Mekong power plan will affect millions of lives : activists
 
By Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation, 2010-04-02

HUA HIN: -- Civic groups, academics and environmental activists
yesterday called for the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to revise its
10year hydropower development plan on the river and its tributaries,
saying the current plans would adversely affect millions of lives
living downstream.
 
Representatives from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma and
China open a twoday MRC summit in Hua Hin today.
 
The MRC Secretariat's chief executive officer, Jeremy Bird, said the
Hua Hin summit would focus on regional cooperation issues and the
record of cooperation over the past 15 years.
 
"They will use this anniversary as an opportunity to assess the
achievements, to look at the challenges in the future from the water
resources infrastructure and climate change, to reaffirm the
commitment from four member countries for basin management
cooperation," he said.
 
Activists rebutted Bird's optimism.
 
Witoon Permpongsacharoen of the Mekong Energy and Ecology Network and
the Foundation for Ecological Recovery, presented a paper called "The
Definite Future Situation", at a Chulalongkorn University seminar.
 
The paper looks at the river five to 10 years from now with the
development of cascade dams in China, plus at least 25 more hydropower
dams in the tributaries, and concludes that "there will be a permanent
change to the river flow regime".
 
About 200 representatives of environmental organisations and local
communities in the six countries except China attended the twoday
seminar to raise their concerns over possible problems to be caused by
the hydropower development.
 
Pianporn Deetes from Save the Mekong Coalition said the Mekong drought
and China's upstream dam construction demonstrate the need for
cooperation among all countries sharing the Mekong River.
 
"There are better ways to meet water and energy needs and the
climatechange challenge, while keeping rivers healthy," she said,
adding that China's recent release of water to the Mekong to ease the
historic drought was a move in the right direction and would help pave
the way for genuine partnership from downstream neighbours.
 
She urged all countries to share information and forge a cooperative
response to work with riverside communities to minimise economic,
social and environmental costs.
 
Another 15 dams to be built along Mekong
 
China will build four more dams along its section of the Mekong River,
which it calls the Lancang, while 11 more will be constructed on the
Thai, Lao and Cambodian portions, in accordance with the Mekong River
Commission's hydropowerdevelopment plan.
 
However, Witoon Permpongsacharoen of the Mekong Energy and Ecology
Network/Foundation for Ecological Recovery yesterday insisted the plan
was not entirely negative.
 
Once completed, the dams will contain only 10 per cent of the annual
water runoff, or 36 billion cubic metres per annum.
 
Moreover, due to the higher waterholding capacity, the river's water
level in some areas could be higher during the dry season.
 
For example, the water level along Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district
could be 59percent higher than now, or nearly 1 metre higher.
 
"However, looking at 20 years from now, with more dams built
downstream, sandbars, rapids and deep pools could be adversely
affected," Witoon said.
 
In 2008, China completed four dams that have been criticised for
causing this year's unusually low water level downstream.
 
Pianporn Deetes of the Save the Mekong Coalition said not only had the
river dried up, but also the water level was fluctuating unnaturally.
 
While countries in the lower basin suffered from a water shortage, the
MRC failed to warn local communities in northern Thailand and Laos
about possible flooding in 2008, she said.
 
"There was a systemic lack of accountability to the public within the
MRC," Pianporn said, adding that the MRC should monitor data more
efficiently and formulate precautionary actions.