The Daily Telegraph
April 2, 2004

Chinese hydro-electric dams threaten livelihood of 65 million who rely on river: Water levels dropping.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia: To the Thais, Laotians and Cambodians, the Mekong has always been the “Mother River,” but as another poor day’s fishing ended, Kham Chhon was having his doubts. “I don’t know why there are not so many fish. Perhaps the Mekong has
been kind to man, but man has not been kind to the Mekong,” he sighed, retiring to a wooden platform shaded by a mango tree in front of his simple concrete house near the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

Kham Chhon is among 65 million people in the lower Mekong basin whose livelihood and health are in danger as the river level sinks. Overfishing and deforestation have had an effect for years, but the problem has been worsened severely by the Chinese building
hydro-electric dams upriver.

One of the world’s supreme rivers, the Mekong flows nearly 5,000 kilometres through dramatically changing scenery, from the glaciers of Tibet through the mountains of southern China and the plains of Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, emptying into the South China Sea. Along with its tributaries it yields two million tonnes of fish
annually. In communities downstream of China, it provides 80% of the protein in the local diet.

The Mekong River Commission, an intra-government body, estimates about 20 million people are involved in fishing.

“People are dependent on the river and it is really frightening to think what could happen,” said Ian Campbell, senior environment specialist at the commission.

“In the West, we sometimes talk about biodiversity because it is nice to save species, but here it is a matter of people’s lives.”

Commission figures confirm that in some places the river is flowing close to rock bottom. At many places, prominent sandbars have emerged that were previously scarcely visible in the dry season. Near Phnom Penh, cargo boats and ferries regularly get stuck.

“I have never had to be so careful,” said Se Chhuon, who steers ferries from the mainland to Koh Dach, an island in the river. “It has never been so difficult to cross.”

Many monitoring stations reveal the river is below levels recorded in 1993, until now the lowest year in living memory.

“It may be good for flood control, but it is bad for agriculture and fishing,” said Pech Sokhem, a commission director in Phnom Penh. “If the water doesn’t flow properly, the fish will not spawn or migrate.”

A drought is partly to blame, he said, but China must also take some responsibility for dams that cause fluctuations of up to 28 centimetres up or down with surges and dips in electricity demand.

The Chinese finished their first dam, Manwan, in 1996 and the second at Dachaoshan in October of last year and the problem is due to worsen.
Six more dams are planned in Yunnan province. The next, being built at Xiaowan and due for completion in 2012, will be not much smaller than the Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze, with a reservoir stretching back 170 km.

The dams are symbols of China’s insatiable demand for power and its strategy of developing its western regions, which lag behind the east and south. Accused of arrogance by environmentalists, it has built the dams without consulting countries downriver. Its official line – rarely stated – has been that the benefits will far outweigh adverse effects. The smaller countries who depend on China for aid and trade dare not criticize their neighbour and have built their own, if much smaller dams. Thailand, Vietnam and Laos have all built dams on tributaries.

Barely developed until the 1990s, the Mekong is being turned into the region’s powerhouse at a time when the appropriateness of giant dams is being called further and further into question.

The governments say the extra power will improve lives and bring vital development to populations with average annual earnings of less than $500. That is little comfort to Kham Chhon, his wife and seven children, who have never heard of the Chinese dams but live with their effects daily.