The Mekong River Commission s state of knowledge and state of governance with respect to Mekong mainstream dams

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1 The Mekong River Commission s state of knowledge and state of governance with respect to Mekong mainstream dams Professor Philip Hirsch Australian Mekong Resource Centre (AMRC) School of Geosciences University of Sydney, Australia

2 Key concerns What does civil society need to know and need to consider regarding MRC s role with respect to mainstream dams? What can and can t MRC do, and what does and doesn t MRC know, with respect to mainstream dams?

3 The Mekong River Commission and its governance role re mainstream dams 1995 Agreement Different understandings of MRC s role among donors, civil society and governments Regulatory Advisory Investment facilitator IWRM Knowledge-based agency

4 Mekong Agreement places responsibilities on MRC re mainstream dams Recognition of multiple uses (Article 1) Article 1. Areas of Cooperation Basin development plan (Article 2) Article 2. Projects, Programs and Planning Ecological responsibility (Articles 3 & 7) Article 3. Protection of the Environment and Ecological Balance Article 7. Prevention and Cessation of Harmful Effects Water utilisation (Articles 5 & 26) Article 5. Reasonable and Equitable Utilization Article 26. Rules for Water Utilization and Inter-Basin Diversions

5 Different understandings and expectations of MRC s role The 1995 Agreement mentions that there has to be development. We must have dams to regulate the river. The BDP is a development project and not a regulation project. - Vietnamese JC member, 2005 Development Partners are particularly concerned that public and private stakeholders are not being consulted, and that the cumulative impacts of dams on fisheries and food security are not being given adequate attention. - Statement by Development Partner Consultative Group, 15 November 2007 We are not set up as a development finance organization. We have a role to support development in the basin. We do not have an enforcement role, we have a facilitation role. - CEO of MRCS, May 2008

6 Different understandings and expectations of MRC s role It is now time that the MRC s role is reviewed to ensure it is acting in the manner befitting an objective, scientific river basin management organization that it was set up to be. An important first step would be for the MRC to publicly call for a dam development moratorium until scientific evidence of the individual and cumulative impacts of dam development is in the public domain and all party stakeholders including public consensus has been achieved on the best way forward. - Statement by Thai People s Network for Mekong and Rivers Coalition of Cambodia, September 2008

7 MRC s knowledge role Least controversial role Promoted in MRC Strategic Plan Acknowledged by governments Supported by donors Recognised by civil society MRC s key knowledge areas Potentials of the river for development and livelihoods Hydrological change and its implications integrated basin flows management; scenarios Fisheries

8 What do MRC studies tell us about the implications of mainstream dams on fisheries? value of fisheries major threats mitigation

9 Value of fisheries World s largest inland capture fishery 2-3 million t/year; US$2-3 billion Important source of household: Income Nutrition Food and livelihood security

10 Dams are the overriding threat to the future of Mekong s fish and fisheries - Poulsen et al (2004) Distribution and Ecology of some important riverine fish species of the Mekong River Basin. MRC Technical Paper No. 10 Major threats to fisheries, developments that: Obstruct fish migration Degrade critical aquatic habitats Alter flow regime Dams cause all these impacts

11 Mitigation? No known effective mitigation measures Reservoir fishery does not compensate for loss of capture fisheries Fish passes cannot cope with intensity and diversity of fish migration in Mekong On the mainstream, the choice therefore remains: fish or dams - Sverdrup-Jensen, S. (2002) Fisheries in the Lower Mekong Basin: Status and Perspectives. MRC Technical Paper No. 6. Mekong River Commission, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. p86

12 Mainstream dams or weirs in the mid and lower Mekong are therefore most unlikely to be part of any balanced development scenario that complies with the objectives of the [1995 Mekong] Agreement. WB (2004) Modelled Observations on development scenarios in the LMB

13 Governing with knowledge? How is this knowledge used by MRC? Proactive knowledge-based management Reactive knowledge-based management Issues of access to publicly funded knowledge production Who can access? Knowing what to ask Making science intelligible/accessible

14 Summary: what MRC is and is not MRC is An intergovernmental organisation owned and governed by the will of its four member states. Capable of generating knowledge which can be used to assess individual projects in a basin-wide context. MRC is not A supranational organisation with regulatory authority. An organisation that can make decisions or intervene in its own right. Directly accountable to the broader public.

15 Grey areas Allowable extent of public engagement accountability Role as a proactive knowledge-based river basin organisation Responsiveness to knowledge requests by the public Capacity to inform or influence development decisions in the basin

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