• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2017

The Mekong River plays an extremely important role in Southeast Asia. Flowing through six countries, including China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos PDR, Cambodia, and Vietnam, it is a site of great biological and ecological diversity and the habitat of numerous species of fish. It also supports a very large population that lives along the river basin. Therefore, much attention has been focused on the giant Mekong River Basin, particularly, its soil erosion and sedimentation problems. In fact, many methods have been used to calculate and simulate these problems. However, in the case of the Mekong River Basin, the available data is limited because of the extreme size of the area (about $795,000km^2$) and lack of equipment systems in the countries through which the Mekong River flows. In this study, we applied the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) model in a GIS (Geographic Information System) framework to calculate the amount of soil erosion and sediment load during the selected period, from 1951 to 2007. The result points out dangerous areas, such as the Upper Mekong River Basin and 3S Basin (containing the Sekong, Sesan, and Srepok Rivers) that are suffering the serious consequences of soil erosion problems. Moreover, the present model is also useful for supporting river basin management in the implementation of sustainable management practices in the Mekong River Basin and other basins.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.223-223
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• 2015

This research evaluates cooperation in transboundary rivers with special reference to the Great Mekong Subregion (GMS) program in the Mekong River Basin. The benefit sharing approach has been deployed as a theoretical framework to analyze the extent to which the riparian states have achieved cooperation. The river basin governance led by the Mekong River Commission since 1995 has not adequately performed due to non-participation of upstream countries and the lack of law enforcement mechanism. Since the late 1980s, China has undertaken hydropower development unilaterally, thereby triggering discomfort from the Lower Mekong countries. The GMS program has led China to strengthening economic ties with the downstream countries through hydropower development as investors and developers. The program has also supported the establishment of economic corridors, and removal of physical barriers and has paved the way for cooperation in other sectors, such as the environment, agriculture, tourism and energy. There are challenges for further cooperation, including the development gaps between China and the downstream countries, political tensions and environment impacts of hydropower dams in the river basin. The Mekong River Basin shows the possibility of cooperation through benefit sharing. Sharing benefits accrued from the river and beyond the river between China and the downstream countries have enhanced economic ties, thereby consolidating cooperation each another.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2016.05a
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• pp.188-188
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• 2016

The Mekong which is one of the world's most significant rivers plays an extremely important role to South East Asia. Lying across six riparian countries including China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam and being a greatly biological and ecological diversity of fishes, the river supports a huge population who living along Mekong Basin River. Therefore, much attention has been focused on the giant Mekong Basin River, particularly, the soil erosion and sedimentation problems which rise critical impacts on irrigation, agriculture, navigation, fisheries and aquatic ecosystem. In fact, there have been many methods to calculate these problems; however, in the case of Mekong, the available data have significant limitations because of large area (about 795 00 km2) and a failure by management agencies to analyze and publish of developing countries in Mekong Basin River. As a result, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) model in a GIS (Geographic Information System) framework was applied in this study. The USLE factors contain the rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, slope length, steepness, crop management and conservation practices which are represented by raster layers in GIS environment. In the final step, these factors were multiplied together to estimate the soil erosion rate in the study area by using spatial analyst tool in the ArcGIS 10.2 software. The spatial distribution of soil loss result will be used to support river basin management to find the subtainable management practices by showing the position and amount of soil erosion and sediment load in the dangerous areas during the selected 56- year period from 1952 to 2007.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.21-35
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• 2017

The 3S Basin is described as an important contributor in terms of many aspects in the Mekong River Basin in Southeast Asia. However, the 3S Basin has been suffering adverse consequences of changing discharge and sediment, which are derived from farming, deforestation, hydropower dam construction, climate change, and soil erosion. Consequently, a large population and ecology system that live along the 3S Basin are seriously affected. Accordingly, the calculating and simulating discharge and sediment become ever more urgent. There are many methods to simulate discharge and sediment. However, most of them are designed only during a single rainfall event and they require many kinds of data. Therefore, this study applied a Catchment-scale Soil Erosion model (C-SEM) to simulate discharge and sediment in the 3S Basin. The simulated results were judged with others references's data and the observed discharge of Strung Treng station, which is located in the mainstream and near the outlet of the 3S Basin. The results revealed that the 3S Basin distributes 31% of the Mekong River Basin's total discharge. In addition, the simulated sediment results at the 3S Basin's outlet also substantiated the importance of the 3S Basin to the Mekong River Basin. Furthermore, the results are also useful for the sustainable management practices in the 3S Basin, where the sediment data is unavailable.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.245-245
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• 2023

This paper examines the extent to which the Mekong River Basin countries have achieved socioeconomic benefits based on regional cooperation through the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Program, focusing on hydropower development and the Mekong Power Grid. This study pays attention to the time period from 2012 to 2022. The benefit sharing approach is employed to evaluate the extent to which hydropower development and the Mekong Power Grid have contributed to the regional energy trade in the GMS program. The GMS program was launched by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1992, and the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi, Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam have taken an active part in the program. The goals of the GMS program are to achieve poverty alleviation, economic development, and regional cooperation in various sectors, including energy, tourism, and transportation. The GMS Economic Cooperation Program Strategic Framework 2030 (GMS-2030), in 2021, provides a new framework for prosperous and sustainable development in the river basin. In the energy sector, the GMS program has been instrumental in facilitating hydropower development and creating the Mekong Power Grid with the Regional Grid Code (RGC), contributing to economic benefits and promoting regional trade of hydroelectricity. It is argued that the GMS program has enhanced regional cooperation between the riparian countries. Despite such achievements, the GMS program has faced challenges, including the gap of economic development between the riparian countries, socioeconomic and environmental concerns regarding hydropower development between the Upper and Lower Mekong countries, and geopolitical tensions from the US-China rivalry. These challenges should adequately be addressed within the program, which can guarantee the sustainability of the program for the river basin.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.78-78
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• 2020

The Se San and Srepok river basins (2S) are the two major tributaries of the Mekong River, both of which originate in the territory of Viet Nam and flow to Cambodia to meet at Stung treng with the Sekong river (originating in Lao PDR) to form the 3S river basin before joining the Mekong mainstream. In the territory of Viet Nam, the 2S river basins are located in the Central Highlands including 5 provinces, arranged by geographical location from north to south namely Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Lam Dong. This is a region with a very important strategic position in terms of economy, politics and defense for the whole country with many potential advantages for economic development. However, the limited and vulnerable basin water resources are under the pressure of socio-economic development in line with increasing water demands for various sectors. In order to overcome the water management challenges, a long-term water resources planning has conducted to support the 2S River Basin Committee (RBC) in effective planning and operation as part of the WB Mekong-Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Project. This paper introduces the outline and progress of the river basin planning using analytical DSS toolkits to analyze, evaluate and formulate the planning options.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.231-231
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• 2015

Rapid development in the upper reaches of the Mekong River, in the form of construction of large hydropower dams and reservoirs, large irrigation schemes, and rapid urban development, is putting water resources under stress. Many scientific reports have pointed out that cascade dams along the Mekong River lead to serious problems: not only hydrologically but also a decline of agricultural productivity due to a decrease of sediment supply in the Mekong Delta and a change of fish amount due to drastic change of the water environment. Cambodia and Vietnam, located in the lowest Mekong basin, are gravely affected by radical changes of hydrologic regime due to Mekong River developments. In particular, the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia is very sensitive to the flood cycle and flow variation of the Mekong River as well as inflow water quality from the Mekong River. More than 50% of Cambodian GDP depends on the primary industries such as agriculture, fishing, and forestry, and the Tonle Sap Lake plays an important role to support the national economy in Cambodia. In addition, Cambodian people usually take nourishment from the fish of Tonle Sap Lake. This research aims to assess the impacts of the Mekong river flow alternation on the hydrologic regime of the Mekong River - Tonle Sap Lake. We carried out rainfall-runoff-inundation simulation using CAESER-LISFLOOD for integrated water resource management in the Tonle Sap Basin and then analyze flood inundation variation of the Tonle Sap Lake due to the scenarios. Furthermore, the simulated inundation maps were compared to MODIS satellite images for model verification and hydrologic prediction.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.191-191
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• 2017

Floods have become more widespread and frequent among natural disasters and consisted significant losses of lives and properties worldwide. Flood's impacts are threatening socio-economic and people's lives in the Mekong River Basin every year. The objective of this study is to identify the flood hazard areas and inundation depth in the Mekong River Basin. A rainfall-runoff and flood inundation model is necessary to enhance understanding of characteristic of flooding. Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation (RRI) model, a two-dimensional model capable of simulating rainfall-runoff and flood inundation simultaneously, was applied in this study. HydoSHEDS Topographical data, APPRODITE precipitation, MODIS land use, and river cross section were used as input data for the simulation. The Shuffled Complex Evolution (SCE-UA) global optimization method was integrated with RRI model to calibrate the sensitive parameters. In the present study, we selected flood event in 2000 which was considered as 50-year return period flood in term of discharge volume of 500 km3. The simulated results were compared with observed discharge at the stations along the mainstream and inundation map produced by Dartmouth Flood Observatory and Landsat 7. The results indicated good agreement between observed and simulated discharge with NSE = 0.86 at Stung Treng Station. The model predicted inundation extent with success rate SR = 67.50% and modified success rate MSR = 74.53%. In conclusion, the RRI model was successfully used to simulate rainfall runoff and inundation processes in the large scale Mekong River Basin with a good performance. It is recommended to improve the quality of the input data in order to increase the accuracy of the simulation result.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2005.09a
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• pp.731-732
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.37-37
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• 2012

The study aims to evaluate the complexity of relationships between the riparian states - China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia - in the Mekong River Basin since the mid-1990s with special reference to the discourse on hydropower development. A special emphasis will be put on the influence of China on hydropower development. Although a variety of issues on the river basin have been discussed among the riparian states, none of them has been effectively implemented owing to the lack of China's commitment to the discussions for sustainable water management. Now, a new turning point is observed in the region with emergence of the issue on hydropower development, not only in the upper basin but also in the lower basin. The discourse on hydropower in Mekong has quickly drawn attention of the public, accelerated by the onset of construction of the Xayabury Dam in Laos since November 2010. The influence of China as the upstream country with its political, economic, and military power has increasingly grown in the region over the last few decades, and such trend recently intensifies together with an expansion of Chinese commercial interests in the region. Since the establishment of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in 1995, the four MRC members have striven to push forward a sustainable use of water resources in the basin. But the legitimacy of the MRC system has been eroded due to the lack of participation by Myanmar and China, and in particular, the Chinese absence has made the four riparian states blind about the change of water regime due to the Chinese dams upstream. Environmental damages due to hydropower development might be possible, including a drop of fish yields, crop production, and damages to the river's ecosystems. Vietnam and Cambodia have already expressed their concerns over the dam construction towards China as well as Laos by pointing out detrimental impacts of the dams to their economies. China's move to collaborate with the other riparian states since 2010 has given a positive signal in terms of sustainable water management in the river. However, this phenomenon never confirms China's proactive contribution to the cooperative activities within the framework of the MRC system. Laos' initiative to build a new dam in the lower basin alarms those who are opposed to dam construction in the fear of its far-reaching damages to the environment. The question goes back to the year-long debate on policy priorities given to economic growth or the environment. The riparian states require wisdom based on a consensus about sustainable water use rather than hydropower development based on individual growth dreams.