Negotiating flows in the Mekong

Abstract

Negotiating water flows should be an essential part of river basin management in the Mekong Region. Environmental flows, or E-flows, can be an important tool to assist. Central to E-flows is the recognition that ecosystems not only have their own intrinsic value, but also provide humans with essential goods and services. E-flows work concentrates on establishing water flow regimes which recognise ecosystem needs whilst trying to satisfy social and economic demands. Putting E-flows theory into practice requires the integration of a range of disciplines including engineering, law, ecology, economy, hydrology, sociology, political science and communication. This chapter investigates use of E-flows approaches in the Mekong Region. The first case explores the establishment of national constituencies for E-flows. Three subsequent cases have experimented with E-flows to aid river basin management negotiations where, as is usual, there are competing positions, interests, priorities and development objectives. The results from the case studies indicate that the E-flows approach has the potential to contribute more to decision making for improved water governance in the Mekong Region. Show more