Technical Assistance Consultant’s Report...knowledge on flood management and response (19-20...
Transcript of Technical Assistance Consultant’s Report...knowledge on flood management and response (19-20...
Technical Assistance Consultant’s Report
This consultant’s report does not necessarily reflect the views of ADB or the Government concerned, and ADB and the Government cannot be held liable for its contents.
Project Number: 46231 December 2015
Thailand: Strengthening Integrated Water and Flood Management Implementation (Financed by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction)
Prepared by:
Christopher Wensley
For: Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, Thailand
TA 8267-THA – STRENGTHENING INTEGRATED WATER AND FLOOD
MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION IN THAILAND
Mae Yom Weir, Yom River, Phrae Province
Background
During the last quarter of 2011, Thailand experienced
its worst flooding since 1942. The floods affected
almost 14 million people in 65 of Thailand’s 77
provinces, with widespread damage and loss to
homes, factories, businesses, transport and energy
infrastructure, social service facilities, and crops
and livestock. The total economic damage and loss
caused by the floods is estimated at approximately
$45 billion, with manufacturing experiencing an
estimated $32 billion damage and loss.
Following the floods, the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) assisted the Government to conduct an
international forum to share experience and
knowledge on flood management and response
(19-20 January 2012). ADB has also assisted
the Office of the National Economic and Social
Development Board (NESDB) through a technical
assistance (TA)1 to address key areas of the
government’s Master Plan on Water Resources
Management.2 The TA aimed to reduce damage and
loss from floods, and improve the decision-making
process for integrated water resources management
(IWRM),3 focusing on flood management.
Following the change in Government in early 2014,
the TA approach was adjusted to address priority
aspects of the water sector, including: (1) water
resources management planning and policy; (2)
economic sector analysis; (3) social issues of
public participation and consultation; (4) strategic
environmental assessments (SEAs); and (5)
modeling to inform water resources planning. This
following summarizes the work and recommendations
of TA in each of these areas.
Flooding at Don Muang Airport, October 2011
1. Water Resources Management Planning and
Policy
Thailand was the one of first countries in the
region to adopt the principles of IWRM as a basis
for water management planning. It established the
Department of Water Resources (DWR) in 2000,
and river basin organizations (RBOs) were set up in
2002 to decentralize the basin planning and adopt
river basins as planning units. However, progress
has been slow in achieving IWRM objectives and
approaches. The RBOs have not worked well,
due to a lack of technical, legal and institutional
structures, procedures and tools to enable IWRM
principles to be applied in practice. Provincial water
management plans have been criticized as
“shopping lists” of projects that do not follow IWRM
principles and many local priorities are not included
in central government agency work programs.
1 ADB approved TA 8267-THA (Project no. 46231-001) on 11
December 2012 for $1,500,000, financed under the Japan Fund for
Poverty Reduction.2 The Master Plan was initially approved in January 2012 but
canceled by the new Government in early 2014. A Water Management
Board formed on 4 July 2014 to set a policy framework and prepare
a new water resources management plan. A water resources
management act was approved in principle by the Cabinet in
January 2015, and is being considered by the National Legislative
Council.
3 Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a process
that promotes the coordinated development and management of
water, land and related resources in order to maximise economic
and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising
thesustainability of vital ecosystems.
(Global Water Partnership, 2010)
National workshops4 were held under the ADB TA
to promote awareness and consensus on issues,
tools and processes for improving IWRM in Thailand.
Participants discussed the need for a change in mind-set
in IWRM coordination and to move away from
engineering solutions towards more integrated,
consultative management approaches based on
ecosystems. A key need is a “new vision” for water
in Thailand, that goes beyond the current, somewhat
restricted vision of the water agencies, with greater
attention to the role of water in Thailand’s broader
development agenda. Workshop discussions and
TA activities within the Yom River basin provided
the basis for TA recommendations to strengthen
IWRM and water management. These were
summarized in briefing note for the National
Economic and Social Development Board
(NESDB).5 These cover three sets of issues, at
the national, basin and project level:
� National Policy. Recognizing the multitude
of agencies currently dealing with water
issues, a National Water Resources
Committee or Council (NWRC) should be
established, with legal provisions to act as the
apex water resources body to make strategic,
long term national policies, to coordinate, harmonize
and align sector plans as they relate to water
issues and to act as the link between the national
policy makers and water managers. The
mandates of water-related agencies should be
reviewed and revised to promote sustainability,
optimize synergies, avoid overlaps or grey areas
and align their operations towards a common
goal. NWRC should act as the arbitrator where
there are conflicting sector goals, policies and
decisions to ensure that development can
proceed on a consistent sustainable basis
according to a national water strategy.
� TA involvement in the Mae Ta Sub-basin of the
Yom River Basin highlighted the need to survey
and re-zone degraded National Forest Reserves
to allow for community use and management,
particularly construction of water storage
facilities.
� River Basin Policy. With 25 major river basins
in Thailand, RBOs should be established as
legal entities and empowered by law to formulate
river basin plans, coordinate and vet
development projects to ensure they align with
those plans. The policy and legal framework to
support RBOs should, by including best-practice
IWRM provisions into the proposed new Water
Law, clarify the overall purpose and process of
basin planning, including: (i) roles and
responsibilities of RBOs and other government
agencies; (ii) provide formal requirements for
stakeholder consultation, grievance and dispute
resolution; and (iii) establish mechanisms for
implementation of basin plans. Watershed and
water resources planning should be devolved
to the RBO level, and RBOs should be
adequately funded and provided with technical
support to perform these tasks. An independent
arbitration tribunal should be established to hear
appeals and address stakeholder concerns about
basin plans.
� Membership of river basin and sub-basin
committees (RBCs and SBCs) should be more
balanced and include representatives of all
categories of water users, especially local
villages. Guidelines on best practice for
consultation between stakeholders and all
agencies and levels of government should be
issued, and mandatory requirements defined.
� Where appropriate, Provincial-level Water
Management Centers could be established
following the Phrae model which has been
successful for coordinating management in the
Yom River Basin; these centers should be
adequately staffed and funded.
4 2-3 July 2014 and 15-16 January 2015. The workshops
brought together participants from more than 20 Government
executive bodies, line agencies, provincial authorities, River Ba
sin Committees as well as local stakeholders in the Yom Basin.5 Briefing notes on Recommendations for Reform in the Water
sector -- submission to NESDB (Jan 2015)
Public consultation – Multi-agency Working
Group, established under the TA in the Mae Ta Sub-basin.
� Sustainable funding is also required to continue
to support the multi-agency working group,
established under the TA, in the Mae Ta
Sub-basin as a pilot, bottom-up consultation
mechanism for scaling-up nationwide.
� Project level policy. Procedures, tools and
guidelines for project appraisal, including
economic and poverty analysis and strategic
environmental assessment (SEA), need to be
updated. In particular, NESDB’s project
appraisal manual should more fully reflect
international “good practice” for investment
analysis, and capacity developed for enhanced
economic analysis. A national SEA framework
should also be prepared and adopted by the
Government, including a timeframe, roadmap,
resources to fund its implementation. It should
be reflected in the proposed Water Law and
revised Environmental Protection Law. There
should also be mandatory data sharing data
between government agencies and a review of
existing water and river basin plans for
appropriateness and completeness prior to
implementation.
Flooding adjacent to the Don Muang Tollway, Bangkok, October 2011.
2. Economic Sector Analysis
The TA sponsored two economic analysis
workshops to introduce enhanced socioeconomic
analysis techniques to improve investment
identification, design and evaluation of water
resources management projects. These aimed
to extend socioeconomic analysis beyond that
typically applied to water projects in Thailand.
In the context of improving IWRM practices,
the workshops introduced ‘good practice’
socioeconomic techniques in: sector analysis
(including the role of water markets); environmental
impacts assessment; detailed design considerations
(alternatives, distribution and poverty analyses,
financial/institutional sustainability); consideration
of climate change, and monitoring and evaluation.
Participants in the first workshop6 noted that the
tools and techniques generally were useful and
worthy of promotion, but further capacity building
and training was needed. The workshop was only
able to introduce topics, and more training was
required if techniques were to be more widely
applied in water projects. Guidelines and
manuals for ‘better practice’ would be useful, including
environmental impact evaluation.
Poverty analysis. At the request of the Royal
Irrigation Department (RID), a second workshop
was conducted in June-July 20157 to familiarise
its staff with the application of distribution analysis
and poverty impact ratio (PIR) estimation in project
economic analysis in general, and in water resources
management projects in particular. Case studies
and global policy discussions on water charges and
rice production support were used to familiarize RID
staff with distribution analysis and PIR estimation.
RID appreciate that economic analysis remains
under-employed in application and under-developed
in scope in its operations. Irrigation project
designs and implementation are almost
entirely driven by technical rather than economic
considerations.
6 Economics Workshop (28-29 August 2014)
7 Poverty Impact Ratio Workshop (29 June to 3 July 2015)
Economic pricing is unclear, quantification
of benefit streams are incomplete, and
most economic work is done at the EIA
rather than the appraisal stage. Consultants
are normally engaged to do economic analysis
rather than RID staff, who consequently
lack experience in the application of economic
analysis. RID is keen to improve staff use of and
familiarity with economic analysis in project
analysis.
Yom River, Phrae Province
3. Social Issues of Public Participation and
Consultation
Public participation, especially in IWRM, is
internationally accepted as an integral part of
natural resource management, recognizing
that when stakeholders and beneficiaries are
involved in the design, planning, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of a project, they are more
likely to embrace it as their own. They will likely
support its implementation and help make it a success.
Incorporating local knowledge into project
design positively impacts a project’s overall benefits
compared to its costs.
Several TA workshops were organized in the Yom
River basin8 and the Mae Ta Sub-basin to9 facilitate
public consultation on water resources planning.
Based on this work and international best practice
on IWRM, the TA developed guidelines for public
participation10 intended to capitalize on substantive
public participation and stakeholder engagement in
the design and implementation of water resource
management plans and projects. Checklists provide
a guide for project monitoring and to implement
actions to improve or mitigate any negative
social impacts identified during project design and
planning. Periodic implementation of the
checklists during and after project completion
enables unanticipated impacts to be identified and
mitigated.
A key outcome of consultation in the Mae Ta
sub-basin is that three Sub-Districts are now
actively working together to develop a basin plan
to manage shared water resources. While many
gaps still remain, opportunities to promote public
consultation to formulate sustainable water
resource management plans should continue,
addressing both supply limitations and demands from
various stakeholder groups, and building on Thai and
international experiences.
Local weir at Mae Ta Sub-basin
4. Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs)
During the IWRM workshops, participants highlighted
the need for a national strategic environmental
8 Observation report - Public consultation (Piboon Songkram
Rajaphat University, Pitsanulok Province, 9 September 2014)
9 Prioritizing strategies for IWRM in Mae Ta – Workshop Report
(18-19 March 2015)
10 Public Participation Guidelines and Checklist (June 2015)
assessment (SEA) framework to strengthen the
sustainability of water resource management.11
A workshop on SEA was thus convened and
recommended that a wider and more systematic use
of SEA would be beneficial for Thailand.12 To do this, a
legal framework for SEA is needed. The requirements
for SEA process and supporting tools should be
flexible and non-prescriptive and there should be
a central agency responsible for oversight of the
SEA system.13 Capacity building in SEA concepts
and processes would be required to ensure the
satisfactory implementation of a future SEA system,
and the SEA framework should consider different
options for ensuring the quality of SEA practitioners
and products including registration and certification.
Participants recommended that the Government
should develop a roadmap for development and
implementation of the national SEA framework.
Multiple dimensions of water management on the Chao Phraya River,
Ayudhaya: transport, urban development, tourism and flood
management.
The TA consultants prepared a briefing paper on
SEA14 on options to establish a firm but flexible
Thai SEA system. The paper outlines international
best practice and suggests that a combination
of law and policy should be the basis for a Thai
SEA system. The core process and substantive
requirements of SEA should be set out in legislation, with
flexible additional requirements and expectations, and
guidance, provided through one or more policy
instruments. The guidelines identify 10 important
components of a sustainable Thai SEA framework for
the preparation and adoption of all water resources
and other national development plans (such as
transport and industrial development). Key concepts
include assessment of alternatives, cumulative
effects, definition of roles and responsibilities, public
participation, reviews and appeals, and learning
and adjustment. NESDB has subsequently engaged
consultants to prepare an SEA manual.
5. Modelling to Inform Water Resources Planning
An integrated hydrologic and watershed IWRM
model, drawing on regional modeling experience for
the Mekong River,15 was used to explore various
water management scenarios for the Yom Basin16
The IWRM model, which is freeware and freely
available for use by Thai agencies, incorporates
spatial information on topography, river lines, land
use, irrigation and soils, and uses hydro-
meteorological and historical
11 Strategic assessment or SEA is a planning and decision-making
tool to ensure policies and plans make positive contributions to
sustainability, as well as avoiding or mitigating adverse
environmental, social and economic effects.
12 SEA Workshop- Key findings and recommendations
(13-14 December 2014)
13 National Environment Board and the national Committee for
Sustainable Development could be suitable senior bodies for
oversight of a national SEA system, while NESDB and ONEP
were identified as potential supporting agencies.
14 Briefing notes Establishing a strong and flexible Thai SEA system
- Guidance paper (January 2015)
15 Koponen, J., Lauri, H., Veijalainen, N., and Sarkkula, J. (2010)
HBV and IWRM Watershed Modelling User Guide, MRC Infor
mation and Knowledge management Programme,
DMS – Detailed Modelling Support for the MRC Project,
Available at: www.eia.fi.
16 Yom Basin IWRM Modelling Results Report (9 June 2016)
Table 1: Key Results of the Nine Modeling Scenarios of Yom River Basin
Current Climate
1. Reforestation considerably decreases daily discharge and sediment outflows
2. Improvements in irrigation efficiency increases crop yields for both rice and maize
(due to more water available for irrigation)
3. Construction of two large reservoirs increases both rice and maize production, but indicates that
the reservoirs are not well sized for the planned command areas and crop calendars, and there is no
mitigation of flood peaks
4. Construction of 28 medium-scale reservoirs (which would also require the development of new
command areas) suggests moderate increases in rice and maize production but many of the reservoirs
are not appropriately sized for the planned command areas and this scenario does not mitigate flood flows
5. Combining 28 reservoirs with improvements in irrigation efficiency, increases rice and maize production
further and decreases risk of crop failure
6. Combining soft and hard management (two large - and 28 medium-scale reservoirs, combined with
reforestation and improvements in irrigation efficiency) suggest marked increases in average annual rice
and maize production and decreased flood risk in the basin, although the reservoirs not well designed for
their command areas with the two large reservoirs empty once every two years
Climate Change - increase in wet season and decrease in dry season precipitation, with a year-
round 3°C increase in temperature (projected 2050 climate, assumes worst case IPCC AR4
regional scatter diagrams for SE Asia)
1. Climate change with current management increases wet season discharges and decreases dry season
discharges. Increased seasonal variability of precipitation causes a potential worsening of floods and
short-term dry season droughts. Higher wet season water availability and transpiration increases rice
production moderately, but maize production is less due to its reliance on dry season flows
2. Climate change with construction 28 medium-scale reservoirs mitigates some impacts of climate
change on discharge but seasonal variability may worsen occurrence and duration of floods as well as
risks of short-term drought in the dry season. Annual rice and maize production exhibit limited
increases com pared to the climate change only scenario, due likely to the larger cropping area of rice
and stronger reliance of maize on dry season flows, but modeling indicates that reservoir sizes are not
well matched to their command areas
3. Climate change combined soft and hard management does not significantly alter the mitigation of
climate change impacts on discharge compared to the 28 medium-scale reservoirs, but seasonal variability
may worsen occurrence and duration of floods as well as risks of short-term drought in the dry season.
Significant increases in annual rice production are predicted in response to higher water availability due to
both increased precipitation and reservoir storage volumes, and significant increases in maize production
are predicted due to increases in cropping area and the additional reservoir storage available and improved
irrigation efficiency. The two large reservoirs will empty at least once every four years, and all reservoirs
are not well sized compared to their command areas. As with all other cases, reservoir sedimentation will be
minimal, but reductions in sediment loads may cause increased channel erosion in the Yom Basin and fur
ther downstream