Mekong delta prepares for dry season
Many provinces in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta are taking measures to secure freshwater for farming and household use since drought and saltwater intrusion is expected to be severe in the 2016-17 dry season. Nguyễn Thiện Pháp, head of the Tiền Giang Province Irrigation Sub-department, ...
Dry season rice plan under consideration
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is considering whether the figure for this year’s dry season rice plan should be revised downwards or remain stable after the last four harvests failed to reach the target. Last dry season, farmers planted only about 99,000 hectares or ...
What does Binh Thuan want: thermal power or a marine-protected area?
Five thermal power projects have been developed in Binh Thuan province, raising serious concerns about pollution, as the plants are located near marine protected area. Binh Thuan has emerged as a province which attracts many industrial projects, especially thermal power ones. The Vinh Tan Power ...
Last chance to see: paddling through time on the Mekong
Humility is a rare commodity in the era of the smartphone, selfies and carefully–coiffed digital personas. Gratitude, too, is unusual in the modern world where a sense of entitlement seems all pervasive. Despite most of us being aware enough to acknowledge that all human beings ...
Hydropower in the Mekong: an alternative approach
Laos needs to rethink its aggressive hydropower plans as new markets and technologies create an opportunity to change course. A report published in September by the Stimson Center, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, challenges prevailing notions about the future of hydropower in the Mekong subregion, an ...
Carrying a stranger’s child through an uncertain time
Ly Raksmey left her home in the heart of the country’s rice bowl in January and headed to a hospital on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. The 34-year-old stayed there several nights, in a facility that was better and cleaner than any hospital she had ...
The risks of diverting water
Thuong Kon Tum dam, which is built in the Dak Snghe River watershed, is one of the biggest hydropower projects in the basin of the Se San river. The effect of the dam is still questionable but it raises concerns about environmental impacts as the ...
Vietnam proposes transboundary water-resources management policy
While cross-border management of water resources is a necessary long-term strategy, the question is how to do it, experts say. At the November 20 session of the 24th APEC Summit, a high-ranking leader suggested developing agriculture in a sustainable manner in tandem with the effective use ...
A water war in Asia cannot be ruled out
Asia can build a harmonious, rules-based water management system. But it needs China to get on board. Tensions over water are rising in Asia—and not only because of conflicting maritime claims. While territorial disputes, such as in the South China Sea, attract the most attention—after ...
Gov’t mulls Japan-led facility for aquatic research
A committee will be established to look into the construction of a 5-hectare Japan-funded aquatic centre to facilitate the study of more than 600 species of freshwater fish from the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on November 25. “I have ...
