Project Name                   

• Yellow River Conservancy Commission Integrated River Basin Management Fellowship Program

Client                   

• AusAID

Description of Project

In 2008 ten students from The Yellow River Conservancy Commission have come to Australia under AusAID Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) Fellowships to study with the International WaterCentre. ALA Fellowships are awards for short term study, research or professional attachment in Australia.

The Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) Fellowship Program provides for training in the form of a Graduate Certificate in Integrated Water Resource Management or a Professional Development Program for the ALA Fellows from YRCC. The IRBM Fellowship Program identifies water resource management and integrated water resource management as the key areas of interest for Australia-China cooperation.

With the growing awareness that China urgently needs to balance unprecedented economic growth with greater attention to environmental sustainability, water management is a high priority for the Chinese government as it is in Australia. The Yellow River, China’s second longest river, has experienced tremendous industrial, agricultural and population growth in the last twenty years, resulting in new development pressures on its already fragile ecosystems.  It is increasingly recognised that managing the Yellow River’s water resources requires a balance of economic, societal and environmental needs. 

Areas of mutual professional and scientific interest for IWC and YRCC centre are around river health indicators, monitoring and evaluation, water allocation, water saving measures and linking river management into regional planning.