Mekong shows its new face: China's dams pose a serious threat to Mekong river countries

A riverside road that was eroded by the Mekong. — SAROT MEKSOPHAWANNAKUL
The fish sold in riverside markets are getting smaller. — SAROT MEKSOPHAWANNAKUL

China's dams pose a serious threat to Mekong river countries, writes Kultida Samabuddhi in Ubon Ratchathani

Monday August 25, 2008
Bangkok Post

Last week's floods that ravaged the Mekong riverside provinces are a wake-up call for riverside folks - this 4,350km-long river is now vastly different from the waterway it used to be.

The river overflowed and inundated more than 2,200 villages in seven provinces - Chiang Rai, Nan, Nakhon Phanom, Sakon Nakhon, Nong Khai, Phetchabun and Mukdahan - and left four people dead in Nakhon Phanom and Nong Khai.

Over 100,000 rai of farmland were affected by the flood, which also devastated parts of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

The Mekong's water level, which is less than a metre deep in the dry season, rose to 14 metres and the overflow inundated the lowlands early this month.

Villagers living further inland were also hit by floods because the high water level in the Mekong backed up the river's tributaries.

Attributing the heavier than expected flooding to the above-average rainfall, authorities said it was another sign of anomalies in the world's 12th longest river detected over recent years.

Pointing to the strong currents of murky water flowing by her house in Mukdahan's Muang district, Methee Kaengrang, 36, said she used to think that living by the Mekong was a blessing. Mekong villagers mainly earn a living by catching fish in the river or growing crops on the fertile land close to the river banks in the dry season.

But now she feels it is no longer safe to live near the banks of the Mekong.

"I've lived by this river since I was born, but I'm so afraid of it now as the river has changed its character a lot from the old days," she said.

The river has a much stronger flow than before and it is savaging the river banks, she said, pointing to a collapsed concrete road in front of her house.

When this local road was built a few years ago it was around 3-4 metres from the river.

A few months ago, Mrs Methee was woken up in the middle of the night by a strong tremble and a loud roar from the river. She found out later that the mighty river had eroded the river bank by many metres and come closer to her home. "My house will be swept away within a few years if there is no levee to combat the erosion," she said.

According to the Mukdahan provincial office, around 2-3 metres of land is being eroded each year. The province has hurried the construction of a levee along its 72km river bank to keep the erosion in check.

Mrs Methee said she had only recently learned from news reports about the construction of mega-hydro power dams by China and the blasting of islets on the upper sections of the Mekong river to deepen the waters and make it possible for big cargo ships to navigate the river.

She believes that the damming of the Mekong might have caused the changes in the river and the stronger-than-usual flow causing much of the erosion.

China has built three large dams in the upper Mekong, Manwan, Dachaoshan, and Jinghong, which was completed in June. The fourth dam, Xiaowan, is still under construction and expected to come into operation in 2012.

Jinghong is the closest dam to Thailand, around 300km from Chiang Rai province.

The Chinese dams will not only worsen flooding downstream, but also cause water shortages. What will happen if China refuses to release water from the dams in the dry season, she asked.

The villagers said although the ecological impact of Chinese dams upstream were not apparent at the moment, the psychological impact on the villagers were clear. "We are scared. Earthquakes are so frequent in China and we are afraid the quakes will one day break up the dams. If that happens, the huge volume of water from the bursting dams released into the Mekong would kill us," she said.

Napassorn Charoensuk Maliwan, who runs a riverside restaurant in Muang district, is also badly affected by the Mekong bank erosion. The invading river swept away part of her restaurant in June.

She said a clarification from the Chinese government was needed on the dam operations in order to help Thai authorities and locals adjust to the river's hydrological changes.

The restaurant operator said changes in the Mekong's eco-system had also caused a sharp decline in fish stocks in the river.

Mukdahan's fish markets are no longer full of fish from the Mekong these days. "Sometimes I can't even find enough fish to serve my customers," said Ms Napassorn.

A fishmonger at the Pornpetch market in Muang district said the situation is dire as some of the most popular fish species found in the river, such as catfish, sheatfish and barb, have also shrunk in size.

Mekong fishermen in Ubon Ratchathani's Khong Chiam district, where the Mekong demarcates the Thai-Laos border in mid-river, also blamed overfishing for the dwindling fish stocks.

There are a lot of fishermen hunting for fish in the Mekong with destructive fishing gear, such as large nets and battery-powered stun-guns, Dam Kongton, a 77-year-old fisherman from Pha Chan village said.

He had been catching over 10kg of fish a day in the past, but his son says he can only catch around 2kg of fish a day today.

What worries Pha Chan village headman Kamphan Cherdchai the most is the river's fluctuating water level.

"The water level has been rising and falling very quickly. Over the past few years, we have seen the river doing so every three days, which is unusual."

Such a phenomenon affects both the fishermen and farmers.

"The river has become more and more unpredictable. We'd like this river to behave like before and live peacefully with us as it used to," he said.