(March 25, 2010) A drought across southern China and Southeast Asia has brought the Mekong River to its lowest level in 50 years. The drought has led to debate over the vital resource and the effects that economic development, especially dam construction, may have on the river flow.
Tibet’s rivers strangled by dams
(March 22, 2010) China’s grand pipe-dream is to divert abundant water from the Tibetan highlands to reach water-starved cities of the north and west of China, which have around 300 million people, says Canadian documentary maker Michael Buckley in his recent film “Meltdown in Tibet”.
Blame on Chinese dams rise as Mekong River dries up
(March 17, 2010) As the water level in the Mekong River dips to a record 50-year low, a familiar pattern of fault-finding has risen to the surface. China, the regional giant through which parts of South-east Asia’s largest waterway flows through, is again at the receiving end of verbal salvoes from its neighbours.
When the Mekong runs dry
(March 17, 2010) Low water levels on the upper Mekong River have renewed criticism over hydropower dams China has erected on the waterway’s upper reaches. Environmental groups and governments have pinned blame on China’s inward-looking water management policies, although some experts say the real culprit is unusually severe drought conditions in southwestern China, northern Thailand and Laos.
Chinese dams blamed for Mekong’s dwindling flows and fish stocks
(March 14, 2010) 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.
Low level of Mekong raises concerns over water management
(March 14, 2010) 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.
Severe drought puts spotlight on Chinese dams
(March 12, 2010) Environmental groups in Thailand and elsewhere lay at least part of the blame of the recent drought on China’s doorstep. They claim that China’s management of a series of dams on the Lancang has aggravated the unfolding crisis. The Thai media has helped stir up emotions; one editorial in the Bangkok Post last month was headlined "China’s dams killing Mekong." Yet Chinese engineers and some other scientists say the criticism is unfounded.
Mighty Mekong is drying up
(March 9, 2010) 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.
China: Dam plans open gates to tough choices ahead
(February 25, 2010) The Nu River flows from the Tibetan highlands through China’s western Yunnan province, cutting between two mountain ranges before rushing through Burma into the Andaman Sea. It is home to a third of the country’s ethnic groups and a diverse ecosystem of 7,000 species of plants and 80 rare or endangered animals and fish. It’s also one of only two major rivers in China yet to be dammed.
The Mekong river’s last stop: Vietnam
(February 20, 2010) 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.
The Mekong river: Cambodia’s road to success
(February 19, 2010) 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.
A river runs through it: the Mekong river, Thailand and Laos
(February 18, 2010) 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.
Turbulent waters: Myanmar and the Mekong river
(February 17, 2010) 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.
Tapping the source: China and the Mekong river
(February 16, 2010) 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.
Activists argue that “dams will kill the mighty Mekong”
(February 9, 2010) 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.
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