IWRM NEWS OiEAU 2021

17 SUPPORT FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT POLICY IN LAOS Project stakeholders National partner Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in Laos - Department of Water Resources (DWR) Project team Experts: A. Guittard (Regional representative), P. Haener, P. Seguin AELB expert: H. Gilliard AERM expert: D.Bournaud Project leader: R. Boyer Key information Location National scale Nam Sa basin - IWRM pilot Nam Ngum Basin - dam data pilot Key words IWRM – methodology guides - WIS - data sharing - training Objectives At the national level, support public policy for water resources management and water information systems (WIS) At the basin level, involve provincial teams in characterizing and sharing data for planning Implementation schedule 2020-2021: Phase V Project financed by Loire-Bretagne Water Agency Rhine-Meuse Water Agency Outcomes and prospects Main current results Detailed project description Since 2011, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Laos has been collaborating with OiEau, with the technical and financial support of the Loire- Bretagne and Rhine-Meuse Water Agencies. This experience sharing has helped to support the national public policy, in particular with the introduction of the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) concept in the revision of the Lao Law on Water and Water Resources in 2017. The actions of the project include: i) practical training on IWRM principles and particular contents specific to the Lao context (e.g. environmental flow), at both national and pilot basin levels; ii) planning support in the Nam Sa river basin; iii) creation of the WIS called "LaoWIS" and the development of data sharing procedures with the different producers (national, regional and local); iv) combination of the IWRM public policy with the French decentralized cooperation in Laos. Agathe GUITTARD, regional expert « Being based in Laos, I have the chance to work with our partners on site. I can therefore provide them with support in the various activities of the project which reinforce the local policy conducted by the environmental sector.» Organisation of thematic virtual missions and regular follow-up meetings via video-conferences. Set of maps for the characterisation report of the Nam Sa in particular on priority themes (drinking water). Preparation of methodological guides on WIS and LaoWIS user manuals. Focus on For the past few years, Laos has become the "Battery of Southeast Asia". With more than 250 hydropower projects in the country (operational or planned), aquatic ecosystems are more threatened than ever. Currently, there is no specific regulatory method to determine the environmental flow of a river and the DWR, the entity responsible for defining this method, calls upon the expertise of the agencies and OiEau to provide support in this task. Prospects National: At the request of MoNRE, the focus is on the development of the LaoWIS. Targeted methodological support is also being developed (e.g. e-flow). River basins: In parallel with the above-mentioned planning activities, a closer cooperation is being established with NGOs to articulate the territorial scale with that of the Nam Sa basin, promoting the emergence of responses to identified needs at the hydrographic level. Regional: The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the OiEau and the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in 2021 provides for the Lao-WIS experience to be taken into account at the transboundary level, and offers a clear potential for scaling up lessons learned. 19 LAOS