Three presentations from session 4 of the 2017 Greater Mekong Forum on Water, Food and Energy held in Yangon, Myanmar. Mapping the footprint of reservoirs in the Mekong region was hosted by SERVIR-Mekong and the Asia Disaster Preparedness Center on Oct. 25, 2017. Dam construction along the Mekong and neighboring river systems is impacting communities and ecosystems throughout the region. Hundreds of additional dams have been proposed which will further impact communities and ecosystems in the region. To better understand these impacts, and based on feedback from stakeholders at last year’s forum, SERVIR-Mekong has refined an online tool for modeling the inundation of proposed dams. The tool has also been used to compile a dataset of the extent of all existing and planned dams along the region’s large, transboundary rivers. The tool, which requires no proprietary software to access and use, can also model the inundation area of hypothetical dams at any location along the region’s rivers in the region. This session will present the latest version of the online tool and the reservoir data set for the Mekong river followed by participatory discussions to identify how these and related resources can best address such topics as impacts on river hydrology, flood and drought mitigation, and large scale forest conversion.

1. What is Asian Disaster Preparedness Center?
• An independent non-governmental organization established in 1986, headquartered in
Bangkok, Thailand
• Contributes to making Asia-Pacific safer by strengthening disaster resilience at all levels
• Cooperates closely with local, national and regional governments, governmental and non-
governmental organizations, donors and development partners
• Works in eighteen countries in Asia, including Myanmar
• Hosting SERVIR-Mekong and recently established Department of Geospatial Information
• More information: www.adpc.net

2. Partnership between USAID and NASA
Establishes long-term regional hubs to provide geo-spatial tools to
decision makers based on a free and open source basis
Identifies, addresses and resolves data and information challenges
Focuses on climate change and implications on land use, agriculture,
biodiversity, disasters, health, water and weather
WHAT IS SERVIR?

3. Increased
Capacity
Improved
Awareness
Advancement
Sustain
of analyst and decision makers to use earth
observation and geo-spatial information
technologies
of and access to geo-spatial data, tools,
knowledge products and services
and application of user tailored geospatial data,
tools and knowledge products to inform
decision making
ADPC as a regional provider of geo-spatial
data, analysis and capacity building services
OBJECTIVES
SERVIR-MEKONG

4. Engage
Understand
Create
Learn
Share
OUR PROCESS

5. Aekkapol Aekakkararungroj
Peter Cutter
Farrukh Chishtie
Khun San Aung

6. Introduction and demonstration
Reservoir Mapping Tool
supported by:
The USAID & NASA supported SERVIR-Mekong Program, Spatial Informatics Group,
and Stockholm Environment Institute
• Allows users to model a
hypothetical dam and
reservoir at a chosen location
• Simple Input:
• User defined location
• Dam height

7. A resource for modeling the inundation areas

8. Original URL: webserverbkk.adpc.net/reservoirmappingtool
goo.gl/phGZQp
Demonstration
Any devices
Any browsers

9. Dam height issue
Energy production
Volume calculation
Impact analysis tool
Next steps
Applications
Tool improvements
Group discussion
Co-development

10. Example of output reservoir

11. Example of applications
Mapping impact on environmental
protected area
Source: protected area from WWF

12. Example of applications Mapping impact on deep pools
Along the Mekong mainstream and many of its
tributaries, pools provide an important dry season
refuge for a number of important Mekong fish
species and a spawning habitat for some species
(Poulsen et al. 2002a)
Source: deep pools from MRC

13. Example of applications Mapping impact on transportation
Source: road layer from GMS

14. Example of applications Mapping impact on land cover
Source: land cover 2003 from MRC

15. 2017 Greater Mekong Forum on Water, Food, and
Energy
25-27 October 2017, Yangon
Peter Cutter, PhD
Spatial Informatics Group
and SERVIR-Mekong

16. • Target: All dams in the WLE
curated dam database
• Two sources of data
• Digitizing reservoirs based on high-
resolution satellite imagery
• Modeling planned and potential
reservoirs using a custom-developed
tool
• Primary reference and digitizing
platform: Open Streetmaps
(JOSM tool)
• Footprints of planned and
proposed dams using the
Reservoir Mapping Tool

17. Quality Definitions and Levels
Quality Issue Level 1 Level 2
Fidelity to
Reference Data
Every polygon accurately reflects
the reservoir outline shown in at
least one high resolution image.
Every polygon accurately reflects
the best (wet season) imagery
from *all* freely available
imagery.
Digitizing
Resolution
Polygons digitized using a zoom
level equivalent to <40 m on the
JOSM main view scale bar.
Polygons digitized using a zoom
level equivalent to <20 m on the
JOSM main view scale bar.
Contiguity
Complex polygons generated by
the reservoir mapping tool
included “as is”.
Complex polygons generated by
the reservoir mapping tool have
all undergone an algorithm to
simplify/clean the issue of
multiple, inaccurate polygons
associated with the same
reservoir.

18. Challenges
Digitizing Resolution
Postprocessing of Output
from Modeling Tool

19. • Land cover / land use change
• Carbon emissions
• Assessing impacts to river ecology
• Assessing impacts on communities
• Assessing hydropower potential (output, dam
lifespan)
• Inputs to SEA and SEIA
• Others
Potential Applications