Joint MRC- Russia Conference on the Exchange of Experiences in the Sphere of Water Resources Management November 2015, Moscow, Russia Water Quality and Ecological Health Monitoring in the Lower Mekong River Basin Presented by Dr Nguyen Huong Thuy Phan Programme Coordinator, Climate Change and Adaptation Initiative (CCAI) Officer-in-Charge, Environment Programme (EP)

Content  Water quality monitoring (WQM)  Background  Scope  Reporting  Achievements and Outputs  Ecological health monitoring (EHM)  Background  Scope  Reporting  Achievements and Outputs

Background of MRC Water Quality Monitoring  an investigation on the availability of water quality data and recommendation for the establishment of WQM of the Mekong River  1985 – commencement of WQM in Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam  Cambodia joined WQM  :  Addressing the requirements under MRC Procedures for Water Quality (PWQ)  Preparation for Decentralization

Scope of Water Quality Monitoring Number of stations: 48 Parameters to monitor – 12 routine water quality parameters on a monthly basis – 6 major ions monitored in wet season Standard methods for water and wastewater examination Additional problem-oriented studies

Reporting on Water Quality Monitoring Reporting on status of water quality based on different type of use: Protection of Human Health Protection of Aquatic Life, and Agricultural Use Protection of Human Health Acceptability

Achievements and Outputs Water Quality Data stored in the agreed format National Water Quality Data Assessment Reports Regional Water Quality Data Assessment Reports (overall water quality analysis) MRC Report Cards on the Mekong River Water Quality (once every two years) Interactive maps of water quality parameters and indices on MRC Data Portal

Background of MRC Ecological Health Monitoring (EHM) Establishment of the database and seeking for a methodology Delivering the operating contents of EHM programme to the Member Countries Field sampling and analysis 2016 onward – Preparation for decentralization

Regional Workshop on Reporting of EHM 2013 Scope of Ecological Heath Monitoring Spatial scope: totally 41 sampling sites Sampling-survey frequency: Once every another year In dry season Biological indicator groups (4): diatoms, zooplankton, littoral macroinvertebrates, and benthic macroinvertegrates Biometric indicators (4): abundance, richness, site disturbance score (SDS) and average tolerance score per taxon (ATSPT)

Regional Workshop on Reporting of EHM 2013 Achievements and Outputs 8 Regional Reports and Report Cards since 2008, with comparison development from previous 5 years. Four operation tools published/publishing Methodology Handbooks in 4 Riparian languages Identification handbook on benthic invertebrates Identification handbook on Zooplankton (lay-outing, will be in e-copy) Identification handbook on benthic diatom (editing, will be in e-copy)

Thank you!