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cooperation from the GMS offers an opportunity for the MRC
to rationalise and phase out its programmatic work in water-
related sectors.
One year after the signing of the 1995 Mekong Agreement,
the MRC began to forge a successful alliance and working
relationship with its Dialogue Partners, the upper ripar-
ian countries, China and Myanmar. Taking a whole-basin
approach through cooperation with the Dialogue Partners
is crucial for the sustainable management of the river basin.
China and Myanmar have demonstrated an increasing
commitment to cooperation, including sharing more data
and information on the status of upstream developments
and joint capacity-building activities. In 2002, the MRC’s
cooperation with China under the Dialogue Partner relation-
ship was strengthened with the signing of a memorandum of
understanding on the provision of daily river flow and rain-
fall data from two monitoring stations in Yunnan Province
during the wet season. These data help improve the MRC’s
regional daily forecast of downstream water levels at key
points on the Mekong River during the flood season. In turn,
the forecasts can help to save lives and reduce damage to
property and crops.
In recent years, the MRC Secretariat has cooperated with
Myanmar in a number of areas, such as improving the MRC’s
hydro-meteorological coverage by exchanging relevant moni-
toring and water-quality data and sharing technical expertise
in flood prevention and management. A number of areas,
such as navigation safety, strategic environmental assess-
ment, and continued sharing of hydro-meteorological data
with Myanmar, have been explored with potential for future
technical cooperation.
Enhanced cooperation with China and Myanmar is crucial
for the sustainable management of the Lancang-Mekong
Basin where flow conditions and sediment delivery down-
stream have already been modified by hydropower and
climate change. Building on the Dialogue Partner arrange-
ment, future cooperation may include institutionalising a
more extensive information sharing system on river flows
and reservoir operations as well as joint technical studies,
state of basin reporting, and experience exchanges in flood
and drought management.
Other stakeholders include development partners that
fund the MRC through technical and financial collaborations
in addition to contributions from the four member states.
Broader stakeholders including academia, media, NGOs and
the private sector have also participated in MRC activities.
The long history of river investigation and planning in
this area, together with recent basin-wide assessments, has
Image: MRC
Weaving fishing nets on the Mekong Delta, Viet Nam