ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA. Representatives from the Mekong River Commission (MeRC) and Taiwan Water Resources Agency (TWRA) visited the National Capital Region office of the Institute for Water Resources (IWR) on 22 August 2016 to discuss opportunities for collaboration between various water management agencies in the Mekong River region and TWRA with members of IWR and its International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM). The discussions focused on themes of flood risk management, transboundary water management issues, water supply, hydropower, sediment management, and collaborative planning techniques.
Members of the Mekong River Commission including Mr. Pham Tuan Phan, Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Dr. Inthavy Akhalath, acting Secretary General of the Lao National Mekong Committee Secretariat (LNMCS), and Dr. Phoumy Vongleck of the Lao Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (LMNRE) joined the discussion, along with Dr. Chien-Hsin Lai, Deputy Director General of the TWRA, and Dr. Song-Yue Yang of the TWRA and Water Resources Planning Institute. The visitors were escorted by Mr. John Emerson of USACE’s Pacific Ocean Division (POD) and Dr. Michelle Haynes of IWR.
During the exchange, Dr. Pham Tuan Phan presented an overview of the Mekong River Commission, and Dr. Song-Yu Yang presented an overview of the agencies and water resources challenges in Taiwan. On behalf of IWR, Director Bob Pietrowsky provided an overview of USACE and IWR water resources programs and capabilities, and programmatic overviews were provided by Ms. Lea Adams, Dr. Hal Cardwell, and Dr. Joe Manous on the Hydrologic Engineer Center (HEC), Collaboration and Public Participation Center for Expertise (CPCX), and ICIWaRM, respectively. Specific efforts relating to Navigation and Decision Support as well as Value to the Nation were presented by Dr. Mark Sudol and Dr. Jennifer Olszewski. Representatives of IWR including Mr. Charles Chesnutt, Dr. Jeffrey Jacobs, Dr. Jeffrey Brideau and Ms. Anne Baker also participated in the exchange.
As remarked by Joe Manous, IWR’s International Programs coordinator, “IWR’s engagement with the Mekong River Commission and the Taiwanese Water Agencies has a long and productive history. Providing effective, efficient, and safe water resources is a common goal among all the parties participating in today’s discussions. USACE and IWR look forward to continuing these dialogues and technical exchanges moving forward.”
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