MK3: On optimizing the management of cascades or systems of reservoirs at catchment level

This project is about scaling up to the catchment level the results obtained from optimizing the management of individual reservoirs. As such, it draws on results from MKs 1 and 2. It seeks to understand at the catchment scale the cumulative upstream and downstream consequences of management decisions taken for multiple reservoirs. It includes the study of land degradation and reservoir siltation processes

Creating wetlands within reservoirs

This field trip and feasibility study follows on from an initial concept paper for creating wetlands in reservoirs that have a large draw down. The guiding hypothesis is that such reservoirs often have relatively limited diversity of aquatic habitats and their productivity is limited by the rather barren shoreline areas in the drawdown. The idea of developing permanent wetlands within the drawdown area through the construction of small dykes below the Full Supply Level that would retain water as the water level falls and be recharged with water during the wet season filling of the reservoir. Such created wetlands would contribute to greater habitat diversity and allow areas for fish spawning and growth and hence increase the productivity of the reservoir. Such created wetlands could also be used as more conventional fishponds for enhancing livelihood opportunities

Identifying Ecosystem Services for a Framework of Ecological Importance for Rivers in South East Asia

There are increasing concerns for the ecological health of rivers, and their ability to provide important ecosystem services. Frameworks describing the character and condition of rivers have been developed in many parts of the world but rarely include river ecosystem services. South East Asia is a region with some of the world’s great rivers—Mekong, Salween and Ayeyarwady—running through six different countries, but data on river ecological character and condition is patchy and inconsistent. Development pressures on these rivers has never been higher, and ecosystem services may be lost before being described and valued. The development of a framework of ecological importance is envisaged, which maps out the relative contributions of river reaches to a wide range of ecosystem services. This could be a tool for river basin planning and water resource management, baseline information for impact assessment of infrastructure (for example, hydropower and irrigation), and for protecting ecologically important areas. We asked a diverse group of 109 river basin planners, and water and natural resource management professionals in the region whether a framework of ecological importance would support their activities, and which river ecosystem services are most important to be assessed. Our findings allow prioritisation of river ecosystem services to be assessed and mapped according to importance in different river reaches and sub-basins within the region. The locations of ranked threats and pressures on the river systems allow indication of river health and integrity in these sub-basins. We consider the feasibility of measuring ecosystem services and pressures through the identification of appropriate indicators, methods, and availability of global, regional, and national data