Did China turn off the Lower Mekong? Why data matters for cooperation
The Mekong is one of the world’s great rivers. At the centre of this system is the flood pulse – a seasonal cycling of water that sees flow in the Mekong swell in response to the monsoon transporting water, nutrients and sediments from the headwaters to the floodplains and delta. Most years the flood pulse sustains the basin’s high levels of productivity and biodiversity, but during extreme years, drought and flood can devastate basin communities.
The failure of the monsoon in 2019 and the drought conditions persisting to the present have resulted in historic low river levels. A situation so severe that Vietnam has declared a state of emergency in the Mekong Delta and Thailand has called on the army to support drought relief efforts.
An assessment released in April by Eyes on Earth of water levels measured at Chiang Saen in northern Thailand has attempted to shed light on what is happening in the Chinese Lancang basin. Then a commentary by the Stimson Center shortly after claimed the Eyes on Earth study is definitive proof that Chinese water management policy caused the drought.
TAREK KETELSEN, TIMO RÄSÄNEN, JOHN SAWDON
