• Upstream, Downstream
• Water Champion: Wasan Jompakdee on Sharing the Ping River
• Network of Asian River Basin Organizations: Promoting IWRM in River Basins
• Promoting Leadership and Decision Making: ADB at the Malaysian Water Week
• Country Water Actions: Integrated Water Resources Management
• Water Calendar

Upstream, Downstream

The Mae Ping River is one of Thailand’s important rivers. It flows 569 km long through Chiang Mai city and provides the surrounding rural countryside with much needed water for irrigation of rice paddies, gardens and crops.

But conflicts over water use between upstream and downstream communities on the Ping River have intensified and even escalated into violence in recent decades. How can the competing demands for water be balanced?

Through the Upper Ping River Basin Committee, stakeholders have found a way to share and protect this vital river system. Their story was captured in ADB’s video documentary series, Water Voices.

View video clip of Upstream, Downstream. View other video clips from the Water Voices Documentary Series.

Water Champion: Wasan Jompakdee on Sharing the Ping River
Assistant Professor Dr. Wasan Jompakdee, Vice Dean of Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Engineering, believes that IWRM is the modern term for people respecting and living in harmony with nature.

Dr. Wasan promotes the management of rivers, lakes, groundwater, and river basins in an integrated manner. As member of the Upper Ping River Basin Committee, he has contributed to the successful resolution of several conflicts in water resource uses in the Ping River.

In an interview with ADB, Dr. Wasan talks about how IWRM is implemented in the Ping River, what factors contributed to some of its successes, and what challenges still lay ahead.

Read the interviews of other Water Champions.

Network of Asian River Basin Organizations: Promoting IWRM in River Basins
IWRM needs partnerships for actions. And such partnerships need support through knowledge sharing and capacity building.

The Network of Asian River Basin Organizations (NARBO) was established in late 2003 to share knowledge and build capacity for IWRM in river basins throughout Asia. Forty-three institutions have committed themselves to undertaking NARBO’s plans for 2004-2005.

NARBO will conduct its initial capacity building activity on 26 July -6 August 2004. The training course is designed to strengthen river basin committees and enable water professionals in the region to integrate IWRM concepts into the planning process.

Promoting Leadership and Decision Making: ADB at the Malaysian Water Week
The move to formulate national IWRM and water efficiency plans by 2005 offers a wide range of benefits, but this is just the beginning of a long-term process to implement IWRM. This was the message of Tetsuro Miyazato, ADB’s Senior Water Resources Specialist, in his keynote address at the 9th Consulting Partners Meeting of the Global Water Partnership/ Malaysian Water Week earlier this month.

Miyazato stressed that if IWRM is to be institutionalized in the future, it is more crucial to pay attention to the processes involved and learn from them. IWRM requires openness to learning, a paradigm shift from controlling the river to understanding how it wants to be managed, and the ability to decide between action and non-action.

Actions designed to integrate the management of land, water and related resources have been undertaken in various parts of the region. Some have already yielded economic, social and environmental benefits, while others continue to strive for results.

Read some of the interventions or approaches undertaken in the region.

• Nepal: Integrated Management of Water, Forest and Land Resources
• PRC: Mountain- River-Lake Integrated Water Resources Development Program
• Thailand: People's Irrigation Communities (Muang Fai) Conservation and Development Project at Mae Klang Sub-River Basin
• Thailand: Integrated Watershed Management through People's Participation in Upper Mae Yom, Phayao Province
• Viet Nam: IWRM - Practical Experiences and Successful Lessons in Bac Kan Province

View other Country Water Actions.

• Regional Cooperation
• Southeast Asia Water Utilities Network- SEAWUN
• Water for All Site Map
• Water Operations
• National Water Sector Apex Bodies

Videos

• Upstream, Downstream
• Waibulabula - Living Waters

• Draft Report: The Poverty Impacts of Public Irrigation Expenditures in Vietnam
• Final Report on Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) Workshop
• Priority Activities to Promote Regional Cooperation among Apex Bodies
• Water for All Publication Series

1^st African Development Bank Water Week (Tunis)

Discussions at this event will be around the African Water Facility, Nile Basin Initiative and financing trans-boundary water development. Prior to the Water Week, a coordination meeting between the MDBs - Netherlands Water Partnership Programs will also take place on 30 June.

South East Asia Water Utilities Network Executive Committee and Planning Meeting (Hanoi, Viet Nam)

The meeting will further define the directions and activities of SEAWUN for the year.

3^rd South Asia Water Forum (SAWAF-III) (Dhaka, Bangladesh)

The focus will be on how to achieve the targets set by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and meeting the water related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

International Conference on Water Security for Future Generations (Changchun, Jilin Province, PRC)

Expansion in agricultural activity throughout the world has resulted in major water shortages. The workshop will be a venue for planning for the security of water resources in the future.

Training Program on IWRM and Strengthening of River Basin Committees (Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand)

The training program will strengthen river basin committees and enable water professionals in the region to integrate IWRM concepts into the planning process