Progress Report No1
Mekong River Commission
Hydrological, Environmental and Socio-Economic Modelling
Tools for the Lower Mekong Basin Impact Assessment
Water Utilisation Programme
WUP-FIN Phase II
Working Paper No.3 – Lao Applications
July 2005
Juha Sarkkula, Jorma Koponen, Marko Keskinen, Matti Kummu, Mira Käkönen, Hannu
Lauri, Jussi Nikula, Olli Varis, Noora Veijalainen, and Markku Virtanen
Finnish Environment Institute
Mechelininkatu 34a
00260 Helsinki
Finland
Tel: +358-9-403 000
Fax: +358-9-40300 390
www.environment.fi/syke
juha.sarkkula@environment.fi
www.eia.fi/wup-fin
EIA Ltd.
Tekniikantie 21 B
02150 Espoo
Finland
Tel: +358-9-7001 8680
Fax: +358-9-7001 8682
www.eia.fi
jorma.koponen@eia.fi
Helsinki University of Technology
Water Resources Laboratory
Tietotie 1E
02150 Espoo, Finland
Tel: +358-9-451 3821
Fax: +358-9-451 3856
www.water.hut.fi/wr
marko.keskinen@hut.fi
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Lower Mekong Basin modelling project, Mekong River Commission
The opinions and interpretations expressed within are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Mekong River Commission.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................. 3
TABLE OF FIGURES AND TABLES ............................................................................. 3
1
PROJECT OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................ 5
1.1 OBJECTIVES OF WUP-FIN PHASE II...................................................................... 5
1.2 MAIN TASKS OF THE PROJECT ............................................................................... 6
2
BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................... 8
3
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS ..................................................................... 9
4
DATA AND DATA COLLECTION......................................................................... 11
5
MODEL SETUP ..................................................................................................... 15
5.1 MODEL PURPOSE AND JUSTIFICATION ................................................................. 15
5.2 MODEL COVERAGE ............................................................................................. 15
5.3 GRID SPECIFICATIONS ........................................................................................ 15
5.4 MODEL PARAMETERS ......................................................................................... 17
5.5 INPUT DATA ........................................................................................................ 18
5.6 COMPUTATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS ................................................................... 18
5.7 STATUS OF THE APPLICATION AND FUTURE WORK PLAN ....................................... 18
6
SOCIO-ECONOMIC STUDIES AND PLANS ....................................................... 19
7
TRAINING (CORE TEAM, ON-THE-JOB, UNIVERSITY, RESEARCH SUPPORT)
............................................................................................................................... 20
APPENDIX A: PUBLICATIONS, REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS ...................... 22
PUBLICATIONS ............................................................................................................. 22
REPORTS..................................................................................................................... 23
PRESENTATIONS .......................................................................................................... 23
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 25
TABLE OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1.
Mekong Hydrographic atlas for Vientiane area. ........................................ 12
Figure 2.
Vientiane pilot model: grid elevations with a nested high resolution
model. ........................................................................................................ 16
Figure 3.
Pilot model for sub-part of the model area. ............................................... 16
Figure 4.
Part of the 50 m Vientiane grid. ................................................................. 17
Figure 5. Calculated flow field with the 50 m grid. ........................................................ 17
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Lower Mekong Basin modelling project, Mekong River Commission
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1 PROJECT OBJECTIVES
1.1 OBJECTIVES OF WUP-FIN PHASE II
The Finnish Environment Institute, in consortium with the Environmental Impact
Assessment Centre of Finland and the Helsinki University of Technology, contracted
by the Mekong River Commission (MRC), is carrying out a project entitled Hydrological,
Environmental and Socio-Economic Modelling Tools for the Lower Mekong Basin
Impact Assessment. The project, also called the WUP-FIN Phase 2 Project, builds on
past work, WUP-FIN Phase 1, completed by the same Finnish research team. WUPFIN project is a complementary project for the MRC Water Utilization Programme
(WUP).
The WUP-FIN Phase 2 Project will provide additional modelling tools, data, and
training for the MRCS and the riparian National Mekong Committees (NMCs), line
agencies and universities.
This research will be useful for several related MRC Programmes which are identified
in the report. In addition, the research team strives to share data and conclusions with
other related projects and plans.
The main objectives of the WUP-FIN Phase 2 Project are:
1. To complement the MRC Decision Support Framework (DSF) with WUP-FIN
modelling tools to improve its hydrological, environmental and socio-economic
impact assessment capabilities.
2. To provide technical support to the MRC programme activities, in particular the
Basin Development Plan (BDP) and Rule Formulation, by using the WUP-FIN
modelling tools for:
o Negotiating flow rules and equitable water utilization among the
riparian countries (IBFM, WUP, EP)
o Estimating environmental and socio-economic consequences of
development scenarios (BDP), sustainable maintenance of fisheries
(FP) and navigational planning and impact assessment (NP)
3. To build capacity at the MRCS, the NMCs, related line agencies and other
institutions to achieve sustainable use of the WUP-FIN modelling and impact
assessment tools.
The project will focus on target areas in the following locations:
 Lao PDR—The project will develop an advanced modelling tool to analyze river
bank erosion processes and causes, focusing on the Vientiane area in Lao
PDR
 Thailand—The Nam Songkhram watershed for simulation of hydrological
processes and estimation of environmental and socio-economic impacts of
development scenarios
 Cambodia—Research will be undertaken to further understand processes in
the Tonle Sap Lake and its impact on the region as well as the vulnerability of
its ecosystem and biological productivity to developments in the upstream
basin. Specific model will be constructed for the Chaktomuk area and
Cambodian floodplains
 Vietnam—WUP-FIN models will be applied to the Mekong Delta to enhance
understanding of the complex hydrological, ecosystem and socio-economic
processes and understand how conflicting water needs can be met. Mekong
Delta model will be combined with the Cambodian floodplain and Tonle Sap
models
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Lower Mekong Basin modelling project, Mekong River Commission
1.2 MAIN TASKS OF THE PROJECT
Task 1.1: Creation of a field measurements database for modelling
Additional data collection strives to complement the flow, salinity, turbidity and
suspended sediments and dissolved oxygen databases in the target geographic areas.
The field measurement activities concentrate on three areas: Vientiane river bank
erosion, Tonle Sap sedimentation and Vietnamese Delta flow, sediments and salinity.
Task 1.2: Database harmonization with the MRCS Geodatabase and DSF
The activities include analysis of MRCS Geodatabase, DSF and WUP-JICA data and
tools, data interfacing and integration with the MRCS Geodatabase and guaranteeing
easy access to the WUP-FIN models for the users as well as provision of WUP-FIN
hydrological, water quality, ecological and socio-economic data import system to the
MRCS Geodatabase.
Task 1.3: Creation of a set of tools for impact assessment of the Lower Mekong
Activities include development of a hybrid 1D/2D/3D channel model integrating river
and irrigation channels and control structures (gates, dikes, reservoirs etc.) and
combination of the channel model with the 2D/3D model for floodplains, lakes,
reservoirs and the coast. Further developments include a small scale channel
hydrodynamics and storage model that is relevant especially for the Delta conditions
and integration of the Lower Mekong sub-models (Tonle Sap, Cambodian floodplains,
Delta).
Task 1.4: Development of Lower Mekong sediment model
The activities comprise implementation of sediment transport in the hybrid 1D/2D/3D
channel model, development of a bed load model as part of the hybrid model and
description of different sediment fractions. The main target area for the sediment
model development and application will be Vientiane, focusing on 3D river bank
erosion modelling. The transport/ sedimentation/ erosion model will be applied also in
Tonle Sap and Chaktomuk area and in the Vietnam delta
Task 2.1: Technical advice and support to the MRC programmes and projects
The project will provide technical assistance for the Integrated Basin Flow
Management (IBFM) by assisting in defining acceptable Tonle Sap reverse flow and
acceptable minimum and maximum flows (Article 6). It offers support in developing
holistic approach for assessing ecological, economic and social consequences of
particular flow regimes. The project provides technical assistance for the Basin
Development Plan (BDP) in sub-area analyses and forum process and in development
scenario impact assessment. Socio-economic field surveys as well as diagnosis and
policy recommendations studies will be performed in the Mekong Delta and other
possible hotspot areas. An approach will be developed to integrate socio-economic
data with hydrological and environmental information, applied in first place on Tonle
Sap area. Advanced Policy Models for the hotspot areas (Tonle Sap, Mekong Delta)
as well as for the entire Lower Mekong Basin will be set up.
Task 3.1: Establishing MRCS’ and riparian countries’ capacity to use and
maintain the modelling system
During this project MRCS, NMCs, national agencies, provincial departments and
universities experts will be trained for sustainable use and maintenance of the
modelling tools. Models will be established as everyday tools by cooperating closely
with the MRCS programmes and working groups.
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The main training target groups are:
 The MRCS Modelling Team (Key Modellers and Associated Modellers) as the
principal beneficiaries in the training programme. Training is composed of an
introductory course, training for new developments and on-the-job training with
the WUP-FIN team
 Key National Trainees from the riparian countries and national model users
selected from the NMCs, line agencies and universities. Training will be
implemented by an introductory course and a National Training Workshops in
each country. Core teams will be selected in each country for convening
regularly and participating in model development as well as data acquisition
and review.
 University training will target an interdisciplinary group of university teachers
and students. Training will be arranged in intensive periods in each country.
The trainee group will be collected from relevant universities. The training will
be a lecture course with practical exercises in model use and application. It is
likely that some of the university trainees will join the national core teams for
more advanced model development and application.
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Lower Mekong Basin modelling project, Mekong River Commission
2 BACKGROUND
Many sites in the Mekong River are suffering from bank erosion problems that
endanger nearby settlements and infrastructures. The Vientiane area in Lao PDR has
been identified as a highly critical area and is a trans-boundary issue between Lao
PDR and Thailand. WUP-FIN project will address these problems by developing an
advanced modelling tool for analysing river bank erosion processes and their causes,
whether natural or man-made, upstream or local. The conclusion strives to provide
help in designing bank protection structures.
At the National Consultations the Lao counterpart, similarly to the Thai counterpart,
has emphasized the necessity to cooperate closely with the Thai-Lao Border
Commission responsible for the trans-boundary procedures on the erosion issues. It is
also the custodian of the related data bases.
An important source of information for the project is the work done by the JICA team,
in cooperation with the Waterways Department, where data on the river morphology
and velocities and effectiveness of different bank protection structures have been
gathered.
It has been agreed in the National Consultations that focused socio-economic field
surveys are needed in the area around Vientiane, where the objective is to find out
more information on the possible causes and consequences of localized river bank
erosion. The field surveys should be conducted on both the Thai and Laotian sides of
the Mekong River in a close cooperation with NMCs in order to gain a comprehensive
understanding of the existing situation. (see more below in socio-economic studies and
plans)
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3 INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
At the National Consultations the LNMC has defined the following institutional set-up
for the implementation of the WUP-FIN project
Focal point and coordinator is Lao National Mekong Committee (LNMC)
Counterparts of the project are:

Ministry of Communication, Transport, Post and Construction / Waterways
Administration Division (WAD)

Department of Communication, Transport, Post and Construction of Vientiane
Capital

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry/ Department of Irrigation

National University of Lao PDR (NUoL)

MRCS/TSD
For the actual project work and cooperation with the WUP-FIN team the LNMC has
nominated tentatively the following core team (participants of the introductory training
workshop):
Mr. Kongngeun Chounlamountry
WUP-coordinator
LNMCS
Ms. Sonephet Phosalat
Technical Officer
LNMCS
Mr. Keomany Luanglith
LNMCS
Mr. Somoula Yaphichit
Technical Officer
LNMCS
Mr. Prasit Dimanivong
Technical Officer
WAD/DOR
Ms. Chanthaviphone Soulivanh
Technical Officer
WAD/DOR
Mr. Sompanh Vithaya
Technical Officer
DMH
Mr. Bounseuk Inthapattha
Officer
DMH
Mr. Khamhou Phanthavong
Technical Officer
DOI
Mr Lamphone Dimanivong
Technical Officer
DOE
Mrs. Amphone Vongvixay
Lecturer
NUoL
Mr. Khampasit Thammathevo
Lecturer
NUoL
Mr. Khamseum Soulignamath
Lecturer
NUoL
Mr. Bounthanh Bounvilay
Lecturer
NUoL
Mr. Bounkhong Phomdouangsy
Officer
DCTPC-VTE
Mr. Bouavanh Luangsay
Officer
URI
Mr. Sommano Phounsavath
Officer
LARReC
Mr. Kham Kone
SSLCC
LNMCS
Laos National Mekong Committee
WAD/DOR
Waterways Administration Division / Department of Roads
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Lower Mekong Basin modelling project, Mekong River Commission
DMH
Department of Meteorology and Hydrology
DOI
Department of Irrigation
NUoL
National University of Laos
DCTPC-VTE
Department of Communication, Transport, Post and Construction
of Vientiane Capital
URI
Urban Research Institute
LARReC
Living Aquatic Resources Research Center
SSLCC
Soil Survey and Land Classification Center
It is important that the Laotian core team works in close cooperation with the project
team, participating actively in training and modelling and measurement activities. This
will guarantee proper information dissemination and continuation of established
activities in the future.
The work of the consultant is geared in development and implementation work that
serves both the MRCS needs and the national application. The work directed to the
national application involves planning, model set up, guidance for calibration and
development and scenario work support. The application must get strong local support
in form of work force and data collection. That is why bulk of the model implementation
and calibration and scenario work is done by the MRCS modelling team and by the
national modelling group as part of the training program.
The Expected inputs from the MRCS modelling team and Lao partners

Collection and basic processing of existing data

Active participation in training, field measurements and modelling activities

Scenario modelling

Participation in field measurement data and modelling results processing

Participation in reporting and publication of results
Project resources for the local specific application are quite limited. Because of this,
applications must get strong local support in form of work force and data collection.
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4 DATA AND DATA COLLECTION
Collection of existing data
Identifying and collection of existing data for the Nong Khai – Vientiane model
application and bank erosion study started in September 2004 and is still on-going
process.
At the moment the following data sets have been received:
Mekong River Commission
 River topography from the digital Mekong Hydrographic atlas (Error!
Reference source not found.)
 River bank location from the Mekong Hydrographic atlas in early 1990s
 Hardcopy of old Hydrographic atlas from 1960s
 Digital elevation map for the land area with 50 m resolution from old
topographical maps and new SRTM elevation model with 90 m resolution
Lao PDR
 Historical TSS concentration measurements at Vientiane port
 Daily water level and discharge in Vientiane port
 Bed changes during time have been measured in two projects: JICA (2004)
and bank protection project in 1988
 Aerial photos from 1991 of Mekong around Vientiane and Nong Khai
Thailand
 Daily water level and discharge in Nong Khai
International
 Bank material analysis made by JICA (2004) and Miazawa et al. (2004)
 Bed material analysis made by Miazawa et al. (2004) and JICA (2004)
 Velocity profile measurements on Laos side on three sites done by JICA (2004)
 Analysis of the bank erosion in Vientiane area made by Rutherford and Bishop
(1996) with some mapping comparing the old and new Mekong Hydrographic
Atlas
and the following data sets have been identified but not received:
Mekong River Commission
 Hourly WL data from AHNIP station in Nong Khai
Lao PDR
 Water level at three stations with recording meters were set up by JICA (2004)
 Bank material analysis for Laos’ side by national agencies.
 Soil moisture data (NUoL and WAD are collecting the data)
Thailand
 Historical TSS concentration measurements at Nong Khai
 Depth integrated suspended sediment concentration measurements at Nong
Khai by Nong Khai Hydrological Centre
 ADCP measurements on Friendship bridge by Nong Khai Hydrological Centre
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Lower Mekong Basin modelling project, Mekong River Commission


Bank material analysis for Thailand side by national agencies
Aerial photos from 1960s of Mekong around Vientiane and Nong Khai.
Figure 1.
Mekong Hydrographic atlas for Vientiane area.
Field measurements
Field Measurements and additional data requests have been planned for supporting
the modelling work and more comprehensive understanding of the bank erosion
process and geomorphological changes.
The following activities have been planned for the field work covering the flood season
of 2005 (May 2005 – April 2006):
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
Lateral (morphological) changes in river bank
o Data: aerial photos (from 1960s (?), 1991, and satellite images
(SPOT5/ICONOS if available) for the Nong Khai - Vientiane area
o Methods: compare the aerial photos and satellite images from different
years with GIS to map and analyse the lateral changes in river bank.
This can then be compared to the analysis made by WAD and JICA
bank protection master plan who have mapped the critically eroded
areas.
o Output: maps and gis-layers of the river bank in different years,
mapping the changes, report

Sediment flux combined with the ADCP measurements
o Data: MRC & other existing TSS data + new measurements together
with MRCS, LNMC, WAD, NUoL, TNMC, and Nong Khai hydrological
centre from two additional places for the Nong Khai measurement
station:
 Vientiane harbour and upstream model boundary
 ADCP runs are coupled with the SSC samples (black dots)
o Methods: using the ADCP, turbidity and sediment sampling to
understand the sediment fluxes in river on Vientiane municipality area
in different seasons. The historical data (SS sampling once a month
from surface layer on the middle of the river) will be used to analyse the
changes in suspended sediment concentrations during the last
decades.
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Progress Report No1
o
Additional:
 particle size distribution in suspended sediment. Equipment:
Technical University of Budapest. Availability of the equipment
will be declared. Other options need to be clarified
 Bed load: possible to do with ADCP coupled with the bed
samples. Other options need to be clarified.

Cross section changes
o Data: existing data from 1988, JICA bank protection project, other (?).
New data will be collected with echo sounder and/or ADCP. Around 8
cross sections will be selected from the model’s upstream boundary to
the friendship bridge. Cross sections will be identified later on together
with MRCS, LNMC, WAD, TNMC, and Nong Khai Hydrological Centre
o Method: comparing the cross-sections before flood, during the flood
and after the flood gives good understanding of the dynamics of the
changes in bed level and bank erosion. Intended months to do the
survey (flood season may 2005-april 2006) are
 May, July, August, September, October, December, February,
April

Longitudinal changes
o Data will be collected with echo sounder and/or ADCP. Measurement
work for longitudinal sections will be done in cooperation with MRCS,
LNMC, WAD, TNMC, and Nong Khai Hydrological Centre
o Method: Comparing the changes in longitudinal section from model
upper boundary to the Friendship Bridge will enhance the
understanding of the longitudinal changes over one flood season in the
Vientiane area. Intended months to do the survey are
 May, September, December, April

Bathymetry of the river
o Data: Existing bathymetry data is limited for some parts of the Mekong
stretch around Vientiane. Especially the higher areas of river bed, as
sand bars which are inundated during the wet-season but visible during
the dry-season, are not well mapped. Thus, new survey is needed to
complement the existing information to be sufficient for the modelling
purposes.
o Method: using echo sounder/ADCP to enhance the bathymetry map for
areas where it is needed. Will be clarified later on together with MRCS,
LNMC, WAD, TNMC, and Nong Khai Hydrological Centre.

Material analysis in river bed and bank
o Data: existing data have to be collected and analysed (soil type, grain
size analysis, etc). After identifying the gaps, the needed samples have
to be taken in both sides of the river.

Bank profile and landuse
o Slope profile/gradient
o Landuse on river bank

Recording current meter
o Method: Using the RM9 recording current meter the short term
fluctuation in flow speed can be measured. WUP-FIN has 2
equipments. Difficulty to put into the practice: find a proper place to setup the velocity meter. Possible places need to be clarified together with
MRCS, LNMC, WAD, TNMC, and Nong Khai Hydrological Centre.
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Lower Mekong Basin modelling project, Mekong River Commission
Immediate steps
In order to start the cooperation on the Nong Khai- Vientiane erosion study the
following steps need to be made by the Thai counterpart organisation and nomination
of the counterpart core team for cooperating in
a) data acquisition and processing
b) additional data collection
c) model development and application
d) training
The organisation of the cooperation practice and the training programme are of key
importance for fluent proceeding of the data issues and modelling. The above
thematic elements are interlinked and comprise of technical cooperation and training
elements. For fluent cooperation, the programme is proposed to be composed of a
start-up meeting at Nong Khai Hydrological Centre and regular follow-up meetings
(frequency once in 1-2 months). The actual work could proceed by web-based
communication for performing the individual tasks between the group meetings, as
defined and agreed at the meetings.
Remaining challenges in the work and data collection, which are not planned, are to

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Understand the impact of the ground water for the bank erosion
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Progress Report No1
5 MODEL SETUP
5.1 MODEL PURPOSE AND JUSTIFICATION
The Lao PDR partners have indicated that the Mekong river bank erosion is a national
priority. There are indications that at least the spatial extension of bank erosion has
increased manifold (JICA 200x). On the other hand there are expert evaluations that
propose that the bank erosion at least near Vientiane is a natural phenomenon (199x).
There are a number of factors that may contribute to the potential increase of the bank
erosion:
 the sand mining in both sides of the river and accompanying road construction
blocking the natural flow
 river protection constructions, especially those reaching far from the shore
 changes in upstream sediment input which changes the balance between
sedimentation and erosion causing decreasing net sedimentation
 increased water level fluctuations caused by land use changes (deforestation)
and large reservoir regulation
 changes in hydrological conditions altering the groundwater seepage.
It is nearly impossible to analyze these factors separately and quantitatively without
modelling tools.
The expected results of the modelling work are 1) clarification and better
understanding of the erosion processes, 2) understanding the role of man in potentially
increased erosion, 3) estimates of the changes in erosion potential for different future
scenarios, and 4) recommendations for erosion mitigation measures. If proven reliable
the information can be used in the trans-boundary negotiations to create common
ground and mutual understanding of the basic issues.
The bank erosion is tied with the river channel evolution. The flow velocities (direct
shear stress), bed erosion and sedimentation and water level fluctuations determine
the bank erosion potential. Because of this it is important to model the whole channel
and not just the banks when studying the bank erosion.
5.2 MODEL COVERAGE
Model area coverage is shown in Figure 1. The model area covers 33.5 km x 21 km
area from upstream Vientiane to Nong Khai downstream. Because of meandering the
river length in this area is approximately 60 km. All of the river banks in this area are
not affected by erosion but there are a number of hot spots along both banks. There
exists a hydrological station in Nong Khai and downstream boundary values can be
obtained from water level and discharge measurements.
5.3 GRID SPECIFICATIONS
The model area has been agreed with both the Lao and Thai counterparts. It poses a
problem because the area is large compared to the required model accuracy. During
the pilot phase of the project various sub-grids were tried to avoid excessive
computation times and yet providing good resolution. Examples of these grids can be
seen in Figure 2 and Figure 3. The sub-model approach has been abandoned because
1) development and maintenance of a large number of individual sub-models is not
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Lower Mekong Basin modelling project, Mekong River Commission
practical, 2) on many occasions the river needs to be studies as a whole and not as
isolated sub-areas, 3) the modelling technique enables fast aggregation of grid cells for
rougher and faster simulations or elimination of other than a focal areas from the
computation – because of this it is more feasible to maintain one high resolution grid
and downgrade when needed from it. The aggregation works by combining 4, 9, 16 etc.
grid cells together and speeds up the calculation by decreasing the number of grid
cells and increasing the time steps.
The final Vientiane model grid size is 50 m (Figure 4). The number of grid cells in the
horizontal plane is 669 x 418, that is approximately 280’000 horizontal grid cells. In the
vertical there are 10 layers. 9 uppermost layers are 1 m thick and the tenth varies
according to the water depth as well as the thickness of the bottom layer varies.
Altogether there are 2’800’000 3D grid points.
16
Figure 2.
model.
Vientiane pilot model: grid elevations with a nested high resolution
Figure 3.
Pilot model for sub-part of the model area.
MRCS/WUP-FIN --- April 2005
Progress Report No1
Figure 4.
Part of the 50 m Vientiane grid.
5.4 MODEL PARAMETERS
The Vientiane model parameters are:
1) flow related physical parameters (3D flow, water depth, flooding)
2) suspended solids concentration
3) sedimentation and bed erosion
4) bank erosion.
The model parameters focus on those needed for understanding the processes behind
the bank erosion. An example of the calculated flows is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Calculated flow field with the 50 m grid.
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Lower Mekong Basin modelling project, Mekong River Commission
5.5 INPUT DATA
The sounding data and river bank boundaries from the digitalized Hydrographic Atlas
were used for creating the 3D model grid for Vientiane area. The sounding points in
Hydrographic Atlas tell the depth of the water below the lowest low water level (LLW).
The LLW above the mean sea level (amsl) is marked for each kilometre of the river.
Thus, the bathymetry for the river bed in amsl can be calculated for each point by
using the LLW in question as a reference point. For the floodplains and land area the
SRTM 90 m resolution DEM was used. For the final grid these two datasets were
combined.
Discharge measurements in Vientiane are used as upper boundary conditions for the
model. The rating curve in Friendship Bridge has been used for the downstream
boundary condition. Although the discharge measurement point in Vientiane is some
kilometres downstream from the model’s upper boundary it can describe the flow
accurately enough as there are no big rivers flowing in to Mekong between. The water
level measurements in Vientiane harbour and additional stations set up by JICA (2004)
will be used to calibrate e.g. the friction factors used in the model.
The upstream boundary sediment concentrations have to be estimated from
measurements because there exists no upstream sediment model. Ongoing WUP-FIN
survey program will supplement the existing measurements.
5.6 COMPUTATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Calculation of the Vientiane model takes about 5.8 hours for a month with a ADM 64
bit 2 GHz processor. (An Athlon XP 32 bit 1.73 GHz processor would take almost twice
that time.) A full year simulation would take 70 hours but grid integration would
decrease the computational times sharply. For instance grid integration number 2
would combine 4 horizontal grid cells together throughout the grid and would decrease
the full year calculation time to about 14 hours by decreasing the number of grid cells
and increasing some of the time steps.
The 50 m grid is quite large by any standards. It is even larger than the WUP-FIN
Lower Mekong Basin 1 km grid. Despite the fact that the model process requires over
1 GB of (virtual) memory, swapping to the hard disk is no problem even with a machine
with 500 MB of physical memory. The memory allocation scheme of the compiler and
operating system keep only the most active parts of the program in the physical
memory and thus eliminate largely the need for constant use of the very slow hard disk
based virtual memory.
5.7 STATUS OF THE APPLICATION AND FUTURE WORK PLAN
As concerns the data the model setup is rather clear. Available topographic data has
been integrated in the model as well as the boundary discharge and water level
conditions. The remaining tasks concentrate on processing measurement data for
model calibration and validation and conduction the model calibration and validation.
The Lao Core Team will be the main responsible partner in this task with a strong
support by the WUP-FIN team. The measurement data includes water level, sediment
and flow measurement data.
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6 SOCIO-ECONOMIC STUDIES AND PLANS
Socio-economic analysis of the bank erosion in Vientiane Area was initiated during the
WUP-FIN Introductory Training Workshop in Laos on 8-9 February 2005 where also a
short training session on socio-economic analysis approach and methods was held.
Based on the discussions during and after the workshop, the Lower Mekong Modelling
Project (WUP-FIN) and the Lao National Mekong Committee (LNMC) and its related
line agencies agreed to carry out a focused socio-economic analysis of bank erosion
issues within the Vientiane Municipality Area.
The aim of the socio-economic analysis is to support the WUP-FIN modelling work by
improving the understanding of the impacts, trends and reasons of the bank erosion
process, and to enhance the participation of the local people in the modelling work.
The socio-economic analysis is based on:
1. Meetings and key-informant interviews with the LNMC, WAD and Vientiane
Municipality
2. Village surveys consisting of group discussions in three villages within
Vientiane Area
The key-informant interviews were carried out in two separate occasions on 10
February and on 4 March. A boat trip to study the real impacts of the bank erosion was
carried out by the survey team and WUP-FIN team on March 6, and the village surveys
started on 8 March. The survey team in first survey included three local team members
from LNMC, WAD and Bank Protection Department of Vientiane Municipality as well
as the WUP-FIN Socio-Economist Marko Keskinen, while the latter surveys were
carried out independently by local team members. The draft report from the village
surveys will be ready in April 2005.
www.eia.fi/wup-fin
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Lower Mekong Basin modelling project, Mekong River Commission
7 TRAINING (CORE TEAM, ON-THE-JOB, UNIVERSITY, RESEARCH SUPPORT)
The main training activity in Laos has been the introductory training in Vientiane on 8-9
February 2005. The participants came from national institutes. Main objects of the
training were

share the WUP-FIN Project Phase 1 (Tonle Sap) findings and experience with
the Lao trainees

instruct the Lao trainees to use the WUP-FIN tools

launch the first version of Vientiane sediment transport and bank erosion
model for testing and discuss further cooperation and training in developing
and utilizing the model.
Other training related activities are still under planning stage. Many meetings have
been hold with WAD and NUoL according to training and other project issues as field
work and existing data gathering.
The research support will be identified later.
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model development.
www.eia.fi/wup-fin
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Lower Mekong Basin modelling project, Mekong River Commission
APPENDIX A: PUBLICATIONS, REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS
The following publications, reports and presentations done by the team members are
related to WUP-FIN project phase 2.
PUBLICATIONS
Keskinen, M., 2004. Participatory village surveys in water resources management case from Tonle Sap Lake, 30th WEDC International Conference on People-Centred
Approaches to Water and Environmental Sanitation in Vientiane, Laos, October 2004.
Keskinen, M., 2005. Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of the Mekong Development
– Case Tonle Sap Lake, International Symposium of Role of water sciences in
Transboundary River Basin Management, March 2005. Ubon Ratchatani, Thailand.
Keskinen, M., Makkonen, K. and Varis, O., 2005. The Role of China and Cambodia in
the Mekong Region. In: L. Jansky and M. Nakayama (Editors), Endangered
International Waters: Lessons from Domestic Security Issues. UNU Press.
Keskinen, M., Koponen, J., Kummu, M., Nikula, J. and Sarkkula, J., 2005. Integration
of Socio-economic and Hydrological data in the Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia. In: V.
Kachitvichyanukul, U. Purintrapiban and P. Utayopas (Editors), Proceedings of the
2005 International Conference on Simulation & Modeling, SimMod'05, Bangkok,
Thailand.
Koponen, J., Kummu, M. and Sarkkula, J., 2004. Modelling Tonle Sap Lake
Environmental Change, SIL XXIX International Congress of Limnology, Lahti, Finland.
Kummu, M., Koponen, J. and Sarkkula, J., 2004. Upstream impacts on Lower Mekong
Floodplains: Tonle Sap case study, Proceedings of the International Conference on
“Advances in Integrated Mekong River Management”, Vientiane, Lao PDR.
Kummu, M., Koponen, J. and Sarkkula, J., 2005. Modelling Sediment Transportation in
Tonle Sap Lake for Impact Assessment. In: V. Kachitvichyanukul, U. Purintrapiban and
P. Utayopas (Editors), Proceedings of the 2005 International Conference on Simulation
& Modeling, SimMod'05, Bangkok, Thailand.
Kummu, M., Koponen, J., and Sarkkula, J. 2005. Assessing Impacts of the Mekong
development in the Tonle Sap Lake, International Symposium of Role of water
sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management, March 2005. Ubon Ratchatani,
Thailand.
Sarkkula, J., Kiirikki, M., Koponen, J. and Kummu, M., 2003. Ecosystem processes of
the Tonle Sap Lake, Ecotone II - 1 workshop, Phnom Penh/Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Sarkkula, J., Baran, E., Chheng, P., Keskinen, M., Koponen, J. and Kummu, M., 2004.
Tonle Sap Pulsing System and Fisheries Productivity, SIL XXIX International Congress
of Limnology, Lahti, Finland.
Sarkkula, J., Koponen, J., Kummu, M., Keskinen, M. and Varis, O., 2005. Integrated
modelling for impact assessment in Mekong Delta and Cambodian floodplains,
International Conference on Deltas: Geological modelling and Management, Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam. January, 2005.
Sarkkula, J., Koponen, J. and Kummu, M., 2005. Assessing Impacts of the Mekong
development in the Tonle Sap Lake, International symposium on Role of Water
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Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand.
March, 2005.
van Zalinge, N., Loeung, D., Pengbun, N., Sarkkula, J. and Koponen, J., 2003.
Mekong flood levels and Tonle Sap fish catches, Second International Symposium on
the Management of Large Rivers for Fisheries, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 11-14
February 2003.
Varis, O. & Keskinen, M. 2005. A Bayesian net-work model for intersectorial policy
analysis in the Tonle Sap area, Cambodia. In: Kachitvichyanukul, V., Purintrapiban, U.
& Utayopas, P. (Eds.): Simulation and Modelling: Integrating Sciences and Technology
for Effective Resource Management: 280-288. International Conference on Simulation
and Modelling, January 17-19, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok.
WUP-FIN, 2003. Modelling Tonle Sap for Environmental Impact Assessment and
Management Support. MRCS / WUP-FIN Project, Final Report, Mekong River
Commission, Phnom Penh.
REPORTS
Keskinen, M. and Varis, O., 2004. WUP-FIN Policy Model – Analysing the strategies of
the Tonle Sap Sub-Area Analysis Process. Draft Report, Mekong River Commission,
Water Utilisation Programme Component FIN, Phase 2. Vientiane, Lao PDR.
Keskinen, M., Sambo, Y., Pok, N. and Oeurn, S., 2004. In the bend of the Bassac
River – Participatory village survey in Chheu Khmau Commune, Cambodia. Draft
Report, Mekong River Commission, Water Utilisation Programme Component FIN,
Phase 2. Vientiane, Lao PDR.
Keskinen, M., Sambo, Y., Pok, N, Samon, C. and Kamara Y., 2004. Living in the
Mekong Floodplain – Participatory village survey in Preah Sdach Commune,
Cambodia. Draft Report, Mekong River Commission, Water Utilisation Programme
Component FIN, Phase 2. Vientiane, Lao PDR.
Nikula, J., 2005. Integration of hydrological and socio-economic information in the
Tonle Sap Lake. Draft Report, Mekong River Commission, Water Utilisation
Programme Component FIN, Phase 2. Vientiane, Lao PDR.
WUP-FIN. 2005. Hydrological, Environmental and Socio-Economic Modelling Tools for
the Lower Mekong Basin Impact Assessment: Inception report. Mekong River
Commission, Water Utilisation Programme Component FIN, phase 2. Vientiane, Lao
PDR.
PRESENTATIONS
At International Symposium on Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin
Management in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, March 2005. Socio-Economic Impact
Assessment of the Mekong Development – Case Tonle Sap Lake.
At International Symposium of Role of water sciences in Transboundary River Basin
Management, March 2005. Ubon Ratchatani, Thailand. Assessing Impacts of the
Mekong development in the Tonle Sap Lake.
At International Conference on Simulation & Modeling, SimMod'05, Bangkok, Thailand.
January 2005. A Bayesian net-work model for intersectorial policy analysis in the Tonle
Sap area, Cambodia.
www.eia.fi/wup-fin
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Lower Mekong Basin modelling project, Mekong River Commission
At International Conference on Simulation & Modeling, SimMod'05, Bangkok, Thailand.
January 2005. Integration of Socio-economic and Hydrological data in the Tonle Sap
Lake, Cambodia.
At International Conference on Simulation & Modeling, SimMod'05, Bangkok, Thailand.
January 2005. Modelling Sediment Transportation in Tonle Sap Lake for Impact
Assessment.
At International Conference on Deltas, Geological modelling and Management. Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam. January 2005. Integrated modelling for impact assessment in
Mekong Delta and Cambodian floodplains. Keynote speech.
At Geography seminar series 2004-2005 in Department of Geography, National
University of Singapore. December 2004.Sediment and ecosystem of the Tonle Sap
Lake.
At 30th WEDC International Conference on People-Centred Approaches to Water and
Environmental Sanitation in Vientiane, Laos, October 2004. Participatory village
surveys in water resources management - case from Tonle Sap Lake
At IAG 2nd Yangtze Fluvial Conference, Shanghai, China. June, 2004. Sedimentation
and Mekong Upstream Development: Impacts on the Lower Mekong Basin.
At Computational Earth Science seminar, Finnish IT Centre for Science (CSC), May
2004. Modelling sediment transportation in alluvial system.
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REFERENCES
WUP-FIN, 2003. Modelling Tonle Sap for Environmental Impact Assessment and
Management Support. MRCS / WUP-FIN Project, Final Report, Mekong River
Commission, Phnom Penh.
www.eia.fi/wup-fin
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