Data sharing, cooperation for Mekong River management
The greater data sharing, transparency and cooperation between Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam and dialogue partners will improve management of the Mekong River, the Mekong River Commission said.
The MRC said, in its 13-page long commentary note on a 2020 study exploring the effect of Chinese dams on the natural flows of the Mekong River, that more scientific evidence was necessary to conclude the 2019 drought was, in large part, caused by water storage in Upper Mekong dams.
It said on preliminary analysis, using rainfall data from 2008 to 2019 and observed water flows, the 2019 drought was due largely to very low rainfall during the wet season with a delayed arrival and earlier departure of monsoon rains, and an El Nino phenomenon created an abnormally higher temperature and higher evapotranspiration.
Pech Sotheary
