A river running out of time – the mighty Mekong reduced to a trickle
In his book, River of Time, Jon Swain evoked brilliantly the heady beauty of Indochina and the great Mekong Delta in the very south of Vietnam, where the river finally meets the South China Sea. He also captured the terrifying uncertainty as the Vietnam War came to ...
LUKE HUNT
Chinese dams and the Mekong drought
The latest reports from the Lower Mekong Basin are cause for growing concern that another period of drought will succeed that of 2019, affecting Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Expected rainfall from late May through June and July has not arrived, and the level of ...
MILTON OSBORNE
“Exceptionally Low” Flows in the Mekong River Pose Serious Threat to SE ASIA’s Largest Lake of Tonle Sap
Mekong countries are being urged to share data in regard to their dam operations as they are being suspected to contribute to these exceptionally low flows of the river, besides weather anomaly. The Mekong River has experienced the situation called by the regional water regulating body ...
B.Tribune
Mekong river rising after heavy rain
The water level in the Mekong river, bordering this northeastern border province with Laos, is rising following heavy rain in the region over the past few days. On Tuesday morning, the level was up by more than 1 metre from Monday, to 5m deep. However, it ...
PATTANAPONG SRIPIACHAI
Are China’s dams responsible for droughts along Mekong River?
Chinese dams aren’t the problem causing droughts for downstream nations along the Mekong River – they are part of the solution – says a Chinese study released in July. The study is an attempt to pour water on claims by a rival US-backed investigation that blamed dams ...
Maria Siow
Cambodian Environmental Group Calls For End to Development on Phnom Penh’s Boeung Tamok Lake
Development on one of the last large lakes in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh is impacting communities that rely on it for their livelihoods and causing significant flooding in the city as the result of runoff during heavy rains, an environmental watchdog said Thursday, calling for ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
The struggle for the soul of the Mekong River
In June of this year, the FAO’s annual State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report ranked the Mekong Basin as the world’s most productive freshwater fishery, accounting for over 15% of global annual freshwater fish catch. Meanwhile, WWF Researchers estimate that the contribution actually accounts ...
BRIAN EYLER, ALAN BASIST, COURTNEY WEATHERBY AND CLAUDE WILLIAMS
The covert industry that is destroying the world’s rivers
Good sand is surprisingly hard to find, and some of the best — the kind used to make glass, concrete and even iPhones — is usually found only in riverbeds and along coasts. Now researchers are discovering that a global boom in sand mining is ...
Drought, Dams on Mekong River Drop Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake to Record Low Levels
Climate change, drought, and upstream dams have led to record low water levels on the Mekong River, according to experts, who say the shortage is significantly harming Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake and the surrounding fishing communities who rely on it to earn a living. The water ...
Reported and translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Mekong is at historical lows
The Mekong is once again at historical lows. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) gauge at Phnom Penh Port shows river level to be four metres below average for this time of year – and lower than last year’s record. This gauge is measuring river level on ...
Mark Hughes
