Risk Management for the Nam Ngum River Basin, LAO PDR
Nam Ngum River Basin, Lao PDR
Partner Organizations
Overview
The Nam Ngum River is a major tributary of the Mekong River in northern Laos and its basin (NNRB) covers an area of about 10,200 sq km and has diverse topography and an ecosystem containing vast natural resources and fertile soil. However, due to the fact that multiple provinces rely on the NNRB’s resources, there are many challenges posed regarding water and dam management. Difficulties include pollution from mines, livestock farms, and other discharge facilities management of water sources upstream and downstream of the NNRB, securing water for river flow, and conflict over water source regulation and water sources. Furthermore, difficulties of dam operation and management include lack of coordination over dealing with dam discharge and conflict among stakeholders related to dam operation in the case of floods which may damage to residents in areas around the dam. The project aimed to find solutions to improve water management in the basin and improve conflict management of the various stakeholders through the creation of the governance mechanism the Nam Ngum River Basin Coordination Committee (NNRBCC). The main goal of creating the NNRBCC is to lead dialogue by linking the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) planning at macro and micro levels in the NNRB to settle conflicts or disagreements between different agencies at federal and provincial level.
Activities and Methods
Building collaborative water governance for the Nam Ngum River Basin (NNRB) kicked off in May 2022 with an in-person meeting with members of KOICA, Provincial Offices of Natural Resources and Environment (PoRNE), and other donor agencies which had projects in water and related disaster management and the Mekong River Commission.
Three consultive meetings with the participation of the PoNRE were organized in the Vientiane Province. The first took place during September 2022 and focused on the discussion of National Water Strategy (NWS), the current water situation, and the main challenges of the NNRB. The second took place in April 2023, focusing on surveying water policies and conflict management with discussion about activities that could improve water management in both the short and long term. During the third meeting (August 2023), the results of the survey were analysed and briefed during a roundtable conference and the collaborative governance mechanism of the NNRBCC was discussed.
JHSUSTAIN's Roles and Responsibilities
JHSUSTAIN was the governance building team of the KOICA Project Management Consortium (PMC) for this project and was responsible for helping develop and implement a mechanism that allowed effective participation of stakeholder groups at the provincial level in a consultive process for the NNRB plan implementation. The team also assisted the Ministry of Natural Resources (MoRNE) in establishing methods for participatory planning in the NRB, facilitating a survey and developing a pilot project concept on Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR). We also assisted consultive meetings between central and provincial governments in the NNRB.
Results
A final structure of the NNRBCC at the national scale was decided upon (pictured below). The working group structure at the basic scale is referred to as a proposal of the Australian development partner.
