GWP Myanmar (MmWP) held a Workshop on Integrated Flood Management in Bago River Basin at the time of Climate Change on 3rd August 2015 at Irrigation Technology Center, Bago.
Bago River situated in the Bago Region has occurred frequent flooding in the rainy season especially in July and August. The occurrence of flooding in recent period is more prominent due to the impact of climate change. Although certain activities of structure measure have been done to prevent flooding, there has been necessary to introduce non-structure measure approach to combat the flood disaster.
In this workshop, it is intended to organize multi-stakeholders from the Bago River Basin to discuss Integrated Flood Management and adopt this approach to sustain the livelihood and socio economic conditions of the people who are residing in this river basin. The dialogue was organized by MmWP and Irrigation Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of the Union of Myanmar with sponsorship support from GWP SEA.

In conjunction with World Water Day 2015, the Global Environment Centre (GEC) – a GWP Partner in Malaysia – organized “Water Play” under the Water Conservation Programme for schools in Malaysia, also known as the Dr. H20 project.

CamboWP (Cambodia Water Partnership) was executing in 2014 the Project: “4Ps Area acknowledged by the policy makers’ level to support water security policy in the Mekong Basin of Cambodia”, under WACDEP #2: WP 2: National Development and Sector Plans. The project reviewed existing water policies and interventions and supported for an update of them with water security and climate resilience planning and for bringing them into account in the national development planning and decision making processes. The project provided decision makers and policy manager with overview of the basic knowledge and experiences as well as recommendations found by the project that supported them in developing, reviewing and implementing water and related policies, strategies and regulations in the whole country.

SRI is as a set crop management practices for raising the productivity of irrigated rice by changing the management of plants, soil, water and nutrients. One of the important treatments of SRI is that standing water is not essential anymore instead the soil is kept just fairly wet and thus creating aerobic-anaerobic conditions during the cultivation period. This treatment gives distinct behaviors of water regimes allowing more proliferation of roots and the most important is capable to enhance the activities of soil micro-organisms.

Under Water and Climate Development Programme (WACDEP), Myanmar WACDEP activity title is Development of the National Water Policy and Water Law with Integrating Water Security and Climate Resilience Aspects into Investment Planning and Decision making Process. Its goal is to point out the integration of water security and climate resilience aspects to be included in the national water policy and water law. With aiming the goal of the activity, the works have been initiated with making two assessment studies, such as, Assessment of the National Water Policy of Myanmar (NWPM) and Assessment of the Current Situation of Water Security and Climate Resilience Aspects in Myanmar. After that identification of these aspects to be integrated in NWPM, how to implement the integration process by means of consultative meeting which will be held among multi-stakeholders from water sector. Finally selecting and prioritizing the action plans for integrating water security and climate resilience aspects into the NWPM.

Malaysian Water Partnership, in collaboration with the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (DID), conducted the Stakeholder Forum for Incorporating Climate Resilience in the National Water Resources Policy Action Plans on the 27th and 28th of October 2014. This activity was a response to the launch of Malaysia’s National Water Resources Policy on 24 March 2012 which recognized climate change as an important issue to be addressed in the policy formulation. This forum was attended by 90 people from 40 institutions.

Water resources are sensitive to variation in climatic pattern. Climate change is likely to intensify extreme weather event including droughts, floods and tropical storms. It is a fact in Indonesia that sustainability of freshwater is already threatened by severe watershed degradation, pollution, and over-allocation. Furthermore climate change will aggravate these threats to a point of irreversibility if no counter measures.

The capacity needs for youth on IWRM in Lao PDR is strongly needed to advocate the knowledge and skills which they can further support and disseminate among their specific groups in the schools, universities and communities. Youth has more creative ideas and lots of activities related to environmental protection as well as some of water protection – water saving campaign, etc.

The government of Lao PDR is working very constructively to improve the water resources planning and management system in Lao PDR especially in the formal higher education system.

Through the Lao Water Partnership, Mr. Chanthanet Boualapha, Director General of Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment who acts as chairperson of Lao Water Partnership opened the consultation on mainstreaming the IWRM in the formal higher education system. He expressed on the important of IWRM progress and application in Laos context for a decade as well as capacity building on this field. He also addressed the importance of the strengthening the local capacity in the whole country for IWRM decentralization and human resource development including emphasizing on integration and mainstreaming IWRM /IRBM approach into education system in each level.

In 2014 GWP Philippines carried out advocacy work to promote Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), targeting the youth and local government officials and other concerned stakeholders.