Mekong River Commission

Foreword

 

It is my pleasure to introduce the third Annual Mekong Flood Report, a major output of the Mekong River Commission's Flood Management and Mitigation Programme (FMMP).

This 2007 Annual Flood Report is the second to combine a 'theme' with a review of flood conditions within the Lower Mekong Basin. The 2006 Report focussed upon the flood hydrology of the Mekong mainstream. The theme this year completes the evaluation of the regional flood hydrology by considering it within the major tributary systems, where flash floods are one of the principal natural hazards. As before, the report aims to draw together as much historical information as possible and provide insights into the temporal and geographic nature of the flood phenomenon.

Flash floods have been much in the news in recent years. It is widely held that their incidence and severity is increasing due to regional deforestation and landscape change. This is difficult to prove. The reality is that pressure on land resources and increased economic well being means that an increasing number of people are vulnerable to the hazard and the value of the property and goods exposed to damage and loss is increasing year by year. The socio-economic consequences of floods and flooding is certainly now much higher. The material presented here reveals just how difficult it is to forecast flash floods and underscores the need for continued research and planning if losses and damage are to be contained. Another justification for the assessment of the flood hydrology of the Mekong tributaries is the accelerating pace of water resources development within their catchments, particularly with regard to hydropower. The associated dams and other structures require the estimation of design floods for spillways and other river works. Here a regional procedure is presented which enables such estimates to be made based upon several hundred station-years of hydrological data, thereby improving upon many current practises. In so doing the 'theme' material becomes of real value to design engineers.

The four country reports from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam are summarised to reveal the extent of national loss and damage during the year. This information that in time will accumulate as key reference material.

The report should be seen therefore as a collaborative effort between the Mekong River Commission Secretariat (MRCS) and the riparian countries towards achieving a much better understanding of the nature of the regional flood hazard. The annual 'theme' is formally agreed between the countries and future subjects include the costs and benefits of the annual Mekong flood and the potential impacts of climate change.

Jeremy Bird
Chief Executive Officer
Mekong River commission Secretariat