Water policy and related institutions

With far-reaching implications for the upcoming elections in Myanmar and with the US tentatively wading into river governance, the Mekong region has become a contentious staging ground for China’s wider goals in Southeast Asia.  Sebastian Strangio’s new book In the Dragon’s Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century draws ...

While welcoming China’s decision to share hydrological data with Mekong nations, experts said the next step would be to expand the information shared and to make this data accessible to citizens and communities who most need it. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) and China’s Water Resource ...

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has agreed to provide a grant of US$11 million for a project to establish an effective water resources management system and enhance disaster response capabilities for the Nam Ngum River basin. According to the KOICA Office in Laos, the project ...

Nakhon Ratchasima: The Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR) yesterday kick started public consultations to draw up a water-management plan for the Moon River Basin. The plan is urgently needed to tackle severe drought and floods in 10 northeastern provinces, it says. The first consultation, which ...

Conservationists, however, have expressed concerns over possible adverse impacts on the complex freshwater river system as well as the status of the country’s latest international Ramsar Site The Songkram River, one of the two prime Mekong tributaries in the Northeast, which is still free from any ...

Government data released on July 17 showed water levels in the Mekong River are lower than at this time last year, on account of poor rainfall along the mainstream in Cambodia, with others pointing to hydropower dams in China and Laos. The Ministry of Water Resources ...

Water levels in Southeast Asia’s largest river may be at its lowest in a century. Low rainfall, high temperatures and poor dam regulations are contributing to a historic low at the Mekong, affecting lives, the region’s agriculture and fishing industries and leading to rapidly drying taps. Chinese ...

Vietnam needs to effectively cooperate with other countries the Mekong River flows through and work to internationalise the region’s water issues, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha said on June 15. He made the call at the ninth session of the 14th National Assembly. Vietnam is ...

The Mekong River Commission(MRC) yesterday said the water levels across the vast majority of lower Mekong basin have now returned to their normal long-term averages. The announcement was made after the MRC last month called member countries and Dialogue Partners to improve the management of the ...

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon is calling for international efforts to monitor the controversial Luang Prabang dam project in Laos and the impact it will have on the Mekong River, where water levels have been unusually low. The issue was raised yesterday at a meeting chaired ...