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1 Regional Training for Flood Forecasting in Transboundary River Basins, Pathumthani, Thailand 3 7 October 2016 Concept Note BACKGROUND Many rivers in South and Southeast Asia are of transboundary nature. Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra- Meghna, and Mekong are some examples. These river systems provide livelihoods to millions of people in the region. During summer monsoon season, these rivers and their tributaries frequently overtop their banks and create havoc due to flooding. The transboundary river-basin floods are frequent with large scale economic and social impacts in the region. Further, these riverr basins are densely populated with large number of poor and vulnerable populations dependent on the subsistence agriculture. 630 million peoples live in Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghnaa (GBM) basin alone. Around 40% of world s poor live in South Asia and out of which two thirds of poor live in Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra-Meghna basins. 1 There is an urgent need to manage transboundary river-basin floods in the region, and in particular, the flood forecasting with longer lead time benefits the poor and marginal farmers in terms of saving their assets and livelihoods. The recent advances in weather forecasting systems enable longer lead time flood forecasts. The technological innovations in satellite altimeter and telemetry system address some of the critical and real time information gaps in transboundary river-basins. requires a basin approach, since flooding phenomenon in the region is Development of an operational flood forecasting and early warning system in the region trans-boundary in nature. However, the riparian countries of Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra- Meghna basins have different capacities in flood forecasting and early warning. Thus, operational utilization of these new tools and techniques for flood forecasting require enhanced capacities of the hydrologists, meteorologists and disaster risk reduction professionals of the respective riparian countries. A toolkit for flood forecasting and early warning in transboundary river-basin has been prepared in collaboration with the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (), to support the capacity building process in the region ( It highlights how the tools, techniques, and other resources available from, the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM), International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the World Bank s South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI) can be put to 1 World Bank South Asia Water Initiative (2015)

2 operational use for more effective flood forecasting. The toolkit also used resources from the Regional Flood Early Warning System Workshop, organized jointly by the World Bank s SAWI and at the Asian Institute of Technology Campus from 23 to 27 November OBJECTIVES The training workshop aims to enhance the capacity for flood forecasting in transboundary river basins through contribution of information and communications technology connectivity, space applications, modeling tools and disaster risk reduction and management strategies to the achievement of inclusive, sustainable and resilient development in Asia and the Pacific. APPROACH AND METHODS The regional training will be organized by ESCAP together with the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System () to utilize expertise and experience of the in building capacities for transboundary flood forecasting. Experiences and good practices from other transboundary river basins will be also sought. In order to strengthen cooperation and coordination within each country, participants will be invited from the national meteorological and hydrological services as well as national disaster management authorities. Training workshop shall involve lectures, interactive discussions, hands-on exercises, participant presentations, and group exercises. Resource persons will be invited from regional institutions working on transboundary water issues. PARTICIPANTS The training workshop involves senior/mid-level professionals with operational responsibilities from National Hydro-meteorological Departments and Disaster Management Authorities from,, China,, and. TENTATIVE PROGRAMME Day 1: Workshop introduction and contextualization; followed by Country presentations on meteorological aspects of transboundary river basins including current status of observation network, data availability in real time and delayed mode, remote sensing products. Afternoon session focused on transboundary flood initiatives of ICIMOD and ICHARM. Day 2: Country presentations on hydrological aspects of transboundary river basins including status of observation stations, warning and danger level identifications at important locations, utilization of satellite products and status of forecast techniques including utilization of rainfall forecast in flood forecast. Afternoon session focused on flood forecasting initiatives by and hands-on exercise on customizing basin average rainfall forecast for flood forecasting. Day 3: Discussion on potential application of GloFAS on transboundary river basins in South Asia by ECMWF and application of satellite products by NRSC. Afternoon session will include hands-on exercise on hydrological modelling by. 2

3 Day 4: Day 5: Country presentation on DRR aspects of transboundary floods including type of warnings received and available lead times followed by case study from MRC on managing transboundary floods. Afternoon session will include group exercise on warning formulation and risk communication. Discussions and way-forward on utilizing available products and technology. TENTATIVE AGENDA Day Opening Session o Welcome remarks o Opening remarks ESCAP o Opening remarks ECMWF o Introduction of participants and resource persons o Workshop rationale, objectives and structure o Group photo Tea Break Session 1: Country presentations on meteorological aspects of transboundary river basins Meteorological Department (BMD) Department of Hydro Met Services Department of Hydrology and Meteorology Meteorological Department (PMD) Session 1: Country presentations on meteorological aspects of transboundary river basins n Meteorological Department (IMD) Session 2: Transboundary flood initiatives ICIMOD Tea Break Session 2: Transboundary flood initiatives ICHARM 16:30-17:00 Wrap-Up and End of Day 1 3

4 Day Session 3: Country presentations on hydrological aspects of transboundary river basins Flood forecasting and warning center (FFWC) Department of Hydro Met Services Department of Hydrology and Meteorology 10: Tea Break Session 3: Country presentations on hydrological aspects of transboundary river basins Meteorological Department (PMD) Central Water Commission (CWC) and other State Agencies Discussions Session 4: Flood forecasting initiatives of Myanmar Hands-on Exercise on customizing basin average rainfall forecast for flood forecasting Tea Break 15:45-17:00 Hands-on Exercise on customizing basin average rainfall forecast for flood forecasting (cont..) Day Application of GloFAS on transboundary river basins in South Asia by ECMWF Tea Break Application of satellite products for flood forecasting and warning by NRSC Discussions 13:30-15:30 Hands-on Exercise on Hydrological modelling Tea Break 15:45-17:00 Hands-on Exercise on Hydrological modelling (cont..) Day Country presentations on Disaster risk reduction (DRR) aspects of transboundary floods Tea Break :00 Country presentations on Disaster risk reduction (DRR) aspects of transboundary floods 4

5 Discussions 13:30-14:30 Case study from MRC on managing trans-boundary floods Tea Break 15:00-17:00 Group exercise on warning formulation and communicating risks - Day 5 Discussion and way forward 5