Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management
Background
On 6 November 2015, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Australian Government to facilitate long-term cooperation between the two countries in the field of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM).
The MoU serves to ensure the development of Myanmar’s river basins are managed in accordance with international best-practice. It also recognises the importance of knowledge and information management as critical ingredients for effective IWRM and specifically identifies hydroinformatics and hydro-meteorology as key early enablers of this agenda.
Recognising Australia’s strengths and expertise in these areas, the Government of Myanmar requested support from the Australian Water Partnership to implement river basin planning, and technical and professional capacity building activities as part of the World Bank’s Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management (AIRBM) Project, a five-year US$100 million initiative.
Objectives
The Ayeyarwady is Myanmar’s largest river and most valuable water resource, used for shipping, agriculture, tourism, and to support healthy ecosystems and human life.
Australian Partners are working with Myanmar’s National Water Resources Committee (NWRC), Directorate of Water Resources and Improved River Systems (DWIR), the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH), and the Hydro-Informatics Centre (HIC) under the first two components of AIRBM. Through this work, communities in Myanmar will benefit by learning more about the river and how to use and develop it sustainably.
Activities
Initial projects have contributed to a ‘State of the Basin Assessment’ (SOBA) of the Ayeyarwady River Basin, the first step in setting the foundation for integrated, inclusive and sustainable planning.
Region
South-East Asia
Country
ORIGIN OF DEMAND
Government of Myanmar
STATUS
Active (Dec 2015 – May 2018)