Mekong River Basin Water Utilization Project

The Project would help the member states of the Mekong River Commission (MRC): Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, implement key elements of the 1995 Agreement on Cooperation for Sustainable Development of Mekong Basin (Agreement). The Project's broad development objectives would be to assist the MRC to establish mechanisms to promote and improve coordinated and sustainable water management in the Basin, including reasonable and equitable water utilization and water quality management by the countries of the Basin and protection of sensitive ecological systems including wetlands, flooded forests and the estuary system that support globally significant bio-diversity. This would be achieved through preparation of "Rules" for water utilization (in particular, minimum in-stream flows on the Mekong River) and protocols for information exchange, notification/consultation in accordance with the Mekong Agreement. The Project would assist in the formulation and implementation of the Rules by facilitating consultations among the MRC-member states and helping the MRC develop a Basin Simulation Model Package and Knowledge Base.