Jeremy Bird, director of the Mekong River Commission Secretariat, said that the commission is researching impacts of China’s construction of dams on the upper Mekong River. The commission and related governments will discuss the research results to determine the future of dam development on the lower part.

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Bird said:

The construction of dams on the main branch of the Mekong River has the following impacts: It creates changes in water flow, water quality and the migration of fish. However, hydro-power dams may have positive influences on people downstream. For instance, the water volume reserved for producing power at Xiaowan dam and other dams in China’s Yunnan province will help regulate the water volume of the Mekong River.

The water level during the dry season will increase, increasing the amount of water for irrigation and for daily life in urban areas, while flood peaks will reduce. On average, only 16 percent of Mekong River water comes from China, so the impacts will have decreased gradually by the time the flow reaches Cambodia’s Tonle Sap River and Vietnam’s Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta River, because other river branches from Laos, Thailand and Vietnam will have major impacts on the flow.

As a regional organisation for the cooperation of the four countries along the lower Mekong River, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, in managing water resources in a sustainable manner, the Mekong River Commission has assessed the scale and consequences of the changes on the Mekong River through models. The commission also had dialogues with China on the implementation of projects that can change the flow of the river.

The commission will release the results of these projects. At the same time, we will continue our discussion with Chinese officials and our coordination with the Chinese government in technical cooperation to ensure that downstream changes caused by hydro-power development will be managed suitably.

What do you think about the impacts of dams on the lower Mekong River?

Dams on the lower section of the river (Laos and Cambodia) also have influences on the migration of fish and lives of fishermen. The lives of more than 60 million people along the lower Mekong River revolve around the river for cooking, travel and economic activities. Fresh fish caught in the lower Mekong River yield $2 billion a year — the most lucrative such source in all the world.

Up to 80 percent of the meat protein of Mekong River residents comes from this river and 70 percent of fish caught for commerce are long-distance migratory fish, which can be seriously harmed by dams on the downstream.

These matters are being researched by the Mekong River Commission. Suggestions from the research will be discussed with governments to reach a consensus on whether they should build dams on the main branch of the lower Mekong.

China is not a member of the Mekong River Commission. What measures will the commission take to harmonise development projects related to the river in all countries, including the four member countries, Myanmar and China?

The current mechanism requests that all member countries of the Mekong River Commission reach an agreement on any activity of humans or building of infrastructure facilities on the main branch of the river that can affect the flow of the lower river.

Works will not be built if all member countries don’t agree. China and Myanmar actually have a more general role, and are called dialogue partners of the Mekong River Commission. We are enforcing cooperation and action together.

The role of the Mekong River Commission is to scientifically research this river and the potential impacts of development activities on the river, and more importantly, on the people who live on the river.

Our “solution” is continuing to expand this role, share information with related sides (including non-governmental organisations, social organisations and the private sectors) and ensure that governments’ decisions related to the resources of the Mekong River are made based on scientific knowledge and understanding.

VietNamNet/TT