Water Issues In the Mekong River Basin

1. Water Issues In the Mekong River Basin Karlyn Eckman Water in the World Seminar October 16 2009

2. International rivers • How to equitably share and govern riparian resources? • Complex socioeconomic issues (rights of access to water resources, food security, cultural/linguistic diversity, etc.) • Strategic national security challenges • Transboundary issues (pollution, navigation, flood control, etc.)

5. How to deal with common resources and shared problems? • Treaties and conventions • Inter-governmental agencies (MRCS; Nile Basin Initiative) • Joint powers agreements • Bilateral agreements

6. The case of the Mekong…

8. Some facts about the Mekong… • 21st largest river in the world • Annual peak flows from monsoon rains (April-September) • Annual cycles of drought and flooding • Not highly engineered • Water quality is declining from upland erosion, logging, agriculture and industry (increase in total suspended solids, conductivity, phosphorus and nitrates)

9. Lower Mekong River Basin

10. Biota of the Mekong… • Wet montane evergreen forests • Tonle Sap and delta • Vast mangrove forests along coastal areas • Wetlands • Freshwater swamp forests • Very high species diversity of vertebrates and invertebrates • Decline in large fish species

11. Macroeconomic trends: • Rapid population growth and rural to urban migration • Rapid urban growth • Land conversion • Loss of forests to logging and agriculture • Rapid industrialization (Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand) • Tourism (land grabbing for hotels) • Loss of wetlands for industry and development (ADB, World Bank) • Declining water quality from industrial development, increased pesticide use and shipping • Unsustainable land use and fishing practices → Chinese dam construction in the upper Mekong

12. People of the Lower Mekong Basin… • 55 million people live in the LMB • 70 ethnic and linguistic groups • 40 % live below the poverty line • Poor access to potable water, even in urban areas (<40%) • Poor access to sanitation (<25%) • Very high rates of water-borne disease • Decreasing access to common property resources

13. People of the Mekong… • History of wars and conflict (Khmer Rouge; US war in Vietnam; US bombing of Cambodia and Laos) • Legacy of displacement, resettlement, post-traumatic stress of local populations • Only Thailand was relatively unaffected by conflict

17. Food insecurity and vulnerability • Importance of subsistence agriculture, hunting and fishing • The majority of people rely on aquatic resources for their livelihoods • 60-80% of daily nutritional requirements come from fish and rice • Fish and non-fish aquatic resources that can be caught or gathered are the main part of daily diets • High dependence on fish in rice fields (snakehead and walking perch)

19. Importance of rice production and fish farming in rice fields • Multiple products from a single field (rice, fish, frogs, insects, etc.) • Fish are the most important source of protein • Rice paddy fish are both raised and wild-caught • Home-based fishing saves labor • Bomb craters used as fish ponds

21. Importance of subsistence fishing • Studies show that it takes more time to catch enough fish to eat • Average catch is smaller • Dams and reservoirs block migration of fish for spawning • Reduction in numbers of larger species

27. Importance of non-fish aquatic species as food…

30. Governance of the Mekong • Mekong River Commission Secretariat (Vientienne, Laos) - MRCS • Mekong River national committees (NMCs) • Member countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Vietnam • Observer countries: People’s Republic of China and Myanmar (Burma)

32. MRCS programs Flood management and mitigation (FM) - Cambodia Fisheries program Agriculture, Irrigation and Forestry Program Hydropower program Navigation program Capacity-building program Environment Program (EP) Data collection and monitoring – water quality EIA Wetland valuation Remote sensing Socioeconomic vulnerability assessment Basin development plan (BDP) Project support Social Impact Assessment Water utilization program (WUP) Basin modeling Procedures/agreements to govern water use

33. Summing up:Threats to Livelihoods in the LMB • Weak governance of riparian resources • Construction of large dams • Rapid economic and industrial growth • Moderate pollution • Climate change (estuary intrusion)

34. Possible outcomes? • Loss of biodiversity • Loss of forest cover • Loss of access to common property resources • Increased public health risks • More food insecurity and chronic malnutrition • General decline in the condition of rural populations

35. Summing up:Opportunities and priorities for the future in the LMB • Tremendous need for interdisciplinary research in the LMB (no common data sets) • New programs addressing biodiversity and conservation (IUCN, WWF, others) • New initiatives through the United Nations and bilateral donors (food security, poverty reduction, etc.)

36. International context • More interaction among researchers and organizations working on international river systems • Inter-agency learning through international conferences and workshops • IWMI, FAO, WWF, IUCN, World Commission on Dams and others are key change agents

37. Resources • http://internationalrivers.org • www.fao.org • www.iwmi.cgiar.org • http://www.mrcmekong.org/ • http://www.nilebasin.org/

38. Thank you