MRC-MDBC STRATEGIC LIAISON PROGRAM BASIN DEVELOPMENT PLANNING TRAINING MODULE 2 APPLICATION OF BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES Phnom Penh January 2003 Basin Planning Principles

The Rules of Success in Basin Management BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES The Rules of Success in Basin Management Basin agreements survive and succeed when they support ‘mutual self-interest’ Sovereign rights are a vital matter, and must be respected There is no progress until the most reluctant partner agrees Progress will stall without mutual trust, respect and confidence

Key Basin Development Planning Terms BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES Key Basin Development Planning Terms Basin assets are natural, social or economic things that have been identified as valued features that should not be harmed. A scenario is a description of a specific set of future events and circumstances. It is not a forecast of the future, but rather is something that is foreseen as being possible. Assessment criteria are tests against which projects and their outcomes can be compared. This comparison shows the extent to which each project will contribute to achieving the objectives of the Mekong Agreement and allows simple ranking of projects.

Basin Planning in a Nutshell

Sub-objectives in Basin Planning

The Need for Sub-objectives BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES The Need for Sub-objectives Objectives or goals drawn from Chapter III of the Basin Agreement are mostly high-level and too broad to easily analyse and quantify. For example, in Article 1 there is an objective “…to minimise the harmful effects that might result from natural occurrences and man-made activities.” This needs breaking down to specific objectives about flooding, water extractions, pollution and so forth. Then further to: Detailed, measurable sub-objectives.

Assessment Criteria (tests)

The Need for Assessment Criteria BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES The Need for Assessment Criteria The two key BDP questions: –Which development proposals are acceptable and which are unacceptable? –Which acceptable proposals are “better” than other acceptable proposals? can only be answered when outcomes are tested against basin objectives. A set of assessment criteria will be used to evaluate the extent to which each development scenario (a set of projects) meets the objectives of the Mekong Agreement.

Sub-objectives and Assessment Criteria Must Link Back to the Basin Agreement BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES Sub-objectives and Assessment Criteria Must Link Back to the Basin Agreement

Selecting Projects for BDP

Identification of Development Projects APPLICATION OF BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES Identification of Development Projects This is a process still to be finalised, as initial BDP attention is focussed on gaining a fundamental understanding of basin issues through sub-area analysis, and now on creating a development assessment framework. In the meantime, already identified projects from national development plans, previous MRC development studies and so forth can be used to initialise trials of planning processes. ‘Projects’ may include measures other than capital infrastructure projects.

Testing Outcomes Against Criteria

Scenario-based Planning Applied to BDP BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES Scenario-based Planning Applied to BDP Scenarios in BDP will used to study the results (benefits and impacts) of: –Events we think will happen anyway (eg population growth, urbanisation etc) –Events that might happen (We can generally think of these as ‘risks’) –Events that we can make happen - such as creating development, building new structures, and operating existing structures. These studies will enable comparisons of the merits of possible water-based developments.

Scenario-Based Planning BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES Scenario-Based Planning

Formulating Assessment Criteria is not Easy BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES Formulating Assessment Criteria is not Easy Criteria, in effect, define limits to development and therefore need to be “owned” by stakeholders. Hence it is expected that developing a set of acceptable assessment criteria will be a lengthy process, with significant consultation within the “internal stakeholders” or “MRC family”. Criteria should ideally be limited only to those that are both necessary and sufficient to: –Ensure the objectives of the Mekong Agreement and the Mission of the MRC are progressed; and to –Enable the relative merits of development scenarios (options) to be adequately differentiated.

Trade-offs Always Exist BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES Trade-offs Always Exist Water is finite! (Dublin Principle No 1) This means that : Every extraction of water changes the downstream flow (which in turn alters the conditions downstream); and There is an opportunity cost. (This water cannot be used anywhere else). Simulation modelling and scenario analysis is needed to determine whether these trade-offs are acceptable.

Basin Planning is not Project Planning BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES Basin Planning is not Project Planning Scenario assessment criteria are not those that may later be used (either by riparians or MRC acting together) to select specific development that will actually be commissioned. Before any development can actually start (even though it ranks highly against the assessment criteria) it will be necessary to build a detailed business case for the development. Preparation of such a business case is external to the Basin Development Plan.

Planning Skills and Judgement come from Actual ‘Hands-on’ Experience BASIN PLANNING PRINCIPLES Planning Skills and Judgement come from Actual ‘Hands-on’ Experience Basin planning is a very practical activity. Simulation models do not always produce the results which the planners might anticipate: –projects turn out to have unexpected outcomes, –the river does not behave as you might imagine, and –the assessment criteria might turn out to be of little help in ranking projects. You will not discover this until you actually do some model runs. “Learn by doing”