Mekong River talks: Dams be damned

Nirmal Ghosh, Thailand Correspondent

Bangkok: Ahead of a summit of Mekong-region countries in Hua Hin today, the great river is under greater scrutiny than ever before - and for good reason. ?

The summit comes at a critical time. Global warming is expected to raise temperatures and change weather patterns across the region.

The worst drought in at least 50 years in southern China and parts of the lower Mekong has thrown the future of the mighty river and the millions who are dependent on it into sharp relief.

Hydropower dams in China are being blamed for low water levels in the lower Mekong - but the parlous state of the river can also be attributed to low water flow in its tributaries. Drought-hit Laos, for instance, contributes around 30 per cent of the water in the main stream.

More than 20 dams on the upper reaches of the Mekong River are being planned in China. Twenty-one dams are being discussed by countries on the Lower Mekong.

This is driven by energy needs - much of it in Thailand, the biggest economy in Indochina. Thailand buys energy from dams across the borders.

Another issue is the diversion of water from the Mekong and its tributaries, partly for irrigation purposes.

Proponents of big dams argue that they regulate water flow and thus help supply water in the dry season, and contribute to flood control.

At a public forum at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok last Thursday, Mr Witoon Permpongsacharoen of the Foundation for Ecological Recovery acknowledged that it need not be a 'negative scenario'.?

Over the next five years, dams on the Lower Mekong would be able to collect at least 10 per cent of annual water run-off, or about 36 billion cubic metres, he said.

But after five to 10 years and after more dams are up, the river would be adversely affected. And 'we have to choose between dams and fish', he said bluntly.

Mr Thanin Bumrungsap, vice-president of industrial giant Ital Thai which is involved in dam projects, said dams on the Chao Phraya in Thailand had helped farmers grow up to three rice crops a year instead of just one annually 40 years ago. ?

But dams across the world often do not deliver on promises. In Thailand, the controversial Pak Mun hydropower dam is producing enough electricity, according to one analysis, to supply perhaps only three Bangkok supermalls. ?

And more importantly, dams interrupt the migratory journeys that fish make, often to spawn.

In a region where the majority of people still depend on natural resources to survive, 'most dams in the region have contributed to poverty', charged Dr Carl Middleton of the International River Network. ?

The Mekong River Commission, now headquartered in Vientiane, is supposed to be a river- sharing agreement.

But until today, China and Myanmar remain just dialogue partners of the commission set up by Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia in 1995.

Local communities in the Lower Mekong say the filling of the giant reservoir of the Xiaowan dam in China has kept back water. China has responded by saying it was itself suffering from severe drought and had not withheld water. ?

As a signal of goodwill and commitment to address the concerns of downstream countries, China will send 27 delegates to the first summit of the Mekong River Commission in its 15-year history this week.

Experts say for the sake of food security in the region, Hua Hin should produce a coordinated, environmentally sensitive and politically determined blueprint for the Mekong basin as a whole. ?

What's needed

Experts say for the sake of food security, a coordinated, environmentally sensitive and politically deter-mined blueprint for the Mekong basin is vital.