Myanmar geological mapping in the Central Dry Zone: training on GIS, GPS and remote sensing conducted in Naypyitaw
Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar – 25-26th April
On April 25-26th in Naypyitaw, the ICEM team led a workshop with staff from the government of Myanmar’s Irrigation and Water Utilization Management Department (IWUMD) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI). This workshop aimed to build capacity in spatial analysis and application of the spatial mapping software ArcGIS. The workshop guided participants to apply these skills to geological mapping, groundwater management and irrigation management via a series of practical, participatory exercises.
This workshop comes as part of a broader ongoing support from the Australian Water Partnership (AWP) towards integrated water management in Myanmar. In the 1980s, substantial work was carried out to survey the hydrogeology of Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone (CDZ) to understand the potential for groundwater as a source of rural water supply. Almost thirty years later, after Australia renewed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support integrated water management, AWP supported members of the original Australian-led team to review, update and complete the hydrogeological review of the CDZ. The book, entitled ‘Hydrogeology of the Dry Zone – Central Myanmar’, was published in October 2017 in English language.
Since then, ongoing support from AWP and the Government of Myanmar has been provided towards the translation of the book into Burmese, which is expected to be released in June 2019. Additionally, the maps and GIS layers in the book have been digitized, with support from ICEM. The increase in spatial mapping and analysis capacity will allow the Groundwater Division to better understand and update the maps from the CDZ review. This will aid the Government of Myanmar in developing and improving integrated water management in the CDZ.
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