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planning and investigation of water resources development projects 

 in the lower Mekong basin. It was to — 



(a) prepare and submit to participating governments plans for carrying out 

 co-ordinated research, study, and investigation ; 



(b) make requests on behalf of the participating governments for special 

 financial and technical assistance and receive and administer separately such 

 financial and technical assistance as may be offered unuer the technical assist- 

 ance programme of the United Nations, the specialized agencies and friendly 

 governments ; 



(c) draw up and recommend to participating governments criteria for the use 

 of the water of the main river for the purpose of water resources development. 



The chapter provided that each of the Riparian States would appoint 

 one member with "plenipotentiary authority" and that the participat- 

 ing governments were to act through this Committee. Reports would 

 be made to both the governments and ECAFE. 



When the Preparatory Committee met to adopt this charter, it 

 took a number of other actions at the same time. One was to recom- 

 mend that priority should be given to the recommendations of the 

 Bureau of Reclamation for hydrologic and meteorologic stations and 

 stream profile studies. This action, however, brought out the fact 

 that equipment and resources had not been made available for such 

 measurements. Accordingly, the Committee expressed the hope that 

 help would be forthcoming from the United Nations or other sources, 

 and also asked the United Nations Technical Assistance Administra- 

 tion to help recruit a visiting team of water resources experts to review 

 the two previous studies. 



By mid-November, the United Nations team had assembled in 

 Bangkok under the chairmanship of Lt. Gen. Raymond Wheeler (re- 

 tired) of the U.S. A rm y Corps of Engineers. In the Wheeler Report, 

 completed January 23, 1958, the recommendations were similar to 

 those of the previous Bureau of Reclamation report. However, it went 

 further in three particulars, recommending that: 



(1) Priority in the collection of . . . basic data should be given to reaches 

 having promising sites for development. . . . 



(2) Studies and investigations for the preparation of a comprehensive plan 

 of the Lower Mekong River Basin, including major tributaries, should follow 

 with the careful coordination and integration of the various specific site plans. 



(3) Qualified, responsible firms of engineers should be employed to plan and 

 execute the proposed operations and to assist and train local personnel, under 

 the general direction of the Coordination Committee of the four countries, ad- 

 vised by an international technical board of engineers. 



A five-year program of data collection was recommended, at a total 

 estimated cost of $9,200,000. Soon afterwards, the United Nations 

 Technical Assistance Administration (with approval of the Coordi- 

 nation Committee) appointed three members of the recommended 

 technical board (later increased to five). And at the close of 1958, the 

 Committee determined the need for an executive agent. When this 

 proved agreeable, C. Hart Schaaf, long active in the project, was 

 named Executive Agent. 



It is remarkable that the problem of funding the work of the Co- 

 ordination Committee and its staff was solved so easily. The first 

 need — for hydrologic measuring instruments — was met by a donation 

 of some $120,000 (equivalent) by the Government of France, Octo- 



