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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ON WATER SCIENCES AND RESEARCHEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) tolead the International Year of Water Cooperation activities.Despite the vital importance of water to life on Earth, there aremajor gaps in our understanding of water availability, quality anddynamics, and of the impact of global changes on water systems.Through place-based research and integrative modelling, USM hasbeen pursuing education- and research-based capacity-building andpolicy interactions to enhance our understanding of water systemand land use changes, the built environment, ecosystem functionsand services and climate change and variability, and to predict howeach of these will impact the others.Flooding is the most common natural disaster encountered inMalaysia. Both monsoon floods and flash floods are frequent. TheDepartment of Irrigation and Drainage in Malaysia has estimated thatabout 29,000 km 2 (9 per cent of the total land area) and more than4.82 million people (22 per cent of the population) are affected byflooding annually. The damage caused by flooding is estimated to beabout RM 915 million (£160 million). Monsoon floods are caused bylong durations of heavy rainfall, but more localized flooding, whichoccurs especially in newly developed town areas, is part of the dynamicsof the built environment. The River Engineering and Urban DrainageResearch Centre (REDAC), the School of Engineering, the Schoolof Biology, the Geography Department, and the Centre for GlobalSustainability Studies (CGSS) are among the sections of USM currentlyactive in the research and capacity-building area of water management.In order to facilitate international cooperation, since 2004, REDAC hasbeen holding a triennial international conference on rivers. 5Use-inspired research for water cooperationIntegrated river management, stormwater management andcomputer modelling are three areas of active research at USM.Integrated river managementThe sustainable management of Malaysia’s waterways is a centralissue for national development. Various users of river water want toprioritize it for their own purposes, resulting in competingdemands. This inevitably creates complex pressureson the water system, and integrated approaches arerequired to find solutions. Government has traditionallybeen responsible for managing rivers, but increasinglythe public, non-governmental organizations, industrialists,farmers and other stakeholders are also playinggreater roles. In a 2005 paper, Weng explains at lengththe need for the involvement of multiple players whoare strategic, need-based and inspired by a vision forfinding practical solutions to water issues. 6 Wengproposes ‘PEOPLE’ as an acronym standing for theingredients necessary for integrated river managementto work most effectively: Public participation;Environmental conservation; Ordeals; Politics andpollution; Learning; Equity; and Economics. He thenexpands on each of these elements, citing numerousexamples of existing problems and of ongoing projectsin sustainable river management. The important pointhere is that the involvement of multiple players has tobe strategic, need-based and inspired by a vision forfinding practical solutions to water issues.In Malaysia, natural and man-made waterwaysare interconnected, especially in the more developedareas of Peninsular Malaysia. They includethe various river systems, of which there are 89 inPeninsular Malaysia, 22 in Sarawak and 78 in Sabah; 7several artificial water infrastructures consisting oflarge lakes such as Kenyir Lake and Temenggor Lakein Terengganu; and many smaller ponds, swalesand urban drainages. Water from all these sourcesmust support agriculture, domestic and other industrialuses as well as various engineering projectssuch as hydroelectric and wastewater treatment. Tohelp meet this challenge, USM researchers from theImage: REDAC USMModelling for digital flood mapping, erosion and sediment control in Malaysia[ 292 ]