Drought

Lao officials will soon submit plans for the Phou Ngoy Dam and hydropower plant to the Mekong River Commission for review, but villagers whose livelihoods would be hurt by the construction worry they will be left out of the process. Thailand’s Charoen Energy and Water Asia ...

VOA Khmer: You have been reporting on Cambodia as a journalist [and then] you primarily focused on politics and foreign affairs. Why did you become interested in the Tonle Sap Lake and [Mekong] River issues, and what that led you to write a book about ...

Farmers and authorities in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta have started storing water, building dams and planting seeds early to avoid drought and salinity. Living near Kenh Lap, Mekong Delta’s largest manmade reservoir in Ben Tre Province, Le Van Hao said he had witnessed how the reservoir, which ...

Mainland Southeast Asia is entering its fourth year of drought, with climate change and unrelenting dam construction taking an unprecedented toll on the Mekong River and the 65 million people who rely on the waterway for their livelihoods. In Cambodia, the drought has prompted a government ...

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat has renewed its call for the six Mekong countries to urgently address regional low flows, water fluctuations and drought as the Lower Mekong River experiences record low flows for the third consecutive year. During the last three years, flows in ...

As the Mekong Region faces more intense floods and droughts every year, data sharing and water diplomacy are emerging as new narratives for transboundary water governance. “This year, every country in the Lancang-Mekong Region is facing severe floods. But our challenge is now compounded by Covid-19. ...

The Minister for Mines and Energy is giving nothing away on how hydropower figures in Cambodia’s draft power development plan (PDP). However, he did say the PDP would not turn its back on established power sources, such as coal- and oil-fired power plants because of ...

Recorded water levels in the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) saw significant increases during the last seven days as a result of heavy rainfall and sudden water releases from dams, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) said on July 29. But it said river levels across all ...

Through disasters, a fellowship was struck. Ormboon Thipsuna remembers the date well, Aug 12, 2008, when a deluge of water from the Mekong swept through her hometown of Nong Khai and seven riparian northeastern provinces. Considering the rainfall was rather small and the Mekong’s gradual ...

Chinese dams on the Mekong River have begun releasing water during the river’s normal dry season, causing trouble for wildlife, farmers and fishermen in Laos, sources in the Southeast Asian country told RFA. “The Mekong River water level is up 12 centimeters [4.7 inches] from yesterday,” ...