BANGKOK: THE livelihood of millions of people in China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam will be affected as drought and newly-built dams impede the Mekong River’s flow, drying up segments of the once fast-flowing river.
Observers predict that these two factors may lead to the death of the 4,700km waterway.
At a discussion on the Mekong River at Chulalongkorn University recently, Pou Sothirak, director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace and a former energy minister, was quoted by Asia Times as saying: “Regional policymakers, energy ministers, they are totally consumed by infrastructure development. They just want more energy — they are consumed by the idea that dam-building will improve their national economy.”
The building of new coal-fired power plants and hydropower dams have sparked concern about environmental disasters, with regional governments keen on maintaining economic growth and development appearing determined to push on regardless of the negative impacts.
Last November, the Don Sahong dam in Laos began generating electricity to supply power to parts of Thailand and Cambodia. A month before that, the much larger 1.3GW Xayaburi dam and hydropower project began operation in northwestern Laos.
“China’s operators of the Jing-hong Dam and the Thai operators of the newly opened Xayaburi dam in Laos conducted operations that actually exacerbated the drought,” Brian Eyler, director of the Southeast Asia programme at the Stimson Center, a United States think tank, told Asia Times.
“Those dams and more than 70 others now operational in Laos and China all contribute to deteriorating downstream conditions related to the drought.”
Non-governmental organisation International Rivers believed that the Xayaburi dam would damage the river system, while the 260MW Don Sahong dam would threaten “vital Mekong River fisheries and the area’s biological wealth”.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University said: “The Chinese dams present a certain challenge. When the water is low, sometimes we have a drought and it appears the Chinese dams have more control leverage over how the water flows and how much it flows downstream.”
He was referring to the Jinghong and Don Sahong dams.
In mid-November, the Mekong River’s water levels were at their lowest in 60 years. Some estimates suggest water levels have dropped to their lowest in a century.
Lower freshwater river levels mean saltwater levels could rise, threatening rice growing and agriculture, while agriculture irrigated by the river could suffer if nutrient-rich sediment is blocked by dams from flowing down river.
“That appears to already be happening, given that stretches of the river in Laos are an oceanic blue rather than its usual and renowned muddy-brown,” Asia Times said.
This has forced Asean member countries to plan for immediate action to resolve problems caused by worsening drought, especially in the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam.
Intani Nur Kusuma, senior officer at the Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance Division of the Asean Secretariat, said a declaration on drought would be adopted by leaders at the Asean Summit in Vietnam in November next year, according to Reliefweb.
“Asean has worked closely with relevant sectors to help the Asean Committee on Disaster Management draft the declaration,” she said, adding that drought-related activities need to be integrated into the future action plan of the regional organisation.
The Mekong River begins in China and passes through five Southeast Asian countries. It begins in the Tibetan Plateau, stretches through much of mainland Southeast Asia and ends in the Mekong Delta.