Hydrologic evaluation of the lower mekong river basin with the soil and water assessment tool model
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The Mekong River Commission (MRC) was established in 1957, to facilitate the joint planning and management of the Mekong River Basin. In 1995, an agreement was signed by Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia regarding how to share and protect the Mekong River's resources. This study documents the ability of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to simulate the hydrology of a 629,520 km 2 basin which is comprised of the area south of China including the Midstream and Delta catchment areas. The SWAT model, version 2003, has been applied to generate the runoff for the Mekong River Basin which has been divided into eight subareas covering the areas upstream of Kratie, around Tonle Sap (the Great Lake) and some parts of Vietnam. First, the SWAT model parameters for the gauged streamflows along the tributaries of the Mekong River were calibrated and validated for periods of 1985-1992 and 1993-2000, respectively. The statistical evaluation results for model calibration and validation show that the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (N se ) monthly and daily values generally range between 0.8 and 1.0 for all of the mainstream monitoring stations. The Mekong River Basin is one of the largest drainage areas that the SWAT model has been successfully applied to and aids in the establishment of a hydrologic baseline for this region. The LMRB simulation demonstrates that the model can potentially be used as an effective water quantity tool within this basin. The dominant challenge in modeling this watershed was the time and computer resources required. 2009 AAAE.
