Contents

The International Symposium on 'Role of water sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management', Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand

by United Nations University, Asian Institute of Technology, Thammasat University

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Preface

Recently, there had been a tremendous growth of information and research on the Asian International river basins, made possible by cooperative efforts such as of Mekong River Commission Secretariat (MRCS), Greater Mekong Sub-region Academic Research Network (GMSARN) program of the Asian Development Bank, Japan’s Revolutionary Research 2002 program, and similar efforts. It is necessary to make use of these research results and data to address the pressing problems related to water in the region and bring the relevant information both to the affected communities and the decision makers. We also recognize the effective way to do this is through addressing these problems in the context of integrated basin management. There is a clear need for a concerted international effort to bridge both the conceptual and practical gaps that currently exist to improve international cooperation that go beyond state and institute boundaries to achieve this. This was the motivation behind the organization of the International Symposium on ‘Role of water sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management’ by the United Nations University, Asian Institute of Technology and Thammasat University.

There are two research programs within UNU that have strong linkages with managing water resources in large international river basins. One of the programs is the management of transboundary waters and the other one is management of basin water cycle.

It is a known fact that more than 200 international water systems exist in the world and that some 60% of the global population resides within international water systems. This has important implications for international security of these water systems and the people dependent on them.

Following this line of argument, the United Nations University (UNU), within the framework of the environmentally sustainable development initiatives, has carried out various activities related to the international water systems. These include, among others, activities in the Aral Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Ganges River, the Jordan River, the Danube River, the La Plata, the Nile River and the Zambezi River. After years of UNU's research work on these specific systems, some policy and thematic concepts have been identified. There is an interest to see their relevance to other transboundary river systems.

The second program deals with basin water resources development in an integrated manner. During the past few decades we have become increasingly aware of the importance of stability of the material and energy cycles that comprise the earth environment. These are complex inter connected systems where changes to one component affect many other interdependent components.

Our experiences clearly point to the importance of living with nature. The global environment is an extremely complex inter-connected system, where a change of flow by events in a remote location can affect the whole system, the climate, environment and the bio-diversity. When this balance is disrupted, it could be the beginning of a chain reaction that’s consequences are difficult to predict. Therefore it is essential that we learn to live in harmony with this complex inter-connected system without tipping the delicate balance that has been achieved through continuous interactions taking place over millions of years.

On the other hand, we have enormous challenges regarding water management. Cycles of flood and drought affect not only water quantity, but also water quality, affecting the drinking water supply as well as food production. Water-borne diseases are a particular concern in areas with high population density. Furthermore, the flood and drought cycles affect the pace of industrial development, which depends on a reliable supply of good quality water.

Environmental change brought about by human development significantly affects the water cycle and this accelerates as population grows. These are the changes due to dams, land use change, nutrient and sediment fluxes, water governance, and climate change that all interact with the physical water cycle. To be sustainable, we need to find water resources development plans that lead to stable states of basin water cycle. This principle has been adopted in the ‘World Summit for Sustainable Development’ held in Johannesburg and is included in the action plan, as item 23 “Improve water resources management through scientific understanding of the water cycle to meet the growing needs, reduce disaster impacts and manage anthropogenic and climate change impacts.” This is a challenging task for any basin. It is much more challenging for a transboundary basin, especially a large international basin such as Mekong.

At the UN's Millennium Summit in 2000, national leaders from across the globe pledged to halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of people who are unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking water. They also pledged to stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resources by developing water management strategies that promote equitable access and adequate supplies. World leaders have also agreed to develop, integrated water resources management and water efficiency plans. These goals can only be achieved effectively if policymakers can turn to reliable and relevant information provided by the scientific community, as represented by the participants in this workshop.

Through this symposium we hope to initiate a dialogue that discusses these issues across the whole basin. What are the mechanisms available or feasible that can foster scientific cooperation and discussion across the whole basin? We believe that common understanding achieved from such discussion can form the basis for development of balanced policies and management systems that are sustainable.

We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of CREST, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, for the symposium organization. We are indebted to the hard work of Dr. Satiraporn Sirisampan of RNUS, AIT in successful organization of the symposium. We express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Satiraporn Sirisampan and Ms. Anjali Kumari of RNUS, AIT for their editorial assistances in the proceedings.


Srikantha Herath (Symposium Chair) Senior Academic Programme Officer Environment and Sustainable Development Programme United Nations University

Symposium abstract

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Symposium committee

Modeling and Monitoring papers


Transboundary Cooperation papers


Copyright

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