Irrigation and Water Policies in the Mekong Region


Book Description

This report documents current irrigation and water policies in the Mekong countries. It successively reviews planning issues, water policies and legal frameworks, the setting up of water policy "apex bodies," participatory policies, and IWRM/river basin management.




Water Rights and Social Justice in the Mekong Region


Book Description

The Mekong Region has come to represent many of the important water governance challenges faced more broadly by the mainland Southeast Asian region. This book focuses on the complex nature of water rights and social justice in the Mekong region. The chapters delve into the diverse social, political and cultural dynamics that shape the various realities and scales of water governance in the region, in an effort to bring to the forefront some of the local nuances required in the formulation of a larger vision of justice in water governance. It is hoped that this contextualized analysis will deepen our understanding of the potential of, and constraints, on water rights in the region, particularly in relation to the need to realize social justice. The authors show how vitally important it is that water governance is democratized to allow a more equitable sharing of water resources and counteract the pressures of economic growth that may pose risks to social welfare and environmental sustainability.




Contested Waterscapes in the Mekong Region


Book Description

The water resources of the Mekong river catchment area, from China, through Thailand, Cambodia and Laos to Vietnam, are increasingly contested. Governments, companies and banks are driving new investment in roads, dams, diversions, irrigation schemes, navigation facilities, power plants and other emblems of conventional "development." Their plans and interventions pose multiple burdens and risks to the livelihoods of millions of people dependent on wetlands, floodplains, fisheries and aquatic resources.




Contested Waterscapes in the Mekong Region


Book Description

The catchment area of the Mekong River and its tributaries extends from China, through Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and to Vietnam. The water resources of the Mekong region - from the Irrawaddy and Nu-Salween in the west, across the Chao Phraya to the Lancang-Mekong and Red River in the east- are increasingly contested. Governments, companies, and banks are driving new investments in roads, dams, diversions, irrigation schemes, navigation facilities, power plants and other emblems of conventional 'development'. Their plans and interventions should provide some benefits, but also pose multiple burdens and risks to millions of people dependent on wetlands, floodplains and aquatic resources, in particular, the wild capture fisheries of rivers and lakes. This book examines how large-scale projects are being proposed, justified, and built. How are such projects contested and how do specific governance regimes influence decision making? The book also highlights the emergence of new actors, rights and trade-off debates, and the social and environmental consequences of 'water resources development'. This book shows how diverse, and often antagonistic, ideologies and interests are contesting for legitimacy. It argues that the distribution of decision-making, political, and discursive power influences how the waterscapes of the region will ultimately look and how benefits, costs and risks will be distributed. These issues are crucial for the transformation of waterscapes and the prospects for democratizing water governance in the Mekong region. The book is part of the action-research of the M-POWER (Mekong Program on Water, Environment and Resilience) knowledge network. Published with IFAD, CG|AR Challenge Program on Water & Food, M-POWER, Project ECHEL-EAU and HEINRICH BOLL STIFTUNG




Climate change, water and agriculture in the Greater Mekong Subregion


Book Description

The impacts of climate change on agriculture and food production in Southeast Asia will be largely mediated through water, but climate is only one driver of change. Water resources in the region will be shaped by a complex mixture of social, economic and environmental factors. This report reviews the current status and trends in water management in the Greater Mekong Subregion; assesses likely impacts of climate change on water resources to 2050; examines water management strategies in the context of climate and other changes; and identifies priority actions for governments and communities to improve resilience of the water sector and safeguard food production.







Integrating Science and Policy


Book Description

As progress towards a greater knowledge in sustainability science continues, the question of how better to integrate scientific progress with actual decisions made by practitioners remains paramount. This book aims to help close the gap between science and practice. Based on a two year collaborative project between Harvard and Clark Universities, the book takes as its focus the vulnerability and resilience of people around the world to the effects of environmental change, a mature area of research in which one might expect the gap between science and policy/practice to have been extensively bridged. The book presents analysis of past studies, interviews conducted with the producers and users of scientific knowledge, and case studies performed by leading scholars across a spectrum of international settings and political systems. Crucially, the authors identify new directions and tools for closing the gap between science and policy across a range of situations and societies. The result is an illuminating collection of studies and analyses that suggest to researchers, students, practitioners, and policy-makers alike how best to ensure that high quality environmental research informs good environmental policy and practice. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The editors and authors are grateful to Lu Ann Pacenka, who formatted the text of the book. The editors also wish to express their appreciation to Bill Clark and Nancy Dickson of Harvard University, who commissioned and provided oversight for the preparation of the volume. Both editors and authors wish to express their appreciation to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for providing funds to support the project. Finally, the editors are grateful for the continuing support of the George Perkins Marsh Institute at Clark University. Published with Science in Society




Indian Water Policy at the Crossroads: Resources, Technology and Reforms


Book Description

This book reviews and analyzes emerging challenges in water policy, governance and institutions in India. Recent times have seen the contours of water policy shaped by new discourses and narratives; there has been a pluralization of the state and a changing balance of power among the actors who influence the formulation of water policy. Discourses on gender mainstreaming and Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) are influential, though they have often remained rhetorical and difficult to put into practice. Debate over property rights reform and inter-linking of rivers has been polarized. At the same time, there has been a rising disenchantment with policy initiatives in participatory irrigation management, cleaning up of water bodies and pollution control. Fast depletion of groundwater resources and the importance of adopting new irrigation methods are getting increased focus in the recent policy dialogue. The contributors review current debate on these and other subjects shaping the governance of water resources, and take stock of new policy developments. The book examines the experience of policy implementation, and shows where important weaknesses still lie. The authors present a roadmap for the future, and discuss the potential of alternative approaches for tackling emerging challenges. A case is made for greater emphasis on a discursive analysis of water policy, to examine underlying policy processes. The contributors observe that the ongoing democratization of water governance, coupled with the multiplication of stresses on water, will create a more visible demand for platforms for negotiation, conflict resolution and dialogue across different categories of users and uses. Finally, the authors propose that future research should challenge implicit biases in water resources planning and address imbalances in the allocation of water from the perspectives of both equity and sustainability.




The Water-Food-Energy Nexus in the Mekong Region


Book Description

​This Brief provides a cross-sectional analysis of development-directed investments in the wider Mekong region. The wider Mekong region includes Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and the Chinese province of Yunnan. Evidence highlights that a few critical dynamics, including human migration, natural resource flows, and financial investments, generate a high level of connectivity between these countries. Such high levels of connectivity increase complexity and the potential for ripple effects of national decisions. The emerging links between countries can unfold in financial investments, migration, or the flow of resources. As these links intensify the regional connectivity increases and over time a highly connected region can emerge, as experienced by the Mekong region.​ This Brief also contains a chapter at the end of the book featuring numerous charts and diagrams further illustrating the impact of development activities in the area.




Irrigation in Southern and Eastern Asia in Figures


Book Description

The AQUASTAT Programme was initiated with a view to presenting a comprehensive picture of water resources and irrigation in the countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and providing systematic, up-to-date and reliable information on water for agriculture and rural development. This report presents the results of the most recent survey carried out in the 22 countries of the Southern and Eastern Asia region, and it analyzes the changes that have occurred in the ten years since the first survey. Following the AQUASTAT methodology, the survey relied as much as possible on country-based statistics and information.