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The struggle for the soul of the Mekong River
Oped, Published on 31/07/2020
» In June of this year, the FAO's annual State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report ranked the Mekong Basin as the world's most productive freshwater fishery, accounting for over 15% of global annual freshwater fish catch. Meanwhile, WWF Researchers estimate that the contribution actually accounts for a quarter of the world's freshwater catch. This massive inland fishery is critical to the food security of tens of millions living in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, and is fuelled by the Mekong River's natural flow cycle. Typically, the Mekong transitions like clockwork around this time of year from the dry season period of relatively low flow to an extreme wet season pulse bringing floodwaters that nourish the entirety of the basin.
Pak Beng dam delay paves way for cleaner solutions
News, Published on 17/03/2018
» The disruptive potential of renewable energy has reached the Mekong region, and its impacts are playing out faster than anticipated.
Tropical neighbours chase energy goals
News, Published on 24/02/2018
» Water management in the Mekong region is, in practice, dominated by energy objectives. In Cambodia, the priority is to substitute domestically produced hydropower for expensive diesel and electricity imports. In Laos, the priority is to generate revenue by drawing in foreign investment in dams and export excess electricity to its neighbours, with Thailand as its biggest market. In Vietnam, which has already built out most of its hydropower potential, the priority is to meet a projected tripling in energy demand by 2030 while protecting the economically vital Mekong Delta from the impacts of upstream dams.
A call for basin-wide energy plans
News, Published on 08/11/2016
» Preparatory work for the next big dam on the Mekong -- Pak Beng -- in northern Laos has begun. This news supports the widespread narrative that the current rapid pace of dam construction on the Mekong River will continue until the entire river is turned into a series of reservoirs. Certainly the construction of even a few large dams will severely impact food security in the world's most productive freshwater fishery and sharply reduce the delivery of nutrient-rich sediment needed to sustain agriculture, especially in Cambodia and Vietnam's Mekong Delta.