IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/cfcp06/124472.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Mekong: Governance Challenges

Author

Listed:
  • Hirsch, Philip

Abstract

The Mekong Basin is rich in water and other resources, and the six countries that share it include some of the world’s poorest on a per capita income basis. They also include some of the world’s fastest growing economies. Two of the countries also have fast growing rural populations. The Mekong is a shared resource. It is shared across borders, among more than 60 million people who live in the basin, between those who live in the basin and others who draw on its resources, between farmers, fishers, power producers, consumers and many others. Water appropriation for human use is currently only about 12 per cent of total flow. Although dams currently regulate only five per cent of the waters in the basin, many large hydropower dams have been proposed or are under construction. Environmental issues include the need to maintain the seasonal water flows that underpin the ecology of Tonle Sap (Great Lake) in Cambodia, the management of flooding, acid sulphate soils and saltwater intrusion in the delta, and the need to control logging and deforestation throughout the basin. Infrastructure projects that isolate the river from its floodplain are of particular concern. The Mekong River Commission, established in 1995, provides a mechanism for shared management of the water resources of the Mekong River. Water is also used and managed at other levels within each riparian country. Governance of water in the Mekong Basin is a key challenge. This paper describes the current and potential uses of water in the Mekong Basin for irrigated agriculture, fish production, the generation of hydropower and environmental services. It examines the effects of current and proposed dams on the natural environment and on the sustainability of agriculture and fisheries. The paper also considers the effectiveness of the Mekong River Commission as an organisation enabling shared management of the basin’s water resources, looking particularly at governance challenges in a transboundary river basin that is subject to heavy development pressures.

Suggested Citation

  • Hirsch, Philip, 2006. "The Mekong: Governance Challenges," 2006: Water for Irrigated Agriculture and the Environment: Finding a Flow for All, 16 August 2006 124472, Crawford Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:cfcp06:124472
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.124472
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/124472/files/Hirsch%202006.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.124472?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Isabelle Huault & V. Perret & S. Charreire-Petit, 2007. "Management," Post-Print halshs-00337676, HAL.
    2. Molle, Francois & Wester, P. & Hirsch, P. & Jensen, J. R. & Murray-Rust, H. & Paranjpye, V. & Pollard, S. & van der Zaag, P., 2007. "River basin development and management," IWMI Books, Reports H040208, International Water Management Institute.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Molle, François & Wester, Philippus & Hirsch, Philip, 2010. "River basin closure: Processes, implications and responses," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(4), pages 569-577, April.
    2. Kuzdas, Christopher & Wiek, Arnim & Warner, Benjamin & Vignola, Raffaele & Morataya, Ricardo, 2015. "Integrated and Participatory Analysis of Water Governance Regimes: The Case of the Costa Rican Dry Tropics," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 254-268.
    3. James Breen & Darragh Clancy & Mary Ryan & M. Wallace, 2010. "Can’t See the Wood for the Trees: The Returns to Farm Forestry in Ireland," Working Papers 1003, Rural Economy and Development Programme,Teagasc.
    4. Alan Gregory, 2011. "The Expected Cost of Equity and the Expected Risk Premium in the UK," Review of Behavioral Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 3(1), pages 1-26, April.
    5. Ana-Maria BERCU, 2014. "Performance Appraisal Of Civil Servants. Sustainability And Development," Proceedings of Administration and Public Management International Conference, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 10(1), pages 35-43, June.
    6. repec:fip:fedhep:y:2013:i:qii:p:30-46:n:vol.37no.2 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Sergio Currarini & Carmen Marchiori & Alessandro Tavoni, 2016. "Network Economics and the Environment: Insights and Perspectives," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(1), pages 159-189, September.
    8. Gedikoglu, Haluk & McCann, Laura M.J. & Artz, Georgeanne M., 2011. "Off-Farm Employment Effects on Adoption of Nutrient Management Practices," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 1-14, August.
    9. Scherrer-Rathje, Maike & Boyle, Todd A. & Deflorin, Patricia, 2009. "Lean, take two! Reflections from the second attempt at lean implementation," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 79-88.
    10. Shachmurove, Yochanan & Vulanovic, Milos, 2013. "SPACs in Shipping," EconStor Preprints 88633, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    11. Benmelech, Efraim & Dlugosz, Jennifer, 2009. "The alchemy of CDO credit ratings," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(5), pages 617-634, July.
    12. Farrell, Terence C., 2008. "An Economic Evaluation of Conservation Farming Practices for the Central West of NSW," 2008 Conference (52nd), February 5-8, 2008, Canberra, Australia 6177, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    13. Felipe Jiménez & Wilmar Cabrera-Montiel, 2014. "System for Road Vehicle Energy Optimization Using Real Time Road and Traffic Information," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-23, June.
    14. Agata Mesjasz-Lech, 2009. "Selected Problems Of Reverse Logistics In Poland," Advanced Logistic systems, University of Miskolc, Department of Material Handling and Logistics, vol. 3(1), pages 181-190, December.
    15. J�r�me Massiani, Giovanni Santoro, 2012. "The relevance of the concept of capacity for the management of a tourist destination: theory and application to tourism management in Venice," RIEDS - Rivista Italiana di Economia, Demografia e Statistica - The Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies, SIEDS Societa' Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica, vol. 66(2), pages 141-156.
    16. Anuta Porutiu, 2010. "Decision and decision makers," Studies and Scientific Researches. Economics Edition, "Vasile Alecsandri" University of Bacau, Faculty of Economic Sciences, issue 15.
    17. Vassili Joannides & N. Berland, 2008. "Grounded theory: quels usages dans les recherches en contrôle de gestion?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-00676580, HAL.
    18. Lino Cinquini & Andrea Tenucci, 2011. "Management Accounting for Service: A Research Agenda," Working Papers 201102, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa, Istituto di Management.
    19. Cristina Cella & Andrew Ellul & Mariassunta Giannetti, 2013. "Investors' Horizons and the Amplification of Market Shocks," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(7), pages 1607-1648.
    20. Schürg, Carolin V. & Bannier, Christina Evelies, 2015. "Corporate investment, debt and liquidity choices in the light of financial constraints and hedging needs," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 114561, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    21. Christopher H. Herbst & Monique Vledder & Karen Campbell & Mirja Sjöblom & Agnes Soucat, 2011. "The Human Resources for Health Crisis in Zambia : An Outcome of Health Worker Entry, Exit, and Performance within the National Health Labor Market," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 5938.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Resource /Energy Economics and Policy;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:cfcp06:124472. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.crawfordfund.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.