Mekong

Like two sides to every coin, hydropower development offers benefits and disadvantages. Lao PDR has been constructing many dams, with assorted projects in various stages of completion. But what is the legal framework to ensure proper compensation for affected residents?  

Hydropower dams on the Mekong mainstream have resulted in many negative impacts on riverine communities who depend on the river’s transboundary ecological web for their livelihoods. Ongoing plans for development continue to impact people’s lives – can it be halted before it reaches a tipping point? 

Nược Đua’ is how Vietnamese living in the Mekong Delta used to call out to the dolphins ‘to help them out when they were fishing. That was decades ago, when the Irrawaddy dolphin could still be seen in Vietnam.

The way of life at Ban Ta Mui on the Thai-Lao border is rapidly changing with ongoing development of the Mekong River. Social and environmental impacts have been accumulating as large-scale hydropower and other projects take their toll. Can a policy shift towards biocultural rights and responsibilities reframe a renewed respect to nature, from dispossession to nourishing diversity and living in accordance with the true spirit of the Mekong River?    

The Mekong River in the Vietnamese delta region has consistently received its lowest flow levels in recent years, limiting rice-growing and other crops. Climate change, saline intrusion, and hydropower dams have all significantly impacted farmers’ livelihoods but Resolution 120, a response from the Vietnamese government, is expected to provide some hope for a shift in agricultural strategy and food security for the future. 

The Mekong Butterfly, an independent ecological group based in Thailand, has been monitoring the impacts of water levels and changing aquatic patterns on two species: the Mekong river crinum lily, a Mekong riverbank plant, and the small pratincole, a bird adapting its behavior to the new conditions.

Water resource management of the Mekong River is a source of differences and conflicts of interest between Mekong countries and extra-regional powers. What happens upstream significantly affects the downstream areas, and data sharing about the river is varied. Unfortunately, the states sharing this international river are not equal in terms of power and there are ongoing challenges for providing consistent water management to benefit local riparian communities.  

For millions of people, the Mekong River is a cohabitation of people, animals, natural resources and culture. For some states and international organizations, the Mekong River is a place where cooperation is needed for sustainable development in the region. For a few, the Mekong River is considered as a strategic area of competition for their power and influence.