Consultant for Drafting the PMFM Information Report Mekong River Commission Vientiane

Mekong River Commission

The role of MRC is to promote and coordinate sustainable management and development of water and related resources for the countries’ mutual benefit and the people’s well-being

MRC Secretariat is now recruiting highly qualified consultant for the following consultancy

International Consultant

For Drafting the PMFM Information Report

Basin Development Plan Programme, Planning Division

25 working days from July 2012 to September 2012,

based at Home base and the Office of the MRC Secretariat in Vientiane, Lao PDR

The Term of Reference and other information can be obtained at MRC website http://www.mrcmekong.org/working-with-mrc/employment. Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply. Only short-listed candidates will be notified

Application procedures:

The application should include (i) a cover letter outlining clearly how the candidate meets the requirements of the position, (ii) a detailed CV, and (iii) MRC Personal History Form. The position title and division/section must be indicated in the cover letter.The application should be sent to:

Mekong River Commission
Office of the Secretariat in Vientiane (OSV)
P.O. Box 6101, 184 Fa NgoumRoad
Vientiane 01000, Lao PDR
Email: mrcs@mrcmekong.org

Closing date for applications: 18 July 2012

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. Project Title: Basin Development Plan Programme (BDP), with funding support from Mekong IWRMP.

2. Title of Consultancy: International consultant for drafting the ‘PMFM Information Report’.

3. Duty station: Home base and the Office of MRC Secretariat in Vientiane, Lao PDR.

4. Duration: Maximum 25 working days in the period July-September 2012.

5. Background

In accordance with Article 6 – Maintenance of Flows on the Mainstream - of the 1995 Mekong Agreement, the MRC Member Countries agree “to cooperate in the maintenance of the flows on the mainstream from diversions, storage releases, or other actions of a permanent nature, except in the cases of historically severe droughts and/or floods:

· Of not less than the acceptable minimum monthly natural flow during each month of the dry season;

· To enable the acceptable natural reverse flow of the Tonle Sap to take place during the wet season;

· To prevent average daily peak flows greater than what naturally occur on average during the flood season”.

In 2006 the MRC Council approved the Procedures for Flow Maintenance on the Mainstream (PMFM) and assigned the MRC Joint Committee (JC) to prepare the Technical Guidelines for the implementation of the PMFM. The JC delegated the responsibility for preparation of the Technical Guidelines to a Technical Review Group (TRG). The TRG comprises experts assigned by the National Mekong Committees (NMCs), as well as advisors from the Mekong River Commission Secretariat (MRCS). By 2010, the TRG had prepared Technical Guidelines that include flow thresholds for ‘planning purposes’ and for ‘monitoring purposes’ for each of the above three flow conditions, as well as the associated implementation arrangements (see the table below).

Flow framework	Status
Article 6A – planning purposes	Pending
Article 6A – monitoring purposes	Working consensus on flow frameworks Sanctioned for implementation in learning-by-doing approach Currently being implemented
Article 6B – planning purposes
Article 6B – monitoring purposes
Article 6C – planning purposes
Article 6C – monitoring purposes

The above table shows that five out of the six required flow frameworks in the Technical Guidelines have been agreed by the MRC Member Countries for implementation in a learning-by-doing approach. The Technical Guidelines will be reviewed and updated in 2015. Meanwhile, work continues on the key pending issue: a four-country agreement on a specific flow framework for the implementation of Article 6A for planning purposes.

Regarding the pending issue, the MRC Member Countries prefer different flow frameworks. Cambodia and Viet Nam prefer to use the Annual Recurrence Interval (ARI) method with a range of 75-80% probability of flow exceedance. Lao PDR proposes to use the Flow Duration Curve (FDC) method with a range of 80-90% probability of time exceedance. Thailand prefers the use of the ARI method but has not made a selection yet and prefers to test the considered options.

The TRG recommended that the MRCS undertakes several actions to address the pending issue, including: 1) the engagement of National Experts (one for each Member Country) in an analysis of previous and new assessments related to the pending issue; 2) the preparation of a comprehensive Information Report that consolidates the relevant information related to the PMFM process that is currently scattered in many documents; and 3) capacity building activities, including negotiation training.

The PMFM Information Report

The aims of the PMFM Information Report are:

· To provide an informative overview of the entire PMFM process (and within the broader context of the implementation of the 1995 Mekong Agreement) for new members of the TRG and other stakeholders involved in the implementation of MRC Procedures;

· To describe the methods and flow frameworks considered since 2004 related to the pending issue, and a detailed assessment of their advantages and disadvantages for the Mekong basin and each of the MRC Member Countries. The assessment would be made without and with consideration of the impacts of ongoing and planned development in the Mekong basin; and

· To describe the near and longer term implementation modalities of the PMFM.

The report must be detailed enough to: 1) adequately inform TRG members and other experts involved on in PMFM implementation and 2) allow decision-making on a four-country agreement on a specific flow framework for the implementation of Article 6A for planning purposes (the pending issue). The one-volume report will include a summary (5 pages), main body of the report (50-80 pages) and supporting annexes. It is envisioned that the report will contain many self-explanatory illustrations of flow frameworks, assessments, applications, etc.

6. Objective

The objective of this consultancy is to draft the PMFM Information Report, based on available data and information and in close consultation with the regional BDP team.

7. Outputs

The output of this consultancy is a draft PMFM Information Report (by end August 2012) and a final PMFM Information Report (by end September 2012).

8. Responsibilities and Tasks

The input of the Consultant is separated into 3 periods in order to facilitate input effectiveness, output quality and approval of procedures.

Period 1 (June/July 2012): based at the consultant’s home office (3 working days). The main activities include the following:

· Skim/read/study the relevant documents for this assignment (see Annex 1). Skype whenever needed with the BDP team to discuss issues and get answers to questions.

· Prepare a preliminary outline of the PMFM Information Report.

Period 2 (July/August 2012): mission to Vientiane of about 3 weeks (18 working days). The main activities include the following:

· Participate in a two-day workshop with the National PMFM Advisors and the BDP team to discuss and improve the outline of the PMFM Information Report.

· Draft the PMFM Information Report in close consultation with the regional BDP team. The drafting of the report will be based on available data and information (see Annex 1). If needed, additional assessments will be made and new illustrations and examples prepared in order for the report to be: 1) complete, convincing and practical and 2) allow comparison of the pros and cons of different options for the pending issue against the same criteria.

Period 3 (September 2012): based at the consultant’s home office (4 days). The main activities include the following:

· Prepare the final PMFM Information Report based on comments from the national PMFM Experts and MRC Member Countries. During the finalization of the report, consultations will be maintained with the regional BDP team through Skype conferences.

9. Itinerary

The provision of the services will require one trip of 3 weeks to Vientiane, Lao PDR.

10. Working Principles / Reporting line

The consultant will work under the managerial direction of the Regional BDP Coordinator and the technical direction of the BDP CTA, and in consultation with the National PMFM Advisors and the MRC/IKMP modeling team.

11. Qualifications / Requirements

· Master degree in water and land and related resources planning and management, or similar.

· More than 15 years of professional experience in the water sector; more than 10 years of professional experience in hydrological monitoring, assessment and modeling.

· Excellent knowledge of the hydrology of the Mekong River Basin.

· Familiarity with the MRC and basin planning in the Mekong River Basin, including the recent scenario assessments by the BDP Programme.

· Familiarity with the PMFM process.

· Excellent spreadsheet and writing skills.

12. Selection of the Consultant

The consultant will be selected based on the CV and a self-assessment how well he/she meets the above qualifications and requirements.

13. Condition of payment

An advance payment will be made upon signing of the contract and further payments will be based upon completion of outputs (see Section 7).