Water resources
Surface water
Provinces in Mekong Delta seeing less rain, may face severe drought
As usual at this time of year, water from upstream in the Mekong River flows forward and causes floods in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces. But so far, water levels at river monitoring portal stations are the lowest ever. The objective reason is the El Nino ...
Vietnam wakes up to disaster possibilities after China discharges water in river
The National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting has reported unusual flooding in the Red River in northern Vietnam since 11 October following heavy inflows from China, where massive volumes of water have allegedly been discharged from dams. Though there has been no human casualty, the flooding has ...
Flooding in Vietnam as China discharges water down Red River
Hydrologists have warned about imminent flooding in the Red River in northern Vietnam due to huge discharge of water from upstream reservoirs in China. Water levels in the river rose to 31.7 m in Yen Bai Province on 12 October before receding, according to the National Center ...
On Cambodia's Tonle Sap, Vietnamese families face mass eviction
The Kompong Chhnang provincial government is in the process of evicting about 1,000 mostly Vietnamese families who live in the floating villages on the Tonle Sap river near the provincial capital, moving them up the river as part of a five-year plan to beautify the ...
Housing project threat to river basin ecology
A Vietnamese environmental watchdog group has reiterated its call for the permanent shutdown of a large residential project in Dong Nai province, just north of Ho Chi Minh City. Keep reading ...
Thailand’s Mekong water-diversion plan raises concerns
The Thai government’s statement in late July that it is considering bringing water from the Mekong, Moei and Salween rivers to farmland to nine of its provinces has raised major concerns. The water diversion has been described as a move to ‘extract blood from the Mekong’s ...
Vietnamese students win top prize with Mekong video
In their efforts to save the Mekong River, a team of young Vietnamese students from Can Tho University have won the first prize in the 2015 ASEAN Youth Video Contest. Seven youths represented Vietnam at the ASEAN Youth camp in last May in Singapore, in the ...
Xebangfay River overflows again
Residents near the Xebangfay River between the two provinces of Khammuan and Savannakhet are still being spared from the flooding which has started since the river began overflowing on 21 July. A Xebangfay district official Mr Sisomphone Innoula told Vientiane Times that the four branches of ...
Mekong's steady flow of tourism
Pongpet Mekloy argues that Thailand and Laos need to work closer together in order to capitalise on their joint attractions that line the mighty river. Research by Si Sa Ket Rajabhat University is highlighted, which investigated the potential for tourism along the international river, focusing on the ...
China climate targets prompt fears over surge in dam construction
China’s plan to cut carbon emissions commits Beijing to a surge in construction of ecologically destructive hydropower dams that heralds the end of free-flowing rivers in the country, experts say. Beijing last week formally submitted its 2030 goals for generating energy from non-fossil fuels, garnering international praise as nations ...
