Water Allocation Assessment to support IWRM in the major river basins of Myanmar

215 Pages·2014·9.43 MB·English

W A A
ATER LLOCATION SSESSMENT TO SUPPORT
IWRM M :
IN THE MAJOR RIVER BASINS OF YANMAR

NOW AND IN THE FUTURE
M.Sc. Thesis
R. (Rens) Hasman
7 October 2014 Faculty of Civil Engineering
Cover photo: Fishing family at MoYinGyi Wetland area – facing towards the north, looking at a floodplain of the
Sittaung River – Taken around the end of November, 2013 – Rens Hasman

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W A A
ATER LLOCATION SSESSMENT TO SUPPORT
IWRM M :
IN THE MAJOR RIVER BASINS OF YANMAR

NOW AND IN THE FUTURE
M.Sc. Thesis

Deltares and Delft University of Technology (DUT) were part in the data inventory mission to
Myanmar, September till December 2013. After that, Deltares continued to develop a water
demand and allocation tool (Ribasim) to support the Dutch consortium in setting up an
Integrated Water Resources Management Strategy Plan for the Republic of the Union of
Myanmar, under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2012 between the Dutch
Government and the Ministry of Transport of Myanmar

R. (Rens) Hasman

Committee Members

 prof. dr. ir. Nick van de Giesen (DUT) Student ID: 1504312
 ir. Martine Rutten (DUT)
 ir. Wil van der Krogt (Deltares) Civil Engineering Faculty, Delft
 dr. ir. Kees Sloff (DUT/ Deltares) University of Technology
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“In many parts of the world, water scarcity is increasing and rates of growth in agricultural production have been
slowing. At the same time, climate change is exacerbating risk and unpredictability for farmers, especially for poor
farmers in low-income countries…These interlinked challenges are increasing competition between communities and
countries for scarce water resources, aggravating old security dilemmas, creating new ones and hampering the achievement
of the fundamental human rights to food, water and sanitation.”

- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the World Water day 2014

Photo: MoYingGyi Wetland Area (Bago Division) – Rens Hasman

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Abstract
The opportunities for Myanmar to develop its socioeconomics with foreign investors and relations
after the political isolation over the last decades are growing for the different stakeholders in the
country to exploit the natural resources to country is rich of. These opportunities lead to the strategy
of the government to change from a sectorial oriented to an integrated approach to develop the
country in a sustainable way in a river basin wide vision. The cornerstones of the development of
Myanmar’s economics are the water, energy and food sectors, where all are interlinked and proper
planning is crucial to develop them all in a sustainable way. The development of an Integrated Water
Resources Management (IWRM) Strategy Plan is crucial to integrate the different strategies and
visions of the individual stakeholders into national wide visions and/ or long term strategies.
This study focusses on better understanding of the water resources system (WRS) in both present
and future situation, following the socioeconomic trends found in literature. A water demand and
allocation simulation package (Ribasim) is used to assess the water availability, demand and allocation
for the major river basins in Myanmar, namely the Ayeyarwady, Salween, Sittaung, Bago and Myit Ma
Hka River basins. Ribasim is a zero- dimensional modelling simulation program which is able to
calculate the water demand and allocation over a certain simulation period. The input data for the
models are data collected during a field visit to the involved ministries in Myanmar. Validation of the
following input parameters are recommended to be obtain in the field to increase a better
understanding of the WRS: cropping patterns, efficiency of the irrigation fields, available storage,
actual rainfall and evaporation and operation management rules of multi-purpose dams.
For both the current and most extreme future development in the socioeconomics, the water
utilisation on river basin level is low and is not restricting for the development of the country’s
economy. The utilisation of the available fresh water resources on basin scale is low, with only 4.0%
and 7.4%. This is averaged over the major river basins (Ayeyarwady, Salween, Sittaung, Bago and
Myit Ma Hka), where the agricultural sector accounts for 83% to 88% of the total withdrawal. The
future situation is analysed with different socioeconomic trends as input, affecting the WRS. One of
the major trends is the agricultural sector. The irrigated area is planned to increase with a factor two,
from 1.1 million ha to 2.2 million ha, resulting in an increase of demand of 131%. Developing the
irrigation areas, results in a higher base flow during the dry season. Improving the irrigation scheme
efficiency with 25% on the other hand results in an increase of the cultivated area of 12.5% and 16.7%
respectively for the actual and proposed irrigation area. This results in the decrease of the drained
water and a reduction in the base flow. For developed irrigation areas in the Sittaung, Bago, Myit Ma
Hka and the Ayeyarwady Basins this can become critical for the salinity intrusion in the delta, with
water quality issues as a consequence. . For the production of hydropower this results in a longer
period of time the stored water can be released through the turbine. Multi-purpose reservoirs can
contribute to an integrated and sustainable water management. The water scarcity level assessed on
the local scale for the Magway and Minbu Region in the Central Dry Zone is observed to be severe
(23.5%) for the available storage capacity. In conclusion, involvement of all sectors in the (modelled)
water allocation assessment will increase the understanding and awareness of the WRS for the
stakeholders and benefits to the IWRM process in Myanmar with the objective of an environmental,
social and economical sustainable development of the countries water resources.

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Conversion Table
Length
1 inch (in) 0.0254 m
1 foot (ft) 0.3048 m
1 meter (m) 39.37 inch (m)
1 meter (m) 3.28 feet (ft)
1 square foot (ft2) 0.0929 m2
1 acre 4046.86 m2
1 acre 0.404686 ha

Area
1 square meter (m2) 10.76 square feet (f2)
1 square meter (m2) 0.00024 acres
1 hectare (ha) 2.47 acre
1 square miles (sq-miles) 259 hectare (ha)
1 hectare (ha) 0.003861 square miles (sq-mil)

Volume
1 cubic foot (ft3) 0.0283 m3
1 cubic meter (m3) 35.315 cubic feet (ft3)
1 acre feet 0.0012335 106
1 acre feet 1233500 m3
1 m3 0.000811 Acre feet (Ac-ft)

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Abbreviations, symbols and glossary used in the report and appendices
Ac-ft Acre feet
Aye Ayeyarwady river basin
Bag Bago river basin
d Dam (used in Mastersheet)
D Domestic water use
d/ rr Dam or run of river (unknown) (used in Mastersheet)
Dec decimals
DHPI Department of Hydropower Planning and Implementation, MoE
DMH Department of Meteorology Department – Ministry of Transport
DoI Department of Irrigation, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
DS Dead storage capacity
EFR Environmental Flow Requirement
FC Flood Control
FS Full storage capacity
Ft feet
Ha Hectares
HP Hydropower
I Irrigation
Irrawaddy English name - Ayarwaddy –Used name in report: Ayeyarwady
IWMI International Water Management Institute
IWRM Integrated water resource management
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
LIFT Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund
M meter
Mm3 Million cubic metric meter
MoAI Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
MoE Ministry of Electro Power
MoF Ministry of Forestry
MoT Ministry of Transport
MW Mega Watts
Myi Myit Ma Hka river basin
N Navigation
NEPS National Engineering and Planning Services
o O – other structure (used in Mastersheet)
O&M Operation and Maintenance
OID Object ID
P Pump (used in Mastersheet)
PWS Public water supply
Rp River pump (used in Mastersheet)
rr Run of river (used in Mastersheet)
s Sluice (used in Mastersheet)
S Salt instruction control
Sit Sittaung river basin
Sqr mile Square miles
t Tank (used in Mastersheet)
Thanlwin Salween river – Myanmar name
w Weir (used in Mastersheet)
Yr year
WRUD Water Resources Utilisation Department
AD Agricultural Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation

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