The Mekong River

TUOI TRE

The preparations for the 17th council meeting of the international Mekong river commission in Hanoi have been completed, according to Mekong River Committee of Vietnam.

The two-day meeting, which is scheduled to open in Ho Chi Minh City next month, will be one of important sessions during the term of 2010-2011 Vietnam is the chairman of international Mekong river commission.

The session to be open on December 16 is expected to approve procedures of water quality, development strategy of water resources between 2010 and 2015 and recruitment of executive directors from Mekong riverside countries.

According to Pham Khoi Nguyen, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and Chairman of Vietnam National Mekong Committee, the members have kept on encouraging Myanmar to attend the session and admit the country to the international Mekong river commission.

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) was formed in 1995 by an agreement between the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

The four countries signed The Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin and agreed on joint management of their shared water resources and development of the economic potential of the river.

The Mekong Delta is bracing for climate change due to global warming, they also have to be aware of another threat: the Mekong River is drying up following massive construction of dams and hydropower plants upstream leading to saltwater floods in future.

Asia is in the grip of a water crisis that could set back the region’s robust economic growth if left unresolved, AFP quoted Arjun Thapan, special adviser to Asian Development Bank president Harukiko Kuroda on water and infrastructure issues, as saying.

With 80 percent of Asia’s water used to irrigate agricultural lands, the shortage could have serious implications for food supplies. Between 10 and 15 percent of Asia’s water is consumed by industry.

The efficiency of water usage in agriculture and industry has improved by only one percent a year since 1990. While Asia’s rapidly burgeoning cities are key economic drivers, many are also inefficient water users, and this should prompt government policy makers to implement reforms quickly. Another problem is the volume of used water in Asia that remains largely untreated, leading to massive pollution of water sources like rivers.

Of the 412 rivers in the Philippines, 50 are biologically dead, he said. Between 2.0 billion and 2.5 billion dollars is needed to clean up Manila Bay and Pasig River in Manila alone.

In China, India, and the Philippines, among other Asian countries, the total availability of water per person per year has fallen below 1,700 cubic metres — the global threshold for water stress, a situation where water demand exceeds the available amount during a certain period.

About 50 percent of China’s Yellow River is so polluted it cannot support agriculture, and over 50 percent of the surface water in the country’s Hai river basin is not fit for any use.

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