Irrigation and water management

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) has recorded river levels increasing by 0.65m between Stung Treng and Prey Veng’s Neak Loeung over the last seven days and forecast an additional rise this week of 0.60m due to torrential rain. Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) water levels have ...

A plan to construct seven dams in one of mainland Southeast Asia’s last intact forest systems could cause widespread habitat loss and sever important wildlife corridors, activists warn. The Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai (DPKY) Forest Complex is a vast and biodiverse region that spans six provinces in ...

One of the two parts of a mega irrigation system in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta will start operation next month in Kien Giang Province. Construction of the system worth VND3.3 trillion ($142.17 million) started in November 2019, with two parts on the Cai Lon and Cai ...

Historic levels of saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta have caused coconuts in Ben Tre Province to shrink by half in size and farmers’ incomes by even more. One afternoon in early August, Tran Trung Tac, owner of a dwarf coconut grove, opens 100 coconuts one ...

Farmers in the Mekong Delta are chopping down hundreds of hectares of durian trees that were lost to drought and saltwater intrusion. For years Le Van Thoi has earned VND600-800 million ($25,800-34,400) a year from his durian farm in Cai Lay Town in Tien Giang Province. Thanks ...

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has ranked the Mekong Basin as the world’s most important hydrologic region or river basin for freshwater fish catches. In its latest State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report, the FAO said that Mekong Basin accounted ...

Thai activists and organizations have raised alarm bells following last month’s announcement that the Mekong River Commission will begin its prior consultation process on the Sanakham hydropower plant, a new Mekong River dam project in northern Laos.   The plant would be the sixth dam in Laos, costing more than $2 billion, and would follow Laos’ Xayaburi Dam, farther upstream, which began operation in November.   The MRC prior consultation ...

The first phase construction of the Cai Lon-Cai Be irrigation system, in the southern Mekong Delta provinces of Kien Giang and Ca Mau, began in November 2019. Despite the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the project’s progress has been still guaranteed, so over 33% of the ...

The Mekong River Commission(MRC) yesterday said the water levels across the vast majority of lower Mekong basin have now returned to their normal long-term averages. The announcement was made after the MRC last month called member countries and Dialogue Partners to improve the management of the ...

SREKOR COMMUNE, STUNG TRENG PROVINCE — Fut Kheun has been keeping a close watch on the water levels at the Sesan II reservoir, in the remote Srekor commune of Stung Treng province. The ethnic Kreung villager is living close to the water at the reservoir, two ...