Benjamin Robertson, South China Morning Post
October 19, 2006

Impoverished villagers along the vast Mekong are blaming China for threatening of the livelihoods of millions, writes Benjamin Robertson.

Villagers living in the Chiang Khong region of the Mekong River have, for centuries, depended on the waters of Southeast Asia’s longest river. Residents of Chiang Khong, an impoverished border zone between Thailand and Laos, rely on the river for their daily food and water. Harvesting the Mekong’s fish stocks and water plants, as well as using the water for irrigation, the villagers are, for the first time in generations, worried about the future. The situation came to a head last year, when the villages published joint research into the state of the river, with communities concluding that changing patterns in the water flow were threatening their livelihoods. The reports were compiled by 13 Mekong communities on the border of Laos and Thailand, involving 146 researchers. Sudden changes in water level and unpredictable flow rates were affecting the ecosystem and eroding valuable farmland, questioning the long-term sustainability of these communities. The cause, however, was not linked to any natural phenomenon, but to man-made development upriver. Pinpointing Laotian and Chinese dam construction as the cause of the problem, as well as river-widening projects involving the blasting of reefs, Chiang Khong residents lobbied the Thai government to act. The result was a halt on river reef blasting. But the reality is, in the trans-boundary world of river basin management, there is little a single government can do to control the Mekong’s flow. And without a co-ordinated plan of action, the woes of Chiang Khong are occurring on other stretches of the 4,909km- long waterway. Trying to provide that co-ordination is Olivier Cogels, the chief executive of the Mekong River Commission (MRC). Dr Cogels’ role is that of a riparian caretaker. Under the auspices of the four member countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, the MRC is charged with helping to manage the development of the Mekong. China and Myanmar, the two other Mekong countries, attend annual MRC meetings as dialogue partners. In Beijing last month to meet government officials and address a seminar, Dr Cogels said the MRC had just completed a painful restructuring that would make it more responsive to the demands of the river and the millions who depend on it. Relations between China and the MRC were also on the mend after years of isolation, he said, and although the regional power and guardian of the river’s headwaters was not planning to sign up to the MRC any time soon, exchanges of data and opinion were being welcomed. ‘We’re discussing with China a dialogue partnership and are now proposing a joint programme to be called the Mekong Programme,’ said Dr Cogels, adding that relations had improved since the MRC restructure. ‘[For China], it’s all about the perception of what the role of a river basin organisation like the MRC is. If we considered the role to be a watchdog and to point the finger only at the risks and the problems, with that attitude I think China was not interested. I also think upstream countries will be less interested.’ The change in the MRC mandate that Dr Cogels is talking about has been dramatic and not without controversy. After years of negotiation between outside donor groups and MRC member countries, the organisation has repositioned itself as no longer simply a protector of the river, but as a facilitator of the river’s sustainable development. Home to 60 million people and counting, the Mekong is one of the least developed river basins in the world. Flowing through a monsoon region, its water level varies dramatically between the wet and dry seasons, but only 10 per cent of the river’s water is currently being stored, according to MRC figures. This equates to an average of 230 cubic metres per person. In the US the figure is closer to 6,000 cubic metres. Nor was the river being fully used for hydropower, said Dr Cogels. Only 10 per cent of the basin’s energy comes from dams and, although there are plans for dozens more, there is plenty of untapped megawatts. Basically an argument about how to balance development with preservation, Dr Cogels dismissed concerns that MRC member countries would automatically favour the former. ‘We’re not in the Ural Sea basin any more,’ he said. ‘Governments today are knowledgeable enough to know that if they want to develop their resources they have to do it in a certain way. The concepts of sustainability, of environmentally sound development and long-term visions are known. ‘I think the donor community and academic community are too cautious and afraid of environmental catastrophes. They believe countries are not mature enough to handle it by themselves and I think that is wrong.’ That the head of the MRC should be talking in such terms is dismaying many observers and those who have a stake in the river’s preservation. Complaining that the MRC was neglecting the voice of the region’s civil society and environmental pressure groups, one researcher said the organisation faced a conflict of interest. ‘There are many in the private sector, the central development banks, and in government agencies who have a particular developmental agenda for the river,’ said Philip Hirsch, author of a report on the Mekong and geography lecturer at the University of Sydney. ‘The role of the MRC should be to do what is best for the river and to influence decisions for what is best for the river. This becomes difficult if it sets itself up as an investment broker. The MRC needs to prove itself as an organisation that advocates for the river and that has the interests of the river and the people who depend on it at heart.’ The river is a delicate ecosystem that’s home to a multitude of unique wildlife, including the Mekong catfish and Mekong river dolphin, and a source of 2 per cent of the world’s annual fish catch. Man-made adjustments to the flow are already being blamed for declining fish stocks and erratic water levels. The most famous case was in 2004, when water levels dropped sharply, turning parts of the river into mud banks. Water levels rose and fell more than a metre in the space of a few hours, scouring out riverbanks and agricultural land. A series of recently constructed Chinese dams was blamed and farmers and fishermen held protests outside Chinese embassies along the basin. The exact cause, however, remains a point of contention. Dr Cogels said it was the result of unusually low annual rainfall across the basin and that an increase in fishermen was depleting stocks. But a research report published earlier this year by He Daming of the Asian International River Centre at Yunnan University suggested that China’s dams had an impact on downstream communities. Recording monthly flow data at three dams along the Mekong, Professor He and his colleagues said that, although monthly flow data was unlikely to have any significance, daily and hourly fluctuations in flow volumes were having noticeable effects on immediate downstream areas. Professor He’s report suggested that Chinese dams should modify their operating parameters accordingly and examine how a dam’s water storage capabilities could be of benefit to downstream regions during the dry season. China is already responding to growing pressure to heed international concerns about its dam construction. This week, reports emerged that Yunnan officials were considering scrapping a dam project along the Nu River after Unesco threatened to remove World Heritage status from one of the region’s sites. The UN had voiced concerns that the proposed hydropower development would affect the upper reaches of the Lancang (also called the Mekong), Nu and Yangtze rivers. Professor He said he hoped the MRC could become a co-ordinator among Mekong river countries, using scientific data on water flow and hydropower capacity to produce ‘win-win solutions’. One example he cited was selling Chinese electricity to Cambodia. Involving China in the picture is crucial. Contributing 16-18 per cent of the Mekong’s water volume, according to MRC estimates (includi