Bureau of Reclamation Supports Smart Infrastructure for the Mekong in Laos and Vietnam

Written by: Kristine T. Smith

Luang Prabang workshop participants at the Nam Khan 3 Dam Construction Site. Reclamation photo, November 22, 2014.Bureau of Reclamation engineers are using their expertise to support environmental safeguards for infrastructure projects in the Lower Mekong region—through the U.S. Department of the Interior’s International Technical Assistance Program (DOI-ITAP). Reclamation is contributing to a multi-year Smart Infrastructure for the Mekong (SIM) initiative in both Laos and Vietnam. These projects began in fall 2014 and will run through 2016. SIM is funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

There are two projects in Laos. One provides the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) with dam safety training, capacity building, and helps develop dam-safety guidelines to safeguard the health and safety of downstream communities. The other focuses on sediment analysis, developing the professional skillsets of MEM to review sediment analyses, and provides guidance documents for sediment analysis in a series of dam feasibility studies. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have partnered to field multi-agency teams of technical experts in Laos. There are also two projects in Vietnam. One assists the Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in completing a “Study of the Impacts of Mainstream Hydropower on the Mekong River - Mekong Delta Study (MDS),” and the second assists the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Water Resources Division, by improving reservoir safety and climate resilience through technical assistance.

The Smart Infrastructure for the Mekong initiative is an example of how the United States government collaborates across agency lines to encourage sustainable development and water resources management abroad. The initiative provides the United States federal agencies working on this initiative with an opportunity to work together and learn from each other in a unique setting, enhancing the United States’ reputation abroad and providing United States government participants with new insight of how other nations are dealing with water resources management.

United States’ rivers have long been the site of many hydropower installations built decades ago. But the Mekong River is a highly valuable case study for United States government experts who work on hydropower and river basin management, because it allows them to experience hydropower development on a river in real time and the challenges that accompany such development. Competing uses of water, environmental quality, fisheries management, and the intricacies of the water-food-energy nexus are just a few of the challenges United States government representatives can experience up close and in real time.

Dam Safety Inspections and Monitoring Workshop in Laos

Recent SIM activities conducted by DOI-ITAP with Reclamation team members include two engineers from Reclamation’s Instrumentation and Inspections Group, Chris Danley and Jay Stateler, who traveled to Laos from January 14 to 24, 2016, with counterparts from USACE to conduct a five-day workshop for Laos MEM personnel on Dam Safety Inspections and Monitoring. The training assisted MEM with developing technical capabilities to regulate the design, construction and operations of reservoirs, with respect to dam safety in Laos.

Training occurred in Vientiane and Thalat. In Thalat, Reclamation and USACE engineers also inspected Nam Ngum Dam. Reclamation employees detailed in their trip report that the workshop was well-received by MEM, and participants asked questions and held discussions. Workshop participants thought unanimously that carrying out an actual comprehensive dam safety evaluation, assisted by USACE and Reclamation training personnel, is the best next step for this program. Reclamation and USACE members also met with U.S. embassy officials during this trip.

Sedimentation in Rivers and Reservoirs in Laos Training

Reclamation’s Blair Greimann and Kent Collins, both hydraulic engineers with Reclamation, worked with USACE from March 2 to 20, 2015, to conduct three workshops on Basic Sediment Analysis in Laos. Greimann and Collins, along with USACE, provided four days of classroom instruction coupled with a site visit to a hydroelectric dam. The class instruction was followed by two advanced workshops that happened from February 1 to 12, 2016, that focused on advanced analysis of sedimentation in rivers and reservoirs at two locations within Laos. About 50 to 60 people attended the basic and advanced classes.

Reclamation and USACE also collaborated on Reservoir Sedimentation Guidelines for use in the design and management of reservoirs within Laos. The draft guidelines were presented to MEM on February 16, 2016, with the final version transmitted in June 2016. MEM indicated that the guidelines will improve the management of more than 400 dams and reservoirs in Laos.

"There are many challenges faced by Lao Engineers that are different than what we face here,” said Greimann, reflecting on his time in Laos. “The temperate climate combined with steep terrain creates extreme flow and sediment conditions, but even more challenging and different is the speed at which the hydropower development is occurring and opacity of their government policy and the decision making process. I only hope the Lao engineers learned as much from us as we did from them."

Mekong Delta Study Report for Vietnam

At the request of the Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, DOI-ITAP convened a Mekong Delta Study (MDS) review team to review consultant studies of impacts to the Mekong Delta from proposed hydropower development. The Department of the Interior team, which included Reclamation’s Tim Randle, manager of the Sedimentation and Hydraulics Group, worked concurrently with a World Bank review team.

Both the Department of the Interior (DOI) and World Bank teams participated in three workshops that were convened in Vietnam in November 2014, August 2015, and December 2015. The DOI team learned a great deal about the Mekong River and Delta, the linked complexities of resources, and the impacts of hydropower development through participation at the workshops and by reviewing the various draft reports.

Improving Reservoir Safety and Climate Resilience in Vietnam

The Improving Reservoir Safety and Climate Resilience in Vietnam activity provides technical assistance to the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Water Resources Division, to improve the safety and climate resilience of the national system of small- and medium-sized reservoirs it oversees. These workshops included understanding the concept of potential failure modes; understanding classification of dams by hazard potential; utilizing modeling tools to evaluate hydrologic hazards; and understanding tools and techniques for integrated dam safety decision making.

A DOI-ITAP team traveled to Vietnam in July 2016 to conduct two Rapid Dam Safety workshops, one management workshop on July 12 in Hanoi, and one technical workshop from July 14 to 16 in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam. Both workshops had more than 70 participants from more than 20 provinces. According to Reclamation and USACE’s trip report, the workshops were well-received and the participants saw the value in implementing workshop topics within their dam safety program.

“My experience assisting the Vietnamese government has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career,” said Dam Safety Officer Todd Hill of the Mid-Pacific Region, adding that he’s made some very good friends among his Vietnamese counterparts. MARD will shortly submit an additional proposal to the SIM program to continue the dam safety effort through 2018.

For more information about the Smart Infrastructure for the Mekong Initiative, visit: https://www.usaid.gov/asia-regional/fact-sheets/smart-infrastructure-mekong

Salinity control dam on the Mekong River delta channels in Vietnam. This dam was constructed to prevent ocean high tides from introducing salinity upstream. Reclamation photo, November 22, 2014.

Published on November 17, 2016