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dam-l LS: 2 articles on GEF grant to MRCFour Mekong River Basin Governments Funded to Cooperate
WASHINGTON, DC, February 14, 2000 (ENS) - Sustainable
water management in the Mekong River Basin,
and protection for the environment, aquatic life, and
the ecological balance of the basin is receiving an $11 million
influx of funding from the Global Environment
Facility. The project aims to bring the four downstream nations
together for improved and sustainable basin management.
Mekong River (Photo
courtesy International
Rivers Network)
The grant to the
Mekong River Commission (MRC) was
approved by the World
Bank's board of executive directors
at the beginning of
February. The MRC is an
inter-governmental
organization of the four lower
Mekong Basin states:
Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and
Vietnam.
The Water Utilization
Project aims to support the MRC
in developing an
integrated and comprehensive Basin
hydrologic modeling
package and a functional and
integrated knowledge
base on water and related resources
and use these tools
to establish "Rules," one of MRC's
five major goals.
The rules, or obligations, of the member states will
establish guidelines for water utilization and ecological
protection for sensitive ecological systems including
wetlands and flooded forests.
"The Mekong Basin possesses a large portion of the
region's potential water sources. These water sources have the
ability to support economic growth through irrigation,
hydropower, navigation, water supply, and tourism," said
Mei Xie, water resources management specialist for the
World Bank.
"This grant will support MRC and the member states to
ensure that development of the water resources is carried
out in a sustainable manner that preserves the
environment. Implementation of the Mekong Agreement requires
strong political commitment from all member states and
the participation and support of stakeholders in the basin
and external parties," Xie said.
In achieving the Bank's overall objective of poverty
alleviation through sustainable development of natural
resources, the Bank supports this regional initiative
that helps countries deal with trans-boundary issues, such as
international water resources. The 1995 Mekong
Agreement reflects the goodwill of MRC member states to
cooperate in the sustainable development of the basin,
and to create a positive foreign policy environment in the
region.
"In the past, the MRC has
collected a huge amount of
information on the Mekong Basin
but because of insufficient
integration of data and expertise, it
was ill-equipped to use its data for
management purposes," said Xie.
"The MRC's new Strategic Plan
calls for a shift of MRC focus
away from managing specific
projects to managing water and
natural related resources in the Basin."
The project will be implemented by the MRC who will
work through a Secretariat located in Phnom Penh and
through the National Mekong Committees, with national
line agencies, local communities, and other stakeholders
such as the private sector and NGOs to enhance the
project's sustainability. The Bank is cooperating closely with
UNDP and bilateral donors in this effort.
The Mekong River originates high on the Tibetan
Plateau. Six countries share the Mekong Basin: China, Myanmar
(Burma), Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. At
4,800 kilometers (2,976 miles), the Mekong River ranks
twelfth in the world in terms of length and eighth in
terms of average annual runoff.
The flow in the Mekong varies with the tropical
monsoon climate. The flows begin to increase at the onset of the
wet season in May, peaking in August or September, and
decreasing rapidly until December. The flows recede
slowly during the annual dry period from December to
their lowest levels in April.
An enormous volume of water flows through the Mekong
Basin in the wet season, resulting in extensive flooding.
The flood waters support a productive and diverse
freshwater ecosystem, but also result in loss of human life and
damage to crops and structures. During the dry season,
a dramatic reduction of flow leads to water shortages for
domestic and agricultural use, and limiting navigation.
The coastal plain of the Delta constantly suffers from
an intrusion of seawater.
The World
Bank project analysis concludes
that the
Mekong Basin's water resources
have the
ability to support economic
growth
through irrigation, hydropower,
navigation,
water supply and tourism.
Equitable
sharing of the water resources
and
sustainable development of the natural
resources in
the Basin becomes most
critical during the dry season.
Laos relies heavily on river transport and the
reduction of dry season flows could adversely affect navigation.
Cambodia has the long-term potential for increasing
its irrigated agriculture.
Over the decades, Vietnam and Thailand have developed
extensive irrigation systems that currently face dry season
water constraints. Vietnam makes use of dry season
flows for seawater repulsion and for irrigation.
Thailand has recently been studying options for
diverting water from the Mekong, and for inter-basin diversion from
Thai tributaries to the Mekong.
Hydropower development in the Mekong Basin is gaining
momentum in China and Laos, the World Bank says.
Currently, there are only 500 MW of installed capacity
in the Lower Mekong and 1500 MW along the Chinese
portion of the River. China is constructing several
hydropower projects on the Mekong River. Laos has plans to
construct a number of medium sized hydropower projects
on Lao tributaries to the Mekong.
Both China and Laos would like to export power to
Thailand. Options for creating a regional power grid are under
study.
But a 1998 analysis by Aviva Imhof of the
International Rivers Network, a California based conservation group,
says the market for hydropower has slowed due to the
Asian economic crisis.
"The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
will defer
purchases of electricity from several multi-billion
dollar
projects in Laos, citing the slowdown in Thailand's
power
demand. Last June, EGAT announced that the commissioning
dates of four privately funded hydropower projects -
Nam Theun
2, Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy, Nam Ngum 2 and Nam Ngum 3 - will
be postponed by two years, to 2006," Imhof wrote.
The World Bank analysis sees benefit in hydropower
projects that would help increase the dry season flows because
they store wet season flows in order to generate power
during the dry season.
How to share the potential additional dry season flow
is of key interest to the Mekong's downstream countries.
The Basin supports one of the most productive and
biodiverse freshwater eco-systems in the world. Annual floods
support a rich riverside habitat and an extensive
network of wetlands.
Water flooding into nutrient rich areas, combined with
high levels of solar energy, help fuel a high powered
ecosystem.
Tonle Sap, the Great Lake of Cambodia, and the Delta's
estuarine fisheries are the most productive areas. Fresh
water capture fisheries constitute a major source of
protein and an important element of food security for the Basin's
mainly poor and rural population.
There are at least 1,200 different fish species in the
Basin, and the annual fish harvest in the Basin could be as high
as one million tons, the World Bank estimates.
This project has a seven-year span, and even so it
should be seen as a step on a long road, the World Bank analysis
concluded.
________________________________
> COPYRIGHT 2000 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
> XINHUA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
>
> THE MATERIALS IN THE XINHUA FILE WERE COMPILED BY THE XINHUA NEWS
> AGENCY. THESE MATERIALS MAY NOT BE REPUBLISHED WITHOUT THE EXPRESS
> WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE XINHUA NEWS AGENCY.
>
> February 14, 2000, Monday 5:24 PM Eastern Time
>
> HEADLINE: World Bank Provides Grant to Help Protect Mekong River Basin
> DATELINE: WASHINGTON, February 14
>
> The World Bank announced Monday that it has approved a Global
> Environment Facility grant of 11 million U.S. dollars to support the
> Mekong River Commission ( MRC) in promoting and improving sustainable
> water management in the Mekong River Basin, as well as protecting the
> environment, aquatic life, and the ecological balance of the region.
> The MRC is an inter-governmental organization of the four lower Mekong
> Basin states: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
> The Water Utilization Project aims to support the MRC in developing an
> integrated and comprehensive Basin hydrologic modeling package and a
> functional and integrated knowledge base on water and related
> resources and use these tools to establish " Rules," one of MRC's five
> major goals.
> The rules, or obligations, of the member states will establish
> guidelines for water utilization and ecological protection, primarily
> the sensitive ecological systems including wetlands and flooded
> forests.
> "The Mekong Basin possesses a large portion of the region's potential
> water sources. These water sources have the ability to support
> economic growth through irrigation, hydropower, navigation, water
> supply, and tourism," said Mei Xie, water resources management
> specialist for the World Bank. "This grant will support MRC and the
> member states to ensure that development of the water resources is
> carried out in a sustainable manner that preservers the environment."
> The project will be implemented by the MRC who will work through a
> Secretariat located in Phnom Penh and through the National Mekong
> Committees, with national line agencies, local communities, and other
> stakeholders such as the private sector and non-governmental
> organizations to enhance the project's sustainability.
> While this project has a seven-year span, it should be seen as a step
> on a long road, aiming to provide an opportunity to bring governments
> together for meaningful and successful interactions on improved and
> sustainable basin management, the World Bank said.
>