatory variable led to slight improvements in the predictive power of some of the low-flow models (lowest prediction R-squared = 89%). A physical interpretation of the model structure was possible for most of the resulting relationships. Compared to regional regression models developed in other parts of the world, this new set of equations performs reasonably well.
17 Hecht, J.; Lacombe, Guillaume. 2014. The effects of hydropower dams on the hydrology of the Mekong Basin. Vientiane, Lao PDR: CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) 15p. (State of Knowledge Series 5)
Water power ; Hydrology ; Dam construction ; Rivers ; Stream flow ; Dry season ; Ecosystems ; Reservoir storage ; Deltas ; Hydrological factors ; Climate change ; Water levels ; Case studies / South East Asia / Mekong Basin / Mekong Delta
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046641)
http://wle-mekong.cgiar.org/download/state-of-knowledge/hydrology-mekong-basin/Hydrology%20of%20the%20Mekong%20Basin%20_English_web%2016092014.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H046641.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H046641.pdf
(0.50 MB) (509.30 KB)
18 Lacombe, Guillaume; Douangsavanh, Somphasith; Vogel, R.; McCartney, Matthew; Chemin, Yann; Rebelo, Lisa-Maria; Sotoukee, Touleelor. 2014. Simple power-law models to predict flow metrics for water resource and risk management along the Mekong tributaries. [Abstract only] Paper presented at the International Conference on Sustainability in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus, Bonn, Germany, 19-20 May 2014. pp.59.
Water resources ; Risk management ; Statistical methods ; Models ; River basins ; Catchment areas / South East Asia / Mekong Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046736)
https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H046736.pdf
http://wef-conference.gwsp.org/fileadmin/WEF_Conference/Conference_Programme_Sustainability_in_the_W-E-F_Nexus_web_version.pdf
http://wef-conference.gwsp.org/fileadmin/WEF_Conference/Conference_Programme_Sustainability_in_the_W-E-F_Nexus_web_version.pdf
(0.18 MB)
Increasing demographic pressure, economic development and resettlement policies in the Lower Mekong Basin induce greater population dependency on river flow to satisfy growing domestic and agricultural water demands. This dependency is particularly tight in upland areas where alternative water resources (groundwater) are scarce. As a result, communities tend to live closer to rivers, and so are more vulnerable to floods. This situation requires improved knowledge of flow variability for better management of water resources and risks. Unfortunately, stream flow measurements are scarce, especially in remote areas inhabited by the poorest and most vulnerable populations. Several water resource models have been developed to simulate and predict flows in the Lower Mekong Basin. However, most of these models have been designed to predict flow along the Mekong mainstream, precluding accurate assessments in headwater catchments. In most cases, their complexity and lack of transparency restricts potential users to modelling experts, and largely excludes those practitioners working closely with affected populations. The most integrated and informative way to characterize flow, at a specific location on a river, is to compute a flow duration curve which provides the percentage of time (duration) any particular flow is exceeded over a historical period. Using hydro-meteorological records from more than 60 gauged catchments in the Lower Mekong Basin, and a 90-meter digital elevation model, we used multiple linear regressions to develop power-law models predicting flow duration curves. These simple equations allow assessment of low, medium and high flow metrics, at any point on rivers in the Lower Mekong Basin, using easily determined geomorphological and climate characteristics. We believe that this parsimonious, transparent and highly predictive tool (89% <R2< 95%) can be used by a wide range of practitioners working in the fields of livelihood, water infrastructure engineering and agriculture.
19 Clayton, Terry; Victor, Michael. 2014. From research outputs to development outcomes: selected stories. In Harrington, Larry W.; Fisher, M. J. (Eds.). Water scarcity, livelihoods and food security: research and innovation for development. Oxon, UK: Routledge - Earthscan. pp.178-199. (Earthscan Studies in Water Resource Management)
Research policy ; Investment ; Environmental services ; Community development ; Resource management ; Sustainability ; Living standards ; Public health ; Models ; Floodplains ; River basins ; Water governance ; Multiple use ; Farmers ; Fisheries / Central America / South Africa / Ghana / India / Colombia / Bangladesh / Zimbabwe / Cambodia / Nepal / GaMampa wetland / Limpopo River Basin / Niger River Basin / Andean Watershed / Mekong Basin / Ganges Basin / West Bengal
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 333.91 G000 HAR, e-copy SF Record No: H046788)
20 Campbell, L.; Suhardiman, Diana; Giordano, M.; McCornick, Peter. 2015. Environmental impact assessment: theory, practice and implications for Mekong hydropower debate. International Journal of Water Governance, 4:93-116. [doi: https://doi.org/10.7564/14-IJWG65]
Environmental impact assessment ; Environmental management ; Water power ; Public relations ; Participation ; International organizations ; Financial institutions ; Social impact ; River basins ; Funding ; Donors ; Investment ; Decision making ; Government agencies / Southeast Asia / Southeast Asia / Myanmar / Lao People's Democratic Republic / Thailand / Cambodia / Vietnam / Mekong Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047366)
(0.19 MB)
Hydropower development in the Lower Mekong Basin is occurring at a rapid pace. With partial funding from international financial institutions has come pressure on the riparian governments to ensure that the potential environmental and social impacts of hydropower projects are properly considered. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one of the primary environmental management tools being proposed to fulfill these obligations. This article highlights some of the challenges that are inherent in applying EIA in the Mekong context through critical analysis of both its conceptual and institutional aspects. The main argument of the article is that while EIA application indicates a certain degree of environmental consideration, it is not necessarily sufficient to ensure good environmental practices. Lending institutions such as the World Bank have identified lack of implementation capacity as the biggest constraint to effective EIAs. Focusing on Laos, we show how EIA application should be equipped with necessary institutional arrangements and a transparent public participation process. This will ultimately require a shift within the region to allow environmental and social issues to be given significant weight.
Powered by DB/Text WebPublisher, from
