Mr Matthew Griffiths

1. PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF
THE WATER GOVERNANCE
INDICATOR FRAMEWORK
MULTI-DIMENSIONAL REVIEW OF THAILAND
Matthew Griffiths
Senior Programme Manager
OECD Environment Directorate

2. 2
Multi-Dimensional Review of Thailand

3. • Fragmentation
• Data
• Water quantity and quality issues
• Infrastructure
• Financing
• Meeting national and international obligations
• Disaster management
3
Key water management challenges

4. When water-related disasters occur, the
costs to Thai society can be considerable
4
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
Source: (OECD, 2016) from EM-DAT
Annual Average damage from flood events (% of GDP)

5. 5
Water management in
the North impacts Thailand
as a whole
• The main rivers of the North merge to
form the Chao Phraya;
• Water quantity and quality have
significant downstream impacts;
• Impacts include water availability for
irrigation, water quantity in terms of flood
and drought protection and water quality
in terms of the effects of pollution;
• It is crucial that the North has sufficient
human, technical and financial resource
and capacity to deliver its objectives with
regard to long-term water security.

6. 6
Thailand has the opportunity to focus on
managing risk instead of responding to crises….
• Clear vision and organisation to empower regional
actors to deliver their water management responsibilities
• Robust, evidence-based decision making and policy
framework to prioritise regional action
• Appropriate infrastructure solutions are selected with
adequate capital and O&M budgets allocated
3 recommendations towards adoption of a risk management
approach to water security:

7. 7
Government learning workshops in Chiang Mai and
Chiang Rai to elaborate action plan and scorecard

8. • Screening exercise with key stakeholders
• Reviewed against WG principles and
indicators
– Roles and responsibilities
– Policy coherence
– Data and information
– Finance
– Innovative water governance practices
• Action plan and scorecard developed to aid
implementation
8
Water Governance Principles and Indicators

9. Thank You
9

10. 10
Clear vision and organisation empower
regional actors to deliver their water
management responsibilities (ER1)
Robust, evidence-based decision
making and policy framework prioritise
regional action (ER2)
Adoption of a risk management
approach to water security
Appropriate infrastructure solutions are
selected with adequate capital and O&M
budgets allocated (ER3)
A robust financial
plan should be
developed and
aligned with
delivery of the
strategic plan (9)
Infrastructure
solutions should
be appropriate for
the regional
context, aligned
with land use
planning and
embed innovation
and long-term
climate change
thinking (10)
The level of risk and priorities
should be identified at the national
and regional level (6)
Information must be used to inform
decision making, prioritise
compliance and enforcement
activities, water allocation and
infrastructure priorities(8)
Data must be centralised and
include information on floods,
droughts, water supply and
demand, and water quality (5)
A revised list of policy tools should
be deployed to achieve national
and regional objectives (7)
Clarity over roles, responsibilities
and reporting requirements should
be ensured (2)
The role and responsibilities of
River Basin Management
Organisations must be clear and
add value (4)
The national strategy is structured
to empower development of
localised and prioritised regional
strategies (1)
Position the National Water
Resources Committee (NWRC) as
the multi-stakeholder platform for
decision making on water
management issues (3)
Recommendations and Action Plan