Sustainable Water Management under Variable Rainfall Conditions in River Communities of Champhone District, Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR.

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1 Sustainable Water Management under Variable Rainfall Conditions in River Communities of Champhone District, Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR Ms. Outhevy Vongmany Prof. Yoshiro Higano Prof. Kazuo O. Watanabe Abstract A large majority of the rural population of Lao PDR remains dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and food security, and access to and management of both irrigated and rain-fed water sources is critical. Crop choices and planting calendars follow a monsoonal (dry season/wet season) weather system, and are very vulnerable to undersupply of rainfall in the dry season and oversupply in the wet season. The rainfall patterns that farmers depend on are being increasingly disrupted by climate change, requiring new coping strategies. Climate change projections show that flood vulnerable areas like Savannakhet Province might face worse problems in the future(ipcc, 2007). The lack of solutions to both flood and drought in the central and southern part of Laos where Savannakhet province is located can affect food security and agricultural development. This study will examine how households are being affected by flooding and drought in Champhone district and coping strategies currently used by farmers. This will identify factors, constraints and opportunities to strengthen adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change in the Champhone River basin of Savannakhet province. This study can be helpful for innovative research and small scale community management initiatives of water resources in Lao PDR. Keywords: Rainfall Variability, Community Water Management, Climate Change Adaptation, River, Rice Production, Lao PDR Background The rainfall patterns that farmers in developing countries depend on are being increasingly disrupted by climate change, requiring new coping strategies. Rice production is facing challenges from global warming such as water shortages and other factors that limit the capacity of farmers to grow the crop (e.g., Horie et al., 1996; Tao et al., 2007; Peng et al., 2004). Therefore, the vulnerability of rice production to global warming has become of key concern both currently and also in the future. Lao PDR is highly challenged by this situation because of the combination of low state capacity to respond (including technical knowledge and budget) and lack of systems to predict or control drought or flood. A large majority of the rural population of Lao PDR remains dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and food security, and access to and Page 1 of 6

2 management of both irrigated and rain-fed water sources is critical. Crop choices and planting calendars follow a monsoonal (dry season/wet season) weather system, and are very vulnerable to undersupply of rainfall in the dry season and oversupply in the wet season. Several large-scale modeling studies have been carried out in Lao PDR, including a simulation of climate change impacts on lowland paddy rice production potential in Savannakhet Province (IPCC, 2007). Farm technologies and cultivar breeding supporting local rice farming will be further challenges beyond the farm level to ensure or further increase rice production for future climate change conditions (Boulidam, 2012). According to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007), climate change projections show that flood vulnerable areas like Savannakhet Province might face worse problems in the future. IPCC s Fourth Assessment projected an enhanced hydrological cycle and an increase in area-averaged annual mean rainfall over Asia. The study also projected that higher rainfall intensity, particularly during the summer monsoon, could increase floodprone areas in temperate and tropical Asia (IPCC, 2007). Economic development will require more food production in agriculture to support human consumption. The lack of solutions to both flood and drought in the central and southern part of Laos where Savannakhet province is located can limit agricultural development. This province has the largest paddy rice cultivation area in Laos, which covers 21.48% or 194,157 hectare of the country s total area of paddy rice cultivation (IRAS, 2012). A recent flood vulnerability assessment in Champhone district, Savannakhet province showed the level of vulnerability in 10, 20 and 50 year return periods which affects 629,646 ha and 668 km2 areas respectively. Depths greater than 6m were considered as very high and the area having such a depth was found to be 179,414 ha and 433 km2 for 10, 20 and 50 year flood (Hazarika et al. 2008). Farmers still also lack water during dry season as they could not access irrigation, and a recentclimate change adaptation project showed a need to develop irrigation, although the projectexpanded only1000m of irrigation canal due to limited budget (MRC, 2014). This shows that water storage methods and tools to keep water from the rainy season to use in the dry season are very important for local people in terms of food security and income, but these methods and tools have to be based on local capacity and also have to especially consider their economic constraints. Statement of the problem The local population in Champhone district consists mainly of rural farming families, with rice as their most important food crop which also provides income for some people. These communities depend on the Xe Champhone River for irrigation of crops during rainy season, but when the water level is too high their crops can be destroyed, so livelihoods are very vulnerable to flood impacts.in the dry season, the community also often lacks enough water supply to their crops. Crop damage has often beensubstantial.each time there is flooding, farmers cannot produce their crops. The high water level damages their properties and production such as Page 2 of 6

3 crop areas, livestock and especially the rice fields. After flooding people will have not enough food stock for consumption. Flooding affects both the rice quality and quantity and leads to food insecurity in the communities (Vongmany, 2014). People living far from irrigation are unable to manage their water supply, which in the context of climate variability affects both food insecurity and income, since vulnerable farmers are forced to change from selling their harvest to buying from other areas to continue accessing food. Instead of waiting for budget to manage water supply by irrigation methods, other countries facing similar problems (e.g. Nepal, Rockstrom, 2007) have tried community-based water management methods to find ways to store the water but this can be expensive the aim of this research is to find low cost options to store water that will be appropriate to local conditions. Objective The proposed research will be designed to create a method for community members to identify ways to protect their water supply against climate variability through storage methods and also to understand rainfall variability and how to adapt crop types. It will also provide information to assist with projects aimed at sustainable and safe community water use in Lao PDR for the future, to help communities cope with climate change impacts that may affect their water resources and prevent loss of crops. Significance of the Study The significance of the research will be to understand how local livelihoods can adapt to the situation, reduce their vulnerability and what can be done for water use management in the community. Weather data and climate change studies show that flooding in Champhone district might increase in future (Sengtianthr, 2011), and projects in the local area have been working on how to adapt to the impacts. This research will provide baseline information to development organizations in this area for the future.lessons learned from the country and outside will support this research to review the available information and make recommendations about how the vulnerable communities can adapt to the situation both now and in future. Scope and Limitations of the Study The proposed research will be designed to create a method for community members to identify ways to protect their water supply against climate variability through storage methods and also to understand rainfall variability and how to adapt crop types. The study will focus on the possibility of community water management based on resources and Page 3 of 6

4 capacity available in Champhone District, Savannakhet Province, according to constraints on time, funds, distances and resources. Methodology Household survey, interviews and observation. Respondents of the Study: Survey interviews will be conducted based on the priority areas affected by flooding for sampling from 3 villages. Respondents will be considered because of their agriculture areas near the Xe Champhone which are vulnerable to damage from the flooding. Primary data: will be collected in the study areas through direct interviews with the respondents and group discussions with key informants, and including historical river characteristics. Secondary data: will be collected from concerned institutions of Lao PDR (such as line agencies and local government),meteorological data, river information, official reports, articles, rules, laws and regulations, previous case studies in the area and libraries. Catalogue crop types, including non-rice crop production, ashouseholds in the survey area also grow a range of non-rice crops in both the wet and dry seasons. Catalogue types of water access/use: Interview and observation in the study site on water sources and water utilization to determine water management conditions in the community Climate data/historic records The Watershed of the Xe Champhone River will be delineated on the topographic map with high scale. The recent land use map and village map will be secured, as well as flood susceptibility maps of various return periods and weekly rainfall. Watershed irrigation map and infrastructure map of the watershed will be requested from different agencies.flood frequency and the crop yield reduction and extent of flooding will be collated from related government/non-government agencies. The villages in the study area which were least, moderately and severely affected by the extreme flood will be identified and requested for field survey.field survey questionnaires on depth and duration of flooding in the six villages with the least, moderate and severe flooding during the last 5 years will be prepared. The depth and duration of flood will be determined from the selected households from each village. The elevation of the ground level and height of the flood will be determined using GPS. GIS will be used to identify and map vulnerable areas of watersheds. Vulnerability mapping will be used to determine climate change adaptation options in different scales based on the capacity in the community. Page 4 of 6

5 REFERENCES AsianDevelopment Bank International Food Policy Research Institute. Building Climate Resilience in the Agriculture Sector in Asia and the Pacific, DAFO Report of Land use Planning Survey 2020 in Champhone District. Department of Agriculture and Forestry,Savannakhet province, Government of Lao PDR. Horie, T., Matsui, T., Nakagawa, H., Omasa, K Effect of elevated CO2 and global climate change on rice yield in Japan. In: Omasa, K., Kai, K., Taoda, H., Uchijima, Z.,Yoshino, M., editors. Climate change and plants in east Asia. Tokyo. IPCC Climate Change, Synthesis Report, an Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, pp.52. Mekong River Commission Management Information Booklet Series No. 4, Impacts of Climate Change and Development on Mekong Flow Regimes: First Assessment National disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and United Nations Development Program Handbook on Disaster Risk Management Mainstreaming in Development. Date visited: march15, Website: %20Handbook.pdf Peng, S., Huang, J., Sheehy, J.E., Laza, R.C.,Visperas, R.M., Zhong, X., Centeno, G.S.,Khush, G.S., Cassman, K.G., Riceyields decline with higher night temperature from global warming. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 101 (27), Schiller,J. M., Linquist,B.etal Constrictions to Rice Production System in Laos. Increasing Lowland Rice Production in the Mekong Region. Aciar Proceedings No Proceeding of an International Workshop Held in Vientiane, Laos Sengtianthr, V The 2nd Joint Project Team Meeting for Sentinel Asia STEP 3 (JPTM2014) 19th-21th November, 2014, Yangon, Myanmar. Lao PDR Country Report The Success Story Using the Space Data and the Issues of Recovery Phase. Tao, F., Hayashi, Y., Zang, Z., and Sakamoto, T Global warming, rice production, and water use in China: Developing a probabilistic assessment. UNFCCC Climate Change: Impacts, Vulnerabilities and adaptation in Developing Countries, pp 68. Sengtianthr, V. and Phosalath, S Flood Hazard mapping of XeChamphone Area, Lao PDR. IPCC Workshop on Change in extreme Weather and Climate Event. Beijing, China, pp 107.Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Workshop Report. Page 5 of 6

6 Vongmany, O Assessment of the Flood Vulnerability and Adaptation of the Rice Production System in Champhone District, Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR. IRAS, Baseline Project Report for Small Farmer at Savannakhet Province.Boulidam, S Simulation of Climate Change Impact on Lowland Paddy Rice Produktion Potential in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Page 6 of 6