(Vientiane Times) The Minister for Water Resources and Environment has warned that water scarcity and competition for the resource is likely to increase due to the country’s continuing development.

Mrs Khempheng Pholsena was speaking at a sub-sector working group meeting on water resources and the environment in Vientiane yesterday which was also attended by development partners of Laos.

“As continued development takes place in all areas in Laos, increasing scarcity and competition for water can be expected,” she said.

“Increasing impacts of development on water quality and on human health and the natural environment will also take place. Finally, flood and drought can have serious negative impacts and may, in fact, increase as climate change takes place.”

Mrs Khempheng said Laos has a rich endowment of water resources. Those resources, combined with the topography of Laos, provide great potential for hydropower development, an important part of the country’s national socio-economic development strategy.

Water resources are also valuable for other economic sectors such as agriculture, rural and urban development, fisheries, tourism, mining, industry and transportation. But increasing development in these sectors could affect water resources, including water quality, leading to a need to address the issue to ensure sustainable human livelihoods, biodiversity and environmental development.

Mrs Khempheng said management of water resources in Laos has not matched the rapid growth of development despite the government’s efforts to develop laws and regulations relating to the issue.

“On the other hand, we still need broader public awareness to build understanding of the significance of effectively
managing water resources in an integrated manner,” she said.

A Prime Ministerial Decree on the establishment and activities of the River Basin Committee was issued last month. The decree includes Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) principles to be applied to water resources management at the river basin level.

Mrs Khempheng said Laos still lacks legal documents to serve as a reference and framework to implement policies and plans. In addition, capacity is still limited in ensuring the uniformity of water resources management in response to development in the future.

Yesterday’s meeting aimed to consult and exchange views with development partners on the draft national water resources policy, strategy and action plan for 2011-15, and discuss progress on the implementation of the river basin committee decree as well as the funding needs of the IWRM programme. The national water resources policy would guide amendments to the law on water and water resources and other legislation.

The first national water resources strategy and action plan for 2011-15 has been prepared in parallel with policy to ensure water resources management keeps pace with development growth.