Myanmar’s National Water Resources Committee (NWRC) has initiated an ambitious, strategic planning project for the Ayeyarwady River Basin in Myanmar. The Decision Support System and Basin Master Plan (DSS/BMP) project aims to deliver a stakeholder-agreed basin development strategy.

Key contributions to the planning process include a State of the Basin Assessment (SOBA). Published in 2018, the SOBA documents the trends and status across a range of social-economic and environmental topics.

This report communicates key insights and methods of the Ayeyarwady Basin Exploratory Scoping Study (BESS) – a project funded by the Australian Water Partnership (AWP) and delivered by AWP Partners – CSIRO, ICEM, eWater and Flow Matters – and Chiang Mai University. It was designed to help bridge between the SOBA, and the multi-stakeholder planning process envisaged in the DSS/BMP project.

BESS offers a bridge by making use of key findings of SOBA, as well as the scientific and grey literature that has accumulated on Myanmar development during the past decade. We demonstrate techniques that may be relevant to participatory strategic planning. A range of Myanmar technical and policy stakeholders participated in two sets of workshops which BESS organised in March and May 2018.

Download At the Heart of Myanmar: Exploring Futures of the Ayeyarwady River System from the AIRBM website.

L-R: David Dreverman (MDBA), Tira Foran (CSIRO), Prof Dr Khin Ni Ni Thein (NWRC), Aye Myat Mon Kyaw (Batch 1 Myanmar YWP), Rory Hunter (AWP) – launching the BESS Report during Myanmar World Water Day, Nay Pyi Taw, 5 March 2019.