Energy
How the Mekong River Commission ignores reality
Among the many “days” celebrated by the international community, one entrant seems especially incongruous. “Mekong Day” was proclaimed by the Mekong River Commission’s (MRC) headquarters in Vientiane to celebrate the signature of the “Agreement on the Cooperation and Sustainable Development of the Mekong River”, which took place ...
MILTON OSBORNE
Housing for Attapeu Flood Victims Still Unfinished
New homes for victims of the 2018 dam collapse in Attapeu Province have yet to be completed nearly four years after the disaster. KPL reports that Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Ms.Suansavanh Vignaket, visited villagers in Sanamxay District, Attapeu Province, yesterday. She toured the area and spoke with local ...
Manyphone Vongphachanh
Cooperation key on Mekong issues
In the coming months, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) will host a unique competition for university students from our four member countries: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The objective is to see which team can develop the most effective, cost-efficient and sustainable technology to monitor water ...
ANOULAK KITTIKHOUN
GT investigates: Who are the mouthpieces of US-led war of public opinion on “Chinese dams’ threats” along Mekong River, and what are their typical methods?
US’ politicization of ecological water issues in the Mekong River for the purpose of tarnishing China’s reputation via launching rhetoric battles has become more trendy. The Stimson Center, a US-backed think tank, again bashed China in February for allegedly “holding a massive amount of water” ...
Hu Yuwei and Zhao Juecheng
How hydropower dams impact the communities they're built in
Over the last two decades, almost 1,000 hydropower dams have been built around the globe. And while these dams provide many benefits to farmers, wildlife and the climate, the costs of their construction on local communities where they are built has largely been left out ...
Liz Schondelmayer, Michigan State University
Hydropower Dams Have Had ‘Profound’ Impact on Mekong River, Monitor Claims
Hydropower projects, including a spree of mega-dams in China, have had a significant impact on the midstream reaches of the Mekong River, exacerbating drought conditions and altering the river’s flow in fundamental ways, according to a group of U.S.-based researchers. The finding was contained in a report assessing ...
Sebastian Strangio
Dam reservoir releases could raise Mekong River water levels
Mekong River levels are expected to rise as hydropower dams in the Upper Basin begin releasing water from upstream reservoirs. These dry season releases will affect the river’s natural flow, experts said, altering livelihoods across the basin. Regional specialists tracking the ebb and flow of the ...
ANTON L. DELGADO
Asia swaps coal for wood fuel, but emissions still a threat
The rebuke of coal has pushed countries like South Korea and Japan to embrace the harvesting of trees to be processed into wood pellets, but environmentalists are warning that this fuel might prove as damaging as the black mineral it is replacing. Some critics focus on ...
LIEN HOANG
Chinese dams on Mekong River endanger fish stocks, livelihoods, activists say
For Pianporn Deetes, the Mekong is more than a river. “This is not just liquid, but this is the entire life-supporting system,” Deetes, a local activist, said recently on a wooden long-tail boat heading upstream in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province. The Mekong, one of the world’s longest waterways, runs about ...
Keir Simmons, Rhoda Kwan, Nat Sumon and Jennifer Jett
Lack of data on dam activity mars Mekong governance efforts
Last year, more data was shared about the Mekong than ever before. Yet despite the increased openness enabled by the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) mechanism, the Mekong River Commission (MRC), and various NGOs, the wet season was still marred by low rainfall levels and controversy over retention ...
Tyler Roney
