October 4, 2016

"The Mekong River Basin is one of the most contested rivers in the world as six countries with unequal political power and differing degrees of social, scientific, and institutional capacity have been implementing projects with inadequate regard for their neighboring states'  development plans. 

Until recently, the 1995 Mekong River Agreement, created to promote cooperation and coordinate development in the basin, was relatively successful at guiding the member states toward common goals. But now, weaknesses in the Agreement have been exposed as cumulative hydropower and other developments have reach a critical stage. China, the main engine for regional economic growth, has also been a role model for unilateral hydropower development on the Mekong. Laos is constructing the first two of multiple dams planned for the mainstream Mekong, despite concerns over projected losses of wild-capture fisheries that millions of rural poor in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) depend upon. Vietnam and Cambodia, while protesting Laos’ dams, are also investing in their own Mekong projects. In December 2016, Thailand expects to release plans for a huge water diversion from the Mekong that would remove enough water to irrigate 5 million hectares of farmland (Thu, 2016). "

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