On Mekong Commission, a Stark Absence of Two Countries

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88le4CXJYJc

Wednesday, 04 January 2012
Say Mony, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“It’s probably a good opportunity for China now to show it is a good big brother, as it is almost done with all its dam construction.”

Cambodia is a member of the Mekong River Commission, alongside Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

But there are two countries that also have great influence over the Mekong—Burma and China—who remain mere partners in official discussions over the use the river.

The relationship between the commission, Burma and China has come into sharp relief in recent months, as plans for the development of hydroelectric dams move forward, and experts say diplomacy is only going to get trickier.

Mekong river dam decision delayed

April 19 2011
By Tim Johnston in Bangkok
Financial Times

A decision on whether to allow a controversial $3.8bn hydroelectric dam across the Mekong river has been delayed, raising fresh doubts over a project that Laos hopes will establish it as the “battery of south-east Asia”.

The Mekong River Commission, which is made up of representatives of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, had been due to make its decision on Tuesday. But instead it has passed the final judgment on whether to give the green light to the Xayaburi dam in Laos, to regional ministers.

The delegates did not set a date for a final decision but the delay will be seen as a further example of how competing environmental, energy and food interests are becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile in one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.

Laos Seeks to Gain Neighbors' Approval for $3.8 Billion Mekong River Dam

Apr 18, 2011
By Daniel Ten Kate
Bloomberg Markets Magazine

Laos will meet with neighboring Mekong River countries today in an effort to win their approval for a planned $3.8 billion hydropower dam and allay concerns it would disrupt fish catches and rice production downstream.

The Xayaburi hydropower plant is the first of about 10 dams the government plans to build on the mainstream Mekong, which runs from China’s Tibetan plateau through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Lao officials will make the final decision on plans for its biggest electricity plant to date after today’s meeting.

“The government will consider the concerns of the riparian countries and try to convince them of the advantages,” Daovong Phonekeo, deputy director general of Laos’s Department of Electricity, said by phone from Vientiene, the capital. “The project is necessary because our country is less developed. We don’t have other means to increase revenue.”

Decade Freeze on Dams

The Nam Theun 2 power dam under construction in Laos' Nakai plateau, June 28, 2007. (AFP)

2010-10-18
Radio Free Asia

An intergovernmental study seeks a 10-year moratorium on the building of hydropower dams along the Mekong River.

A study authorized by an influential inter-governmental panel has called for a 10-year freeze in the construction of hydropower dams along Southeast Asia's key Mekong River.

The report, sanctioned by the Mekong River Commission (MRC), came amid a high level of interest to construct up to 12 mainstream hydropower projects in Cambodia, Laos and on the border of Laos and Thailand.

The river, the world's 12th-longest and Asia's 7th-longest, runs through these three countries and China, Burma and Vietnam.

The Mekong region is home to dozens of rare bird and marine species and already faces threats from pollution, climate change, and the effects of earlier dams that were built in China.

Consultants who conducted the study on proposals to build dams on the Mekong warned that "due to the uncertainties regarding scale and irreversibility of risks in such a complex river system," any decisions on their construction "should be deferred for a period of up to 10 years," the MRC said.

They called for reviews to be made every three years "to ensure that the necessary conditions to strengthen understanding of the natural systems as well as management and regulatory processes are conducted effectively."

Manage shared water resources

The MRC was set up following an agreement by Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in 1995 to jointly manage their shared water resources and development of the economic potential of the river.

The study, known as the strategic environmental assessment, on the dam projects "demonstrates the value of cooperation amongst MRC member countries on what are highly sensitive issues,” said Jeremy Bird, CEO of the MRC Secretariat in Vientiane.

The assessment results will be used in discussions for hydropower projects "before a decision is made whether or not to go ahead and, if so, under what circumstances."

Laos has proposed the first mega dam on the mainstream of the lower Mekong, which is also shared by Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Many environmental groups and experts opposed the project, saying it would contribute to the damage of the Mekong river network, home to dozens of rare bird and marine species.

They already face threats from pollution, climate change, and the effects of earlier dams that were built in China and have caused water levels to drop sharply on the upper Mekong.

The MRC is merely an advisory body and has no enforcement powers with no independent legal authority to coordinate, plan, or oversee projects. Still, environmentalists say the assessment results were significant.

Lao move on dam

Late last month, the Lao government submitted plans to the MRC for the 1,260-megawatt Sayaboury hydropower dam project on the Mekong River, confirming its intention to go ahead with the project.

The plans were conveyed even before the MRC completed the strategic environment assessment and despite the fact that the assessment document was not made available to the public, said Carl Middleton of Thailand's Chulalongkorn University.

"For several years now there has been lots of concerns about the plans for dams on the Mekong River mainstream part, especially their impact on fisheries and it is very worrying that the project has got to this state of decision making," he said.

"Because the Mekong river ecosystem is a complete system, we should be looking at what impact it would have throughout the basin—It will have a trans-boundary impact."

The goal of truly cooperative, equitable, and sustainable use of the Mekong "is largely moot as long as China, along with Burma, has declined to join the MRC," lamented Richard Cronin, director of the Washington based Stimson center's Southeast Asia program.

"Beijing refuses to share either significant information about its dams or the data that it used in or derived from its own environmental and hydrological studies," he said.

Contributions by Oratai Singhananth and Max Avary of RFA's Lao Service. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.

Environmentalists welcome Mekong commission's call to postpone dams

Oct 18, 2010
DPA

Bangkok - Environmentalists on Monday welcomed a recommendation by the Mekong River Commission to postpone the construction of 11 hydropower dams on the river by 10 years.

The Vientiane-based commission recently published a 200-page report outlining its opposition to the dams on the lower Mekong, South-east Asia's longest waterway that courses through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Although China has already built four hydropower dams on the Upper Mekong, no dams have yet been constructed on the lower mainstream of the river.

The commission, whose membership includes the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, has advised that 11 proposed dams be deferred for a decade to avoid political and environmental conflicts.

'The proposed developments when under construction and operating have the potential to create; international tensions within the Lower Mekong Basin due to i) ecosystem integrity, ii) reduced sediment and nutrient loads, iii) disruption to other uses of the Mekong and iv) reduced productivity in fisheries and agriculture,' the report said.

The conclusions won immediate endorsement from the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).

'We need this 10-year deferral so innovative technology, tailor-made to the unique conditions of the Mekong, can be developed to allow for energy production without high risk to the river and the people dependent on its resources,' Marc Goichot, senior sustainable infrastructure advisor for WWF Greater Mekong, said.

The report warned that any dam built on the lower Mekong would threaten the livelihoods and food security of tens of millions of people in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The commission also warned that dam construction would disrupt the migratory patterns of numerous fish species, including the giant catfish, which is already listed as endangered.

China, which is not a member of the commission, plans to build four more dams on the upper Mekong despite the unknown impact on the nations downstream.

The Stimson Centre think tank warned in August that China's dams could halt up to 70 per cent of the silt that is normally carried by the river to the lower Mekong countries, depriving them of nutrients.

The Mekong, which flows from the Tibetan plateau to southern Vietnam, feeds and employs up to 60 million people in the region.

Mekong countries should delay dam projects for decade: study

Monday, October 18, 2010
AFP

PHNOM PENH — 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.

China Goes for Friendly Giant Role in Mekong

Analysis by Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, June 14, 2010 (IPS) - The Mekong River is steadily emerging as a testing ground for public diplomacy, Chinese style. Beijing, it appears, wants to reach out to its southern neighbours who share the river more as a friendly giant than an imposing bully.

An unprecedented move to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding two of four dams on the upper stretches of the river that snakes through southern China is only the latest in a diplomatic shift towards openness taking shape since mid-March.

On Jun. 7, senior government officials from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam were offered their first glimpse of the newly built Xiaowan dam and the older Jing Hong dam as part of a fact-finding tour. It was a groundbreaking journey into the mountainous terrain of China’s Yunnan province that had, till this month, been forbidden territory to officials from the Mekong River Basin countries.

The welcome mat was rolled out by Beijing in early April during the first summit of the Mekong River countries, which also include Burma (or Myanmar), in addition to the four river basin countries and China. That summit in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin was to mark the 15th anniversary of the 1995 Mekong Agreement, which paved the way for the creation of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), an inter-governmental body of the four lower Mekong countries tasked to manage and develop the basin area.

"The Chinese government indicated at the summit that they would like to be more open with governments in the lower Mekong countries," Damian Kean, an MRC spokesman, told IPS from his headquarters in Vientiane. "It was keen to address the concerns of the lower basin countries."

March marked a noticeable turning point in China shedding its secretive policies about its designs on the Mekong River, which begins its 4,660- kilometre long journey from the Tibetan plateau, heads through Yunnan, then passes Burma before snaking its way through the basin to empty out into the South China Sea in southern Vietnam.

What prompted this move was the withering criticism China’s four completed dams (of a cascade of eight planned on the upper Mekong) came under as the river dried up in the basin, hitting a low not seen in the past 50 years. Among the affected were the 60 million people living in the basin, who depend on fishing in the Mekong for their livelihood.

Thailand was the staging area for Beijing’s offer of an olive branch. After all, it was from this South-east Asian country that most of the anti-dam criticism by environmental and grassroots activists emerged. Groups like Save the Mekong Coalition, a Bangkok-based network, declared that the "changes to the Mekong River’s daily hydrology and sediment load since the early 1990s have already been linked to the operation of the (Chinese) dam cascade."

To calm such opposition, Chen Dehai, a Chinese diplomat from the Bangkok embassy, held a press conference in March, breaking China’s silence about the dams that had prevailed since the Manwan, the first of the Chinese dams in the upper Mekong, came on line in 1992.

The Chinese dams were not the reason for the record drop in the Mekong’s water level during this year’s dry season, Chen told reporters in the Thai capital. "The average annual runoff volume of the Lancang River at the outbound point (of China) is approximately 64 billion cubic metres, accounting for only 13.5 percent of the Mekong’s run off volume at the (South China) sea outlet," he said, using the Chinese name for the Mekong.

This view was echoed by another Chinese diplomat in a rare appearance at a discussion about the Mekong held on Apr. 1 at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. The Xiaowan, the largest of the dams, had begun to impound water since July 2009, but such operations had stopped at the beginning of the dry season, Yao Wen, the first secretary to the Chinese mission in Bangkok, told participants at the ‘Public Forum on Sharing the Mekong River’.

During his visit to Bangkok in March, China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue had reportedly offered reassuring words of friendship to its Mekong neighbours. "China would not do anything to damage mutual interest with neighbouring countries in the Mekong," Hu was reported to have told Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

"China has realised that its past approach of avoiding public engagement and public diplomacy with the lower Mekong countries has not worked," said Carl Middleton, Mekong programme coordinator for International Rivers, a U.S.- based environmental lobby.

Yet what seems lacking so far is a recognition by Beijing about its past errors in building four dams without consulting communities in the lower Mekong, Middleton told IPS. "People need to be compensated for the past errors."

The information about the dams that China is now willing to share with the lower Mekong countries and the MRC should be given to the communities in the lower Mekong, he added. "China needs to recognise that the Mekong is a shared river if regional peace and prosperity is to be achieved."

Achieving such regional peace is in Beijing’s interest for geo-political reasons, too, say analysts in the wake of new interest shown by the U.S. government to help manage and develop the Mekong river, which Washington lost interest in soon after its defeat during the U.S. war in Vietnam.

In mid-May, the MRC and the Mississippi River Commission inked their first deal for river management cooperation, confirming a plan that was unveiled last July by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the first-ever U.S.- Lower Mekong Ministerial Meeting in the southern Thai resort of Phuket.

During that visit, Clinton also signed the Treaty of Amity, a regional security deal that Beijing had already signed in 2003.

"China’s public diplomacy to reach out to the lower Mekong countries is a direct response to the U.S. signing the Treaty of Amity last year," said Kavi Chongkittavorn, a columnist on regional affairs for ‘The Nation’, an English- language daily in Thailand. "Beijing lost the advantage it had and cannot afford to have a negative image in the region."

Local Communities Tapped to Counter Mekong Floods

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, May 30, 2010 (IPS) - With monsoon rains beginning to sweep across mainland south-east Asia, mobile phones are being put to further use as part of a plan to protect communities living on the banks of the Mekong River from flash floods.

Riverbank communities in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam have been supplied with 120 mobile phones and trained to monitor the rising tide of the Mekong, which swells with a larger volume of water as the monsoon deepens by August.

The use of the mobile phones to strengthen greater community participation in reducing flood risks is part of an ongoing trial by the Mekong River Commissions (MRC), an intergovernmental body based in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. The initiative that began in 2008 and is due for expansion aims "to get potentially affected people more involved in flood preparedness," states the MRC.

"More engagement from communities vulnerable to flood risks and other disasters is very important because any flood planning measures and responses need to directly address the people’s needs," said Jeremy Bird, head of the Mekong secretariat, during the annual Mekong Flood Forum, which ran from May 26-27 in the Laotian capital.

The information flow that will involve local communities includes villagers calling in the rising water levels to national flood forecasting agencies. The information will then be transmitted to a broader network of villages to be publicised on billboards and announced through loudspeakers in the event of an imminent flash flood.

"This approach where villagers monitor and measure water levels themselves has also been cost effective to local conditions," says Hatda An Pich, operations manager of the MRC’s regional flood management and mitigation centre.

The MRC’s 48-hour warning system in the event of an impending flood gives villages sufficient time to evacuate "as well as to take measures to protect cattle and other livestock" and property.

The MRC, whose members include Thailand, in addition to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, is tasked with managing the Mekong Basin that the four countries share. Its flood warning network, however, has come under scrutiny after riverbank communities were struck in August 2008 by the worst floods witnessed in over a decade.

The waters of the region’s largest river rose to nearly 14 metres that year, exceeding the highest flood level recorded in 1966, which was 12.69 metres. Fishing communities in the north-eastern Thai districts of Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong along the Mekong had to flee after flood waters reached the roofs of their houses.

"The 2008 floods exposed the failure of the MRC’s flood warning system," says Pianporn Deetes, a member of the Save the Mekong Coalition (SMC), a Bangkok-based network of activists and grassroots groups. "Local communities had no access to the information about the rising water levels."

If a similar disaster is to be avoided, she adds, "complete transparency of information is needed and the local communities need to have access to it, in addition to receiving information in their local languages."

"You cannot ask these poor farming and fishing communities to check flood updates on the websites when they do not have computers," she says. "The mistakes of two years ago should have been corrected by now to protect local communities.

The estimated 60 million people who live on the banks of the lower Mekong depend on over 20 flood monitoring stations spread across the four countries in the basin. The MRC also receives data on the river’s volume from its headwaters in China’s southern province of Yunan.

China’s role in cooperating with the lower Mekong region is expected to be tested during this year’s monsoon season. It comes after Beijing reached out to the Mekong basin countries during an April Mekong summit in Thailand to share information about water impounded by some of its dams, a further break from its secretive past.

It followed a barrage of criticism levelled at China for its cascade of dams in the upper Mekong, causing the Mekong to dip to a record 50-year low by March this year, a period when the region is usually hit by an annual dry season drought.

"China would not do anything to damage mutual interest with neighbouring countries in the Mekong," Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue told Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva during a Bangkok visit ahead of the summit.

China’s planned eight dams, four of which have been completed, has seen tension rise along the Mekong, which flows down a 4,880-kilometre route from Tibet, through Yunan, touching Burma, and then through the basin till it flows out in southern Vietnam into the South China Sea.

The need for accurate flood forecasting became relevant following the extreme floods that inundated the lower Mekong in 2000, killing some 800 people, 80 percent of whom were women and children living in riverbank communities. Activists laid some blame on China, which, like Burma (officially called Myanmar), is not a member of the MRC and had refused to share information of water volumes flowing south at the time.

The Asian giant shifted its stance by 2002, following an agreement it signed with the MRC to provide hydrological information during the wet season. "China’s recent cooperation is positive, but the information it shares with the MRC should be known to the local communities," says Pianporn of the SMC.

Dams portend grim future for Mekong Delta: experts [... yet Vietnam still insist on building its dams in Cambodia?]

Children walk along the Mekong River in Phnom Penh on April 5. Riparian nations have pledged to step up cooperation over the river’s use amidst fears China's upstream dams are exacerbating a severe regional drought (AFP)

Critics slam China’s hegemonic behavior in the Greater Mekong Sub-region

4/9/2010
Reported by Thanh Nien staff (Hanoi)

Upstream and lower dams could render the Mekong Delta unviable, and China’s intransigence in building them and refusing to share information about their operations will negatively impact the lives of more than 60 million people.

“China has plans to construct up to eight dams in total, some sources say the number could rise to fourteen. It is clear already that Chinese dam construction is having a negative impact on downstream states,” Professor Carlyle Thayer of the Australian Defense Force Academy told Thanh Nien Weekly.

“The ecology of the river system downstream has had wide-ranging effects. Dams prevent the downward flow of alluvium which fertilizes the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Dam construction interferes with the migration of spawning fish. The impact on fisheries reduces the amount of fish and therefore protein that feeds the people in the Lower Mekong,” he said.

THREATS LESS MENTIONED

Richard Cronin, head of the Southeast Asia program at the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington, said both the Chinese and Lower Mekong dams will seriously threaten the viability of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s most important source of fish and its “rice bowl.”

“The dams will hold back the silt that rebuilds the Delta each year and keeps the East Sea at bay. Already, smaller alterations of the river’s flow in the Delta have created a major problem of seawater infiltration and land submersion.”

“The upstream dams will alter the river’s flow in still unpredictable ways, threatening the rice fields that produce 40 percent of Vietnam’s output and possibly making some population centers uninhabitable,” he said.

He also said the two threats less talked about are an earthquake that would rupture a Chinese dam in Yunnan, a seismically active region, or rains of such magnitude that the sluice gates would have to be opened to save one of these large to mega-sized dams.

“In either case, the consequences downstream would be catastrophic,” he said.

Larry Wortzel, member of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in Washington also said dams restrict the migration of species that live in salt water but come up-river into fresh water to spawn.

“Thus, some species of fish and crabs will not be available in parts of the Mekong. The other impact is that when you restrict the water flow of a major river system that flows into the ocean, the salt water ends up migrating up the Mekong Delta. This will affect agriculture in the Mekong Delta since water salinity will change,” he said.

The Mekong originates in the Tibetan plateau and flows 4,800 km (2,980 miles) through rice-rich areas of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia before emptying into the East Sea off Vietnam.

"Mighty Mekong" has dropped to its lowest level in 50 years in northern Thailand and Laos, alarming communities who depend on the critical waterway for food, transport, drinking water and irrigation.

More than 60 million people rely in some way on the river, which is the world's largest inland fishery, producing an annual estimated catch of 3.9 million tons, according to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) – comprising Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, who have agreed to cooperate for sustainable development of the Mekong River.

At a meeting with the heads of four Southeast Asian nations on Monday, China's Deputy Foreign Minister Song Tao denied activists' criticism that the hydropower dams had worsened decades-low water levels downstream.

"Statistics show that the recent drought that hit the whole river basin is attributable to the extreme dry weather, and the water level decline of the Mekong River has nothing to do with the hydropower development," he said.

Hegemonic behavior

But China’s critics have taken the issue even further. “Security analysts are increasingly concerned that China is using its geostrategic advantage to unduly influence the government in Laos and Cambodia. Their future livelihood is largely in China’s hands,” Thayer said.

“China condemns great power bullying of smaller countries, but a close look at China’s behavior in the Greater Mekong Sub-region indicates that it is Beijing (that is) acting like a hegemon,” he added.

Richard Cronin, head of the Southeast Asia program at the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington, expressed concern about “an unhealthy geopolitical shift that is underway that seems to favor China, especially in Southeast Asia.

“China has several goals in constructing a massive eight dam cascade in Yunnan... China is determined to incorporate the natural resources of the Mekong Basin into its manufacturing supply chain, expanding its political and economic influence,” he said in a statement on February 4, titled “China’s activities in Southeast Asia and the implications for US interests.”

Cronin added several countries have their own priority projects and ASEAN itself has shown almost no interest in the issue.

“The only institutional player is MRC which was reconstituted in 1995 out of the long moribund Mekong Committee. In theory the MRC exists to promote cooperative, sustainable and equitable water management, but it cannot really do that so long as the member countries are not willing to surrender even some of their sovereign rights,” he said.

‘As a whole’

Experts have called for more cooperation among Mekong riparian countries to mitigate harmful impacts of dam construction on the river.

“The entire Mekong River Basin must be dealt with as a whole when considering dam construction, economic development, the impact on the environment, ecology and climate change, and the human security of the population that depends on the Mekong River,” Thayer said.

“Up to now China has asserted its rights but not undertaken its obligations. China must be more transparent about technical data collection, including rainfall, the size of catchment areas, amount of water in reservoirs, and the times and amount of water is released downstream.

“China has cooperated in some matters but what is needed is for China itself, not subordinate administrative units, to join in multilateral cooperation,” he said.

HOLDING BACK

China is making things difficult for downstream Mekong riparian countries by not providing accurate and timely information about its interventions in the Mekong River, experts said on April 3 at a conference that preceded the first Mekong River Commission (MRC) summit.

The riparian countries, including Vietnam, have asked China to provide better updates on its interventions, officials said at the conference.

Despite China’s participation at the two-day conference on Water Resource Management, Chaiyuth Sukhsri, lecturer at the Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, said the information that China has provided was not adequate and exact.

Chaiyuth, an engineer, said China never gave all the information at once but only gave it “drop by drop” to see how other countries would react and based its next moves on the reactions.

He suggested that stations be built along the China border to measure water levels and learn how China is operating its dams at particular points of time, for instance to know when the dams are discharging or holding water.

Le Duc Trung, office chief of MRC Vietnam, said “any operation in the river will leave an impact. Power dams that hold water will cause certain effects.”

When China began operating the Man Loan dam in 2003, Laos suffered draught in several areas.

“[The dams] will always cause impacts, the issue is how and how much,” Trung said.

China has agreed to share information on river flows and dam operations, the MRC said in a media release on April 5 on its first summit early this week.

“In a side meeting between the MRC and China at the Summit, China provided further hydro-meteorological data concerning the operation of its dams on the mainstream Mekong during the current dry season,” it said.

The first MRC summit comes at a time large swathes of the river in downstream countries like Laos resemble a desert, affecting fisheries as well as maritime trade. China has also been affected by this, but critics say its rejection of the contention that upstream dams are responsible for the situation makes it difficult to take mitigating steps.

Cambodia minister says Mekong nations committed to improving living standards (sic!)

Phnom Penh, April 6, 2010 AKP - The four member countries of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) -Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam - are committed to develop sustainably the Mekong basin, aiming at increasing the living standards of some 60 million people living along this river.

The commitment was made known by Water Resource and Meteorology Minister H.E. Lim Kean Hor at a press conference held here on April 5 at Phnom Penh International Airport upon the arrival of the Cambodian delegation from the First Mekong River Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand.

The four nations also recognized the development during the past 15 years of the International Mekong River Commission and they are determined to do their best to increase their joint cooperation in the sustainable development of the Mekong River basin, he said.

For its part, China promised to strengthen cooperation with the International Mekong River Commission and supported the good cooperation between China and the commission in information exchange on water change at the upper parts.

The International Mekong River Commission was established in 1995. It has four members; the upper-Mekong basin countries - Myanmar and China -have not joined the commission yet, but remained its dialogue partners. They also sent their participants to the summit.

Regarding the negative impacts on Mekong's water due to the construction of hydroelectric dams, Lim Kean Hor, also president of the National Mekong River Commission of Cambodia, said hydroelectric dams are very necessary, especially for Cambodia. "But, we also think about the development and the sustainability of the environment and nature," he underlined.

Cambodian Premier Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen on April 4-5 led a high-ranking delegation to participate in the First Mekong River Commission Summit, which will be held every four years according to the alphabetic order of the member countries.

Below is the full Declaration of the Mekong River Commission:

"MRC Hua Hin Declaration'Meeting the Needs, Keeping the Balance: Towards Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin'" 5 April 2010

Preamble We, the Heads of the Governments of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, meet in Hua Hin, Thailand for the First Summit of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) on the occasion of its 15th Anniversary.

We recall the signing on 5 April 1995 of the Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin (herein referred to as the Mekong Agreement) and the establishment of the MRC by the representatives of the Lower Mekong Basin Governments, and reaffirm our political commitment to its implementation;

We recognise that the sustainable management of water resources in the Mekong River Basin is crucial to the economic and social well- being of the riparian population and to the poverty alleviation efforts of Basin governments;

We note that accelerating the development of water and related resources will make a significant contribution to the socio- economic development of the region, but may also have negative impacts on the Basin environment that need to be fully addressed; and

We affirm our strong and continued commitment to cooperate and promote the sustainable development, utilisation, conservation andmanagement of the water and related resources of the Mekong River Basin and agree to the following statements.

Recognition of achievements

We, the Heads of Government, recognise that the institutional development of the MRC has advanced from its inception as the United Nations based Mekong Committee and Interim Mekong Committee to the independent knowledge-based inter-governmental River Basin Organization of today. An increasing level of ownership of the organization by Member Countries has led to a strengthening of cooperative governance and increased effectiveness over time.

We applaud the significant achievements of cooperation among Member Countries in the 15 years since the signing of the Mekong Agreement.

We are encouraged by the achievements of the MRC and its Member Countries through our joint efforts in implementation of the Mekong Agreement that include strengthening dialogue on regional water resources development; facilitating a Basin-wide, consultative planning process through an Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) approach; reducing the risks of regular flooding and promoting the beneficial effects of the annual flood pulse; increasing international trade opportunities through safer and more effective river transport and legal frameworks for cross-border navigation; defining a balance between the opportunities and risks of proposed hydropower projects; an enhanced understanding of the Basin's aquatic biodiversity and fisheries; providing environmental decision support; and initiating a process to help the people of the Basin adapt to the consequences of climate change.

Over the past fifteen years, the water and related resources of the Basin have been protected through the effective environmental governance of MRC and its Member Countries. Mekong partners and stakeholders now know and understand more about this complex and productive river system. We note with appreciation these positive outcomes that have come about through a strong sense of regional cooperation and continued national capacity building among the Member Countries. We acknowledge the progress made to extend cooperation between the MRC and international, regional and local partners including MRC's Dialogue Partners, namely the People's Republic of China and the Union of Myanmar, and its Development Partners. The sharing of hydro-meteorological data by People's Republic of China in the current drought situation is highly appreciated and we hope the cooperation will be continued. We appreciate the efforts of MRC to further strengthen and expand its relationships with People's Republic of China, Myanmar and all MRC partners in pursuing the organization's development goals.

We note that the MRC has forged new alliances and working relationships with a range of international organizations including ASEAN, the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank to further promote the sustainable development and management of the Mekong Basin's water resources.

We welcome and appreciate the continued and extensive strategic, financial and technical support from MRC's Development Partners over the years which has allowed the MRC to successfully implement the Mekong Agreement and become a more effective organization.

We acknowledge with appreciation the outcome of the International Conference on Transboundary Water Resources Management in a Changing World held prior to the First MRC Summit as reflected in the Conference Summary.

Regional opportunities and challenges

We, the Heads of Government, acknowledge that there are both opportunities and challenges to be faced by the MRC over the next decade as a result of development pressures including expanding populations and rapid economic growth. We commit to cooperate further to tackle critical emerging challenges in the Mekong Basin that include: reducing the loss of life and assets at risk from flooding and loss of livelihoods from drought conditions; better integrating sustainability considerations into the development of the Basin's significant hydropower potential; ensuring effective management of water for agricultural production, particularly as part of drought management strategies; preparing for climate change adaptation measures to minimise poverty and food insecurity among vulnerable communities; minimising any deterioration of water quality, loss of wetlands and deforestation, which present risks to biodiversity and peoples' livelihoods; better managing the Basin's unique natural fisheries; and reducing the risks associated with expansion of river transport.

Building on the solid foundation of 15 years of capacity building, we encourage MRC to address these challenges through the preparation and implementation of the IWRM-based Basin Development Strategy and the forthcoming MRC Strategic Plan for 2011-2015. We note that significant opportunities exist through intensifying partnerships and relationships with an increasing range of Partners, including ASEAN, the ADB, the GMS, the World Bank and other transboundary river basin organizations. We confirm that the continued focus of MRC on active stakeholder participation with a range of civil society organizations and the private sector will strengthen its ability to meet its development goals.

Vision of the MRC

We, the Heads of Government, note:

The existing Vision of the Mekong River Basin as "An economically prosperous, socially just and environmentally sound Mekong River Basin"; " The Vision for the MRC as

A world class, financially secure, International River Basin Organization serving the Mekong countries to achieve the Basin Vision"; and

The Mission of the MRC, "To promote and coordinate sustainable management and development of water and related resources for the countries' mutual benefit and the people's well-being."

We resolve to enhance efforts to realize these goals through a broad consultative approach that feeds into and influences MRC's strategic directions and ensures continued relevance of the MRC for future generations.

Priority Areas of Action

We, the Heads of Government, pronounce that building on the achievements of fifteen years of implementation of the Mekong Agreement, further cooperation over the coming years between the governments of Member Countries will be required to optimise multiple-use of water resources and mutual benefits for all riparians, to avoid any harmful effect that might result from natural occurrences and man-made activities and to protect the immense value of natural ecosystems and ecological balance.

We expect the MRC to focus on and prioritise:

Adopting and implementing the IWRM-based Basin Development Strategy;

Intensifying efforts to effectively manage the risks from flood, drought and sea level rise including establishment of forecasting and warning systems across the whole basin;

Facilitating an international legal framework that encourages river navigation and trade;

Researching and addressing the threat to livelihoods posed by climate change and cooperating with other regional partners in addressing haze pollution;

Monitoring and taking measures to improve water quality in priority areas of the Basin;

Sustaining the existing and future uses of water and related resources, and aquatic biodiversity, wetlands and forests in the Basin;

Identifying and advising on the opportunities and challenges of hydropower and other infrastructure development in the Basin, especially risks as they pertain to the protection of food security and livelihoods;

Continuing to improve the implementation of the Procedures for Data and Information Exchange and Sharing, the Procedures for Water Use Monitoring, the Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement and the Procedures for Maintenance of Flows on the Mainstream and finalise the Procedures for Water Quality;

Exploring and identifying opportunities for expansion of cooperation between the organization's current Dialogue Partners and Development Partners, in particular to address common water resources and climate change challenges, as well as identifying new Development Partners and other stakeholders.

Way ahead We, the Heads of Government, reaffirm our solidarity and the highest level of political commitment to the implementation of the Mekong Agreement.

We commit to working together to achieve sustainable integrated water resources management for sustainable development, economic growth and the alleviation of poverty and improvement of livelihoods in the Mekong River Basin. In parallel, we recognise that efforts need to be expanded to protect the natural resources of the Mekong Basin for the sustainable management and use of the Basin's resources.

We reiterate our support for the MRC's role in promoting and facilitating coordinated and sustainable development; enhancing and strengthening the working relationships with Dialogue Partners, ASEAN, the GMS, the ADB, the World Bank, other Development Partners, civil society, the private sector and others. In this connection, we welcome other Riparian States to join the MRC in the future.

Consistent with the Initiative for ASEAN Integration, we emphasise the need to prioritise resources, funding and capacity building for those Member Countries where poverty is highest and economic need is most urgent.

Recognising that economic development is progressing in the Mekong Region, we commit to a vision for the MRC to be financially sustained by Member Countries by 2030. We refer to institutional models adopted by other international river basin organizations and encourage the MRC to increasingly explore de-centralised implementation modalities for its core river basin management functions.

We agree that progress made in implementing the resolutions of this Declaration will be monitored through the MRC Council. We decide that an MRC Summit will be convened every four years. The host country will rotate among the MRC Member Countries in alphabetical order.

We express our sincere appreciation to the host country, Thailand, for hosting the First MRC Summit.

ADOPTED at Hua Hin, Thailand on 5 April 2010 in the English Language."

United against disaster

BEIJING, April 6 (Xinhua) -- It's heartening to see that the first Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit turned out to be a platform for forging regional cooperation against the dwindling water level of the river. The outcome will pave the way for more joint efforts from countries bordering the river to fight the ongoing drought there and manage the waterway more efficiently.

The summit meeting, attended by leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, concluded in Thailand on Monday with participants pledging to work closer in dealing with the drought.

This will be a blessing to the more than 60 million people who rely on the Mekong for their livelihoods. Since the end of last year, people in lower basin countries have been suffering from a severe drought that has brought Mekong's water level to the lowest mark in 50 years.

As a partner in the MRC and a country that is situated in the upper stretch of the Mekong, China sent its Vice-Foreign Minister Song Tao to participate. Song promised that China would cooperate with other Mekong-bordering countries in drought-and-flood relief, cooperation on hydropower development, and sharing information.

China's pledges indicate that the country can be trusted as a responsible partner. The country's southwest region is also suffering from the devastating drought that has struck the Lancang-Mekong basin, with more than 23 million people now with very little drinking water.

In the fight against a regional calamity, it's only natural that China and its Southeast Asian neighbors unite in their fight against the disaster.

Experts Say Cooperation Needed on Mekong River Resources

By Daniel Schearf, VOA
Original report from Hua Hin, Thailand
05 April 2010

Experts meeting to discuss Mekong River resources have urged countries along the Southeast Asian river to improve cooperation in developing hydropower. Delegates also urged China to share more information about its dam building on the Mekong.

After two days of discussions, some 200 experts on water, environmental protection, and finance concluded there is not enough cooperation on developing the Mekong River's resources.

They urged Mekong countries to find a balanced approach to harness the river's economic benefits such as hydropower without causing too much social and environmental damage.

Ian Matthews is with the ANZ Bank in Singapore. He says international standards for environmental protection are not being met on Mekong dam projects when international banks are not involved.

"As a country, as a government, there's a clear desire to have hydropower finance because it is an increasingly valuable resource in places like Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. If the international bank is not going to finance it, and they're not going to apply World Bank standards, IFC standards, to these projects, what you get are banks coming in who have much lower standards. Now, that will lead to much greater degradation of the environment, it will lead to the exclusion of other stakeholders."

China is the only country with hydropower dams on the Mekong and along with Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand is also planning to build more.

Until recently China provided very little information from its dams to its downstream neighbors.

And when the river flooded in 2008 and this year dropped to a 50-year low, many along the Mekong blamed China.

However, the Mekong River Commission, the organization coordinating cooperation on the river, says drought was the real culprit.

But the MRC says dams on the Mekong are likely to have adverse effects on fish migration and sediment flows.

Pham Thi Thanh Hang (pam tih tang hang) is coordinator of the MRC's Basin Development Program. She noted China was giving more data on its dams but said even more was needed.

"We have been benefiting from the sharing of informations, from the sharing of the borders used, with our Chinese colleagues, and comparing the model results. But, we will also benefit if further, extensive information will be shared. For example, on the operations of the dams. So that the countries down here can really plan and work according to a good understanding of what are the opportunities and risks."

MRC member countries are Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Their Prime Ministers are to meet Monday to discuss for the first time efforts to improve transparency and cooperation on the river.

They will be joined by dialogue partners from upstream countries Burma and China.

China Pressed for More Information on Mekong Dams

By Daniel Schearf, VOA
Original report from Hua Hin, Thailand
05 April 2010

Prime Ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam arrived in Hua Hin, Thailand for the first summit concerning the Mekong River.

The one-day summit is set to begin as the Mekong and its tributaries suffer from a severe drought that dropped the rivers to a 50-year low.

Activists and villagers living along the Mekong cast suspicion on China's hydropower dams upstream, the only dams on the river. China denies the dams have contributed to the drought and that has been supported by analysis from the Mekong River Commission, the organizer of the summit.

But delegates to the Mekong summit say China needs to share more data on how it operates its dams.

Isra Sunthornvut is an official in the Thai Prime Minister's office.

"I think there is growing speculation. That is all. Suspicion, I would suppose, that there is a direct relationship. We do not know the facts. But, we would like to know the facts."

Officials from the Mekong River countries held bilateral discussions Sunday, including with officials from Burma and China.

Little information was released from the meetings.

Jeremy Bird is head of the Mekong River Commission, which helps facilitate cooperation among river countries. He says all the attention is on China and getting more information on how it operates its upstream dams.

"We have been talking for some time and communicating about increasing data. So, this is not new. But I think the drought situation has provided a new focus and a new intensity on that."

China agreed last month to provide more information on water flows for two of four dams it has on the Mekong.

But China has also been filling the reservoir of a massive hydropower dam in the wet season so it can be released for continued power generation in the dry season.

Bird says China needs to provide information on that dam as well to prepare people living downstream for when it releases more water in the dry season.

"Although that is generally beneficial in terms of alleviating the sorts of problems we are seeing now, it also has some concerns in terms of people who are relying upon river banks for gardens, for agriculture, in the dry season. For people who are used to fishing in particular areas."

Bird says they would also like to have a procedure for emergency situations when China has to change its dam operations.

He says they would like China to notify the Mekong River Commission in advance when water flows, sediment, and water quality will be affected, so they can quickly warn people downstream.

Mekong Leaders Agree to Improve cooperation on River, China Provides Information

By Daniel Schearf, VOA
Original report from Hua Hin, Thailand
05 April 2010

Leaders of Mekong River nations meeting in Thailand have agreed to improve cooperation on using river resources. The agreement comes after a severe drought dropped the Southeast Asian river's levels to a 50-year low, raising pressure on China to provide regular information on its upstream dams.

Prime ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam Monday agreed that better cooperation is needed to balance the economic benefits from the Mekong River and protect the livelihoods of tens of millions of people.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva stressed the importance of joint responsibility in managing the river's resources.

"And, such high level cooperation could not have come at a better time because now the Mekong River is being threatened by serious problems arising from both the unsustainable use of water and the effects of climate change. What we see today is thus the decrease in the water level and shortage of water supply, pollution, and depletion of natural resources in the Mekong River itself."

A drought this past year in southern China and Southeast Asia dropped the Mekong to a record 50-year low. Activists and farmers blame China's upstream dams, a suspicion fueled by a lack of information from China about the only dams on the Mekong.

At the summit, China provided some data on water flows from its dams for the past few months but made no commitment to provide regular information on their operations or plans for further dam construction.

China's representative to the summit, Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao, defended that degree of cooperation.

He says the Chinese government has reasonably and sustainable, developed and used the Mekong's water resources in an orderly manner and fully accommodated the interests of downstream countries.

The Mekong River Commission, the organizer of the summit, says if China provides regular data on its dam operations people living downstream who depend on the river could better prepare for any changes.

The four commission members - Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam - agreed to promote sustainable hydropower projects on the river.

They also agreed to hold summits on the Mekong every four years.

China and Burma, which also sent a delegation to the summit, have chosen not to join the MRC despite standing invitations for both countries.

Mekong nations join forces on shrinking river

April 5, 2010
RACHEL O'BRIEN
AFP

Southeast Asian nations on the Mekong River pledged Monday to step up cooperation over the shrinking waterway amid fears China's dams are exacerbating a severe regional drought.

Leaders of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam -- the member-states of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) -- convened in the Thai coastal town of Hua Hin to discuss management of the river, on which more than 60 million people rely.

"Without good and careful management of the Mekong river as well as its natural resources, this great river will not survive," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said as he opened the summit, the first in the MRC's history.

"The Mekong river is being threatened by serious problems arising from both the unsustainable use of water and the effects of climate change," he warned.

China -- itself suffering the worst drought in a century in its southwest, with more than 24 million people short of drinking water -- attended the talks as a dialogue partner of the MRC, as did military-ruled Myanmar.

Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao led the Beijing delegation to the summit, which comes after river levels in northern Thailand and Laos hit five-decade lows, according to the commission.

The situation has alarmed communities along the Mekong, which is the world's largest inland fishery and vital for the region's transport, drinking water and irrigation.

The abnormally low levels have raised fears over already endangered species such as the Mekong giant catfish.

The Chinese arrived Sunday and met for talks with MRC countries seeking more information about the economic power's hydropower dams, seen by activists as being behind the current water shortage.

"Sharing knowledge and data is among the crucial measures to mitigate problems... in each country as well as helping alleviate poverty in the region as a whole," Abhisit said.

He thanked Beijing, which has eight planned or existing dams on the mainstream river, for recently agreeing to share data from two stations during this dry season.

"I also hope that such genuine effort of cooperation would become more regular," said Abhisit.

China insists extreme dry conditions have caused the current ebbing flows -- a claim backed up by the MRC's own analysis.

MRC member-states ratified a Hua Hin declaration Monday committing to sustainable development of the river basin.

The MRC has warned that the health of the Mekong Basin and the river's eco-systems could be threatened by proposed dams and expanding populations.

Thailand has invoked a tough security law and has deployed thousands of troops in Hua Hin to ensure protesters do not disrupt the summit, in light of mass anti-government "Red Shirt" rallies in Bangkok since mid-March.

Abhisit arrived at the summit Sunday from a tense Bangkok, where tens of thousands of red-shirted supporters of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra have paralysed the capital's tourist heartland, seeking snap elections.

Mekong Nations Call for China Assistance Amid Drought

By Daniel Ten Kate

April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Downstream nations along Asia’s Mekong River hailed China’s move to share data on reservoir levels and called for more cooperation as a severe drought heightens concerns that its dams have distorted water flows.

The dry weather has reduced Mekong water levels to their lowest in three decades, affecting more than 60 million people in the river’s lower basin, an area larger than the U.S. state of Texas. China agreed on March 25 to share water-level data at two dams to ease pressure from nations downstream, including Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

“I would like to thank the Chinese government for this valuable cooperation,” Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said today in an opening speech at the first-ever summit of Mekong nations in Hua Hin, Thailand. “I also hope that such genuine effort of cooperation would become more regular.”

The drought has raised scrutiny about management of the river as governments aim to harness its potential to provide food and generate electricity. Mainstream dams constitute “the single largest threat” to the Mekong’s wetlands, home to the world’s largest inland fishery, the Mekong River Commission said in an April 2 report.

China’s capacity to improve water flows is “limited” as the river’s low levels are mainly due to a shortage of rainfall, said Jeremy Bird, chief executive officer of the commission, a regional body that advises governments on managing the basin. Increased flows from China’s dams in January did help alleviate the severity of the water shortage, he said.

‘Fluctuating Unnaturally’

“The water in the Mekong River is not only drying up, but the water levels are fluctuating unnaturally,” Pianporn Deetes, an activist with environmental group International Rivers, said at a seminar at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok last week. “Since the first dam was built, local people have seen a loss of fish catch and the destruction of aquatic resources.”

China and Myanmar, dialogue partners of the Mekong River Commission, both sent envoys to join the prime ministers of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam at today’s meeting.

The meeting “serves as an important wake-up call that the problems and challenges being faced by the Mekong River and states need to be addressed at the highest level,” Abhisit said. “The Mekong River is being threatened by serious problems arising from both the unsustainable use of water and the effects of climate change.”

Chinese officials have defended the country’s water management, stressing that it is also suffering from drought. Most rivers in southern China are at about 40 percent of normal levels and more than 600 have dried up completely, leaving almost 20 million people short of drinking water, said Chen Mingzhong, a ministry of water resources official.

‘Upstream Country’

“As an upstream country with a high sense of responsibility, we do nothing harming the interest of riparian countries downstream,” Chen said in a presentation to counterparts at the summit in Thailand. China contributes about 13.5 percent of water flows to the lower Mekong.

China has pledged to strengthen communication with downstream countries, inviting them to a training program on flood management in June. Floods on the 2,700-mile river in August 2008 claimed lives in Thailand and Laos.

China has completed four dams to date and another four are planned before 2025 for a total of 15,200 megawatts, enough to provide electricity for 75 million people. Another 11 dams are in various stages of development downstream in the lower Mekong that would deliver the same amount of electricity.

Not All Bad

“The Mekong has become one of the most active regions in the world for hydropower development,” the Mekong River Commission said in its State of the Basin report issued every five to seven years. The dams will “effectively stop” river fish migration, “leading to reduced production, substantial economic cost and social deprivation,” the report said.

“You cannot say all dams are bad,” said Thanin Bumrungsap, vice president of Italian-Thai Development Pcl, Thailand’s biggest construction company. Thai farmers, for instance, “couldn’t grow rice two or three times a year as they do now if there were no dams, no irrigation systems.”

Rice production in Thailand, the world’s largest exporter, may decline as drier-than-normal weather curbs yields. Officials have blamed the drought on the El Nino weather phenomenon, characterized by warmer sea-surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific that can cut rainfall in Asia.

China’s first upstream dam became operational in 1993, with subsequent openings in 2003 and 2008. The country started sharing data on rainy season reservoir levels in 2002. Last month was the first time it shared data in the dry season.

Fish Catch

In the northern Thai province of Chiang Rai, the closest point in the country downstream from China, fishermen say their catches have declined in recent years. River levels can change by a few meters per day without warning, an occurrence they blame on the upstream dams.

“In the past few years it’s been hard to catch a lot of fish because of China’s dams,” said fisherman Sompon Kumla, who makes about 3,000 baht ($97) per month, down from 10,000 baht in previous years. “The government needs to talk to the Chinese and tell them to release the water.”

--With reporting by Supunnabul Suwannakij in Bangkok. Editors: John Brinsley, Patrick Harrington.

To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net

From cursing Abhisit ... to having to shake his hand

Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, left, greets his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen during their meeting in Thailand's southern resort town of Hua Hin Sunday, April 4, 2010. Hun Sen is in Thailand to attend the 1st Mekong River Commission Summit to be concluded Monday. (AP Photo)
Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (L) shakes hands with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen during the Mekong River summit in Hua Hin April 4, 2010. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) comprising of leaders of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, attend a summit in Thai resort town of Hua Hin to discuss falling water levels in the mighty Mekong river. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (2R) welcomes his counterparts from Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung (L), Cambodia Hun Sen (2L) and Laos Bouasone Bouphavanh during the Mekong River summit in Hua Hin April 4, 2010.The Mekong River Commission (MRC) comprising of leaders from Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, attend a summit in Thai resort town of Hua Hin to discuss falling water levels in the mighty Mekong river. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (2L) is accompanied by his counterparts from Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung (L), Cambodia Hun Sen (R) and Laos Bouasone Bouphavanh during the Mekong River summit in Hua Hin April 4, 2010. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) comprising of leaders from Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, attend a summit in Thai resort town of Hua Hin to discuss falling water levels in the mighty Mekong river. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

Mekong Nations Meet as Drought Boosts Scrutiny of China’s Dams

By Daniel Ten Kate

April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Leaders of six nations along Asia’s Mekong River meet today to bolster cooperation as a severe drought heightens concerns that dams in China have distorted water flows, depleting the world’s largest inland fishery.

The dry weather has reduced Mekong water levels to their lowest in three decades, affecting more than 60 million people in the lower basin, an area larger than the U.S. state of Texas. China agreed on March 25 to share water-level data at two dams to ease pressure from nations downstream, including Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

“Water is life,” Jeremy Bird, chief executive officer of the Mekong River Commission, said in a statement over the weekend, after a meeting of more than 200 activists, government officials and scientists. “Our increasing demands for food and energy depends on our ability to work together to develop and manage this precious resource.”

The drought has raised scrutiny about the river’s management as governments aim to harness its potential to provide food and electricity. Mainstream dams constitute “the single largest threat” to the Mekong’s wetlands and fisheries that benefit locals, the commission said in an April 2 report.

China’s capacity to improve water flows is “limited” as the river’s low levels are mainly due to a shortage of rainfall, said Bird, who heads the regional body that advises governments on managing the basin. Increased flows from China’s dams in January did help alleviate the severity of the water shortage, he said.

‘Fluctuating Unnaturally’

“The water in the Mekong River is not only drying up, but the water levels are fluctuating unnaturally,” Pianporn Deetes, an activist with environmental group International Rivers, said at a seminar at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok last week. “Since the first dam was built, local people have seen a loss of fish catch and the destruction of aquatic resources.”

China and Myanmar, both dialogue partners of the Mekong River Commission, will send envoys to join the prime ministers of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam at today’s meeting in Hua Hin, Thailand. It is the first-ever summit of its kind.

Chinese officials have defended the country’s water management, stressing that it is also suffering from drought. Most rivers in southern China are at about 40 percent of normal levels and more than 600 have dried up completely, leaving almost 20 million people with shortages of drinking water, said Chen Mingzhong, a ministry of water resources official.

‘Upstream Country’

“As an upstream country with a high sense of responsibility, we do nothing harming the interest of riparian countries downstream,” Chen said in a presentation to counterparts at the summit in Thailand. China contributes about 13.5 percent of water flows to the lower Mekong.

China has pledged to strengthen communication with downstream countries, inviting them to a training program on flood management in June. Floods on the 2,700-mile river in August 2008 claimed lives in Thailand and Laos.

China has completed four dams to date and another four are planned before 2025 for a total of 15,200 megawatts, enough to provide electricity for 75 million people. Another 11 dams are in various stages of development downstream in the lower Mekong that would deliver the same amount of electricity.

“The Mekong has become one of the most active regions in the world for hydropower development,” the Mekong River Commission said in its State of the Basin report issued every five to seven years. The dams will “effectively stop” river fish migration, “leading to reduced production, substantial economic cost and social deprivation,” the report said.

Not All Bad

“You cannot say all dams are bad,” said Thanin Bumrungsap, vice president of Italian-Thai Development Pcl, Thailand’s biggest construction company. Thai farmers, for instance, “couldn’t grow rice two or three times a year as they do now if there were no dams, no irrigation systems.”

Rice production in Thailand, the world’s largest exporter, may decline as drier-than-normal weather curbs yields. Officials have blamed the drought on the El Nino weather phenomenon, characterized by warmer sea-surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific that can cut rainfall in Asia.

China’s first upstream dam became operational in 1993, with subsequent openings in 2003 and 2008. The country started sharing data on rainy season reservoir levels in 2002. Last month was the first time it shared data in the dry season.

In the northern Thai province of Chiang Rai, the closest point in the country downstream from China, fishermen say their catches have declined in recent years. River levels can change by a few meters per day without warning, an occurrence they blame on the upstream dams.

“In the past few years it’s been hard to catch a lot of fish because of China’s dams,” said fisherman Sompon Kumla, who makes about 3,000 baht ($97) per month, down from 10,000 baht in previous years. “The government needs to talk to the Chinese and tell them to release the water.”

--With reporting by Supunnabul Suwannakij in Bangkok. Editors: John Brinsley, Patrick Harrington.

To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net

Southeast Asian Mekong river countries meet China over dam fears

April 5, 2010
ABC Radio Australia

Regional nations along the Mekong river delta are holding talks with China, amid fears that Chinese dams upstream are depleting the vital waterway, plunging it to its lowest levels in decades. Leaders from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, will meet with high level delegates from China and Burma, to sign an historic declaration on how to manage the Mekong River. It follows a two-day meeting of the Mekong River Commission - the first of its kind in its 15 year history. The record low water levels in the Mekong is threatening the livelihood of over 60 million people who depend on it for their survival.

Presenter: Sen Lam
Speakers: Carl Middleton, Mekong Program Coordinator with non government organisation International Rivers

Click here to listen to the audio program (Windows Media)

MIDDLETON: Well at the moment the situation is not clear. Obviously the low rainfall has contributed significantly to the drought but the problem is that the data hasn't been released, complete sets of data, about the operation of China's management upstream, and so that's created some suspicions downstream that their projects may be contributing in some way.

LAM: Indeed I understand some member countries of the Mekong River Commission are saying that China is showing some reluctance to sharing its data?

MIDDLETON: Actually what we've seen is some unprecedented steps for increasing data sharing. Until now, the Chinese hadn't released any dry season data, but for the current drought they've released dry season data from the two lower stations on the river. But they've just completed a new project that started filling its reservoir last year, and they haven't yet released the data for the water levels in that new dam, which is one of the highest arch-dams in the world.

LAM: I understand that leaders from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam will sign an historic declaration on how to manage the Mekong River, together with China and Burma. Do we know what this declaration is likely to contain?

MIDDLETON: It's likely to include an affirmation of a commitment to share the river. A statement that came out of a technical meeting a couple of days before, that was read to the prime ministers, it seems that there's also an affirmation of a commitment for more irrigation and for more hydro-power development. And this is a bit worrying because at the moment the fisheries of the Mekong River provide food security for millions of people, and this of course we see how extensive hydro-power development can coincide with the continuation of the productivity of the fisheries, which at the moment is the most productive in the world.

LAM: So do you think the countries downstream, countries like Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, do you think they would try and seek some kind of assurance from China? Is that being sought?

MIDDLETON: Well first of all, what's important is that all countries work to share the river together. At the moment only the four lower Mekong countries - Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia - are members of the Mekong River Commission. And especially now, that China has built these projects it's important for deeper cooperation with China. About 18 per cent of the water of the Mekong comes from China. So then there's a number of other challenges that also need to be met, including not beyond the current drought, the plans for this extensive infrastructure development, and many people along the river wouldn't want to see these projects built, especially projects on the Mekong River's mainstream. So I think it's also important the affirmation that comes out of this summit is to listen closely to the voices of the people of the region, and their hopes for the vision of the basin.

LAM: And Carl Middleton, I understand that your organisation, International Rivers, chaired a public meeting which ran alongside the summit on the weekend. What did the meeting call for?

MIDDLETON: The meeting largely called for the leaders to listen to the voices of the people. There was a lot of discussion about the drought and it called on China to release the complete sets of data. China was present at the meeting, and it explained its position. But there was also a recognition that the projects have had a longer term impact on downstream communities in northern Thailand. And there needs to start being discussion about compensation, and then also discussion about how to change the operation of the downstream and minimise impact downstream.

LAM: Are there signs already that the lower water levels of the Mekong are beginning to affect the livelihood of the estimated 60 million people who live in the region?

MIDDLETON: The people in Yunnan province in China and northern Thailand, northern Laos and the Shan state of Burma, have all already been seriously affected by this drought. It's affected access to drinking water, to irrigation water, it's affecting fisheries and it's affecting transportation on the rivers that's affecting trade. So already, they're suffering from the impact of this drought.

LAM: To your mind how do you think countries in the region, what do you think they should do to better manage the resources of the mighty Mekong?

MIDDLETON: I think there needs to be a deeper recognition of the current role that the Mekong plays in the development of the region. So the fact that the fisheries feed 60 million people of the region is already very important. So when considering plans for hydro-power for example, the existing environment needs to be taken into account. And I think finally, the river isn't just an economic resource, it's also a cultural inspiration. And so I think there also needs to be serious thought about these values that the river provides for inspiration for the people of the region.

China's diplomacy with MRC members

2010-04-05
Source: CCTV.com

China's Vice Foreign Minister, Song Tao has met with leaders and senior officials from four Southeast Asian countries on the sidelines of a regional meeting to discuss low levels of water on the Mekong River.

Cooperation and development in the Greater Mekong Subregion highlighted the discussions at bilateral meetings between Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao and leaders and senior officials from the four member nations of the Mekong River Commission.

They agreed that reasonable and sustainable use of water resources from the Lancang and Mekong rivers will benefit all the countries in the region.

During his meeting with Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, Song Tao said China highly values its friendly ties with Thailand. He said China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Thailand in the development and utilization of water resources from the Mekong River.

Kasit said his country is ready to enhance cooperation with China to promote economic and social development in the region.

The Chinese diplomat also met separately with Cambodian Prime minister Hun Sen and Laotian Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh. During the meetings, Song Tao pledged China's commitment to promoting greater economic cooperation in the Mekong River sub-region.

On the same day, Song Tao also met with the Vietnamese Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Pham Khoi Nguyen to discuss issues concerning bilateral and regional cooperation.