The Mekong's days of flowing freely look numbered, threatening food security for millions of people and friction between states along the river. Since March, officials in Vientiane have given Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese investors approval to study four large hydroelectric dam projects on the Mekong in Laos. Last year, Laos also let Malaysian developers assess a dam project, while Chinese investors gained approval from Cambodian authorities to study a project there. Thai engineers are examining two more dams on the Thai-Laos border under Bangkok's authority.
In addition, 13 dams on Mekong tributaries in Laos should start generating electricity - mostly for export - by 2015, adding to the 10 already exporting power. Another 35 sites have been identified and are up for grabs. Just how Laos' struggling bureaucracy will manage this multibillion-dollar dam-building boom remains to be seen.
Officials think hydroelectricity export revenues will solve their budget crisis, under which the poverty-stricken nation is dependent on aid from China, Japan and the west. In October, the UN's World Food Programme reported that one in every two children in the country was malnourished.
For years, there has been talk of Laos exporting its way out of poverty as the battery of Southeast Asia. Now, hydroelectric dams are also being touted to provide clean, sustainable energy for Mekong countries addicted to imported oil and gas. And with oil prices rocketing, hydropower can charm governments seeking to cut energy import bills and temper inflation.
However, this rush for hydroelectricity seems poorly thought out and badly co-ordinated, at best, across the Mekong basin.
The Mekong River Commission, charged with sustainably developing the basin by Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam (China and Myanmar opted out), met at Siem Reap, along with donors, last month. It was reported that Cambodian officials were opposing Laos' plans for dams and had complained that their inquiries to Vientiane had gone unanswered.
Concern is warranted. Large hydropower dams have left a legacy of problems in developing countries due to poor public accountability, political neglect and weak bureaucracies.