The development of dams to store water for productive purposes (e.g., water, energy, food security) has been an important contribution to the economic prosperity and poverty reduction measures across East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) and the South Asia Region (SAR). These countries account for more than half of the world’s large dams. Within this context, the institutional provisions for enhancing dam safety through quality assurance in design and construction, establishing secure financing mechanisms that provide sustainable revenue streams, building operational capacity in identifying, reducing, preparing for, and responding to natural disasters, and arrangements that allow for an objective, transparent risk based portfolio approach is an increasing challenge for many countries.
During April 3 – 7, 2017, the Tokyo DRM Hub organized an EAP and SAR Regional Workshop and Exposure Visits in cooperation with the Government of Japan, including the Ministry of Finance (MOF), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery, and Forestry (MAFF), Japan Water Agency (JWA) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The Program has also benefited from the support of Gunma Prefecture, Japan Dam Engineering Center (JDEC), Japan Commission on Large Dams (JCOLD), Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), Nippon Koei, University of South Australia, and the World Bank’s Tokyo Development and Learning Center (TDLC).
Approximately 60 participants from Afghanistan, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam as well as international experts from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea shared their good practices and lessons learnt during the workshop. Based on the knowledge exchanges, each participating country developed an action plan for improving the following to enhance dam safety and disaster resilience in their respective country: (i) The Legal Framework; (ii) Institutional Arrangements including links to emergency response authorities, hydro-meteorological agencies, and municipalities; (iii) The Form of Regulation including disaster-resilient design criteria; (iv) Financial Framework for O&M and disaster response and recovery; (v) Portfolio Risk Assessment and O&M; (vi) Emergency preparedness plans and transboundary dams.
As a result of the workshop, the Government of Indonesia has requested the World Bank to provide technical assistance on portfolio risk management and community-based emergency preparedness and response planning.
The Workshop and Exposure Visits built on the World Bank’s Global Comparative Study of Legal and Institutional Frameworks for Dam Safety Management and Disaster Resilience Program. The Study is based on a series of country-level case studies that build on the 2002 World Bank publication “Regulatory Frameworks for Dam Safety: A Comparative Study” and the 2014 International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD)’s Dam Safety Report “Regulation of Dam Safety: An Overview of Current Practice Worldwide”. The Japan – World Bank Program for Mainstreaming DRM in Developing Countries will complete a case study on Japan, which will be integrated into the Global Comparative Study.
