41166 Integrated anagementM Management basin From Concepts to Good Practice er riv ntegratedI Case Study 2 Mekong River Basin and the Mekong River Commission, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Integrated and Vietnam Management Acknowledgments This Briefing Note Series was prepared by Peter Mil- lington, consultant, previously Director-General of the New South Wales Department of Water Resources and Commissioner on the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Australia; Douglas Olson, World Bank Principal Water Resources Engineer and Task Manager for this Briefing Note Series; and Shelley McMillan, World Bank Water Resources Specialist. Guy Alaerts (Lead Water Resources Specialist) and Claudia Sadoff (Lead Economist) of the World Bank provided valuable inputs. The authors thank the following specialists for reviewing the Notes: Bruce Hooper and Pieter Huisman (consul- tants); Vahid Alavian, Inger Anderson, Rita Cestti Jean Foerster, Nagaraja Harshadeep, Tracy Hart, Karin Kemper, Barbara Miller, Salman Salman, Ashok Subramanian, and Mei Xie (World Bank staff). The authors are also deeply grateful to the Bank-Nether- lands Water Partnership Program (BNWPP) for support- ing the production of this Series. Name of Organization: History of Establishment: Mekong River Commission 1 (MRC) In 1995, agreement on the Cooperation for the Sus- tainable Development of the Mekong River Basin was reached, which formalized interim arrangements that had existed in various forms since 1957. The agreement is registered at the United Nations as a legal river basin compact. From 1957 to 1990, the four countries of the anagementM lower Mekong (Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Thailand, and Vietnam) were unable to agree basin to a formal basin agreement because of the many years er of war and conflict between two or more of the coun- riv tries. During this period, the United Nations, through its various agencies, promoted and supported cooperation with regard to the determination of acceptable develop- ntegratedI ment proposals on the main stem of the Mekong River. With peace coming to the region in the late 1990s and a degree of trust developing between the four countries, the United Nations was able to assist them in formulat- ing a river basin agreement. This has resulted in a decade of cooperation, rules on data sharing and water management (now in preparation), and the formulation of a basin development plan to guide how the riparians are to collectively develop the basin's resources. Basin Characteristics: The Mekong River Basin is defined by the land area surrounding all the streams and rivers that flow into the Mekong River. This includes parts of China, Myanmar, and Vietnam, nearly one-third of Thailand, and most of Cambodia and Lao PDR. The Mekong River Basin is nearly the size of France and Germany together. From its headwaters on the Tibetan Plateau, the 4,800-km Mekong River flows through six distinct geographical regions, each with characteristic features of elevation, topography, and land cover (see figure 2.1). Figure 2.1 The Mekong River Basin 2 Area: 795,000 km2, encompassing parts of China, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam 3 River Basin Flow: 475 billion m3 average basin runoff Population: 55,000,000 Economy: The Gross Regional Product is approximately $US 1.6 billion anagementM (based on limited information; fish production is valued at $US 800 million, and this is said to be about half the basin basin's GDP). er riv ntegratedI Main Water Management Concerns: 1. To promote development and alleviate poverty, but at 2. To share benefits from future development among the the same time protect productive and precious aquatic four countries of the lower basin through an agreed ecosystems and other ecology basin development plan but within the parameters set out in an integrated basin flow management plan established to maintain the basin's health at an accept- able and agreed level. Type of Organization: 4 The MRC is an international river basin commission incorpo- the work program and manages outside consultancies. The rating the four countries of the lower Mekong Basin -- Cam- Secretariat comprises national professionals (engineers, bodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam -- as equal partners. scientists, environmental experts, economists, administra- The MRC consists of three permanent bodies: a Ministerial tive staff) in equal numbers from the four countries plus a Council, a Joint Committee, and a Secretariat. National Me- varying, but small, number of international experts that are kong Committees act as focal points in each of the member- provided through the numerous donor-funded programs countries. The Ministerial Council is a high-level policy-mak- that assist the MRC with its work program. ing and decision-making body. The executive-level Joint Committee implements the Council's decisions and oversees China and Myanmar both occupy the upper Mekong basin the work program, investigations, and other activities of the and are currently observers on the Commission. It would be Commission. Reporting to the Joint Committee is the MRC desirable for these two countries to become formal mem- Secretariat (technical and administrative) that undertakes bers of the MRC in the future. 5 1. Conceptual and Institutional Issues 3. Basin-wide Policies and Strategies The MRC Agreement limits the autonomy of the orga- The MRC Agreement provides only the basic concepts or nization to issues that promote cooperation among the rules that underpin a water sharing agreement and not four countries in river basin development but in a way the specific water shares themselves. Work is underway that protects the integrity of the basin's environmental to develop more precise processes that will define either anagementM resources and reflects the sovereign right of the countries how water quantities are to be shared or how the benefits to manage and protect their own national resources. from various development scenarios are to be shared. basin Moreover, the Ministerial Council has the final say regard- The needs of the riverine ecology are being specifically er ing any activities. As each country is represented on the studied so that any water sharing proposals will expressly riv Council and a consensus vote is needed on most issues, take into account of the needs of the river systems and of each country has some ability to control which issues the people that rely on them for their livelihoods. are debated and approved. The MRC is only 10 years old ntegratedI and represents a modern and legally based organization. 4. Communication and Participation Though it was slow to adopt its new role as mandated in 1995, over the last four to five years, partially supported As with most new basin organizations, the MRC is only by the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility, it beginning to assess the appropriate options for consult- has been following a strong strategic planning approach ing with the basin's stakeholders and what participation and work plan that clearly defines its mission and goals. It processes could be followed to facilitate stakeholder is now well structured and organized. input to decision making. Awareness programs are not yet in place for all stakeholder levels, but it is recognized 2. Systems for Water-related Data that these need to be well entrenched before effective stakeholder participation can occur. As each country The MRC has recently approved a formal data and has a different approach to stakeholder consultation information sharing protocol that will now allow all and participation, it is expected that it will be some time four countries and the Secretariat to share and use the before appropriate processes that are acceptable to all large amount of readily available data. The protocol four countries are developed and agreed. also provides rules for future data collection. Resource in- ventories of the basin have been assembled and are being 5. Monitoring and Assessing Sustainability updated and analyzed to achieve a better understanding of the trends in resource health and the impacts likely to To date, a set of performance indicators to measure how occur from future development. There is now a modern the basin is being managed has not been developed. As a suite of hydrologic and socioeconomic models to facilitate first step, the MRC has prepared a State of the Basin re- complex simulations of the impacts of new policies and port, which describes the health of the natural and social strategies, and of various basin development scenarios resources of the basin based on current information. This to be undertaken. Processes are in place to ensure the report will be regularly updated and will show the priority integrity and security of these models. All countries must areas where performance indicators and improvement agree if changes to the modeling process are to be made. targets need to be developed. Tasks of the Organization and 6 Staff Complement: The MRC was established to promote cooperation between the four lower Mekong countries in the fields of sustainable development and utilization, conservation, and management of the Mekong River Basin. Functions include: basin-wide policy and strategy, coordination, basin-wide planning, environmental research, monitoring and reporting, data collection, management and sharing, project management and financing, and basin sustain- ability monitoring. Some 80 staff work at the MRC. There is close liaison with the agencies in the four countries through working groups and committees. The organization of the MRD is presented in figure 2.2. Figure 2.2. Mekong River Commission Organization 7 Mekong River Commission (MRC) Organogram Government of Government of Government of Government of Cambodia Lao Thailand Vietnam anagementM basin er riv Council (Members at Ministerial and Cabinet level) Donor Consultative *Chairman and three Members National Mekong ntegratedI Group (DCG) Committees (NMC) (Donor countries and *Chairman cooperating institutions) *Member Agencies Joint Committee (Members at Head of Department or higher) *Chairman and three Members MRC Secretariat (Technical and Administrative arm) *Chief Executive Officer (CEO) *Assistant CEO and Direction More information on the MRC can be found at http://www.mrcmekong.org/ 8 9 anagementM basin er riv ntegratedI Copyright © 2006 THE WORLD BANK 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. All rights reserved First printing February 2006 Please check the upcoming WBI training events. www.worldbank.org/wbi/water