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nternational

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ater

ciences

and

esearch

Joint research in north-east Asia

KEI and the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

conducted joint research aimed at establishing an information

exchange system. This would enable the sharing of freshwater

environmental data to deal with transboundary environmental

problems in the freshwater basins between neighbouring countries

in the region.

The research included situational analysis of envi-

ronmental protection in the Primorskiy region and a field survey of

the Kedrovaya River. The field survey aimed to establish a baseline

for comparing the aquatic ecosystems of Far-East Russia and Korea

by examining the ecological conditions of the Kedrovaya River,

including the distribution of invertebrate fauna and other monitor-

ing measurements. The research contributed to the standardization

of the biomonitoring methodology for international watercourse

systems in north-east Asia and systemization of the ecosystem

health assessment methodology.

In addition to the field survey, the research involved a compar-

ative assessment of the Korean and Russian environmental

assessment systems to contribute to the strengthening of trans-

boundary environmental governance issues in north-east Asia.

The assessment identified some of the weaknesses of the environ-

mental assessment system in Russia and proposed development

agendas for environmental monitoring and management in the

country. These proposals included the enhancement of capacities

for environmental impact assessment (EIA), particularly in water

management. As part of its efforts to support the development of

EIA in Russia, KEI organizes EIA capacity building programmes

and periodical transboundary EIA workshops to share best prac-

tices and discuss cutting-edge development issues in EIA with

international scholars.

Reservoir management in Ethiopia

KEI also launched the Ethiopian Water Resource Development NISD

partnership research project, with the University of Connecticut and

the Ethiopia Institute of Water Resources of Addis Ababa University,

to expand its research work to the developing countries of Africa.

The two-year project, conducted from January 2011 to December

2012, includes two volumes of research publications, one focusing

on sediment and reservoir control and the other on analysis of the

external effects of climate change and downstream areas.

The project focused on the development of a

hydro-economics model called the Soil and Reservoir

Conservation (S-RESCON) model. The S-RESCON

approach is based on the Reservoir Conservation Model

(RESCON), which was developed jointly with the World

Bank and the University of Connecticut for the economic

and engineering evaluation of alternative strategies for

managing sedimentation in storage reservoirs. Unlike

RESCON, which limits its main focus to reservoir sedi-

mentation management, S-RESCON extends its attention

to upstream soil conservation management. In the first

year of the project, the S-RESCON model was applied to

the Koka Reservoir basin in Ethiopia. The Koka Reservoir

was established in 1959 as a result of the construction of

the Koka Dam across the Awash River to supply hydro-

power for Addis Ababa. Its basin was selected as the

research area for applying S-RESCON as the reservoir is

threatened by increasing sedimentation caused by envi-

ronmental degradation.

In the second year of the project, the research focused

on an integrated model of watershed and reservoir

management that incorporates externalities and future

climate change with a view to proposing an adaptation

scheme. The S-RESCON model was reinforced to address

sedimentation problems as soil from the upstream

agricultural land was being deposited in downstream

reservoirs. The S-RESCON model allowed researchers

to consider the dynamic process between upstream soil

loss and downstream sediment deposits. Furthermore,

the model includes various climatic factors such as the

amount of incoming flow, reservoir evaporation rate and

stream flow variation. Based on these climatic factors, the

model simulates the effect of climate change on watershed

management. For the project, the model has been applied

to the Nile watershed, covering Egypt as the downstream

watershed and Ethiopia as the upstream watershed.

The major outcome of the research over the two-year

period is the development of the S-RESCON model

co-developed by KEI and the University of Connecticut.

This model can be applied to any reservoir with sedi-

mentation management challenges, considering the

effect of climate change on watershed management.

KEI is expected to apply the model to other sites in the

developing countries to propose a sustainable reservoir

management scheme. A database is under construction

for collecting hydrological data on water resources in

the developing countries.

Furthermore, among KEI’s efforts to share knowl-

edge and experience relating to water management, the

Ethiopian Water Resource Development Project also

provided a capacity building programme in Addis Ababa,

Ethiopia. The programme, co-organized by KEI, the

University of Connecticut and Addis Ababa University,

was designed to develop institutional capacities on

climate change, green growth and water management.

The training workshop attracted decision makers and

public officials from the Ministry of Water and Energy,

Environmental Protection Authority, and researchers and

water practitioners from the various states in Ethiopia.

Researchers from KEI and the Russian Academy of Sciences Far Eastern Branch

in north-east Asia

Image: KEI