‘Us’ vs ‘them’: The politics dictating the rise and fall of the Mekong

Dams, economic interests and political power are just some of the factors contributing to the over-exploitation of the mighty Mekong. With several competing transnational bodies established to oversee its development, will any of them halt the river’s decline?

 

Cracked riverbeds, empty fishing nets and, snaking its way through the parched landscape, a beautifully clear, blue-tinted river.
This was the view of the mighty Mekong River earlier this year, when record-low water levels revealed a striking vulnerability to the main artery of Southeast Asia, a 4,350km feature that plays a role in everything from food security to national defence and energy production.
«I think the findings are aligned so far as the Chinese dams can influence the flows up to the northern part of lower mekong,» Kittikhoun said, «But to make the claim the Chinese can stop the water and the lower Mekong will be dry, I think that’s a bit much».
As the oldest of the organisations that monitor the Mekong, the Vientiane-based MRC has built its own capacity to measure the health of the river and create a space for dialogue between its member states of Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. «China will step up information-sharing and cooperation in water resources with Mekong countries and work with them to address challenges brought by climate change, floods and other natural disasters».
Speaking from Vientiane, the MRC’s Kittikhoun said Chinese representatives had shared similar overtures with the Mekong River Commission. China has long been an observer to the commission, but has never formally joined as a member.

What [the Eyes on Earth study] clearly says is the level of the river in Chiang Saen, Thailand, right in the middle of the river basin, would have been running at normal or above normal levels if China’s dams weren’t there

Brian Eyler a Mekong expert and Southeast Asia programme director at the Stimson Center

This article was written by Andrew Haffner 

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