Disasters

Drought

Indonesia to prepare 500,000 hectares for rice crops amid El Nino phenomenon

JAKARTA: The Indonesian government will prepare 500,000 hectares of agricultural land for rice production in anticipation of the long drought brought on by the El Nino climate phenomenon.  According to a Presidential Secretariat’s Press, Media and Information Bureau (BPMI) statement, Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said ...

Rhea Yasmine Alis Haizan

Laos to proceed with seventh Mekong dam despite impact concerns

Pressing ahead with its vision to become the “Battery of Southeast Asia,” the government of Laos is going forward with plans to build its seventh of nine mainstream dams on the Mekong River, despite widespread concerns that it could inflict social and environmental damage. The 728-megawatt ...

Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

Heavy Rains Improve Mekong Life, But Concerns Remain

Heavy rains and a bumper fish crop have improved life along the Mekong River after a nearly four-year drought, poor harvests and the pandemic took a heavy toll on some 65 million people who rely on the waterway for their daily livelihoods. According to the Laos-based ...

Luke Hunt

Incomes dry up for farmers on Cambodia’s huge lake

Life has never been easy for farmers along Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake – the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia – and now water shortages, soil degradation and the rising costs for chemicals have added to their hardships. “Each season, the most challenging problems we farmers ...

Sao Phal Niseiy

Mekong dams must release less water in dry season to preserve habitats, experts say

Abnormally high-water levels in the Mekong River at the end of May indicate that dams on the river must release less water during the dry season to protect the ecosystem, experts said at an online panel Monday.  Rain levels during the dry season this year have ...

Eugene Whong for RFA

Another Mekong River dam in Laos begins review process

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 ...

There are reasons to be hopeful. If things come together well and if Mekong River countries can work together.

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 ...

Sokummono Khan

Mekong Delta prepares for possible drought, salinity

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 ...

Hoang Nam, Cuu Long

Mekong Drought Enters Fourth Year; Worst Conditions in 60 Years

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 ...

Luke Hunt

Mekong Countries Urged to Take Action as River Experiences Three Years of Low Flows

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 ...

Latsamy Phonevilay

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