Dams and sand mining threaten integrity of lower Mekong

At more than 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles), the Mekong is Southeast Asia’s longest river. It runs through six countries, providing food and income for more than 70 million people.

But the integrity of the river, and therefore of the livelihood of the people who depend on it, is under threat — particularly in the lower Mekong basin in Cambodia and Vietnam. Its banks are being dug up and sand taken away for use in construction projects, and its waters are increasingly being dammed for hydropower. Keep reading…