Mekong River Basin Water Utilization Project - Results

GEF IDS: 615

Ecosystem
River

Scale
Regional

Information sources
IWC6 Results Note (2011)

Key Basin Project Results
1. Development of a transboundary hydrological model which is able to assess the impacts of the infrastructure (e.g., hydropower stations) in any of the tributaries of the Mekong River on the hydrology of the Mekong River. The model has been adopted by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and become a basis for the MRC and the four member countries (Lao PDR, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam) to coordinate water resources development.

2.Adoption of protocols for information exchange, water use monitoring, and preliminary notification/consultation process. The procedures developed under the project have been adopted by the four MRC member countries. These procedures are now fully utilized in case for the first mainstream dam proposed by Lao PDR.
3. Adoption of instream environmental flow rules. The procedures developed under the project has been adopted by the four MRC member countries and contribute greatly to sensitize the importance of environmental flow in these countries. In Lao PDR and Vietnam, the concept of the environmental flow would be integrated to their respective water laws whch are under revisions.