The Mekong River Commission (MRC), which is organizing the meeting, says that representatives from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam, the four Member Countries of the MRC, will outline what they see as the most significant trans-boundary impacts of the various hydropower and other water resource development options on the table over the next 20-30 years.

A range of development scenarios and models developed by the MRC will be discussed. By the end of this year the analysis of these will be presented to representatives from the Lower Mekong governments and inform a long-term strategy for development in the Mekong.

“Mekong countries have several options before them in terms of economic development of the basin over coming years and they need to agree on these, as they all have trans-boundary impacts,” said Jeremy Bird, CEO of the MRC. “The MRC has distilled these options into a set of different scenarios ranging from the ‘do nothing’ approach, through to ‘full development’ option, which would be the scenario if all countries carried out all planned tributary and mainstream irrigation projects and dams. The predicted affect of climate change is also considered. We have then analysed and modelled the socio-economic and environmental impacts that all of these scenarios would have, which is what will be discussed today.”

Hydropower is currently a dominant issue in water resource planning in the in the Lower Mekong Basin, with up to 12 dams proposed for the mainstream and dozens more planned for tributaries. The MRC says that before such developments go ahead, Mekong countries need to understand and balance the opportunities and risks of such schemes.

“Water has the potential to act as a powerful tool for economic development. However, if governments are to balance hydropower, fisheries, irrigation, navigation and flood management in the Lower Mekong Basin they have to understand the needs of all those that might be affected by any plans for development and how these needs may be impacted,” said Mr. Bird.
Mr. Bird also called for more research to underpin this process before Mekong governments decide on an acceptable level of development of the water resources of the basin.

“While there is a wide range of scientific and technical knowledge to underpin the analysis, there remain uncertainties. The science in this basin is complex and some of the monitoring programmes are in their infancy. Detailed risk assessments need to be completed to determine to what extent that uncertainty would influence any possible outcome,” he said.
Environmental activists are present at the meeting and are likely to give a critical analysis of some of the government and private sector proposals for development of the Mekong.

But while hydropower may be a central issue, the MRC says that it is not the only factor relating to water resources issues in the Mekong Basin.

Other development challenges up for discussion will include the over-exploitation of fisheries; the trans-boundary water-use and allocation issues inherent to increased irrigation and agriculture; and localised pollution from navigation and industry. Superimposed on these are the consequences of climate change that need to be addressed, says the MRC.
“We need to make sure that other beneficial uses of water resources are fully recognised and supported in any forward looking strategy, including the abundant fishery and ecosystem resources of the Basin,” said Mr. Bird.

(MRC, 29/7/2010)