MEKONG COMMITTEE HISTORY AND LESSONS FOR RIVER BASIN DEVELOPMENT

One of the notable programmes in international cooperation in river basin development has been conducted in the Lower Mekong River Basin. Since its creation in 1957 the United Nations-sponsored Mekong Committee has been coordinating water resource development among the Lower Basin nations of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. The region has undergone several environmental, political, and economic changes, yet the Mekong Committee has persisted and made several important contributions to regional water development. This paper examines the history of the Mekong Committee in the light of the constraints imposed upon it, and prepress made in spite of constraints. It is argued that these constraints, in some ways, have been a blessing for regional water development. General principles from the Mekong of interest to geographers and others involved in river basin planning and water resources research are also discussed.