Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 5 December 2023 — Cambodia’s top representative to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) has called for the region to improve its forecasting of worsening flood and drought, as well as the advanced warnings to the millions of riverine residents directly harmed by them.

Mr Thor Chetha, the current Chair of the MRC Council, issued his call during a 30 November visit to the MRC Regional Flood and Drought Management Centre, located in his nation’s capital. Chetha praised the Centre, MRC and its four Member Countries – Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam – for the substantial progress in monitoring, forecasting and communicating about Southeast Asia’s most important river, yet urged even greater “collective efforts” to mitigate the flood and drought impact.

Chetha’s own compatriots have been hit hard, as Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake – which is vital for food, fisheries and livelihoods – has dramatically shrunk in recent years due to low Mekong flows. With such impact in mind, he advocated for more timely, accurate information, delivered via advanced technologies and innovation; greater access to this early information for the most vulnerable residents; sharper focus on flood management and protection measures, not just forecasting, especially in residential and economic areas; and tighter cooperation with upstream countries.

“The change in hydrological conditions, flood and drought require our focused attention, closer monitoring and stronger action, with technological innovation and more linkages between the MRC Secretariat and Member Countries,” said Chetha, who’s also Chair of Cambodia’s National Mekong Committee and the Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology. “This Centre’s operational capability should also be further strengthened, in the areas of its expertise and technological innovation.”

In fact, the clock is ticking for more substantive action on this transboundary challenge, as both MRC studies and the UN’s 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment have predicted a future of climbing temperatures, rising sea levels and even drier droughts.

Among the MRC responses, the agency has stepped up efforts to promote data sharing, from the research and content that it creates and disseminates, to broader efforts to redesign the Core River Monitoring Network. The network now generates and shares data that: 1) assesses Basin conditions and region wide trends; 2) monitors operations of water infrastructure projects, including mainstream dams; 3) forecasts flood and drought; and 4) tracks how all this affects the socio-economic conditions of vulnerable people whose livelihood depends on the Mekong.

Chetha’s words were warmly received by the CEO of the MRC Secretariat, Dr Anoulak Kittikhoun. At the recent MRC Council meeting, Kittikhoun had described the five areas of progress for the organization and its members. Information sharing is at the heart of much of it – from the hydrological data that the upstream neighbour, China, now provides to downstream riparians, regarding its dry season water release and withholding, to the increased sharing of operational data by various hydropower projects.

“We embrace your vision for an even more impactful Regional Flood and Drought Management Centre,” Kittikhoun told the Minister. “The MRC will continue to pursue our core principles of knowledge sharing, technological innovation and regional cooperation. That’s the only way we can tackle the challenges ahead.”

 

Note to Editors:

The MRC is an intergovernmental organization established in 1995 to boost regional dialogue and cooperation in the Lower Mekong River Basin. Based on the Mekong Agreement among Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam, the MRC serves as both a regional platform for water diplomacy and a knowledge hub – to manage water resources and support sustainable development of the region.

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