Politics and Development in a Transboundary Watershed The Case of the Lower Mekong Basin

Water - and its governance - is becoming a global concern partly because it is turning into a goods in short supply, with devastating effects on literally billions of people, but also because it is the "carrier" of global warming; whether through irregular weather patterns or through flooding, water is how global warming will be 'felt'. The lion's share of the globally available fresh water resources is to be found in transboundary systems. In spite of its significance, the generated knowledge on how to deal with transboundary waters is weak and leaves policy makers with seemingly unavoidable, trade-off dilemmas and prioritizations, often with detrimental effects. In order to disentangle this predicament this volume works with one case: the Lower Mekong Basin and covers state-of-the-art academic and practitioners' knowledge and hence appeals to a wide audience. The topic this volume addresses is situated in the nexus of an IR- (International Relations) approach focussing on transboundary politics and its inclination to remain within the sphere of state sovereignty and national interest on the one hand, and Development studies, with its imperatives on participation, planning, and intervention, on the other. The dilemma, we argue, of better understanding transboundary water management lies in how to understand how these two rationalities can be simultaneously nurtured.

Audience: This book will be relevant to scholars, as it provides cutting-edge research, and students, since it covers the primary debates in the field, interested in resource management, regional politics, and development issues in the area. It also addresses the global debate on transboundary water management and presents an in-depth case of one of the globally most sophisticated attempts at pursuing sustainable river basin management. Finally, practitioners and policymakers would benefit greatly because all contributions have explicit policy relevance, launching suggestion on improvements in water management.

Preface

Contributors

Abbreviations

1 Politics and Development in a Transboundary Watershed: The Case of the Lower Mekong Basin; Stina Hansson, Sofie Hellberg & Joakim Öjendal
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The politics of IWRM
1.3 Development in a transboundary context
1.4 Transboundary water governance
1.5 The Mekong Basin as a transboundary system
1.6 The contributions to this volume

2 Politics or Development: Sharing of International Rivers in the South; Ashok Swain
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Rivers of Conflict to Rivers of Cooperation?
2.3 Yet to Move Beyond Selfish National Interests

3 Politics and Development of the Mekong River Basin: Transboundary Dilemmas and Participatory Ambitions; Joakim Öjendal & Kurt Mørck Jensen
3.1 The Basin’s Economic Geography
3.2 Attempts at Water Governance in the Mekong Region
3.3 Geopolitics and the IWRM Approach to Basin Development - Conclusion

4 The Potential of MRC to Pursue IWRM in the Mekong: Trade-offs and Public Participation; Rachel Cooper
4.1 The Development Context
4.2 The Role of the MRC
4.3 Trade-offs in the Mekong
4.4 Public Participation
4.5 Conclusion

5 Domestic Water Policy Implications on International Transboundary Water Development: A Case Study of Thailand; Naho Mirumachi
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Water Management Paradigms and Hydraulic Control
5.3 The Thai Hydraulic Mission and Inclusive Water Resource Management
5.4 Impact of Domestic Water Policies on Multilateral Water Resources Development
5.5 Discussion and Conclusion

6 Mekong at the Crossroads: Alternative Paths of Water Development and Impact Assessment; Marko Keskinen, Matti Kummu, Mira Käkönen & Olli Varis
6.1 Introduction: the Changing Mekong
6.2 Water Development in the Mekong
6.3 Estimating the impacts
6.4 Hydrological Models as a Tool for Impact Assessment
6.5 An Array of Impacts, Radical Consequences
6.6 Multiple Crossroads: Water Development in a Transboundary Setting
6.6 Conclusions: Way Forward

7 Negotiating Flows in the Mekong; Kate Lazarus, David J.H. Blake, John Dore, Worawan Sukraroek & David S. Hall
7.1 Introduction
7.2 E-flows and Integrated Water Resources Management
7.3 Water for Development and Ecosystems
7.4 Integrating and Negotiating
7.5 E-flows in the Mekong Region
7.6 Multi-stakeholder Translations in the Mekong Region: Building Capacity and a Constituency
7.7 Rapid E-flows Assessment in the Huong River Basin, Vietnam
7.8 E-flows and the Integrated Basin Flow Management Process in the Mekong River Basin
7.9 An Interdisciplinary Approach to E-flows in the Nam Songkhram River Basin, Thailand
7.10 Conclusions

8 IWRM as a Participatory Governance Framework for the Mekong River Basin?; Philip Hirsch
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Participation, FWRM and IWRM
8.3 Governing Through Participation from Above...
8.4 ... And Governance Through Participation from Below
8.5 Conclusions: Beyond the Technical in Participatory River Basin Governance

9 The Dragon Upstream: China’s Role in Lancang-Mekong Development; Darrin Magee
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Overview of the Lancang Cascade
9.3 Chinese Perspectives on Lancang River Development
9.4 China’s Approach to Lancang-Mekong Transboundary Relations
9.5 Hydropower Decision-Making in China
9.6 Conclusion: Conflict and Commonality in Development Priorities

10 Politics vs Development in a Transboundary River Basin – The Case of the Mekong Basin; Joakim Öjendal, Stina Hansson & Sofie Hellberg
10.1 Findings and Reflections
10.2 Political Imperatives and the Eternal Call for Holism

Index