Your search found 7 records
1 Bartlett, R.; Bharati, Luna; Pant, Dhruba; Hosterman, H.; McCornick, P. G. 2010. Climate change impacts and adaptation in Nepal. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 25p. (IWMI Working Paper 139) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2010.227]
Climate change ; Impact assessment ; Adaptation ; National planning ; Institutions ; Water resource management ; Social aspects ; Political aspects ; River basins ; Runoff / Nepal / Koshi River Basin / Dudh Koshi Subbasin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 333.91 G726 BAR Record No: H043439)
(2.4 MB)
The impact of climate change (CC) on water resources is likely to affect agricultural systems and food security. This is especially true for Nepal, a least developed country, where a high percentage of the population is dependent on agriculture for its livelihoods. It is thus crucial for Nepal’s leaders and resource managers to draft and begin implementing national adaptation plans. This working paper aims to create a more comprehensive understanding of how the impacts of CC will be realized at different scales in Nepal, from household livelihoods to national food security, and the many institutions governing the ultimate adaptation process.
2 Johnston, Robyn; McCornick, Peter G.; Lacombe, Guillaume; Noble, A.; Hoanh, Chu Thai; Bartlett, R.. 2012. Water for food and energy in the GMS [Greater Mekong Subregion]: issues and challenges to 2020. In Moinuddin, H.; Maclean, J. (Eds.). Proceedings of the International Conference on GMS 2020: Balancing Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability. Focusing on food - water - energy nexus. Bangkok, Thailand, 20-21 February 2012. Bangkok, Thailand: Asian Development Bank (ADB). Greater Mekong Sub-region Core Environment Program. pp.254-267.
Water resources ; Food security ; Energy ; Indicators ; Irrigation systems ; Irrigated farming ; Fisheries ; Ecosystems ; Water power ; Climate change / Southeast Asia / Cambodia / Laos / Myanmar / Thailand / Vietnam / Greater Mekong Subregion
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H045074)
http://www.gms-eoc.org/uploads/resources/125/attachment/Proceedings%20International%20Conference%20on%20GMS%202020.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H045074.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H045074.pdf
(10.85 MB)
3 Lacombe, Guillaume; Douangsavanh, Somphasith; Baker, J.; Hoanh, Chu Thai; Bartlett, R.; Phongpachith, C.; Jeuland, M. 2013. Hydropower and irrigation development: implications for water resources in the Nam Ngum River of the Mekong Basin. [Abstract only]. In German Aerospace Center (DLR); Germany. Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Mekong Environmental Symposium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 5-7 March 2013. Abstract volume, Topic, 10 - Impacts of urbanization and industrialisation on agriculture and water resources. Wessling, Germany: German Aerospace Center (DLR); Bonn, Germany: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). pp.176.
Water power ; Dams ; Irrigation development ; Water resources development ; River basins ; Irrigation water ; Water demand / South East Asia / Laos / Mekong River Basin / Nam Ngum River
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H045754)
(2.09MB)
To meet rising demands for food and energy, the number of hydropower dams is growing rapidly and irrigation schemes will likely expand, in the Mekong Basin. The cumulative hydrological effect of planned water resources development has previously been assessed at the Mekong Basin scale. This paper analyzes how water control structures modify the balance between water demand and water supply along the Nam Ngum River, a Mekong tributary in Lao PDR. The Nam Ngum Basin, already containing both irrigation schemes and hydropower dams, has the potential for significantly enlarged river-fed irrigation, as well as additional upstream hydropower dams. We analyzed flow data recorded since 1962, in combination with a reservoir system optimization model, to assess changes in monthly river flows induced by existing and planned hydropower dams. Current and potential irrigation water demands were assessed from satellite images, cropping calendars and simple crop water balance. Our results indicate that, by the 2030s, if eight hydropower dams are completed in the Nam Ngum Basin, dry season river flow could increase by more than 200% and wet season flows could decrease by 20%. In the absence of dam storage, current irrigation water demand would compete with minimum environmental flow requirements during dry years. In contrast, full hydropower development allows current irrigation water demand to triple, to reach the potential levels of development, whilst maintaining environmental flows. The contribution of the Nam Ngum Basin to the Mekong River flow at Kratie, a few hundreds kilometers upstream of the Tonle Sap Lake, has changed from 5 to 15% in April, since hydropower dams started developing in the Mekong Basin, suggesting that the effect of water control development in the Nam Ngum Basin impacts water resources further downstream. Beyond the effects on water resources, there are a number of other impacts on fisheries, sediment, biodiversity, ecosystems, and population resettlement that should be considered in order to better understand the environmental and socioeconomic costs and benefits of these hydropower dams.
4 Baker, J.; Bartlett, R.; Jeuland, M.; Lacombe, Guillaume; Douangsavanh, Somphasith. 2013. Analyzing economic tradeoffs of water use in the Nam Ngum River Basin, Lao PDR. [Abstract only]. In German Aerospace Center (DLR); Germany. Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Mekong Environmental Symposium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 5-7 March 2013. Abstract volume, Topic 02 - Hydropower development and impacts on economy. Wessling, Germany: German Aerospace Center (DLR); Bonn, Germany: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). pp.39.
Water resources ; River basins ; Water demand ; Water use ; Water power ; Irrigated farming ; Economic aspects / Laos / Nam Ngum River Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H045822)
http://www.mekong-environmental-symposium-2013.org/frontend/file.php?id=3020&dl=1
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H045822.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H045822.pdf
(0.08 MB) (2.09MB)
5 Bartlett, R.; Baker, J.; Lacombe, Guillaume; Douangsavanh, Somphasith; Jeuland, M. 2012. Analyzing economic tradeoffs of water use in the Nam Ngum River Basin, Lao PDR. Durham, NC, USA: Duke University. Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. 37p. (Duke Environmental Economics Working Paper Series)
Water management ; Water use ; River basins ; Economic development ; Energy generation ; Water power ; Dams ; Irrigated sites ; Irrigated farming ; Flood control ; Models ; Data / Laos
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H045852)
http://sites.nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/environmentaleconomics/files/2013/01/WP-EE-12-10.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H045852.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H045852.pdf
(0.68 MB) (703.52KB)
This paper develops a hydro-economic optimization modeling framework to assess the economic consequences and potential trade-offs of various infrastructure development and policy pathways in the Nam Ngum Basin (Lao PDR). We considered whether large shifts in water resource demands in a relatively water abundant basin could induce meaningful economic trade-offs among water uses, including hydropower generation, irrigation expansion, flood control, and transboundary water transfer objectives. We constructed a series of sensitivity scenarios under dry, average, and wet hydrologic conditions with varying levels dam development, irrigated agricultural expansion, agricultural returns, flood control storage restrictions, and water diversions to Northeast Thailand. We also considered how flows into the Mekong would be affected by these collective developments. In general, results indicate that tradeoffs between hydropower production, irrigation, and flood control are modest. Hydropower and agricultural expansion are found to be complimentary under high levels of water availability, even with the most ambitious level of irrigation expansion. Allowing for flood control by maintaining reduced storage levels in the reservoir that is largest and furthest downstream on the Nam Ngum (NN1) has a minimal effect on economic output and decreases total system hydropower by less than 1%. However, economic outcomes are highly dependent on water availability and economic returns to irrigated agriculture. System hydropower was greatly reduced, and inter-basin transfer projects induced large economic costs under dry conditions. These results on seasonal impacts illustrate the importance of accounting for climate variability and potential hydrologic change in cost-benefit analysis of infrastructure projects, even in watersheds that are relatively water abundant.
6 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.
7 Jeuland, M.; Baker, J.; Bartlett, R.; Lacombe, Guillaume. 2014. The costs of uncoordinated infrastructure management in multi-reservoir river basins. Environmental Research Letters, 9(10):1-10. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/10/105006]
River basin management ; Reservoirs ; Costs ; Water resources ; Water power ; Hydrology ; Economic aspects ; Models ; Infrastructure ; Flood control ; Irrigation ; Dams / Lao People s Democratic Republic / Mekong / Nam Ngum River Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046648)
http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/9/10/105006/pdf/1748-9326_9_10_105006.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H046648.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H046648.pdf
(1.21 MB) (1.22 MB)
Though there are surprisingly few estimates of the economic benefits of coordinated infrastructure development and operations in international river basins, there is a widespread belief that improved cooperation is beneficial for managing water scarcity and variability. Hydro-economic optimization models are commonly-used for identifying efficient allocation of water across time and space, but such models typically assume full coordination. In the real world, investment and operational decisions for specific projects are often made without full consideration of potential downstream impacts. This paper describes a tractable methodology for evaluating the economic benefits of infrastructure coordination. We demonstrate its application over a range of water availability scenarios in a catchment of the Mekong located in Lao PDR, the Nam Ngum River Basin. Results from this basin suggest that coordination improves system net benefits from irrigation and hydropower by approximately 3–12% (or US$12-53 million/yr) assuming moderate levels of flood control, and that the magnitude of coordination benefits generally increases with the level of water availability and with inflow variability. Similar analyses would be useful for developing a systematic understanding of the factors that increase the costs of non-cooperation in river basin systems worldwide, and would likely help to improve targeting of efforts to stimulate complicated negotiations over water resources.
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