Thread: Mekong : Dams disrupt lives

Mekong River Commission to urge China to help raise water level



BANGKOK, March 5 (TNA) - The Vientiane-based Mekong River Commission (MRC) will seek China's cooperation in tackling the problem of low water levels in the Mekong River, as Southeast Asia's primary international water has fallen to its lowest level in nearly 20 years, affecting local residents and businesses dependent on the river.

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) comprising member countries Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, agreed at its Wednesday meeting in Luang Prabang, Laos, that it will petition the Chinese representative at the United Nations for Beijing's cooperation in finding a quick and effective solution by the end of next week, according to Saksit Treedech,Thailand’s permanent secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

Mr Saksit said the Mekong’s drought conditions are worrisome and that the member countries wish to tackle this problem seriously, as it has been affecting freighters and cargoes, which have been forced to halt their runs, including water shortage from the river for public consumption.

It will be the first time the Commission has officially sent a letter to China. However, Mr Saksit said the Mekong agency is not intending to pressure China on the matter, but to inform the neighbour on the north, as all the countries having the river run through or pass alongside them now face similarly unusual low water levels.

At the meeting, Thailand also suggested that the four nations should apply diplomatic measures through their foreign ministries in order to press China to realise the importance of a joint solution to the river problem.

He added Thailand's Natural Resources and Environment Ministry will urgently discuss the issue with the Foreign Ministry.

In Thailand's northern province of Nong Khai, the Mekong River has fallen to its lowest level in 50 years. All 17 districts in the province have been declared drought-hit zones.

Meanwhile, in the northern province of Uttaradit, the Sirikit Dam is also facing the lowest water levels in 10 years, causing sandbars on which cars can pass through and people can take a walk.

Dam director Somkid Khaengraeng said its water levels are now in crisis, as there is only 1.46 billion cubic metres, while the Royal Irrigation Department requires the dam to daily release water at 24 million cubic metres in order to help drought victims in the area.

Mr Somkid also urged local residents to use the water prudently and to avoid growing off-season paddy fields, for crops will be damaged due to water shortage.

If rice farmers do not stop rice farming, he warned, the dam can only release water for another 75 days, for the rest of the water must be kept as backup supply in the reservoir.

mcot.net

does Abhisit have any face left ?

China continues to lead the World on a race to the bottom.

^Another title taken away from the US

The notice board outside the site says "park". No mention of road.

PM believes China will assist Thailand in alleviating drought
Nuttaporn Chanchokpong
06 March 2010

BANGKOK, 6 March 2010 (NNT) - Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva believes that China is willing to assist Thailand in alleviating the drought situation in several provinces.

Deputy Prime Minister, Trairong Suwankhiri, earlier cited the Chinese detention of water at the upper part of the Mekong as a reason to the drought and water shortages being experienced by countries in the lower basin.

Prime Minister Abhisit said that there were many different opinions on the cause of drought. He believed that China did not have any intention to cause any trouble to Thailand. The government will hold talks with the Chinese authorities over the matter.

Thailand is facing a severe drought situation and rice production has been tremendously affected. Twenty-nine provinces with more than 3 million inhabitants are presently experiencing drought while more than 100,000 rai of farmland are encountering substantial damages throughout the country. This is according to the recent report of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

thainews.prd.go.th

Wishful thinking i'm afraid : the chinese need the water just as much as the thais. Their situation is different in just one way : they hold the faucet in their grasp.

China on Monday dismissed an accusation that it caused drought in the Mekong River, saying its shared only 13 percent of water flow in the southeast Asian longest river.

China's dams make no impact to upstream

Less people is the solution to most problems. How can the human population just go on growing with so many problems like this happening. Thailand is a slave to China already in many ways. This is just the beginning of a regular event. I haven't heard much news about Cambodia's problems with this. They may suffer more. Toxicity levels in water probably rise the volume goes down and oxygen levels to I would think. Lots more fish should die from this.

^ indeed. And if life doesn't die from it, the toxins still accumulate up the food chain.

Originally Posted by Friedclams

Less people is the solution to most problems. How can the human population just go on growing with so many problems like this happening.

Ij ust couldn't have said it better

Originally Posted by Friedclams

Less people is the solution to most problems. How can the human population just go on growing with so many problems like this happening. Thailand is a slave to China already in many ways. This is just the beginning of a regular event. I haven't heard much news about Cambodia's problems with this. They may suffer more. Toxicity levels in water probably rise the volume goes down and oxygen levels to I would think. Lots more fish should die from this.

Where have we heard this before...?? Overt populations are the key to said blame. It certainly takes a manifest if this indoctrination is repeated again and again. Particular circles of population, and the expected mindset, are to blame. Gluttonous, excessive, and mindless consumptive consciousness is the culprit, which is truly limited to a narrow population of our kind.

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Gluttonous, excessive, and mindless consumptive consciousness

I like zombie movies, too.

^ Not agree with you Balders : good planning does indeed alleviate some of the problems caused by over-population, but all these infrastructure still aren't as efficient as some good forest.

When you have people, you need land to grow food, house them, give them transportation possibilities, and drown them in goods. With the earth's population having been x6 or more in a century, it's just no wonder the last remaining virgin forests are being cleared, along with their floras and faunas.

The disappearance of forest is the #1 factor in shortages of water supply.

Low Mekong isn’t caused by dams: govt
Thet Sambath
Monday, 29 March 2010

GOVERNMENT officials said Sunday that they did not believe the falling water level of the Mekong River had been caused by the construction of Chinese dams, arguing that climate change was instead to blame.

“Some countries say falling water levels in the Mekong River are caused by China’s damming practices, but Cambodia sees it is as a result of climate change,” said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong, who added that a drought in southwestern China was a more specific cause.

Pich Dun, secretary general of the Cambodia National Mekong Commission, who is set to attend the Mekong River Summit early next month in Hua Hin, Thailand, echoed Koy Kuong’s comments.

“People who don’t know the facts put the blame on China’s dams,” said Pich Dun, adding that according to the results of a study by the Mekong River Commission, the falling water levels in the Mekong are caused by drought in China, Laos and Thailand.

The government’s position is at odds with that of some conservation advocates and officials in the region.

According to the Save the Mekong Coalition, changes to the Mekong River’s daily hydrology and sediment load since the early 1990s have been linked to Chinese damming practices.

Thailand’s Water Resources Department said earlier this month that data collected over the past five years shows that the major cause of the Mekong’s low water levels is the construction of dams along the river in China’s Yunnan province.

The Mekong River Comission has noted that the river is at its lowest level in nearly 20 years.

China said last week that it would begin sharing information about upstream Mekong water levels with countries downstream, an announcement
that was welcomed by water conservation groups as well as government officials.

phnompenhpost.com

Yunnan province has also experienced severe droughts. Maybe the Chinese Central Gov will realise the problem when the supply of Pu'er dries up.

Lao dams don't impact Mekong River: Lao energy minister
วันอังคาร ที่ 06 ก.ค. 2553

VIENTIANE, July 6 - Dams on the Lao tributaries of the Mekong River have no impact on the low water levels currently characterising the Mekong River, said the Lao PDR Minister of Energy and Mines, who affirmed that his country will abide by international agreements if it builds more dams on the Mekong River.

Members of an extraordinary committee studying the alarming drop of the Mekong River's water level, Democrat MP Suthat Ngernmuen, chairing the committee, visited Thailand's neighbour to the northeast to gather data on dam construction and water management in the branches of the Mekong River in Laos.

Minister of Energy and Mines Soulivong Daravong reported to the Thai parliamentary committee that Laos considered the impact on the Mekong River in its operation of the dams.

The Nam Ngum and Nam Theun dams haven't affected the water level in the Mekong River as the waters reserved in the dams will be finally released into the Mekong River. In the past dry season, water from the Nam Theun dam helped increase the water level in the lower Mekong River, so it is not too dry, the Lao minister said.

Speaking about the idea to build a dam on the Mekong River, Mr Soulivong said that the proposal to build Pa Mong Dam on the Mekong mainstream was initiated 30 years ago and the plan was scrapped.

However, while the project may be resumed in the future, it will be a low dam which does not violate conditions agreed by international members. Whether the project resumes or not depends on feasibility studies which will be conducted first to find advantages and disadvantages.

“We have studied so many planned dam construction projects but there has been no decision to build any so far. Two dam projects in Saiyaburi and southern Laos near Cambodian border have been studied,” he said.

He confirmed that Laos will comply with international agreement and regulations transparently, particularly regarding the Saiyaburi dam which is believed to be of potential benefit to both Thailand and Laos.

According to the initial investigation, there are no problems related to flooding but the dams will affect fish stocks. A solution will be worked out on that, he added.

Meanwhile, Khempheng Pholsena, Minister to the Prime Minister's Office, clarified to the committee that the Lao economy this year has grown 7.8 per cent and is targeted to grow eight per cent.

However, Lao development is expected to be done in parallel with environmental conservation, the minister said.

The Lao PDR is targeting an increase in forest areas from the existing 41 per cent of the country to 70 per cent in 2020.

mcot.net

Interesting.

The Mekong is up, up our way, over the last 2-4 weeks.

Locals are convinced that it's because the Chinese dams have cracked and are leaking.

Where they got this information from is beyond me.

Bless 'em.

US senators express concern over Mekong dam plans
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
September 25, 2010


Webb

The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has voiced concerns over the plans to build 12 dams on the Mekong River, saying the dams would impact the environment and food security in the region.

The committee, chaired by Senator Jim Webb, held a hearing on Thursday consider concerns about the extensive impact on the river and livelihoods if the projects go ahead.

As the United States is a donor to the mekong River Commission (MRC), the committee was urged to do everything in its capacity to ensure that mainstream dams would not proceed until the findings of the MRC-commissioned Strategic Environmental Assessment were considered and adopted by regional governments.

Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam are members of the MRC, which is a regulatory body to oversee the lower mekong basin.

The United States has paid more attention to the mekong River since Washington formed closer links with the four countries in the basin under the framework of Mekong-Mississippi Rivers cooperation last year.

The hearing took place a day after the MRC said it had received official notification from Laos that the country would proceed with the Xayaburi project, as the first dam in the mekong mainstream, according to conservationist International Rivers.

Aviva Imhof, campaigns director for International Rivers, testified before the committee.

Imhof relayed to the committee the Strategic Environmental Assessment's findings and its recommendation that any decision on mainstream dams be deferred for at least 10 years.

"To allow the Xayaburi consultation process to go forward without considering the findings would be like getting a diagnosis of cancer and then ignoring it," she said in a statement.

Webb said the mekong fisheries were important for food security in the region, and expressed concern about the dramatic impact that could occur to livelihoods and the river ecosystem if the dams were built. The dam plans were "profoundly disturbing" on the political, economic and social levels, he said.

The Xayaburi Dam would be the first to be built on the lower Mekong. It would displace thousands of people in Laos, disrupt an important fish migration route and cause the extinction of the critically endangered mekong giant catfish by destroying one of its last natural spawning habitats.

The dam is being proposed by Thai company Ch Karnchang and more than 95 per cent of the power generated would be sold to Thailand.

This month, Thai community groups representing about 24,000 people in five provinces along the mekong River submitted an appeal to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva asking him to cancel the plan to buy electricity from the Xayaburi Dam.

nationmultimedia.com

Laos’ Xayabury dam impact potentially ‘catastrophic’
Will Baxter and Cheang Sokha
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SAM RITH
Thursday, 30 September 2010

A hydropower dam proposed for Laos’ northern Xayabury province could have serious negative effects on fisheries, biodiversity and livelihoods downstream in Cambodia, a spokesman for the World Wide Fund for Nature has said.

“Cambodia will be one of the hardest hit countries from the construction of any, including Xayabury, of the proposed 11 lower Mekong mainstream dams,” said Marc Goichot, a senior adviser on sustainable infrastructure at WWF Greater Mekong.

“These impacts are potentially catastrophic, and can include riverbank erosion, impacting the riverside homes of millions of Cambodians.”

Laos notified the Mekong River Commission of its plan for the 1,260-megawatt dam on September 22.

Goichot’s assessment was far bleaker than that of Pich Dun, secretary general of the Cambodian National Mekong Committee, who acknowledged that the dam would “affect fish migration, but not very seriously”.

“According to the study, the dam is being built far from Cambodia, so only some kinds of fish are migrating from here to there, and that is why the effects will not be so huge,” Pich Dun said.

“But if all 11 dams are built, the people on the lower Mekong will face difficulties with the change in the flow of sediments to their crops,” he said.

But Goichot said the dam would “lead to the extinction of the Mekong giant catfish in the wild and probably other fish species”.

Sam Nouv, deputy director for the Fisheries Administration, said he, too, was “concerned” about the dam. “When a dam is built on the upstream, it really impacts the fisheries in Cambodia,” he said.

phnompenhpost.com

Delay urged for Mekong dam projects
15/10/2010

Countries in the lower Mekong River region should delay any decisions about building hydropower dams for 10 years, an influential new study said Friday, warning of the many risks involved.



Boats are lined up at the Huay Xay pier on the Mekong river at the Laos-Thailand border. Countries in the lower Mekong River region should delay any decisions about building hydropower dams for 10 years, an influential new study said Friday, warning of the many risks involved.

The recommendation was made in a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) report commissioned by the Mekong River Commission (MRC), an inter-governmental advisory body that deals with all Mekong River-related activities.

The MRC -- which represents Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam -- is studying the possible construction of 11 hydropower projects on southeast Asia's longest river.

"The recommendation to defer dam construction for a 10-year period is very significant," said Tiffany Hacker, an interim communication advisor for the MRC.

Environmental groups have long objected to damming the river, arguing that it would damage fragile ecosystems.

The assessment, led by consultants with the help of the MRC, government agencies and civil society representatives, said more time was needed to study the risks that come with building dams in such a complex environment.

"The mainstream projects are likely to result in serious and irreversible environmental damage and... losses in biological diversity and ecological integrity," the report said.

It also warned that the dams would have a negative impact on fisheries and could "lead to increasing food insecurity for millions of people".

The MRC stressed that it was under no obligation to follow the report's recommendations, but Hacker told AFP that member countries were "likely to take the findings seriously".

The four countries will now study the findings "for at least six months" before deciding on how to proceed, Hacker said.

More than 60 million people rely in some way on the river, which is the world's largest inland fishery, according to the MRC.

The wildlife group WWF has warned that the Mekong giant catfish -- one of the world's biggest freshwater fish -- could be driven to extinction if plans to build hydropower dams on the river go ahead, blocking spawning grounds.

bangkokpost.com

Contractor defers Laos hydro project to February
NALIN VIBOONCHART
October 19, 2010

Ch Karnchang, Thailand's second-largest contractor, will sign a Bt76-billion construction contract for the Xayaburi hydropower project next February, deferred from the previous forecast of the final quarter of this year.

Managing director Plew Trivisvavet yesterday said the company would also sign loan contracts with Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank, Krung Thai Bank and Siam Commercial Bank in February to finance the Xayaburi project in Laos.

It is estimated that after the Xayaburi contract is signed, Ch Karnchang will record its highest backlog in history, exceeding Bt100 billion. Plew said Ch Karnchang currently had work on hand worth Bt30 billion.

That figure includes underground construction of the Blue Line mass transit route from Sanam Chai to Tha Phra, worth Bt10.029 billion.

Meanwhile, Plew said the company would reduce its stake in the Nam Ngum II hydropower-plant project, with installed generating capacity of 615 megawatts, which will start a trial run by year-end and begin commercial production next March. Ch Karnchang is in talks with four or five investors interested in taking part in the project.

"Ch Karnchang will reduce its stake in Nam Ngum II to 30 per cent," he said.
Nam Ngum II has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat).

Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) said earlier that Ch Karnchang was could win projects worth a combined of Bt96 billion, including the Xayaburi project, in the final quarter of this year. As a result, the company would record a historic backlog of Bt109 billion, which will generate revenue until 2015.

The projects Kim Eng expected Ch Karnchang to win excluded two contracts for the Red Line mass transit route worth a combined Bt40 billion.

The securities firm said Ch Karnchang could start selling electricity from Nam Ngum II from the end of the year, and start fully generating revenue of Bt400 million to Bt450 million from the project next year.

In a separate matter, according to a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday, Ch Karnchang-Krungthon Engineer Joint Venture signed a Bt1.98-billion contract with the Royal Irrigation Department to construct the water-supply system for Phra-ong Chaiyanuchit Canal-Bang Phra Reservoir, Projects 1 and 2, for the Water Diversion Project, East Chao Phya River-Bang Phra Reservoir. The construction period is about 720 days.

Ch Karnchang holds a 60-per-cent stake in the joint venture and Krungthon Engineer the remaining 40 per cent.

nationmultimedia.com

The Mekhong River is drying up : National News Bureau of Thailand

The Mekhong River is drying up

NAKORNPANOM, 23 November 2010 (NNT)-The Mekong River has been drying up so fast that cargo vessels often have to take a detour to avoid crashing into a sandbank. Local merchants are worried the situation will exacerbate when the drought starts in April.

Water level in the Mekong River at Nakornpanom Province is so low that sandbanks can be clearly seen. The shallow water has made it difficult for boats to pass through particularly at the Thai-Laotian Market.

Ships and boats are forced to spend twice as much time reaching their destinations to make goods deliveries, as they have to detour around the sandbanks to avoid running aground. As a result, border trade between Thailand and Laos is expected to drop sharply in the near future, thanks to transportation difficulties and increased expenses.

Water level in the Mekong River has begun to dry up earlier than usual this year, the cause of which is the building of dams up the River by China, causing concern among countries downstream; including Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos.

Expecting the Mekong to dry up further, the Nakornpanom provincial governor has already planned to build dykes at the rivers of Kok, Ing, and Kum, which are connected to the Mekong, enabling them to store as much water as possible for use during the dry season.