International Workshop on River Basin Management - Proceedings International Workshop on River Basin Management The Hague, 27-29 October 1999 Proceedings Editor E. Mostert Organised by: RBA TU Delft Sponsored by: ^^ Ministry of [Housing, 'y Spatial Planning and the Environment Ministry of Transport, Public Worl<s and Water Management Acknowledgements The workshop was sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment and the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. Without their generous financial support, the workshop would not have been possible. The organisers would also like to thank all keynote speakers for their excellent presentations; all moderators and rapporteurs who expertly chaired the parallel sessions and drew up the conclusions; the chairpersons of the plenary sessions for their diplomatic handling of the sessions; and all the other participants for their contributions. Last but not least, the administrative staff behind the scenes should be thanked for their great flexibility and organisational skills, which contributed to the success of the workshop. The workshop was a contribution fi-om the Netherlands to the Vth phase of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO, Project 4.1 International Water Systems. Financial support for the publication of these Proceedings was contributed by UNESCO. Prof ir. R. Brouwer Director RBA Centre Disclaimer The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legEil status of any country, territory, city or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries © UNESCO 2000 Introduction River basin management is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. River basins sustain ecosystems, are the paramount source of water for households, agriculture and industry, and fulfil many non-consumptive uses. Yet: Some 1.2 billion people are still without safe drinking water Some 3 billion are without sanitation, which threatens public health and water quality - Between 1950 and 1995 per capita water availability has dropped by 38% (developed countries) to 70% (developing countries with an arid climate) - Many ecosystems are being destroyed - Floods occur more often and cause more damage Many conflicts occur between upstream and downstream uses and between different types of water use Moreover, due to population growth and overexploitation, the demands made on river basins are increasing and the basins' capacity to meet these demands is decreasing. Consequently, if nothing is done, the problems will only get worse. From 27-29 October 1999 the International Workshop on River Basin Management was held in The Hague. The main objective of the workshop was to contribute to the preparations of the Ministerial Conference that will be held in The Hague on 21-22 March 2000, parallel to the Second World Water Forum. As river basin management will be a key issue at this conference, it was considered opportune to bring together experts from all over the world to discuss their experiences with river basin management and develop a set of recommendations and guidelines. The workshop was organised by the RBA Centre of the Delft University of Technology in co-operation with IHE Delft (International Institute for Infrastructural Hydraulics and Envirormiental Engineering), WL|Delft Hydraulics and the GLODIS-Institute of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. The participants in the workshop have adopted the Recommendations and Guidelines on Sustainable River Basin Management. The recommendations and guidelines have subsequently been used for preparing the brochure Towards Sustainable River Basin Management; Recommendations and Guidelines on Best Management Practices, produced in the context of the second World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference by the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment and the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, in co-operation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries, the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, the UNEP Co-ordination Office of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities, and the RBA Centre. This report constitutes the proceedings of the workshop. It contains the opening addresses, the Recommendations and Guidelines, all keynote papers and most other written contributions. The armexes contain the list of participants, the workshop programme and the composition of the organising committee. The brochure Towards Sustainable River Basin Management is published separately by the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Plarming and the Envirormient. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 WORDS OF WELCOME BY MR. K. ZOETEMAN 4 WORDS OF WELCOME BY IR. L.H. KEIJTS 6 WORDS OF WELCOME BY PROF.IR. H.J. OVERBEEK 8 RECOMMENDATIONS AND GUIDELINES ON SUSTAINABLE RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT 10 KEYNOTE PAPERS 22 River Basin Management and Planning 24 E. Mostert, E. van Beek, N. W.M. Bouman E. Hey, H.H.G. Savenije, W.A.H. Thissen Problems in the management of International River Basins - the Case of the Incomati 56 Alvaro Carmo Vaz Basin Management of the Yellow River 68 Wenxue Li Management of International River Basins; The Case of the Danube River 80 László Kardoss The Sao Francisco River Basin 96 Rolando Gaal Vadas The Colorado River: History and Contemporary Issues of a Complex System 114 Robert W. Johnson The Role of River Basin Management in the Vision Process and Framework for Action up to Now 126 Tony Allan, Khalid Motadullah, Alan Hall The Role of External Support Agencies (International Donors) in Developing Cooperative Arrangements 140 G.J. Alaerts SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS 161 Upstream Perspectives on River Basin Management in the Himalayas 163 M. Banskota Integrated River Basin Management; A Reminder of Some Basic Concepts 171 Jean Burton River Basin Management in the Aral Sea Basin 177 Prof. V. Dukhovny, Mr. U. Ruziev The Portuguese-Spanish Convention on Shared River Basins 187 Antonio Gonçalves Henriques A River Basin Management Model for Sri Lanka - Potential in Mahaweli River Basin... 199 Ariyaratna Hewage The Main Outputs of the North Caucasus Region Water Resources Conservation and Management; Sub-component Implementation 205 Vladimir V. Khlobystov -2- Table of Contents RiverBasinManagementofTsurumi River, Japan 213 Toshio Okazumi, Yutaka Hosomi An Overview of River Basin Management in Nigeria - Development Option 219 Orji, O.A.C. Mekong River Commission 223 MRC Secretariat, Phnom Penh, Cambodia The River Nile Basin: A Vision for Development 231 M B. A. Saad Some Aspects of River Basin Management in Vietnam 243 Prof. Ngo Dinh Tuan, Dr. Le Dinh Thanh Water Uses Management in Mexico 249 A. F. Villavicencio, S. M. Mejia Flood / Discharge Management; Rhine Action Plan on Flood Defence 257 Dr s. J. Worm, Jhr. mr. CH. V. de Villeneuve Finding the Useful Levers: Policy Cormections to Responsive Parts of the Biophysical System 263 R J Wasson Some Thoughts about River Basin Management 267 Johannes ¡Vessel ANNEX A: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 269 ANNEX B: ORGANISATION OF WORKSHOP 271 ANNEX C: PROGRAMME OF WORKSHOP 272 Words of Welcome by Mr. K. Zoeteman Deputy Director-General for Environment, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Netherlands. Ladies, Gentlemen, I am very pleased to welcome you to The Netherlands and to this International Workshop on River Basin Management organised by the Delft University of Technology and sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of the Environment and the Dutch Ministry of Water Management. "Everyday, 230,000 people join the human race. Each and every one of them will depend on water to live. Competition for fresh water is becoming more intense ....". This quote from the draft version of the report that the World Commission on Water for the 21st. Century is preparing, clearly sets the stage for the issue of water management in our world. On the threshold of the 2nd. milleimium we have not yet succeeded in managing this basic condition for life on earth in a sustainable way. On the contrary, hundreds of millions of people do not have access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities. In many parts of the world, ecosystems have been damaged and people face serious flooding, droughts or polluted waters. Progress with water management is being made in some parts of the world, but overall economic developments and population growth will fiarther increase pressures on water resources. Since the 1977 Conference in Mar del Plata, water management has been on the agenda of the international communitv regularly, and policies and projects have been developed and implemented. Nevertheless, they fell short of expectations as was stated by the UN General Assembly in its Rio +5 evaluation. The Dutch government attaches high importance to international co-operation in the enviroimiental field. It has promoted sustainable water management in the past, and will continue to do so. In 1994, we organized in Noordwijk, about 20 kilometres from here, a Ministerial Conference on Drinking Water and Environmental Sanitation. Coming year, from 17 to 22 March 2000, the Dutch government will be hosting again a large international meeting: the Second World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference. On the agenda will be (1) the 'Long Term Vision on Water, Life and the Environment in the 21st century', prepared by the World Commission on Water, chaired by mr. Serageldin, vice-president of the World bank; and (2) the 'Framework for Action', which is an action programme, based on the Vision, and proposed by the Global Water Partnership. We hope that the Ministerial Conference will provide political commitment to these activities, and that it will give a push to concrete projects and actions on-the-ground. This means that in addition to a political declaration by ministers, Dutch government would like to see concrete results and follow-up coming out of this conference. In this respect, we expect a lot from your confributions during this workshop.