Mekong Utility Watch News

The Mekong River, South-East Asia's longest waterway, is at its lowest level in 50 years, raising questions about who is to blame - mankind or Mother Nature - for the region's diminishing water supply. The 4,350-kilometre-long river originates in southern China and meanders through Laos and Thailand into Cambodia, where it feeds Tongle Sap Lake before reaching southern Vietnam and emptying into the South China Sea.  read more »

Something is wrong with the mighty Mekong River, which frames the lives of 250 million people in six countries of Southeast Asia through which it flows and on which 60 million people depend directly for their livelihoods.

But there are widely differing views on why the Mekong has shrunk to its lowest levels in 20 years, with only half its normal volume in some places, so that vital fish migrations have been disturbed and river shipping had to be halted.  read more »

Resentment is simmering among Thai fishing communities along the Mekong River facing a prolonged dry spell and record-low water levels.

Local residents blame China's dams upstream for disrupting fish and other marine life, causing a sharp drop in fish catches and in turn affecting their livelihoods.  read more »

To help acquaint readers in the West with the importance of the Mekong, National Public Radio's (NPR) Southeast Asia correspondent Michael Sullivan is producing a five-part series, journeying the length of the river and offering a closer look at the people who live along its banks. The fifth part of the series, "As Mekong Rolls To The Sea, Turbulence On Its Banks" is reproduced below.  read more »

To help acquaint readers in the West with the importance of the Mekong, National Public Radio's (NPR) Southeast Asia correspondent Michael Sullivan is producing a five-part series, journeying the length of the river and offering a closer look at the people who live along its banks. The fourth part of the series, "Cambodia's Fortunes Ebb And Flow Along The Mekong" is reproduced below.  read more »

To help acquaint readers in the West with the importance of the Mekong, National Public Radio's (NPR) Southeast Asia correspondent Michael Sullivan is producing a five-part series, journeying the length of the river and offering a closer look at the people who live along its banks. The third part of the series, "Mekong Divides Different Worlds In 'Golden Triangle'" is reproduced below.  read more »

As the rush to dam the Mekong river in Southeast Asia continues unabated, critics are fighting back by documenting the river's elaborate ecology and economy that is under seige. The river--which runs for 3,032 miles, while coursing its way through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam before emptying into the South China Sea--has become a regional ribbon of contention between local activists and the government bodies and international development agencies that want to dam the river's flow.

National Public Radio's (NPR) Southeast Asia correspondent Michael Sullivan travels the river as it passes Myanmar.  read more »

As the rush to dam the Mekong river in Southeast Asia continues unabated, critics are fighting back by documenting the river's elaborate ecology and economy--both of which are under siege from development. The river--which runs for 3,032 miles, while coursing its way through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam before emptying into the South China Sea--has become a ribbon of contention between local activists and the government bodies and international development agencies that want to dam the river's flow.

National Public Radio's (NPR) Southeast Asia correspondent Michael Sullivan ventures to the river's source in China.  read more »

Losses in aquaculture and farm production could easily outstrip any profit from power generation if planned Mekong River dams are built in China, Laos and Cambodia, says a Can Tho University professor.  read more »

Environmentalists worry that the rush to develop the Mekong, particularly the dams, is not only changing the panorama of the river but could also destroy the livelihoods of people who have depended on it for centuries. One of the world’s most bountiful rivers is under threat, warns a series of reports by the United Nations, environmental groups and academics.  read more »