Relevance of the UNWC in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region
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UN Watercourses Convention and Greater Mekong Sub-region Prepared by: Sokhem Pech Senior River Basin Governance Specialist, JULYL 2011 Hatfield Consultants Part nership TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................... iv LIST OF ACRONYMS .................................................................................. v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................ vi 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1 1.1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................... 1 1.2 CONTEXT AND SCOPE OF WORK ..................................................................... 2 1.3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................. 2 2.0 MEKONG REGION AND ITS TRANSBOUNDARY WATERS ...... 3 2.1 MEKONG RIVER BASIN ..................................................................................... 4 2.2 RED RIVER ........................................................................................................... 7 2.3 SALWEEN (NU) RIVER BASIN ............................................................................ 8 2.4 SAIGON RIVER .................................................................................................. 10 2.5 DULONG/ IRRAWADDY RIVER BASIN .......................................................... 10 2.6 OTHER INTERNATIONAL RIVERS IN THE GREATER MEKONG SUB- REGION .............................................................................................................. 12 3.0 CONFLICT AND COOPERATION OVER TRANSBOUNDARY WATERS OF THE GREATER MEKONG SUB-REGION .................................................................................... 12 3.1 CURRENT MEKONG GEO-POLITIC LANDSCAPE ......................................... 12 3.2 DEVELOPMENT CHOICES AND PERCEPTION .............................................. 16 3.3 EXISTING AND POTENTIAL USES OF THE TRANSBOUNDARY WATERS .............................................................................................................. 19 3.4 WATER AND RELATED RESOURCES ISSUES ................................................ 22 3.5 EXISTING MEKONG REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGIMES ................. 24 3.5.1 Assessing Environmental Treaties and Organizations in Mekong Region ....... 24 3.6 EXISTING CONFLICT MANAGEMENT MECHANISM .................................. 27 4.0 1995 MEKONG AGREEMENT AND MEKONG RIVER COMMISION .................................................................................... 28 4.1 BACKGROUND TO LOWER MEKONG BASIN COOPERATION .................. 28 4.2 MAIN CHARACTERISTIC OF 1995 MEKONG AGREEMENT ......................... 29 4.3 PERFORMANCE AND CHALLENGE OF THE MEKONG REGIME ................ 33 4.3.1 Debate over Mekong Regime .......................................................................... 33 4.3.2 Lack of Political Commitment – A Key Hindrance to Effective Institutional Performance of MRC ................................................................... 40 4.3.3 Territorial Domain of 1995 MA - Tributaries and Upper Watershed ................ 44 4.3.4 Proliferation and other Fragmentation Issues .................................................. 49 UN Watercourses Convention and Greater Mekong Sub-region i 5.0 1997UNWC AND GREATER MEKONG REGION ......................... 49 5.1.1 1997 UNWC and its relevance to the Mekong Region ..................................... 50 5.1.2 Comparison of the Mekong Agreement with the Watercourses Convention ..................................................................................................... 51 5.1.3 Ways Forward - Reason For Mekong Region Countries to Ratify or Accede to 1997 UNWC .................................................................................... 72 5.1.4 To what extent could the 1997UNWC support international relations on the tributaries of the Mekong .......................................................................... 73 5.1.5 To what extent could the 1997UNWC support international relations on international rivers in the Mekong Region ...................................................... 74 6.0 STATE OPINION RELATING TO THE 97 UNWC ......................... 76 6.1 BACKGROUND TO SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS WITH STAKEHOLDERS ON THE 1997 UNWC ROLE AND RELEVANCE ................ 76 6.2 SYNTHESIS OF INTERVIEWEES’ PERCEPTIONS ........................................... 77 6.2.1 Personal and Professional Experience with Transboundary Water Resources Management .................................................................................. 77 6.2.2 Benefits of the Convention's entry into Force .................................................. 78 6.2.3 Key constraints and challenges in effective transboundary basin management at the moment ............................................................................ 80 6.2.4 Main policy-makers on this topic .................................................................... 81 6.2.5 Stakeholders Need for More Information ........................................................ 82 7.0 CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 84 8.0 REFERENCE ...................................................................................... 87 Annex 1 – Relevant conventions and their key principles ................................................. 95 UN Watercourses Convention and Greater Mekong Sub-region ii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Summary of Major River Systems and Reservoirs in the Mekong Region ....................................................................................................................... 4 Table 2.2 Key Hydrological Characteristics of MRB ........................................................ 6 Table 3.1 Water Withdrawals in the LMB, 2000 ................................................................ 21 Table 3.2 Key Water related Problems .............................................................................. 22 Table 3.3 Key Asia and Pacific Inter-Governmental Organizations.............................. 26 Table 4.1 Box 1: Key chapters and articles of the 1995 Mekong Agreement ................. 32 Table 4.2 Box 2 – Xayaburi Dam .......................................................................................... 35 Table 5.1 A Comparison of the key issues covered in the UN Convention and 1995 MA .......................................................................................................... 53 UN Watercourses Convention and Greater Mekong Sub-region iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Map of Mekong Region ............................................................................... 3 Figure 2.2 Precipitation and Flow Contribution from MRB Sub-basins ...................... 6 Figure 2.3 Location Map of Salween/Nu River ............................................................ 9 Figure 2.4 Irrawaddy River Basin .............................................................................. 11 Figure 3.1 Existing and Planned Hydropower Projects in Mekong Basin ................... 20 Figure 3.2 Graph A Level of adherence by Mekong countries to environment treaties, Graph B Key Principles and Objectives Enshrined in those treaties ...................................................................................................... 25 Figure 4.1 Locations of Mainstream Dams ................................................................. 37 Figure 4.2 State Governance Structure of MRC .......................................................... 41 Figure 4.3 MRC Secretariat Organisational Structure ................................................. 42 Figure 4.4 Formulating National Positions ................................................................ 44 Figure 4.5 Mekong Mainstream and Tributaries ........................................................ 47 Figure 6.1 Interviewees Profiling ............................................................................... 77 UN Watercourses Convention and Greater Mekong Sub-region iv LIST OF ACRONYMS Acronym Description 1997 UNWC Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses of 1997 1995 MA 1995 Mekong Agreement on the Cooperation for Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin ADB Asian Development Bank ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations CSOs Civil Society Organizations CWLPS Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science FAO Food and Agriculture Organization GMS Greater Mekong Sub-region IWRM Integrated Water Resources Management JC Joint Committee of the Mekong River Commission LAs Line Agencies (Sectoral Ministries in Mekong Countries) Lao PDR Lao People’s Democratic Republic LMB Lower Mekong River Basin MCM Million Cubic Meter MDGs Millennium Development Goals MRB Mekong River Basin MNRE Ministry of Water Resources and Environment (Viet Nam) MONRE Ministry of Water Resources and Environment (Thailand) MRC Mekong River Commission MRCS MRC Secretariat MOWRAM Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (Cambodia) NGOs None Government Organizations NMC National Mekong Committee SEI Stockholm Environmental Institute WB World Bank WWF World Wildlife Fund *** UN Watercourses Convention and Greater Mekong Sub-region