News
'Nothing about the Mekong is normal now’: Anger along Southeast Asia’s great river as water levels become unpredictable
From a distance, it is hard to make sense of the small patches of green emerging from the cracking mud flats of the Mekong River. They are not oases, nor sprouts of river grass along dusty channels where water normally flows; they are golf greens. Recently, ...
Jack Board
Mekong 'dammed' by uncertainty
Last week, it was reported that Chinese authorities notified the Mekong River Commission (MRC) that Jinghong Dam in Yunnan province will reduce its rate of water discharge by half from the beginning of the month until late January. For communities living along the Mekong, unusual ...
NIWAT ROYKAEW
Mekong drowned in water politics
The mighty Mekong River is the heart and soul of Southeast Asia. Millions of livelihoods are linked to it, especially in terms of food, energy and water security. Besides giving birth to one of the planet’s most biodiverse river basins, the transboundary nature of the ...
EDITORIAL
China Belatedly Notifies Mekong Nations of River Disruption
Earlier this week, I wrote about the sudden drop in water levels along the Mekong River in northern Thailand, and their likely link to the filling of a dam reservoir upstream in China. The fall first became apparent on January 4, when locals in the Thai port town ...
Sebastian Strangio
Lao Dams Lower Water Levels on a Scenic River, Harming Tour Boat Operators and Other Local Businesses
Water levels lowered by seven dams along a stretch of the Nam Ou River in Laos are blocking boat travel in a scenic area popular with tourists, impacting tour and passenger boat operators and other local businesses, Lao sources say. Travel by water between Nong Khiaw ...
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney
Boat services in Chiang Rai affected by lower water levels in the Mekong
China has stopped discharging water from Yunnan Dam into the Mekong River, affecting boat services in the northern city of Chiang Rai. The Mekong River which runs through China’s Yunnan province has seen a significant drop in water levels in many areas after Yunnan Dam discontinued ...
NNT