MEKONG BASIN RESEARCH (SE-ASIA)

Water Users/ Stakeholders

The study of published data and reports reveals an overall huge knowledge gap regarding meteorology, hydrology, land use maps and land cover change as well as local flood and drought risks. In order to tackle this fundamental deficit we recommend establishing systematic sub-basin inventories in close cooperation with the local stakeholders. This should lead to creating data bases at sub-basin level with a long term perspective to create reliable and significant time series.
These data or basin inventories can serve to develop baseline data and allow tracking changes over longer time periods. They can serve as a common basis to discuss and develop basin development plans or early warning systems. Furthermore they can serve as a basis for feasibility studies and impact assessment of large infrastructure projects which will be accepted and supported by the local stakeholders as they will be involved from the beginning and develop a sense of ownership and acceptance for the data included in the inventory and resultant state of sub-basin reports. Additionally, such sub-basin inventories will support an informed and participatory decision making process on questions of future development, for example if a dam will be build or how it should be build and operated.

 

References and further reading:

Adamson, P. T., Rutherfurd, I. D., Peel, M. C. Conlan, I. A. (2009) The Hydrology of the Mekong River,The Mekong: Biophysical Environment of an International River Basin, Academic Press Elsevier, 53-76.

ADB (2011) Lower Mekong Basin Component Flood Vulnerability Indices,TA-7276-REG Supporting Investments inWater-Related Disaster Management, Draft final report Asian Development Bank, 1-59.

Beechham, R., Cross, H. (2005) Modelled Impacts of Scoping Development Scenarios in the Lower Mekong Basin, Mekong River Commission, Cited by: MRC (2009d), Hydrological and Flood Hazards in the Lower Mekong Basin, Mekong River Commission Secretariat, Vientiane, Lao PDR, 1-324. 

Boucharel, J., Dewitte, D., du Penhoat P., Garel, B., Yeh, S.-W., Kug, J.-S. (2011) ENSO nonlinearity in a warming climate, Climate Dynamics 37: 2045–2065, DOI 10.1007/s00382-011-1119-9.

De Bruijn, K. M. (2005) Resilience and Flood Risk Management, A Systems Approach Applied to Lowland Rivers, Delft University Press, Delft, Netherlands.

Delgado, J. M., Merz, B., Apel, H. (2010) Flood trends and variability in the Mekong River, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 14, 407-418.

Doyle, T., Day, R., Michot, T. (2010) Development of sea level rise scenarios for climate change assessment of the Mekong Delta Vietnam, U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2010-1165, 110 p.

FIVAS (2007) Ruined Rivers, Damaged Lives, The Impact of the Theun-Hinboun Hydropower Project on Downstreams Communities in Lao PDR, FIVAS, Oslo, Norway, pp 66.

Flato, G. M., Boer, G. J., Lee, W. G., Mac Farlane, N. A., Ramsden, D., Reader, M. C., Weaver, A. J. (2000) The Canadian centre for climate modelling and analysis global coupled model and its climate, Clim Dyn 16: 451–467.

Fox, J., Vogler, J. B., Sen, O. L., Ziegler, A. L., Giambelluca, T. W. (2009)  Land cover and land use change Southeast Asia.

Fu, K. D., He, D. M., Lu, X.X. (2008)  Sedimentation in the Manwan reservoir in the Upper Mekong and its downstream impacts, Quaternary International, 186, 91-99.

Gao, G. Y., Fu, B. J., Lü, Y. H., Liu, Y., Wang, S., Zhou, J. (2012) Coupling the modified SCS-CN and RUSLE models to simulate hydrological effects of restoring vegetation in the Loess Plateau of China, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 16, 2347-2364.

GFDRR (Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery) (2011) Vulnerability, Risk Reduction, and Adaptation to Climate Change - Cambodia, World Bank, Washington, D.C.

Giorgi, F., Mearns, L. O. (2002) Probability of regional climate change based on the Reliability Ensemble Averaging (REA) method, Geophysical Research Letters, 30(12), June 2003.

Government of Lao PDR (2009) National Adaptation Programme of Action to Climate Change, Lao People’s Democratic Republic Peace Independence Democracy Unity Prosperity.

Gowing, J., Tuong, T., Hoanh, C. T., Khiem, N. (2006) Social and environmental impact of rapid change in the coastal zone of Vietnam: an assessment of sustainability issues, Environment and Livelihoods in Tropical Coastal Zones: Managing Agriculture–Fishery–Aquaculture Conflicts, CAB International, Wallingford, UK 48–60.

Grimsditch, M. (2012) 3S Rivers under Threat. Understanding new Threats and Challanges from Hydropower Development to Biodiversity and Community Rights in the 3S River Basin, 3S Protection Network and International Rivers, 1-78.

Grumbine, E., Dore, J., Xu, J. (2012) Mekong Hydropower: Drivers of Change and Governance Challenges, Front Ecol Environ, 10(2), 91-98.

Halls, A. S., Burnhill, T. J., Kshatriya, M. (2009) Modelling the Cumulative Barrier and Passage Effects of Mainstream Hydropower Dams on Migratory Fish Populations in the Lower Mekong Basin, MRC Technical Paper No 25, Vientiane, p. 103.

Hannaford, J., Lloyd-Hughes, B., Keef, S., Parryand, C., Prudhomme (2011) Examining the large-scale spatial coherence of European drought using regional indicators of precipitation and streamflow deficit, Journal for Hydrological Processes 25, 1146–1162, DOI: 10.1002/hyp.7725.

Hoanh, C. T., Guttman, H., Droogers, P., Aerts, J. (2003) ADAPT: Water, climate, food and environment under climate change, The Mekong basin in Southeast Asia, International Water Management Institute, Mekong River  Commission, Future Water, Institute of Environmental Studies. Colombo, Phnom-Penh, Wageningen.

Hoanh, C. T. et al. (2012) Modelling to support land and water management: experiences from the Mekong River  Delta, Vietnam, Water International, 37:4, 408-426.

IPCC (2012) Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)], Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA, 582 pp.

Ishidaira, H., Ishikawa Y., Funada S., Takeuchi K. (2008) Estimating the evolution of vegetation cover and its hydrological impact in the Mekong River Basin in the 21st Century, Hydrol. Process, 22, 1395–1405.

Jiang, Y., Liu, J., Cui, Q., An, X., Wu, C. (2011) Land use/land cover change and driving force analysis in Xishuangbanna Region in 1986–2008, Frontiers of Earth Science.

Johns, T. C. et al. (2003) Anthropogenic climate change for 1860 to 2100 simulated with the HadCM3 model under updated emissions scenarios, Climate Dynamics, 20(6), 583-612.

Johnston, R., Lacombe, G., Hoanh, C. T., Noble, A., Pavelic, P., Smakhtin, V., Suhardiman, D., Pheng, K. S., Sze, C. P. (2010) Climate change, water and agriculture in the Greater Mekong Subregion, Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute, 60 p. (IWMI Research Report 136), doi:10.5337/2010.212.

Keskinen, M., Kummu, M. (2011) Impact Assessment in the Mekong–Review of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) & Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA), Espoo: Aalto University.

Keyantash, J. A., Dracup J. A. (2004) An aggregate drought index: Assessing drought severity based on fluctuations in the hydrologic cycle and surface water storage, Water Resources Research, 40(9).

Kite, G. (2001) Modeling the Mekong: hydrological simulation for environmental impact Studies, Journal of Hydrology 253, 1-3.

Mainuddin, M., Kirby, M., Hoanh, C.T. (2011) Adaptation to Climate Change for Food Security in the lower Mekong Basin, CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Canberra.

Mc Avaney, B. J. et al. (2001) Model Evaluation, J.T. Houghton, Y. Ding, D.J. Griggs, M. Noguer, P.J.v.d. Linden, X. Dai, K. Maskell and C.A. Johnson (Editors), Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis, Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 471–524.

Mc Phaden, M. J.,  Zebiak, S. E., Glantz, M. H. (2006) ENSO as an Integrating Concept in Earth Science,  Science 15 December 2006: 314 (5806), 1740-1745. DOI:10.1126/science.1132588.

Montecino, A., Aceituno, P. (2003) Seasonality of the ENSO-Related Rainfall Variability in Central Chile and Associated Circulation Anomalies. American Meterological Society, 16, 281-296.

MMRC (2012) Working Paper 2011-2015, The Impact and Management of Flood and Droughts in the Lower Mekong Basin & the Implication of possible Climate Change, Flood Management and Mitigation Programme, p. 130.

Müller, D. (2004) From agricultural expansion to intensification: Rural development and determinants of land-use change in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Tropical Ecology Support Programme (TOEB), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), F-VI/6e.

Randall, D. A. et al. (2007) Climate Models and their evaluation, in: S. Solomon, D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (Editors), Climate Change 2007: The Physical Basis, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 590‐648.

Räsänen, T. A., Kummu, M. (2012) Spatiotemporal influences of ENSO on precipitation and flood pulse in the Mekong River Basin, Journal of Hydrology, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.10.028.

Rerkasem, B. (2011) Climate Change and GMS Agriculture, in: Rayanakorn K (Eds.), Climate Change Challenges in the Mekong Region, Chiang Mai University Press, Chiang Mai.

Senevirathene, N., Mony, K., Samarakoon, L., Hazarika, M. K. (2011) Land use/land cover change detection of tonle sap watershed, Cambodia, AIT, Pathumathani, Thailand, 1-6.

Singh, A. S. (2007) Agriculture and Rural Development in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region, The Important Nexus, CUTS Hanoi Resource Centre, Hanoi.

Trisurat, Y., Alkemade, R., Verburg, P. H. (2010) Projecting Land-Use Change and Its Consequences for Biodiversity in Northern Thailand, Environmental Management 45(3), 626–639.

UNDP (2011) Mainstreaming Drought Risk Management - a primer, UNON Printshop, Nairobi United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), Publishing Services Section, ISO 14001:2004-certified/March 2011.

Vastila, K., Kummu, M., Sangmanee, C., Chinvanno, S. (2010) Modelling climate change impacts on the flood pulse in the Lower Mekong floodplains, Journal of Water and Climate Change 1(1): 67-86.

Wassmann, R., Hien, N. X., Hoanh, C. T., Tuong, T. P. (2004) Sea level rise affecting the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: water elevation in the flood season and implications for rice production, Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU), Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Kreuzeckbahnstr. 19, 82467.

Zhao, Q., Liu, S., Deng, L., Dong, S., Yang, Z., Liu, Q. (2012) Determining the influencing distance of dam construction and reservoir impoundment on land use: A case study of Manwan Dam, Lancang River. Ecological Engineering, Elsevier B.V., 1-8.