CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUN ITIES FOR INTEGRATED WATRE RESOUCES MANAGEMENT
IN MEKONG RIVER BASIN: Gupta, A. D.
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT IN MEKONG RIVER BASIN
Ashim Das Gupta
Water Engineering and Management
School of Civil Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology
P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
E-mail: adg@ait.ac.th
ABSTRACT
The paper provides an overview of water resources and water use by the riparian countries in the Mekong
River Basin and their priorities in using water from the Mekong mainstream. The need of considering the
principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in cross-sectoral water use in respective
country as well as across the country’s jurisdiction is stressed. The achievements of the Mekong River
Commission (MRC), so far, in coordinating and promoting cooperation in all fields of sustainable
development, utilization, management and conservation of water and related natural resources, are
highlighted. Coherence between the country-level framework for development and the regional framework
under MRC is needed to implement cooperation agreement through the process of IWRM. Challenges
faced by the authorities concerned and the opportunities to achieve this are then elaborated.
INTRODUCTION
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a process, which promotes the coordinated
development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant
economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital
ecosystems (GWP-TAC, 2000). IWRM involves collection and management of natural resources
information, the understanding of the interactions that occur in the use of these resources, together with the
implementation of policies, practices and administration structures, which enable the resources to be used.
s it a means to an end; or is it the process of balancing and making tradeoffs between different goals in an
informed way? IWRM is often confused with other ‘new’ approaches to water resources management and
development, such as river basin management, water demand management and the ecosystem approach.
IWRM is definitely closely related to these approaches, but it stresses on a holistic approach to the
development and management of water resources with the goal of achieving economic efficiency in water
use, social equity, and environmental and ecological sustainability. The specific details of these goals will
have to be balanced through political negotiations in the IWRM process.
The Mekong River Basin, in Southeast Asia, is the region’s largest river basin shared by six countries.
The basin is divided into two parts: the Upper Basin in Tibet and China, where the river is referred to as the
Lancang Jiang and the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) shared by Cambodia, Lao P.D.R., Thailand and
Vietnam. The riparian countries of LMB have maintained a mechanism for collaboration since 1957,
which is now widely praised as the “Mekong Spirit”. Even though the region passed through difficult times
in 1970s with political changes in basin countries and a number of conflicts among member states, the
spirit of cooperation persisted. The initial objective of the cooperative mechanism was to plan and
implement basin wide development of water resources through collaborative projects of infrastructure
development for storage control and regulation of water use. However, very few of these planned projects
were implemented.
The establishment of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) following the signing of “Agreement on
Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin” in 1995 by the Governments of
the four riparian countries is a major step in broadening the scope of cooperation in all fields of basin
development and resource management, river navigation, flood control, fisheries, agriculture, power
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production and environmental protection. The MRC has made a major move from a project-by-project
approach to a strategic planning approach to guide development of a comprehensive series of programmes,
namely the Water Utilization Programme (WUP), Basin Development Plan (BDP) and Environment
Programme (EP) that will directly contribute to cooperative, basin wide sustainable development activities.
With a review of water resources and water use by the riparian countries and their priorities in using water
from the Mekong mainstream, the need of considering the principles of IWRM in cross-sectoral water use
in individual country and across the country’s jurisdiction is stressed. The progress in basin-wide
development planning and implementation under the framework of MRC and its associated programmes is
then discussed. Most of the riparian countries have completed the water sector reform process and have
gone through IWRM planning process resulting in new national policies, strategies and laws for their water
resources development and management. Coherence between the country-level framework and the regional
framework under MRC is imperative to implement cooperation agreement through the process of IWRM.
Challenges faced by the authorities concerned and the opportunities to achieve this are then elaborated.
MEKONG RIVER AND ITS WATER USE
The Mekong River originates from Himalayas in Tibet, passes through the deep and thinly populated
gorges of Yunnan province in China and enters the Lower Mekong Basin near the Burmese-Laotian border.
It continues through Laos to stretch along the Thai-Lao border and at the Khone waterfalls the river enters
Cambodia before it slows down and discharges into the South China Sea through the Mekong Delta in the
southern part of Vietnam (Fig. 1). From the origin at the Tibetan plateau, the river maintains a southerly
course for some 4,500 km to the South China Sea, draining a catchment area of 795,000 km2 of six
countries. The distribution of basin area in respective country and the contribution to flow by respective
country are provided in Table 1. The total population of the basin is over 70 million, with Lower Mekong
Basin being home for some 60 million people.
Table 1: Territory of six countries within the basin and their contribution to flow (World Bank, 2004, Feng
et al., 2004)
Area % of basin
Flow in m3/s
Flow % of basin
Country
Area (km2)
China
165,000
21
2140
16
Myanmar
24,000
3
300
2
Lao PDR
202,000
25
5270
35
Thailand
184,000
23
2560
18
Cambodia
155,000
20
2860
18
Vietnam
65,000
8
1660
11
Total
795,000
100
15060
100
Almost 90% of the basin area lies inside Laos, Thailand, Yunnan province of China and Cambodia
whereas Vietnam and Myanmar share 8% and 3% of the basin area respectively. However, due to the
regional variation of rainfall and hydrological characteristics, the contribution of flow (runoff) is not shared
proportionally to the basin area. Twenty five percent of basin area inside Laos produces 35% of annual
runoff whereas 21% and 23% of basin area inside the Yunnan province of China and Thailand contributes
only 16% and 18% of the annual runoff respectively. Runoff contribution from the remaining portions of
the basin is more or less proportional to their share of the basin area.
The climate of the Lower Mekong Basin is governed by monsoons, steady winds that blow alternatively
from the northeast and the southwest, each for about six months of the year, and occasional periods of cold
weather due to wind movement from Siberia and China. The southwest monsoon (rainy season) prevails
between mid May and early October and is characterized by heavy and frequent rains, high humidity,
cloudiness, and tropical temperatures. A short dry period is typically encountered between June and July
after which the rain becomes more frequent, with tropical storms and typhoons entering from the east. The
northeast monsoon, or the cold season, which occurs from November to the mid of March, is characterized
by little precipitation, low humidity, minimal cloudiness and the lowest annual temperatures. A transitional
period, also known as the summer season, between mid March and early May, is characterized by
increasing precipitation, cloudiness and humidity. Geographically, relief, with the upland and plateau
regions of Laos PDR receiving up to 3,000 mm annually, largely controls the distribution of rainfall. The
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low relief on right bank regions in Thailand and Cambodia receive on average between 1,000 and 1,500
mm of rainfall. The mean annual discharge of the Mekong is approximately 475,000 million cubic meters.
Fig. 1: The Mekong River Basin with Riparian Countries
Although the Mekong riparian enjoys abundant water resources, availability varies widely by country,
by region within countries and by season. Water availability in Laos and Cambodia depends virtually
entirely on the Mekong. In Thailand and Vietnam, large regions are fully dependent on the Mekong River
Basin resources. The Mekong is a major water source in Yunnan Province, China. Only Myanmar is not
that dependent on Mekong waters. On a per capita basis, Laos has the largest internally renewable water
resources in the region at 55,305 m3/yr, whereas Thailand has the lowest per capita resources availability
among the riparian countries in the lower basin, at 3,559 m3/yr, as indicated in Table 2.
Agriculture is a predominant economic sector in the Mekong River Basin. The large portion of water
use in the river basin is for irrigation with rice as the main crop under irrigation. Although not a
consumptive use, fisheries are a significant water user in the Mekong basin. There are more than 1200
different freshwater species in the Mekong. A large majority of the population earns their living from
agriculture and fishing – occupations that account for 50 percent of the lower basin’s gross development
product (GDP) (MRC, 2002). Selected statistics (1998) of irrigated area, population and per capita GDP in
member countries of the LMB are provided in Table 3. The domestic and industrial water use in the LMB
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is appreciable, even though this usage is small compared to flows in the mainstream. The published total
potential for feasible hydropower projects in the four LMB countries is 30,000 MW (MRC, 2003). Of this,
13,000 MW is on the Mekong mainstream and the remaining potential in on the tributaries (Laos PDR:
13,000 MW; Cambodia: 2,200 MW and Vietnam: 2,000MW).
Table 2: Water resources availability and withdrawal in Mekong Basin States, 1995 (Ringler, 2001)
Country
Cambodia
China
Laos
Myanmar
Thailand
Vietnam
Availability
Withdrawals
Withdrawal share of
availability
(km3/yr)
(m3/cap/yr)
(km3/yr)
(m3/cap/yr)
(%)
88
2,812
270
606
210
318
8,585
2,292
55,305
13,024
3,559
4,479
1
500
1
4
33
65
98
407
205
86
559
915
1
18
<1
<12
16
20
Table 3: Selected statistics for the Lower Mekong River Basin (MRC, 2002)
Country
Cambodia
Laos PDR
Thailand
Vietnam
Total
Population
(million)
9.3
4.7
23.2
19.8
57
Irrigated area
(million ha)
0.161
0.075
1.414
1.512
3.162
Per capita GDP
(US$)
252
259
876
287
-
MEKONG RIVER COMMISSION, ITS PROGRAMMES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
The four riparian countries of LMB have cooperated in the management of the basin water resources
through the institutional arrangement of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), created by the 1995
Agreement on the cooperation for the sustainable development of the Mekong River Basin. The 1995
Agreement replaced an earlier agreement, which instituted the Committee for Coordination of
Investigations of the Lower Mekong Basin created in 1957, and later known as the Interim Mekong
Committee from 1978 to 1995 due to the absence of Cambodia from the Committee. The MRC consists of
three permanent bodies: the Council, Joint Committee and the MRC Secretariat. The Council is mandated
with the policy and decision making task and comprises one member from each participating riparian State
at the Ministerial and Cabinet level (MRC, 1995, Article 15). Accountable to the Council is the Joint
Committee (JC), comprising one member from each participating riparian State at no less than Head of
Department level. The JC is responsible for implementing Council policies and decisions (MRC, 1995,
Article 23). Serving the JC is the MRC Secretariat, headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Its role is
to provide technical and administrative services to the Council and JC (MRC, 1995, Article 28). National
Mekong Committees (NMC) are established in each member country and act as the key focal point for
liaison with the MRC Secretariat and for coordination with national ministries and line agencies. The
institutional framework for the MRC is shown in Fig. 2.
During the early decades of Mekong cooperation, the focus was largely on economic development
activities. Considerations for social and environmental aspects were minimal. Work was undertaken on a
project and national basis and the trans-boundary impacts of development (social and environmental) were
not considered. In the early 1990’s, the need for regional development that is sustainable and holistic in
nature gained prominence and this concept is at the core of the ‘95 Agreement. With the signing of the ’95
Agreement, increased importance has been put on ensuring the delicate balance between socio-economic
development and the need for environmental protection and maintenance of the ecological balance of the
river basin. MRC’s role is to coordinate and promote cooperation in all fields of sustainable development,
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utilization, management and conservation of water and related resources of the Basin and this is instituted
through three types of programme: core, sector and support programmes.
Government of
Cambodia
Government of
Laos
Government of
Thailand
Government of
Vietnam
COUNCIL
(Members at Ministerial
and Cabinet Level)
NATIONAL MEKONG
COMMITTEES (NMC)
DONOR
CONSULTATIVE
GROUP
(Member Agencies)
(Donor countries)
JOINT COMMITTEE
(Members at level of Head
of Department or higher)
V
T
V
Cambodia NMC Secretariat
MEKONG RIVER COMMISSION SECRETARIAT
Office of the CEO
Co-ordination
and Information
Section
Technical
Support
Division
Planning
Division
Environment
Division
Operations
Division
Finance and
Administration
Section
Core and Support Programmes
Human
Resource
Section
Fig. 2: Institutional framework of the Mekong River Commission
The Water Utilization Programme (WUP), Basin Development Programme (BDP) and Environment
Programme (EP) are Core Programmes as they specifically address the key articles of the 1995
Agreement. Core programmes are central to MRC’s purpose and are intended to remain with the MRC in
the long term. Five Sector Programmes, covering all water and related resource areas as required under
the 1995 Agreement, are: Fisheries Programme; Agriculture, Irrigation and Forestry Programme;
Navigation Programme; Water Resources Programme; and the Tourism Programme. Sector programmes
support the basin development planning process. They address important sectoral issues from a basin-wide
perspective, complementing and supporting national and bilateral development activities. In future as
national capacities are strengthened, basin level sectoral programmes will be taken up by riparian member
country line agencies working in full cooperation and collaboration. A crosscutting Support Programme,
the Capacity Building Programme, aims to raise the capacity of MRC and relevant member country
Ministries to implement the strategic plan. It also supports and helps coordinate parallel technical capacity
building activities that form an integral part of all Core and Support Programme.
Under WUP, the MRC Decision Support Framework (DSF) developed during the period 2001 to 2004,
through a participatory process of the four member countries, provides a powerful analytical basis to
understand the behavior of the river basin, to assess the magnitude of biophysical changes brought about
through natural and man-made interventions in the LMB and to assess associated impacts on the natural
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environment and people’s livelihood. In a report presented by MRC at the 3rd. World Water Forum 2003 in
the International Network of Basin Organization (INBO) official session highlighted the achievements of
the programmes and a brief on salient points is provided (MRC, 2003).
• Adoption of an agreement on data and information sharing among the four countries;
• Establishment and use of web-based flood forecasting and dry season river monitoring;
• Historic hydrological data exchange between China and MRC (signed April 2002);
• Development and adoption of water utilization rules, the latest being the preliminary procedures for
notification, prior consultation and agreement;
• Formulation of a regional flood management programme;
• Hydropower strategy;
• Research coordination within the Mekong under CGIAR Challenge Programme;
• Communication strategies that have raised the profile and increased awareness of the organization,
internet communication, technical publication and media exposure;
• Integrated training and junior riparian professional programmes;
• Implementation of the basin development planning process with a focus on a sub-basin approach;
• Development of an integrated approach to agriculture, irrigation and forestry;
• Support for development of a navigation programme; and
• Establishment of the inland fisheries research institute in Phnom Penh.
The proactive and adaptive management approach, and the “Mekong Cooperation Spirit” has so far
helped MRC member states in preventing and turning the potential conflicts to a mutually beneficial
cooperation and sustainable development of the river basin. The political commitment to collaboration will
be further put to test when the policy level agreements have to be adopted in practice. The potential area of
conflict is how to ensure “use and development of water and related resources” be consistent with the needs
“to protect, preserve, enhance environment and aquatic conditions and maintenance of the ecological
balance”.
INTEGRATED WATER RESOUCES MANAGEMENT IN MEKONG RIVER BASIN
The 1995 agreement on the cooperation for the sustainable development of the Mekong River Basin
requires that the activities in the basin must aim for a balance between the economic, social and
environmental dimensions of development. The aquatic and terrestrial environment of the basin supports
the livelihood of the majority of the people, especially the rural poor. Environmental management and
related socio-economic factors must be understood as integrated in a development process that helps to
sustain existing livelihoods and promotes the alleviation of poverty, while reducing the risk for conflict
over the use of resources within and between countries (MRC, 2002). This clearly indicates that some form
of the process of integrated water resources management (IWRM) has to be followed while facilitating
cooperative sustainable development of water and related resources through certain norms of water
utilization maintaining the environmental integrity of the basin’s natural resources.
Use of water resources for development purposes in one country can have negative effects for other
countries, unless possible impacts are properly considered during planning. The countries, which share the
Mekong River Basin, have different long-term major national uses for the river. China, the most upstream
state, sees the upper Mekong primarily as a source of hydropower and as a trade route. One reservoir has
already been constructed; a second one is under construction and twelve more are proposed. Also, a
channel improvement project for navigation by removing obstructions is contemplated to allow transit of
ships. If such a project is to proceed, it will have profound ecological, social and economic consequences
for the river and the people. Myanmar, the next downstream state, shares a relatively small part of the basin
within its territorial boundaries and its use of water mainly for irrigation would have insignificant impact in
the context of the basin-wide usage pattern. Laos also sees the Mekong primarily as a source of
hydropower and hydro-generated electricity is seen as an export product, which the government of the Lao
PDR believes to have a major growth potential with markets, primarily in Thailand and Vietnam. Thailand
is primarily interested in Mekong as a water source. There is likely to be increased pressure to use Mekong
and its tributaries for irrigation in northeast Thailand. For Cambodia, the main value of the Mekong is the
fishery. Vietnam relies on Mekong for the water to support the rice crop in the Mekong delta. Country
differences arise due to different levels of economic development, geographical position with respect to the
river and its basin, and the relative significance of the basin in each country. The MRC is charged with
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coordinating and accommodating these different perspectives as a basis for joint management and
development of the basin’s resources. The question is then how and to what extend elements of IWRM
process can be brought into the operational management of water resources of the Mekong?
The major roles for the MRC identified in the 1995 Agreement are in basin-wide planning (MRC, 1995,
Article 2), environmental protection (MRC, 1995, Articles 3 and 7), facilitation of equitable water use
MRC, 1995, Articles 5 and 6) and navigation (MRC, 1995, Article 9). The riparian states agreed to utilize
the waters of the Mekong River system in a reasonable and equitable manner in their respective territories,
pursuant to all relevant factors and circumstances, abiding the rules for water utilization and inter-basin
diversion set forth by the JC and approved by the Council; any inter-basin diversion requires notification
and consultation prior to implementation (Article 5). The parties also agreed to cooperate in the
maintenance of the flows on the mainstream from diversions, storage releases, or other actions of a
permanent nature; except in the cases of historically severe droughts and/or floods and the JC shall adopt
guidelines for the locations and levels of the flows, and monitor and take necessary action for the
maintenance of flows as specified (Article 6). The facilitation of equitable water use giving due regard to
environmental protection, navigation and maintenance of specified minimum flows in the mainstream
requires detail consideration of water resources availability, water use and their variability, and other
development activities for the whole basin in an integrated manner. With the absence of China and
Myanmar from the MRC, the formulation of a basin-wide management strategy and action plan is not
feasible. But it does not prevent management in the rest of the basin being integrated. Seventy six (76)
percent of the basin area is under the jurisdiction of the MRC with this area contributing to more than 80%
of the annual discharge of Mekong River. However, implementing water resources management practices
considering an appropriate integration of different components of the physical, socioeconomic,
environmental and institutional system is a challenging task.
Challenges
Basic requirements for bringing in the process of IWRM are twofold. On one hand there is a requirement
to integrate information about the natural system, for example, integration of information of the water
resources, agricultural and ecological systems. On the other hand there is a need for an integrated
institutional response as the management responsibilities of different components of the natural systems lie
with different national agencies.
The understanding of the functioning of the natural systems in MRB is yet to be fully developed. The
knowledge base and the modeling tools of the MRC-DSF are now extensively used in assessment works
and analysis of basin development plan and integrated basin flow management. The challenges are to what
extent the functioning of river and stream ecosystems and their dependence on flow regimes are properly
understood, how adequately the hydrological consequences of river basin management activities are
predicted, what are the ecological consequences of these hydrological changes, and most importantly, what
are the livelihood consequences? The ultimate outcome of these studies and analyses would be to assist in
making appropriate policy, strategy and planning decision on how best to manage the water and related
natural resources. Another important point to be mentioned here is that a useful hydrological monitoring
network is critical to basin wide evaluation and integrated river basin management. A number of past
studies (reported by Chenoweth et al, 2001) have reviewed the hydrological monitoring networks of MRC
and identified some major issues of concern. Serious consideration should also be given to the water quality
data collection and this network should be integrated with the hydrological monitoring network.
Integrating institutional management also presents a challenge within the Mekong Basin. Within the
riparian countries there is a challenge to integrate management between government agencies both
“vertically” between national, provincial and local government levels and “horizontally” between
ministries and sectors. It has been pointed out by Campbell (2005) that there is a disparity in institutional
capability across the riparian countries and in countries such as Cambodia, many of the institutions are
relatively undeveloped and need strengthening. Since its inception, over the years major efforts have been
made in improving the institutional capacity of MRC. The National Mekong Committees and their
Secretariat play an essential role in the MRC system. They take the leading role in coordinating MRC
programmes at the national level, and provide the link between the MRC Secretariat and the national
ministries and other line agencies. The MRC should emphasize the role of the NMCs and the NMC
Secretariat and strengthen their capacity so that they are effective coordinators of MRC in implementing
MRC programmes in collaboration with the national institutions.
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Community input is an important aspect to evaluation of basin wide development strategies if
management policies are to reflect aspirations of communities. The Mekong Basin has diverse social and
cultural system and if community participation is to be effective then it must be carried out on a countryby-country basis in a transparent and flexible manner. This is a challenging task and the National Mekong
Committees (NMCs) are, therefore, required to play a key role to address this aspect as they are well placed
in respective countries to coordinate with national organizations while still working within the basin wide
perspective provided by the MRC. Under the existing institutional framework, the MRC Secretariat has to
strengthen its project management, planning and execution systems in coordination with the NMCs,
including a comprehensive system for participatory monitoring and evaluation of MRC programme
efficiency and impact.
The development of a water utilization procedure and the realization of an agreement to adopt this in
practice by the basin countries involve so many complexities that a truly rational comprehensive decisionmaking approach may be impossible. With the successful implementation of the WUP, the existing data
and information have been integrated to assist in decision-making process. However, a significant input of
resources is required if MRC has to achieve an outcome that is acceptable to all the MRC member
countries. The implementation of comprehensive integrated resource management policies across the basin
will not be possible unless and until the basin wide planning is complete enough to provide a framework
for action and agreement is reached on fundamental issues such as water use, sharing of resources in times
of scarcity and sharing of benefits.
Opportunities
The MRC has embarked on a process of basin wide development planning taking into consideration the
national programmes of development using the resources from the Mekong. The process is fully on
participatory basis with input from the local, provincial and national level agencies and includes screening
of national development proposals to identify those, which have transboundary significance and are
consistent with the sustainable development objectives of the member countries. The basin development
planning is supported by the MRC-DSF that has several components. The first component is a hydrological
modeling system to predict consequences of proposed development options. The second component
includes a basin flow management component to identify the ecological consequences of hydrological
changes. The third component deals with the development of basin wide rules on data sharing, water use
and water quality to facilitate environmental management. The Mekong River Basin eco-systems are still
largely in a healthy shape, and biodiversity in the basin remains among the richest in the world. The
environmental programme of MRC needs to be integrated with the basin development planning process to
provide feedback on the state of the environmental management within the river system. It is envisaged that
the three core programmes would interact with each other, other stakeholders and decision makers and the
flow diagram indicating information pathways proposed by Campbell (2005) for the incorporation of
environmental flows information into the basin development process is shown in Fig. 3.
The legal and institutional setup for regional cooperation is basically in place. The MRC, being an intergovernmental institution, is mandated to promote and coordinate sustainable development and management
of water and related resources for the basin countries’ mutual benefit and the people’s well being by
implementing strategic programmes and activities and providing scientific information and policy advice.
The commission provides a common arena for the member states to regularly meet and discuss issues
related to their shared water resources. The success of MRC in meeting its mission and goals depend on the
cooperation of the four riparian countries, and the extent to which they can engage the upper basin
countries, mainly China in their vision. The 1995 Agreement provides for the admission of new riparian
nations to become party to the Agreement (MRC, 1995, Article 39). In recent years, both China and
Myanmar have been actively participating as dialogue members at meetings of the Joint Committee of
MRC. Furthermore, the Chinese government has been actively engaging the LMB countries in discussions
on the Lancang-Upper Mekong navigation project. However, an active participation of China in dialogues
dealing with the use and sharing of basin’s resources is yet to be achieved.
During recent years a number of new development initiatives have emerged in the region. The most
important of these include: the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Greater Mekong Sub-regional Initiative
(GMS), Quadrangle Economic Cooperation (focusing on navigation, trade and tourism, and comprising
China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Mekong
Development Fund (focusing on roads and railways) and the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Decade for Mekong Development. The GMS Economic
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Cooperation Programme is a leading initiative to promote regional economic cooperation, to encourage
trade and investment among GMS countries, to resolve or mitigate cross-border problems and to meet
common resource and policy needs. The ASEAN Mekong Development Fund identifies infrastructure,
trade and investment activities, agriculture, forestry and minerals, industry, tourism, human resource
development, and science and technology as priorities. It also seeks to complement the development
initiatives of other Mekong-related multilateral agencies. In building partnerships with these organizations
and initiatives, the MRC can take advantage of its unique status as the only regional institution with a legal
framework to promote and coordinate development and management of water and related resources in the
basin.
National Plans
BDP
Define proposed interventions
Stakeholder consultations
Define scope
Options
Feedback to planning
process
EP
Identify ecological and
subsistence consequences
Other
Stakeholders
BDP
Regional economic and social
assessment
EP and National Agencies,
Environmental and Social
Monitoring
Decision Makers
Revised models
WUP
Identify water quantity and
quality consequences
Development
Implementation
Fig. 3: Information pathways for the incorporation of environmental flows information into
the MRC basin development planning process (Campbell, 2005)
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CONCLUSIONS
Integrated water resources management leading to sustainable development is yet to be achieved in the
Mekong River Basin. Effective coordination and management of water and related natural resources across
the basin is yet to be instituted. Basin wide evaluation, development planning and strategy formulations are
in the process. Critical challenges like the understanding of how the basin functions as a system, integrating
institutional management, forging community participations and securing resources for building
capabilities and competence are identified. The Mekong River Basin eco-systems are still largely in a
healthy shape, and biodiversity in the basin remains among the richest in the world. With the legal and
institutional setup for regional cooperation entrusted to the MRC, it is envisaged that a sustainable social
and economic development can be realized. Other regional development initiatives in the Mekong River
Basin provide opportunities for the MRC to strengthen its thrust for achieving its vision and mission of
promoting and coordinating sustainable management and development of water and related resources for
the country’s mutual benefit and the people’s well being by implementing strategic programmes and
activities and providing scientific information and policy advice. The implementation of comprehensive
integrated resource management policies across the basin will not be possible unless and until the basin
wide planning is complete enough to provide a framework for action and agreement is reached on
fundamental issues such as water use, sharing of resources in times of scarcity and sharing of benefits.
REFERENCES
Campbell, Ian C. (2005) Integrated water resource management for the Mekong River Basin, Integrated
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bank, Vientiane.
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Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management, Thailand, 2005