Indicator of sustainable water resources use in the transboundary basins

Due to the complex situation of integrated water resources management in transboundary river basins, this research built a set of indicators for sustainable use of water resources by the Delphi method and developed a specific calculation method for 22 indicators of 5 groups. The integrated indicator has 5 assessment levels to demonstrate the magnitude of water use and the renewability of water resources. Using these indicators to evaluate the sustainability of three border provinces in the Mekong transboundary basin which are Kontum, Attapue, and Ratanakiri, this research came to the conclusions that 9/24 districts in three provinces have moderate water use and renewable water resources level; the remaining districts are also using water at a moderate level but with low renewable water resources. Furthermore, research results showed that different governmental policies generated varying impacts on the sustainable use of water resources in three provinces. Hence, this research is an important scientific foundation for the authorities to build cooperative water resource management programs in transboundary river basins. In future research, the availability of a more detailed dataset will enable the construction of a more comprehensive water resource management plan for different phases.