IFNet_REPORTS

REPORT: 4th Annual Mekong Flood Forum
18-19 May 2006, Siem Reap, Cambodia




	Reported by Mr. Yoichi IWAMI, Senior Advisor on River Management (JICA expert) at the MRC secretariat 20 May, 2006
	(This report is given personal opinions of the author and is not a pronouncement of the MRC)

In the 4th Annual Mekong Flood Forum with the theme “Improving Flood Forecasting and Warning Systems for Flood Management and Mitigation in the Lower Mekong Basin”, about 120 persons have participated. They are from 4 MRC member countries, China, Myanmar, USAID, USGS, Karlsruhe univ., WHO, WFP, American Red Cross, CARE, Royal Haskoning, WL/Delft Hydraulics, Asian Disaster Preparedness, DHI, IFNet, IDI-Japan, ICHARM, AIT, HEC, Mississippi River Institute, Campagnie National du Rhone, Dutch Embassy, MRC secretariat and RFMMPC.

At the forum, about last year’s flood damage and with regard to further responses and expectation to the FMMP were reported from the 4 MRC member countries. It was caught that analysis of flooding situation and data processing for flood forecasts are still in development. Basic flood records and data analysis were recognized as insufficient. Inundation records plotted on a map is essential information but it was reported only from Thailand. Such information shall be the important data for development of flood hazard maps. The main causes and countermeasures to reduce flood disaster must be studiously analyzed, but the country reports conveyed an impression that preparedness for further floods and risk management shall be inadequate.

Many international organizations introduced technical state of the art; however, the roadmap of application in this region was not distinct enough. For putting remote sensing technologies into praxis, capacity building and concrete introducing program are necessary. The gap between the high-tech and the management situation in this region is also an issue and must be carefully considered. Evacuation drill before a flood like which is already practiced in Japan would be a method to emphasis problems in information transmission.

A supporting program on establishing flood forecasting and communication system in Bangladesh was reported by the USAid. The project cost about 500 thousand USD for five years but it could cover less than 1% of the country. Some programs of MRC see some pilot area for applying their early warning system. It shall be necessarily considered how such measures are progressed across the country.

Floods in the Mekong river basin are characterized mainly; 1) Flash floods in the tributaries e.g. Lao PDR, 2) Floods in the tributaries influenced by backwater from the mainstream e.g. northeast of Thailand or, near the confluence to the mainstream, 3) Floods at lower mainstream of Stung Treng in Cambodia, 4) Floods near the Tonle Sap, and 5) Floods at the Mekong delta. Flood forecasting at the Flood Management Center of MRC is conducted by using surface observation data from only 19 rainfall gauge and water level stations, and 2 stations in the upstream in China. Observed data is sent via email because the telemetry is not working sufficiently. Rainfall area observed by satellites is supplementary referred for forecasting calculations. But there is always a margin for climatic forecasting, and without surface observation data from tributaries (e.g.　mountainous regions), only 2 or 3 days are the possible limit for an accurate climatic forecast even for the sluggish flowing Mekong mainstream. In the tributaries especially mountainous area, on the other hand, MRC member countries are conducting forecasts by themselves but some countries are using stage relations based on their experiences which is problematic in accuracy. MRC is addressing the challenge to improve accuracy of middle term forecasting (15 days) with collecting data in the tributaries from the member countries.

The group discussion was divided into 4 countries and 5 groups. Flood forecast in Cambodia is transmitted in 3 steps.　The first step (green) indicates that the water level is rising and it is alarmed to prepare for the emerging flood risk. The second step (yellow) is the villages began barely being inundated and the properties must be evacuated to a higher side. The third step (red) warns that the inundation is deepened and the inhabitants must evacuate. In a typical flood plain in Cambodia, the people must live in evacuation center for more than one month. 40 villages are working on introducing flood information transmission and evacuation system as a pilot model, the USAid is currently supporting this project. Flood information is transmitted usually via television and radio, in the pilot villages they are providing with information from an early stage by using such as wireless transfers. In the discussion, MRC/CNMC and the Cambodian agencies suggested how often the transmission frequency should be and the necessity of posting notice information coupled with the water level observation data. In the villages that are inundated every year, the inhabitants percept safe places at local level and behavior based on their experiences, but they are going to develop flood hazard maps as a blanket information source.

(Translation: IFNet secretariat)

^ to top