Free Flow

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ransboundary

ater

anagement

The MRC Secretariat is overseeing the implementation of the

strategy, working with national line agencies, river basin organi-

zations and others. The third phase of BDP programme leads

the work on addressing the avoidance and mitigation of adverse

impacts of water resources development and exploring a mecha-

nism for sharing the transboundary benefits, impacts and risks of

current and planned developments.

The implementation of the Basin Action Plan by MRC Programmes

and national agencies provides a common direction for greater align-

ment between regional and national planning, and the opportunity

to decentralize the core river basin management function activities

that can be better implemented at the national level. Knowledge

gaps are reducing, which will enrich the next update of the Basin

Development Strategy and enable MRC to better undertake its

mission to promote and coordinate sustainable development and

management of the basin’s water and related resources.

Many of the central elements of the Basin Development Strategy

will remain relevant in the next planning cycle (2016-2020).

Stakeholder consultations indicate opportunities to broaden the

scope of the strategy in line with commitments of MRC countries to

enhance regional integration. MRC’s ongoing analysis of current and

future options for regional benefit sharing will provide useful inputs

in this regard. The updated strategy will also more clearly identify

the basin’s development opportunities, with a view to attracting

funding for priority projects.

The Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and

Agreement (PNPCA) were developed to address the issue of

keeping tabs on the new projects using the basin’s water. For water

use in the tributaries, the proponent country is required to notify

the other countries of its proposed use. For water use on the main

stream in the dry season, the proponent country is also requested

to initiate a prior consultation which aims to identify concerns

with respect to impacts on neighbouring countries and

reach agreement on how these can be avoided, mini-

mized or mitigated.

Although over 40 projects on the tributaries have

been notified, the first to go through a prior consul-

tation was the mainstream Xayaburi Hydropower

Project proposed by Lao PDR in 2010. This triggered

a process of sharing information and discussions about

the potential impact the project may have on other

riparian countries. In the six-month consultation,

facilitated by the MRC Secretariat, the downstream

countries of Cambodia and Viet Nam expressed

concern over the uncertainty of impacts and proposed

that further studies were undertaken before the project

went ahead. At a final meeting in April 2011 the coun-

tries did not reach an agreement on measures to avoid,

minimize and mitigate impacts (as was envisioned in

the PNPCA), but neither did the member countries

agree on whether the process was to be extended. The

issue was referred to the MRC Council (the highest

level in the MRC cooperation), which agreed that

further studies were needed on the sustainable devel-

opment of the Mekong, but did not address the issue

of completing the PNPCA process.

During 2012 and continuing in 2013, the Lao

Government engaged international consultants to assist

in addressing the concerns expressed by the other ripar-

ian countries and made several modifications to the

design to reduce the impacts on sediment transport,

fish migration, dam safety and navigation locks. In late

2012, it decided to go ahead with the project. Although

the process did not proceed as envisaged in the PNPCA

The Basin Action Plan provides a common direction for greater alignment between

regional and national planning

MRC provides a practical framework for its member countries to

cooperate in developing the basin’s resources

Image: MRC