Hydropower dams

Environmental experts gathered at a conference held in Hanoi on September 11, discussing the important roles of stakeholders in outlining hydropower master plan and protecting water resources in the Mekong River basin. The event was organised by the Centre for Sustainable Development of Water Resources And ...

An unusually long period of drought brought water levels to some of the lowest measurements in recent years. There are fears that the drought will have a particularly negative effect on the Tonle Sap River, connecting the Mekong to Cambodia’s Great Lake and which plays a ...

Critics of the 1,285-megawatt Xayaburi hydropower dam in northern Laos fear recent upgrades to the controversial project won’t be enough to save the Mekong River from a critical tipping point when it starts churning out electricity at full throttle next month. After seven years of construction, ...

The Tonle Sap Lake is called the Great Lake by Cambodians for good reason. The scenic lake spans a vast area as the largest freshwater body in Southeast Asia. Its quaint waterborne villages are popular with tourists. Yet Cambodia’s Great Lake does more than just provide for ...

For nearly two decades following its 1994 ceasefire, the Kachin Independence Organisation built up a business empire that intertwined formally with the state. The vehicle for many of these businesses is Buga Co Ltd, which the KIO’s economic department registered with the Directorate of Investment and ...

In recent weeks, the Mekong River, one of the world’s longest and largest rivers, which has been under peril due to a confluence of development, demographic, and geopolitical pressures, has been at its lowest levels in a century. Dams upstream are holding back much needed water ...

Hundreds of residents in a largely Catholic district of central Vietnam’s Quang Binh province protested on Thursday to oppose the enlargement of a local dam, saying that an increase in the dam’s height will raise the risk of floods, Vietnamese sources said. The Rao Nan Dam ...

The Mekong River, a critical waterway for six countries in Southeast Asia, is registering critically low water levels this summer. The Mekong River Commission (MRC), which monitors Southeast Asia’s longest river, reported in mid-July that water levels over the previous month had fallen to “among the lowest ...

Lao villagers displaced by two Chinese-backed dam projects and now living in resettlement communities in uphill areas of two provinces say they fear their new homes will fall off nearby cliffs due to landslides caused by annual monsoonal rains. Some of the more than 100 families ...

Indigenous people called for a large dam project to be halted on the Tanintharyi River, based on the findings of two reports released by local people on Friday. The devastating impact that a proposed 1040-megawatt dam would have on the river and the communities along it were ...