5. Responses to flood events
5.1 The Flood Management and Mitigation Programme
The Flood Management and Mitigation Programme (FMMP) was designed to support the MRC member countries to create adequate responses to flood events. The overall development objective of the Strategy is to ensure: "people's suffering and economic losses due to floods are prevented, minimised, or mitigated, while preserving the environmental benefits of floods".
Figure 18: The logical framework of the
FMMP (source: MRCS website - www.mrcmekong.org)
The FMMP components and activities are summarised here. More details may be obtained by consulting the available programme documents.
Establishment of a Regional Flood Centre
A Regional Flood Management and Mitigation Centre (RFMMC), based in Phnom Penh, will maintain and further develop flood-related tools, data and knowledge at national and regional levels; produce accurate regional flood forecasts with timely and effective dissemination; and provide accurate and consistent tools for basin wide flood risk assessment and transboundary impact analysis. The Annual Flood Forum is one of the main activities of the Centre and serves as the key platform for coordination of responses concerning flooding on a regional basis. The forums commenced in 2002 and now attract more than 100 national, regional and international experts who come to share their knowledge and experiences.
Structural Measures and Flood Proofing
This component will study the effects of infrastructure (such as reservoirs, embankments and waterways) on flooding, in order to provide guidelines and technical standards to encourage the adoption of good practices. An implementation plan will be developed using a holistic approach giving attention to transboundary issues. Floodproofing measures will be developed and promoted in flood-prone areas as a cost effective means of flood mitigation at local level. There will be emphasis on working in poor communities when considering building design guidelines, financing mechanisms and conducting awareness-raising activities.
Mediation of Transboundary Flood Issues
A Mediation and Coordination Section will be established to facilitate dialogue and resolution of issues on land management and land use planning, infrastructure development and cross-border emergency management of floods. Formalised procedures, norms and rules for mediation and decision-making regarding non-compliance in transboundary flood management issues will be developed, as well as recommendations on water and land use legislation.
Flood Emergency Management Strengthening
The component will ensure the improvement of existing Emergency Management Systems in riparian countries to deal with the Mekong Floods more effectively, through capacity building, knowledge sharing and public awareness campaigns at the provincial, district and community levels.
Land Management
The component will address the pressing issues of flood probability assessment techniques, improved land use planning methods and damage-reducing land management policies in order to achieve sustainable natural resource management in the Basin.
The Flood Forecasting and River Monitoring System
The Flood Forecasting and River Monitoring System in the Mekong River Commission has, over the years, been improved to provide timely and accurate river forecasts to its member countries in order to reduce the vulnerability of floods and droughts in the Lower Mekong Basin. During the dry season (November-May), sevenday river monitoring and low flow forecasts are conducted and updated weekly at http://www.mrcmekong.org while during the flood season (June-October) five-day flood forecasts at 21 key stations along the Mekong mainstream are updated on a daily basis. The MRC Forecasting System consists of three main components: data collection and transmission, forecast operation, and forecast dissemination.
Figure 19: An example of flood forecasting
and river monitoring information on the MRC website
Data collected for the operational forecasts are classified into the historical and the operational data. The historical data are updated annually while the operational data are sent by e-mail to MRCS and RFMMC daily in the wet season and weekly in dry season. For timely national forecasts, MRCS will forward the operational data to the countries prior to the operation of regional forecasts. Apart from the data received from the countries, weather data/forecasts from various sources, including those from weather satellites and the Thai Meteorological Department, are also used. A variety of forecasting tools are applied for water levels and discharges: the Streamflow Synthesis and Reservoir Regulation model for the upper part of the basin, multiple regression models for the lower reach of the delta with over bank flow, an Artificial Neural Network model for both, upper and lower reaches, and the ISIS software for flood mapping in Mekong Delta. Forecast products, including water level forecast bulletins, are published on the MRC website and disseminated to the National Mekong Committees, concerned line agencies, National Disaster Management Committees and other interested parties by e-mail.
The existing MRC Forecasting System was deemed adequate in the past. However, rapid population growth in the region, intensification of agriculture, climate change, changes in land use and river morphology, and rapid technology development makes it imperative that the system be upgraded, and a forecasting system, based on modern technology combined with a more effective warning system, be installed. Improvement of flood forecasting operations requires continuous efforts in many fields, including the river monitoring network, data collection, transmission and processing; and development of advanced forecasting techniques, the communication network and assessment of forecasts. To improve the river monitoring network, data collection and transmission system, the hydro-meteorological network is in the process of being rehabilitated and upgraded to provide more timely and accurate data.
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