NSTregion: 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.
“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. 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.”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.
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.
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