Mekong countries seek ways to save lives, reduce damage from floods

A boy carries a plastic bag of water he collected from the Mekong river, in background, near the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, May 18, 2006. He takes the water for household use in his family living on the river bank. The Mekong River Commission on Thursday appealed for financial help from donors to upgrade flood forecasting and warning systems to prevent disaster that struck the four countries along the river several years ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

(Kyodo) - Representatives of Mekong River countries gathered Thursday in Cambodia to consider ways to prevent or minimize human suffering and economic losses caused by floods, especially through implementation of a more efficient flood forecasting system.

The two-day Mekong Flood Forum, which has been held annually since 2002, is being held in the northern town of Siem Reap under the theme "Improving Flood Forecasting and Warning Systems for Flood Management and Mitigation in the Lower Mekong Basin."

"Today, the existing flood forecasting and warning systems in the Mekong River Basin are not yet adequate enough and there is a real and urgent need to improve the quality of flood information available," said Olivier Cogels, head of the Mekong River Commission's secretariat.

Cogels noted that flooding of the mainstream and tributaries of the Mekong River annually causes many deaths and millions of dollars worth of damage to infrastructure, property and agriculture.

"We need to develop professional, high-tech operational solutions to the basin's needs. We need to create a highly efficient flood forecasting system, which must also include the ability to cope with flash floods and which will provide accurate, timely and easily understood data to all those people likely to be affected by floods," he said, adding that it would require "a large investment in human, institutional and technical capacity."

Sin Niny, vice chairman of the Cambodia National Mekong Committee, told participants that for the complex task of flood forecasting and warning to be accomplished, "this requires the compilation of a high quality database with high quality data, competent and qualified human resources, state-of-the-art support tools and models, and appropriate communication technologies for warning dissemination."

The MRC currently issues daily flood forecasts and warnings during the June-November flood season, taking its data from 23 forecast points on the Mekong River system.

Since 2002, the Mekong Flood Forum has become an annual event conducted by the Mekong River Commission and sponsored by the government of the Netherlands.

The forum's more than 100 delegates include those from the four MRC member countries -- Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam -- and their dialogue partners China and Myanmar. Also attending are representatives of international and national organizations involved in flood and drought disaster management.