Background

The Australia-Mekong Water Facility (AMWF) is a new four-year AU$9.86 million Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Greater Mekong Water Resources Program (GMWRP) investment which offers a direct government-to-government line of engagement between Australia and countries in the Mekong region. It aims to augment Australia’s international water diplomacy by providing a responsive, nimble and flexible mechanism for Australia to further enhance existing water-related partnerships with the governments of the Mekong region. The Facility’s geographic focus includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as Yunnan Province in southwest China.

The Facility runs from March 2019 to June 2023 under a Complex Grant Agreement between DFAT GMWRP and eWater Ltd and is managed by AWP from Canberra. It will complement, rather than replace, AWP’s past and present engagement in the region funded out its core grant.

Objectives

By 2023, the Facility is expected to have contributed to:

• strengthening the capacity and resilience of Greater Mekong governments to holistically manage water and respond to challenges posed by climate change;
• promoting higher standards for water infrastructure and water governance in the Greater Mekong region in support of greater water, food and energy security;
• augmenting demand for Australian expertise in water management from Greater Mekong governments; and
• increasing Australia’s influence in the management of the region’s strategic water resources.

The Facility will support Mekong country governments through the following activities:

• Share the Bureau of Meteorology’s experience to upgrade regional water data sharing arrangements;
• Assist Vietnam redesign its policy on charging for water to recover costs;
• Support Laos and Myanmar as each prepare their National Water Resources Management Strategy;
• Continue the Ayeyarwady and Murray-Darling basins’ institutional twinning relationship;
• Partner with Japan and Thailand to promote water-sensitive urban design in Bangkok;
• Establish a new working relationship between Australia’s scientists and China counterparts at Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute (responsible for Yangtze and Mekong) and Wuhan University’s School of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering (heavily engaged in Cambodia irrigation); and
• Other activities as they emerge.

Activities

• Water Data Management – Office of National Water Resources
• Mekong Delta Integrated Climate Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods
• Dam Safety review
• Water Ordering cooperation
• Mekong River Commission socio-economic modelling