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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ON WATER SCIENCES AND RESEARCHResearchers from KEI and the Russian Academy of Sciences Far Eastern Branchin north-east AsiaJoint research in north-east AsiaKEI and the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciencesconducted joint research aimed at establishing an informationexchange system. This would enable the sharing of freshwaterenvironmental data to deal with transboundary environmentalproblems in the freshwater basins between neighbouring countriesin the region. 4 The research included situational analysis of environmentalprotection in the Primorskiy region and a field survey ofthe Kedrovaya River. The field survey aimed to establish a baselinefor comparing the aquatic ecosystems of Far-East Russia and Koreaby examining the ecological conditions of the Kedrovaya River,including the distribution of invertebrate fauna and other monitoringmeasurements. The research contributed to the standardizationof the biomonitoring methodology for international watercoursesystems in north-east Asia and systemization of the ecosystemhealth assessment methodology.In addition to the field survey, the research involved a comparativeassessment of the Korean and Russian environmentalassessment systems to contribute to the strengthening of transboundaryenvironmental governance issues in north-east Asia.The assessment identified some of the weaknesses of the environmentalassessment system in Russia and proposed developmentagendas for environmental monitoring and management in thecountry. These proposals included the enhancement of capacitiesfor environmental impact assessment (EIA), particularly in watermanagement. As part of its efforts to support the development ofEIA in Russia, KEI organizes EIA capacity building programmesand periodical transboundary EIA workshops to share best practicesand discuss cutting-edge development issues in EIA withinternational scholars.Reservoir management in EthiopiaKEI also launched the Ethiopian Water Resource Development NISDpartnership research project, with the University of Connecticut andthe Ethiopia Institute of Water Resources of Addis Ababa University,to expand its research work to the developing countries of Africa.The two-year project, conducted from January 2011 to December2012, includes two volumes of research publications, one focusingon sediment and reservoir control and the other on analysis of theexternal effects of climate change and downstream areas. 5Image: KEIThe project focused on the development of ahydro-economics model called the Soil and ReservoirConservation (S-RESCON) model. The S-RESCONapproach is based on the Reservoir Conservation Model(RESCON), which was developed jointly with the WorldBank and the University of Connecticut for the economicand engineering evaluation of alternative strategies formanaging sedimentation in storage reservoirs. UnlikeRESCON, which limits its main focus to reservoir sedimentationmanagement, S-RESCON extends its attentionto upstream soil conservation management. In the firstyear of the project, the S-RESCON model was applied tothe Koka Reservoir basin in Ethiopia. The Koka Reservoirwas established in 1959 as a result of the construction ofthe Koka Dam across the Awash River to supply hydropowerfor Addis Ababa. Its basin was selected as theresearch area for applying S-RESCON as the reservoir isthreatened by increasing sedimentation caused by environmentaldegradation.In the second year of the project, the research focusedon an integrated model of watershed and reservoirmanagement that incorporates externalities and futureclimate change with a view to proposing an adaptationscheme. The S-RESCON model was reinforced to addresssedimentation problems as soil from the upstreamagricultural land was being deposited in downstreamreservoirs. The S-RESCON model allowed researchersto consider the dynamic process between upstream soilloss and downstream sediment deposits. Furthermore,the model includes various climatic factors such as theamount of incoming flow, reservoir evaporation rate andstream flow variation. Based on these climatic factors, themodel simulates the effect of climate change on watershedmanagement. For the project, the model has been appliedto the Nile watershed, covering Egypt as the downstreamwatershed and Ethiopia as the upstream watershed.The major outcome of the research over the two-yearperiod is the development of the S-RESCON modelco-developed by KEI and the University of Connecticut.This model can be applied to any reservoir with sedimentationmanagement challenges, considering theeffect of climate change on watershed management.KEI is expected to apply the model to other sites in thedeveloping countries to propose a sustainable reservoirmanagement scheme. A database is under constructionfor collecting hydrological data on water resources inthe developing countries.Furthermore, among KEI’s efforts to share knowledgeand experience relating to water management, theEthiopian Water Resource Development Project alsoprovided a capacity building programme in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia. The programme, co-organized by KEI, theUniversity of Connecticut and Addis Ababa University,was designed to develop institutional capacities onclimate change, green growth and water management.The training workshop attracted decision makers andpublic officials from the Ministry of Water and Energy,Environmental Protection Authority, and researchers andwater practitioners from the various states in Ethiopia.[ 297 ]